E-guide

10 Steps to
Troubleshooting
Wi-Fi Connectivity
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In this e-guide:
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless
In the workplace, wireless connection problems can crop up at
connection problems p. 2 any time.

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So when you have trouble connecting a smartphone, tablet,
laptop or other Wi-Fi client device to an office wireless LAN,
what should you do?

In this e-guide, discover 10 step-by-step troubleshooting tips

to help with your wireless network connection problems.

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10 steps to troubleshoot wireless
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless connection problems
connection problems p. 2
Lisa Phifer, Owner | Core Competence Inc.

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Wireless connection problems can crop up when joining a
wireless client to an office network. These step-by-step
debugging tips can help.

Step 1: Check WAN and LAN connections

Physical connections are an oft-overlooked common culprit. Check all
wireless access point (AP) or wireless router ports to ensure that Ethernet
cables are inserted tightly and link status LEDs are green at both ends. If
not:

• Verify that devices at both ends of each Ethernet cable are powered
on and that ports are enabled. For example, your AP may be
connected to a wall port that is disabled, or the upstream switch or
modem may be off.
• Try swapping Ethernet cables to isolate a damaged cable or
connector.

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• Check your AP or router manual to ensure that you're using the right
In this e-guide type of cable. For example, Internet/WAN ports may require
crossover cables.
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless
• Connect another Ethernet-capable device, such as a laptop, to the
affected AP or router port. If link status LEDs change, the device that
connection problems p. 2
you just replaced may be failing link auto-negotiation. Check port
configurations at both ends and reconfigure as needed to match
Related Content p. 22 speed and duplex mode.

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Step 2: Verify wireless adapter
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless It might seem obvious, but it's important to ensure the client's Wi-Fi adapter
connection problems p. 2 used for network troubleshooting is enabled and ready to connect.

• When using a Windows client, select your wireless network adapter

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from the Network Connections Control Panel and check to see if its
status is Enabled. If not, right-click to enable the connection. If this
fails when using a laptop, look for a function key or physical button or
slider-switch to take the laptop out of airplane mode. If this fails when
using a removable client such as a USB adapter, remove and re-insert
it.
• When using an Apple iOS client, use the Settings app to verify that
your iPhone or iPad is not in airplane mode and that Wi-Fi is on and
ready to connect. For further iOS client troubleshooting, see Part 2 of
this series.
• On an Android client, use the Settings app in a similar manner to verify
that your smartphone or tablet is not in airplane mode and that Wi-Fi
is on. For further Android client troubleshooting, see Part 3 of this
series.

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Step 3: Verify AP and router settings
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless Use your wireless access point or router's administrative GUI to verify
connection problems p. 2 network settings for the wireless network service set identifier (SSID) to
which your Wi-Fi client is trying to connect.
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• Locate the SSID that you're troubleshooting. On a basic wireless
router, there may be just one SSID, or one for each radio band (2.4
GHz and 5 GHz). On a small business or enterprise AP, there may be
several SSIDs used to segregate wireless clients and their traffic.
• Identify the IP subnet [and, if applicable, virtual LAN (VLAN) ID]
assigned to that SSID. Upon successful connection, your Wi-Fi client
should receive a local IP address from this subnet.
• Identify the router or AP's own local IP address that should be
reachable through this subnet (and, if applicable, VLAN).
• Check your router's events log or status GUI to verify that an IP
address from this subnet is indeed assigned to your Wi-Fi client when
it connects.

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Step 4: Verify TCP/IP settings
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless Although we describe using Windows to manage wireless connections here,
connection problems p. 2 troubleshooting is conceptually similar when using other kinds of Wi-Fi
clients.
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• Open the network connections control panel and select your wireless
network adapter. If the status is still Disabled, return to step 2.
• If status is Not Connected, select your wireless network's SSID and
click Connect. If your network's SSID does not appear in the list or
you cannot connect to your network, go to step 8 to debug wireless
settings.
• While attempting to connect, status may change briefly to
Authenticating or Acquiring Network Address, then Connected. At that
point, use Status/Support to determine the client's assigned IP
address. If the client's IP is 0.0.0.0 or 169.254.x.x, click Diagnose. If
that persists, go to step 8.
• Otherwise, if the Wi-Fi client's IP address is not in your AP or router's
subnet, use the Properties/Internet (TCP/IP) panel to reconfigure the
connection to get an address automatically and repeat step 4.

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Step 5. Verify network connection with Ping
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless Once your wireless client has a valid IP address, use ping to verify network
connection problems p. 2 connectivity.

Run a Command Prompt window from the wireless client's Start menu and
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use it to ping your AP or router's IP address with the Internet Control
Message Protocol as shown in Figure 5.

• If pinging your AP or router repeatedly fails, skip to step 6.

• If pinging your AP or router is successful, then ping any other wired or
wireless LAN client that you wish to share files or printers with. If that
ping fails, then the destination may be using a firewall to block
incoming messages.
• After disabling the destination's Windows firewall, ping again. If ping is
now successful, then the firewall you disabled may also be blocking
Windows network protocols. Reconfigure the firewall to permit the
traffic you want to exchange between LAN clients. For example, re-
enable the firewall and permit inbound file and printer sharing.

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Step 6: Check wireless-specific issues
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless If your wireless client still cannot connect, get a valid IP address or ping your
connection problems p. 2 AP or router, then it's time to consider wireless-specific problems.

The wireless AP or router and client must use compatible 802.11 standards
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and the same network name (SSID). Use your AP or router's admin GUI to
view WLAN settings and compare them to your client's wireless connection
parameters.

• If your SSID does not appear in the Client's Available Networks list,
enable SSID broadcasts on your AP or router. Alternatively, add the
SSID to your client's Wireless Networks list, allowing devices to
connect even if the SSID is hidden. Be sure to match the SSID
exactly, including capitalization.
• 802.11ac, dual-band 802.11n and older 802.11a clients can connect to
802.11ac or 802.11n APs or routers using channels in the 5 GHz band.
• 802.11n and older 802.11b/g clients can also connect to 802.11n APs
or routers using channels in the 2.4 GHz band.
• To connect older 802.11a or 802.11b/g clients, enable Mixed Mode
and slower modulation and coding scheme rates on your AP or router.
For example, to connect to 802.11b clients, at least the 11 Mbps rate
must be enabled. To connect to 802.11g clients, at least the 54 Mbps
rate must be supported. Even slow rates are needed to connect to old
clients over longer distances.

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Step 7: Look for a security mismatch
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless If a matched wireless client and AP or router can "hear" each other but still
connection problems p. 2 can't connect or exchange traffic, look for a security mismatch.

The client must support the security mode the AP or router requires: Open,
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WEP, WPA or WPA2. Unless the WLAN is open (unsecured), the AP or
router and client must also have (or dynamically receive) the same keys
used to encrypt traffic between them. Compare your AP or router's WLAN
security settings to your client's wireless connection properties to match
them.

• If your AP or router uses WEP, set the client's encryption to WEP and
match the authentication type (open or shared). Copy the AP or
router's first WEP key to the client, translating from ASCII to hex if
needed.
• If your AP or router uses WPA-Personal, set the client's authentication
to WPA-PSK and match the encryption type (TKIP). Enter the same
passphrase on both devices Remember: Capitalization counts!
• If your AP or router uses WPA2-Personal, set the client's
authentication to WPA2-PSK, match the encryption type (AES) and
enter the same passphrase on both devices. If you must support both
WPA and WPA2 clients, set your AP or router to allow both TKIP and
AES encryption.

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• If your AP or router uses WPA or WPA2-Enterprise, set the client's

In this e-guide authentication to WPA or WPA2 respectively, match the encryption
type and continue 802.1X set-up in step 8.
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless
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Step 8: Ensure RADIUS is working
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless WPA and WPA2-Enterprise log the client into the network and deliver
connection problems p. 2 encryption keys using an 802.1X-capable RADIUS server. If you do not
already have a RADIUS server, consult this tip. Otherwise, try the following:
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• Reconfigure your AP or router and server with a matching RADIUS
secret.
• Reconfigure your RADIUS server to accept requests from your AP or
router.
• Use ping to verify AP or router-to-RADIUS server network
reachability.
• Watch LAN packet counters to verify that RADIUS is being sent, or
use a LAN analyzer debug RADIUS protocol issues.

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Step 9: Check 802.1X EAP and user login
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless If RADIUS is working but the client's access requests are rejected, look for
connection problems p. 2 an 802.1X Extensible Authentication Protocol (EAP) or user login problem.

Your client must support one of the EAP types your server requires and
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must supply a valid login and password, token, certificate or other kind of
credential.

• If your server requires EAP-TLS, select Smart Card or other

Certificate on the client's Network Properties/Authentication panel.
• If your server requires PEAP, select Protected EAP on that panel.
• If your server requires EAP-TTLS or EAP-FAST, install a third-party
802.1X Supplicant program like Cisco's Trust Agent on the client.
• Make sure that client and server EAP-specific properties match,
including server certificate Trusted Root Authority, server domain
name (optional) and tunneled authentication method (e.g., EAP-
MSCHAPv2, EAP-GTC).
• If you are prompted to accept the server's certificate at connect time,
examine the certificate carefully, verifying issuer and identity. Never
add an unrecognized or suspicious certificate to your trusted list.
• If EAP-TLS problems persist, use a Web browser to inspect the
client's certificate and make sure the certificate is valid (e.g., not
expired).
• If PEAP problems persist, use CHAP Configure to prevent Windows
auto-logon and enter a valid username and password when prompted.

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• If you still haven't spotted the problem, consult your RADIUS server's
In this e-guide 802.1X documentation for EAP configuration and debugging hints.

10 steps to troubleshoot wireless

connection problems p. 2

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Step 10: Check intermittent network connectivity
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless
issues
connection problems p. 2
Finally, if your wireless client connects and pings successfully, but
encounters intermittent network connectivity problems (e.g., some pings
Related Content p. 22 work, some fail), you may be experiencing poor signal strength, RF
interference, or disconnection caused by AP roaming. See our Fixing
wireless LAN problems tip for troubleshooting hints.

http://searchnetworking.techtarget.com/feature/Balancing-wireless-LAN-
troubleshooting-strategies-for-BYOD

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Related Content
10 steps to troubleshoot wireless
Check out more of our top tips on Wi-Fi troubleshooting.
connection problems p. 2

How to Troubleshoot Android Wi-Fi Connection Problems

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Android smartphone and tablet users now abound in the enterprise, making
Android Wi-Fi connection troubleshooting a key element of enterprise
wireless network connection management.

How to Troubleshoot iPad and iPhone Wi-Fi Connection Problems

As iPhone and iPad Wi-Fi clients proliferate in the enterprise, IT must

troubleshoot Wi-Fi connection problems. Here's how to solve basic iPhone
and iPad connection problems.

Discover more at
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