Mobility Series

Module 6 – Wireless LAN Troubleshooting

William H. Wolfe II
Cisco Certified Networking Academy Instructor Trainer
So now you need troubleshoot wireless…

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 1. Overview of WLAN Troubleshooting

2. Dealing with Wireless Interference

 Understanding Types of Interference
 Using Tools to Detect and Manage Interference

Agenda 3. Troubleshooting WLAN Connectivity

 Troubleshooting Client Connectivity
 Troubleshooting AP Connectivity

4. Conclusion/Remarks/Resources

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Overview of WLAN Troubleshooting

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Overview of WLAN Troubleshooting
• Without careful Preparation, Planning and Design WLANs can fail to perform optimally
• WLAN failures generally are a result of the following:
• Attenuation within the environment
• Interference
• Misplaced Access Points
• Incorrect Antenna choice
• Wireless Client Supplicant or Driver issues

• Use of tools to assist with WLAN Design and Troubleshooting

• WLAN environment can change over time requiring re-assessment and remediation

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 Troubleshooting Basics
• Troubleshooting 101
Problem
Clearly define the problem Definition
Understand any possible triggers
Know the expected behavior
Reproducibility
Questions
Do not jump into conclusions
Tests

Analysis

Solution(s)

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6
Dealing with Wireless Interference

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Understanding Types of Interference

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Non 802.11 Interferers

Microwave Ovens Wireless Video Radar

Cameras

Outdoor
Motion Detectors Microwave Links

Wireless
Headphones

Fluorescent Lights Wireless

Game Controller

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Non-802.11: Cisco Spectrum Expert

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Non-802.11 Sources of Interference
802.11 a or g 802.11 b
OFDM DSSS

20 MHz 20 MHz

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Non-802.11: Microwave Ovens
Duty Cycle Higher in
Part of Band

Loud Moving Signal

Seen at Max

Drifts in Frequency

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Non-802.11: Bluetooth See More Hops in Max Hold

See Hops in Max

Duty
Cycle
Spread
Across
Band

Speckled Pattern
in Spectrogram

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Non-802.11: Wireless Phones
Duty Cycle
Fairly Low and
Spread Across
Band

Pulses Increase
in Max

Speckled Appearance
in Swept =
Frequency Hopper

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Identify Problematic Areas

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WLAN Coverage and Capacity

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Multi-Floor Coverage

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RF Phenomena
• When RF travels through transparent matter, some of the waves are altered.
Therefore, the velocity of 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz microwaves also changes, as the
waves travel through matter. However, the amount of alteration depends heavily on
the frequency of the waves and the matter.
• Some of the phenomena that can affect WLAN radio waves as they travel through
matter include refraction, reflection, diffraction, scattering, and multipath.

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 Radio Frequency Behaviors

 Wave Propagation  Diffraction

 Absorption  Multipath
 Reflection  Loss
 Scattering  Free Space Path Loss
 Refraction  Gain

RF waves can be affected much like other waves in the air, such as light or sound. Relating to
RF waves as light or sound waves helps to understand some of these behaviors.

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 Wave Propagation

• The movement or motion of RF waves as they pass

through the medium (the air)
• May be impeded or completely stopped by materials
in the path of the signal

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 Loss
• Weakening of the RF signal
• Also called Attenuation
• Can be caused by several things
Passing through various mediums
Cable
Impedance mismatch
Lightning arrestors
Connectors
Signal attenuators

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Free Path Loss

• As the wave spreads away from the emitter, it gets weaker.

• The quantity of energy declines as the distance increases; the quantity of energy
available on each point of the circle is less as the circle is larger, and the receiver
catches only part of this energy.
• Determining a range is determining the energy loss depending on the distance.

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Absorption

 Absorption takes energy from the wave.

 This energy is dissipated as heat in the obstacle.
 When 100% of the energy is taken, the wave stops.
 The effect of absorption is to reduce amplitude.
 The signal is therefore less powerful, but the same wavelength and frequency are
maintained.

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Signal Attenuation/Absorption
Material in Signal Path Signal Attenuation Signal Attenuation
(2.4 GHz) (5 GHz)
Plasterboard / Drywall 3 - 4 dB 3 – 5 dB
Cubicle Wall 2 – 4 dB 4 – 9 dB
Glass Wall with Metal Frame 6 dB 10 dB
Brick / Concrete 6 – 18 dB 10 – 30 dB
Cinder Block Wall 4 dB 9 dB
Office Window 2 - 3 dB 6 – 8 dB
Tinted Glass Window 13 dB 30 dB
Metal door 6 dB 10 dB
Metal Door in Brick Wall 12 dB 25 dB
Firewall 13 – 19 dB 25 – 32 dB
Wireless Device Position 3 – 6 dB 3 – 6 dB

These values are estimates and attenuation may vary depending on the actual material used

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Access Point Placement for Location

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Reflection

 Part of the energy is reflected.

 Part of the energy may be transmitted.
 The angle of reflection is the same as the initial angle.
 Reflection depends on the roughness of the material relative to the wavelength
and the angle.
 Amplitude has no impact.

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 Diffraction
The bending of an RF signal as it wraps around an
object.

This is also like

Sun light bending
around a
building. Yes,
there will be RF
shadows.

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Scattering

 Scattering occurs when microparticles deviate the wave in multiple directions.

 It affects shorter wavelengths more than longer ones.
 It can weaken the signal or block it.

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Diffraction and Scattering

• The spreading out of a wave around an obstacle is called

diffraction
• When light hits small particles a phenomenon called scattering
is possible
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Refraction
 Refraction occurs when a wave passes from
one medium to another, causing the wave to
change direction.
 Refraction has a minor effect on indoor
networks.
 It can have a big impact on outdoor long-
range links.

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 Refraction
A bending of an RF signal as it passes through a medium

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Multipath

 Occurs when a signal reflects from surfaces and signals arrive at the receiver at
different times
 Delayed multiple copies of the same signal hit the receiver
 Depends on the wavelength and the position of the receiver

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Multipath: Phase

 Two signals are in phase when the crests of their cycles coincide.
 Being out of phase weakens both signals or cancels them if amplitude and
wavelength are the same.
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 Multipath
• Multiple instances of the same signal arriving out of phase at the
intended receiver caused by reflection or some other source of
propagation interference

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 Gain

• An increase in a signals strength or amplitude

• Usually caused by the use of an amplifier
Antennae are passive amplifiers
Some inject current

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RSSI and SNR
• RSSI is the signal
strength indicator
• dBm value transformed
from a vendor
dependent grading
coefficient
• Usually negative value,
the closer
to 0 the better. RSSI
values are most often
denoted in dBm and are
negative integers i.e. –
69dBm.
• SNR is signal strength
relative to noise level.
The higher the better

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Site to Site Fresnel Zone
• Antenna Height
Fresnel zone consideration
Line-of-Sight over 25 miles (40 Km) hard to implement

Antenna
Height
(Value “H”) Total Distance

Fresnel @ 60% (Value “F”)

Earth Curvature (Value “C”)

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 Fresnel Zone

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Using Tools to Detect and Manage
Interference

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 Spectrum Analyzer

Spectrum Analysis with MetaGeek Chanalyzer and a Cisco AP

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 Spectrum Analyzer

Spectrum Analysis with AirMagnet Spectrum XT

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 Spectrum Analyzer

Spectrum Analysis with Cisco Meraki

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 Noise and Interference

Basic Channel Quality Information Gathered by an AP

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 CleanAir

Overview of CleanAir Operation

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 CleanAir

Enabling CleanAir Globally on a Controller

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 CleanAir

Example List of Interference Device Reports

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 CleanAir

Displaying Air-Quality Indices for all APs on a Controller

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 CleanAir

Displaying Detailed CleanAir Data in Rapid Update Mode

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 CleanAir

Enabling ED-RRM

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Troubleshooting WLAN Connectivity

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Troubleshooting Client Connectivity

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 Client Connectivity - Where do we start?
EAP
Chan. 1
IP RADIUS ISE
driver
supp.

radio

802.11
CAPWAP

EOIP
802.11 Management
IP
IP
CAPWAP
WLC
DHCP
802.11 Management

• Client can’t connect….

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Steps to Building an 802.11 Connection
802.11 1. Listen for Beacons
State 1: 2. Probe Request
Unauthenticated,
Unassociated 3. Probe Response AP
4. Authentication Request Co mplete
ut h
802.11 A
5. Authentication Response
State 2:
Authenticated, 6. Association Request plete
Unassociated c Com
sso
7. Association Response 802.11 A

WLC
8. (Optional: EAPOL Authentication)
State 3:
Authenticated, 9. (Optional: Encrypt Data)
Associated
10. Move User Data
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 Client Connectivity

Displaying a Client with Detail in Cisco Prime

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 Client Connectivity

Displaying and Filtering Client Status Information on a Controller

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 Client Connectivity

Displaying Client RF Statistics

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 Client Connectivity

Displaying Client Location and RF History

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 Client Connectivity

Troubleshooting a Client with IP Addressing Problems

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 Client Connectivity

Troubleshooting Client RF Problems with PI

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 Client Connectivity

Running a Link Test to a Wireless Client

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 Client Connectivity

Displaying the Results of Client Troubleshooting Tests

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 Client Connectivity

Using NetSurveyor to determine what SSIDs the Wireless Client can see

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 Client Connectivity

Using inSSIDer to determine what SSIDs the Wireless Client can see

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Troubleshooting AP Connectivity

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 AP Connectivity

Verifying AP Connectivity in a Cisco Unified Wireless Network

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 AP Connectivity

Verifying That an AP Is Alive

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 AP Connectivity

Using a Client OS–based Utility to List Available SSIDs

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 AP Connectivity

Scanning Channels with MetaGeek inSSIDer Office

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 AP Connectivity

Scanning Channels with Android Wifi Analyzer

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 AP Connectivity

Analyzing Wi-Fi Activity with Fluke AirMagnet WiFi Analyzer

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 AP Connectivity

Analyzing Wi-Fi Frames Captured Over the Air with Savvius OmniPeek

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 AP Connectivity

Wireless Capture – AP as Sniffer

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 AP Connectivity

Analyzing Wi-Fi Activity with Wireshark

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 AP Connectivity

Wireshark with AirPcap

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 AP Connectivity

With CAPWAP de-encapsulated you can see all the packets to/from client (between AP and WLC)

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 Site Survey Tools

AirMagnet Site Survey

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 Site Survey Tools

Ekahau Site Survey

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 Site Survey Tools

TamoGraph Site Survey

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 AP Placement Guidelines

Mount APs so that antennas are vertical (Cisco uses vertical polarization)

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 AP Placement Guidelines

Mount APs in the correct locations…

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Conclusion/Remarks/Resources

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Conclusion / Remarks
• When Deploying Wireless Networks… Always Prepare and Plan.
• Know your physical environment. Understand materials used in walls, offices, cubicals,
warehouses, etc.
• Invest in the Tools for Planning, RF Spectrum Analysis and Wireless Management and
Troubleshooting.
• Understand the client devices being used and the wireless capabilities of those devices.
• Be prepared to make changes to the wireless deployment if the environment or client needs
change.

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Resources
• The Cisco Learning Network
https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/welcome

• CCNA Wireless Study Materials

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/wireless_ccna/wifund/study-material

• CCNA Wireless Certification Exam Topics

https://learningnetwork.cisco.com/community/certifications/wireless_ccna/wifund/exam-topics

• Cisco Live On-Demand Library

https://www.ciscolive.com/online/connect/search.ww

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Thank you.