Integration issues with a WiFi mesh network

[rhys_e1]

Hi there,

I've been having some strange issues in getting my WiFi mesh network to work without hiccups. I have an XR1000 running firmware version 1.0.0.64_1.0.49, and my two mesh extenders are an EAX15v2 and EX6250. The issue is that some WiFi devices are periodically kicked off the network (as in, connected with no internet). Normally it is one or two devices every few days, but the problem seems to be amplified when there are a greater number of devices connected to the mesh network - in this case, multiple devices will be kicked off daily. Sometimes refreshing the ip configuration on the device in question fixes the issue, but other times a restart of the router is required. I've noticed some strange behaviour on the Device Manager tree that I'm not sure is abnormal behaviour (and if it is, if it is a related issue). The screenshot below shows the entry for the EAX15v2 in Device Manager after an up-time of a few days (the same thing happens with the EX6250 too); it has had dozens of IPv4 and IPv6 addresses issued to it. Even if I assign a static ip address to the extender in the LAN config of the XR1000, the same thing happens, with dozens of addresses being shown under the MAC address of the extender. In terms of the devices dropping out, I have tried mu-mimo on/off, smart connect on/off, ofdma on/off etc., but the behaviour seems consistent across all of these settings changes. I have also tried resetting the XR1000, and doing the firmware update via the TFTP method (which fixed a slow RApp loading issue that I was having).

Any Advice would be appreciated.

 

Cheers,

Rhys

 

[Netduma Liam]

Welcome to the forum!

Could you perhaps try going to Settings -> Setup -> LAN Setup and change the minimum DHCP value to be 100. 

Then, reserve IPs for each device connected to the XR. Give them IPs from .2 to .99 so they're outside the DHCP range.

Let us know if they still have connection issues after that!

[rhys_e1]

Sorry for the late reply!
 

Implementing your suggestion has definitely increased network stability, and I am generally down to only one device dropping its connection every few days.

Looking at the Duma logs for the XR1000, I've come across something strange (see image below). There appears to be a deauth event happening every ~10s for a Lite-On device (based on the OUI). I'm not sure if this is anything nefarious. The strange part is that I can't find this MAC address with any tools (wireshark, arp, fing etc), and it's not even present in Device Manager on the XR1000 as either an online or offline device.

This could be coincidental, but the last device that I am having the stability issues with is a TV with a MAC address starting with 70:C9:4E - this is another Lite-On OUI...

Are these logs anything to be concerned about/can you tell me a bit more about them and their interpretation?

 

Cheers,

Rhys

 

 

[Netduma Fraser]

Glad to hear you're having more stability, does the device that's still getting disconnects have a reserved IP on the R2? 

I don't think it's anything nefarious, do you sometimes connect the TV using ethernet and other times with WiFi as the MAC will change for each.

[rhys_e1]

Yes, it has a reserved IP on the 70:C9:4E MAC. It's always connected to WiFi, never ethernet. The deauth log consistently repeats every ~10s indefinitely (so the log file is basically 90% this message, no matter when I check it). It also persists after a reboot.

[rhys_e1]

Bit of an update - I managed to catch activity of the E8:2A:44 device when it was online and have identified what it is and now given it a static IP.
The deauth logs were happening every 10s for hours on end when the device was off - any idea as to why?

[Newfie]

4 hours ago, rhys_e1 said:

Bit of an update - I managed to catch activity of the E8:2A:44 device when it was online and have identified what it is and now given it a static IP.
The deauth logs were happening every 10s for hours on end when the device was off - any idea as to why?

What was the device?

NG logs can be shall we say not that reliable and it may have an error interpreting the information from the client. 

[Netduma Fraser]

7 hours ago, rhys_e1 said:

Bit of an update - I managed to catch activity of the E8:2A:44 device when it was online and have identified what it is and now given it a static IP.
The deauth logs were happening every 10s for hours on end when the device was off - any idea as to why?

Have the logs stopped now since you gave it the static IP? If it's a device that is on standby mode it was likely trying to reconnect, otherwise probably the case of the above.

[rhys_e1]

On 1/29/2023 at 9:08 PM, Newfie said:

What was the device?

NG logs can be shall we say not that reliable and it may have an error interpreting the information from the client. 

It was a TV in another area of the house that I had missed when assigning static IPs. The weird thing is that while the logs were/are repeating every 10s, there is zero activity related to that MAC address on WireShark.

On 1/29/2023 at 11:22 PM, Netduma Fraser said:

Have the logs stopped now since you gave it the static IP? If it's a device that is on standby mode it was likely trying to reconnect, otherwise probably the case of the above.

They did initially for a day or so, but have since resumed in the same way. I'm assuming the TV does go into a standby mode, but it's odd that there are no packets on WireShark when this issue with the logs is happening.

 

This WireShark filter was run at the same time as the below logs:

 

[Netduma Fraser]

Perhaps because it is offline it's being authenticated from the internet which makes sense and is just a case of the router spamming the logs for some reason. If you turn off the TV fully say from the wall for example, the next time you turn it on does it have a connection right away?