Intermittent wifi issue - syslog server?

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mdf

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#293966 24-Feb-2022 20:12

I have an intermittent issue with wifi. Historically absolutely fine, and 95%+ of the time now still no issues, however a couple of times a day a device will have "no internet" despite seemingly being connected to a strong wifi network. Other devices at the same time will have no trouble, and the majority of the time disconnecting and reconnecting to the network seems to fix the issue. But its a niggly problem and I'm sick of hearing the complaints; you'd think the greatest injustice in the history of the world is a youtube video buffering.

Network config is router --> POE switch --> 3x Cambium e400 WAPs.

I _suspect_ the issue is with the WAPs; I've entirely replaced the router (was Cambium R201, now Voyager Huawei DG8245V-10) and devices connected by ethernet to the switch don't seem to have any issues. Mix of devices affected, couple of Samsung Android mobile phones, a Windows PC and a Chromebook.

Because it is so intermittent, it's hard to track down any rhyme or reason as to what is causing it. A couple of times I thought I've had an "a ha!" moment and patted myself on the back for fixing the issue, only for the issue to crop up again the next day or so.

The Cambium WAPs offer logging to a syslog server. Is that my next logical step? And if so, what is an easy way of getting started with this? I can spin up a Raspberry Pi but have had issues with too many writes to SD cards before with Hassio logging. I've found Loggly which has a Lite/Free tier and seems reputable but am unsure what exactly goes in a log file and whether I am setting myself up for hurt sending this type of info off to the cloud.

Any other suggestions or pointers?

michaelmurfy

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#2874394 24-Feb-2022 21:41

Does this device happen to be a Samsung device?

I personally found they are the worst at retaining a stable connection to WiFi. My partners S10+ then S21 Ultra would drop off for no reason, the access points would however still see the device as connected, but wouldn't pass traffic. I could never figure out why it was doing so as it happened on UniFi, Aruba and Cambium access points. I turned off MAC Address Randomization which helped somewhat but the best day was when she switched to an iPhone and have not had issues since.

Syslog may show a deauth reason (eg - deauth because of roaming) but really won't show much more than that.

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mdf

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#2874400 24-Feb-2022 21:55

I should have just asked you direct 😃

Yes, a couple of Samsung phones and yes, noticed some (?) improvement with MAC address randomisation turned off. But there are several other devices too including Windows notebooks and Chrome, and the same phones were fine for the last couple of years.

I'll need to do further digging.

nztim

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#2874408 24-Feb-2022 22:23

Stupid Android MAC randomisation, this had me puzzled at a major government department for MONTHS

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fe31nz

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#2874463 25-Feb-2022 02:04

If you really need a syslog server, just about any Linux distro will have one builtin. If you do not have any Linux boxes, just fire up a Windows PC, install VirtualBox and then install the Linux distro of your choice in a virtual machine.

The problem with Pi SD cards dying is also easy to fix - run a hard drive on a USB mount and boot from that. I always have one or two old, retired hard drives that I use for that sort of thing, and I bought my Pi 4 a nice dual USB 3 mount so it could boot and also access other drives. But there are lots of fairly cheap single USB 3 mounts available.

timmmay

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#2874467 25-Feb-2022 06:24

Do you notice the same problems on 2.4 and 5GHz? If so read this thread. In short - set your 5GHz channel manually to a number below 52.

mdf

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#2875111 25-Feb-2022 20:05

timmmay:

Do you notice the same problems on 2.4 and 5GHz? If so read this thread. In short - set your 5GHz channel manually to a number below 52.

I use band steering (which has historically always worked really well) so it's hard to be sure which network they're connected to when issues crop up. When things are working normally, they should usually be on 5GHz.

The channel change is about DFS or something else? I can turn off DFS channels generally; currently I've got APs on channel 36, 153 and 165 (results of auto scans). So one below and two above the DFS range. Is there something else I don't know about?

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nzkc

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#2875130 25-Feb-2022 21:16

mdf:

I've found Loggly which has a Lite/Free tier and seems reputable but am unsure what exactly goes in a log file and whether I am setting myself up for hurt sending this type of info off to the cloud.

I think you'll be fine as long as you go with a reputable cloud hosted one. I use the SumoLogic free tier for some logs. Works for my needs. Others you might consider include PaperTrail, Datadog and Graylog (if you want to host it yourself)

mdf

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#2875248 26-Feb-2022 12:00

mdf:

timmmay:

Do you notice the same problems on 2.4 and 5GHz? If so read this thread. In short - set your 5GHz channel manually to a number below 52.

I use band steering (which has historically always worked really well) so it's hard to be sure which network they're connected to when issues crop up. When things are working normally, they should usually be on 5GHz.

The channel change is about DFS or something else? I can turn off DFS channels generally; currently I've got APs on channel 36, 153 and 165 (results of auto scans). So one below and two above the DFS range. Is there something else I don't know about?

You might be on to something here. There's been a lot more ~~swearing~~ calm and deliberate investigations. The AP on channel 165 could well be the one that is causing the issues. T' interweb seems to have other stories of Samsung devices not connecting to specific channels - not channel 165 specifically but the fact it is the last of the permitted range makes me suspicious.

I've manually changed it to channel 60 and that seems to have fixed the problem. There have however been false dawns before.

timmmay

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#2875265 26-Feb-2022 12:43

Above channel 52 the WAP might be deliberately turning itself off every now and then because of some reason I don't fully recall. Try a low 5GHz channel as it might be even more stable than 60.

mdf

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#2875297 26-Feb-2022 14:30

5GHz is shared with other uses. Some channels are not allowed, others (DFS) are shared with aeronautical and maritime radar.

From RSM: