shutoff B radio on Adtran 160

[qdave]

I am in a B radio interference plagued environment.  My AP 160s keeping locking up and need to be rebooted to function again (many times a day, newest firmware installed).   It appears that very few companies in my building are running A radio.  Is there a way to completely shutdown the B radio in these so I am running A only?  I have the radios "off" but the APs are still locking up as if I still had it running.   My thought process on this is if I can get B to not even listen, the interference won't crash the APs.

Anyone have any insight on this?

Option 2, how can I downgrade the firmware?  I didn't have the problem this bad until I updated the firmware in hopes of fixing it.  Trying to downgrade fails with an invalid image (I know the image is valid).

[Anonymous]

What is the interface number of the radio you want to disable?  1/1, or similar?

[qdave]

2/1.1

2/1.2

3/1.1

3/1.2

2 APs originally setup with a primary (.1) and guest (.2) network. 

I have the radios disabled, but it seems interference from the B radios is still locking them up:

---

Radio Information:

Index  Type  Mode   State     Channel   Sec Chan  Radio MAC         40Mhz DTIM Int

-----  ----  ----  --------  --------  --------  ----------------- ----- --------

1      b/g   gn    DISABLED  No Valid  0         00:19:92:15:AD:A1 no    1

2      a     an    ENABLED   48        0         00:19:92:15:AD:A9 yes   1

---

[Anonymous]

Do you have the radios disabled, or the SSIDs (VAPs) disabled?  Disabling only the VAP will not help interference from messing with the 160.  They're not the most robust in that department.

Can you provide the output of "show run int dot 2/1" and "show run int dot 3/1"?  There shouldn't be any site-specific information contained there.

[Anonymous]

Oh, I just noticed you have 5 GHz radios configured on 2/2 and 3/2.  Show those too, please.  Do you have the same primary and guest networks defined on 2/2 and 3/2 as you do on 2/1 and 3/1?

[qdave]

I've tried them with the same and different SSIDs.

example:  2.4 was "private24" and "guest24"  while 5 was "private5" and "guest5".   Didn't make a difference in my testing (except, of course, forcing a client on 2.4 or 5 band).  Originally tried this to determine if A even worked if B was locked up.

I've tried static channels, dynamic channels... run site surveys multiple times a day to find the most open channels, etc.  B is near unuseable in my environment, but A is wide open (if I can keep these APs running).

2/1:

Building configuration...

!

!

interface dot11ap 2/1 radio-type 802.11bg

  radio-mode gn

  channel 6

  shutdown

!

end

---

3/1:

Building configuration...

!

!

interface dot11ap 3/1 radio-type 802.11bg

  radio-mode gn

  channel 11

  shutdown

!

end

---

2/2

Building configuration...

!

!

interface dot11ap 2/2 radio-type 802.11a

  channel 48

  channel-width-40MHz

  no shutdown

!

end

---

3/2:

Building configuration...

!

!

interface dot11ap 3/2 radio-type 802.11a

  channel 161

  channel-width-40MHz

  no shutdown

!

end

[Anonymous]

So, even with the configuration as it is right now, they're still locking up?  You've clearly got all the 2.4 GHz radios shutdown, so I can't imagine the lockups are from an interference issue unless you have an usually busy 5 GHz environment.

What version of software is on the controller, and on the APs themselves?

[qdave]

Running a NetVanta 3448 with firmware NV2448A-R11-4-3-E

and the APs are running firmware NV160:1840-44-1:6.9.2.2

site survey shows, at most, 2 other A signals: One weak on channel 36 and one extremely weak on channel 153.

Thinking *maybe* my hardware could be at fault, I've even purchased 2 new 160s.  They still lock up multiple times a day as if the B radios were still on and crashing from interference.  I'm at a complete loss for a solution, may be forced to go with a different brand and start over (even if just to prove it's not the radio...)

[Anonymous]

I hear ya.

I saw some serious issues with 6.9.2 where SSIDs would appear to operate but nothing could associate.  That happened to me at different sites, different controllers, different RF environments, etc.  I noticed a few threads on the forum confirming I'm not the only one who has seen this.  I've had confirmation from support that 6.9.2 underwent a lot of changes in the hardware drivers compared to 6.5.5-18.  I'd suggest a downgrade to that version to see whether it helps, hurts, or fails just as bad.  It's clear both revs have issues, but in my case, the 6.5.5 issues are non-issues so I'm camping there until I have a reason to change.

I'd definitely keep the x/1 radios in shutdown regardless of the version.  If you don't need the relatively greater coverage or compatibility with old devices I see no reason to enable 2.4 GHz (the bg radio) at all.  The spectrum is just a mess in so many areas.  At my office an HP access point with "neighborhood" functionality saw over 80 APs in the immediate area.  Yikes, and that's not going to get better any time soon.  I just noticed my (home) neighbor's new all-in-one Arris cable box is running 3x3 MIMO on 40 MHz channels on both 2.4 and 5 GHz for a theoretical throughput of 450 Mbps on each.  Yeah, he needs that to tweet his political opinions.  So anyway...

If the problems are indeed influenced by RF, you may want to disable the 40 MHz channel width to keep the config as simple as possible until understanding which handle you need to jiggle to affect a change in behavior.  Support suggested in one of my scenarios disabling packet-aggregation may help as well, particularly with iOS clients, and I believe it's had a positive effect.

Have you been able to open a ticket with support regarding these issues?

[qdave]

No, I have not opened a ticket with Adtran yet.

Since my lockups got worse after the firmware update, I tried to downgrade.  No matter what I've tried so far, I get an invalid image error when I try to downgrade and then have to reflash with 6.9.2 to get the AP working again.   I've downloaded the image several times, tried different TFTP servers and sources, can't seem to win with this one.

For the most part I don't need B radio, but can't seem to shake its issues either <sigh>.  I will try disabling the 40GHz channel on the A radios to see if that helps any and even the aggregation, anything at this point as it can't really get any worse.

A big thanks to you for peering in to my issues and the advice, if you think of anything else let me know. 

Thanks again.

[Anonymous]

That concerns me you're not able to downgrade it.  At the risk of telling you more things you've already tried, I've had the most success using the AP controller as the TFTP server (just make sure "tftp server" is its config).  I keep IP addresses on my access points so I can ping them for monitoring, but that's not crucial towards an upgrade; IPs can be assigned on the fly just for the upgrade as part of the process.  Then, "copy tftp dot11ap interface 2" where AP #2 is my upgrade target.  Answer a few questions, then give it a few minutes to complete its gyrations before seeing a debug message that it has booted and received its config.  Just make sure the IPs you assign the APs are from the same VLAN (or interface) that AWCP uses to control them in the first place.  I haven't had good luck utilizing TFTP servers outside the AWCP network even though I specify default gateway every time.  Oh well, it's just as easy to use the controller.

It sounds like you've got a few items to discuss with support.  The warranty (and therefore support) period on the 160s is uncomfortably low at one year, but if you have newer ones that exhibit the same problems, you shouldn't have any problems capturing their attention without additional cost.

[Anonymous]

I too having major problem with firmware 6.9.2.2.  Have you ever figure out a solutions for this?

[qdave]

Oddly enough, so far in my mostly mac environment, disabling the B channel radios and turning OFF packet aggregation has kept the AN network stable.  Hopefully that statement doesn't jinx me!

Still have many issues with the BN/BGN side when I mess around with it:

: general instability (mostly caused by interference)

: android devices connecting once (for a random amount of time) then not being able to connect, have to physically shut off AP and reboot before they will connect again.

: data speed (also probably an interference issue)