Grandstream Networks, Inc.

GWN76xx Series
WiFi Troubleshooting Guide
 Table of Contents

WIFI PERFORMANCE.................................................................................................... 4

Signal Strength issue ............................................................................................................................. 4

Interference Issue .................................................................................................................................. 5

Non-WiFi Transmitters .................................................................................................................... 5

Other WiFi Networks....................................................................................................................... 5

Congestion Issue ................................................................................................................................... 6

Low Data Rates Issue ............................................................................................................................ 7

WIFI CONNECTION PROBLEM ..................................................................................... 8

Cannot Connect to WiFi ......................................................................................................................... 8

Cannot Connect to Network Resources ................................................................................................ 8

ANALYSIS TOOLS ......................................................................................................... 9

Packet Capture ...................................................................................................................................... 9

Traceroute/Ping...................................................................................................................................... 9

Syslog .................................................................................................................................................. 10

Syslog on Web GUI ...................................................................................................................... 10

Using External Syslog server ....................................................................................................... 10

GWN core dump file............................................................................................................................. 10

Protocol Analyzers ............................................................................................................................... 11

Acrylic WiFi Pro ............................................................................................................................ 11

Wireshark ...................................................................................................................................... 12

RF Analyzers ........................................................................................................................................ 12

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 Table of Tables

Table 1: RSSI Reference Values ................................................................................................................... 4

Table 2: Data Rates for WiFi Standards ........................................................................................................ 7
Table 3: Wireshark WiFi Filters ................................................................................................................... 12

Tables of Figures

Figure 1: RSSI Values ................................................................................................................................... 4

Figure 2: List of Channels Used By APs ....................................................................................................... 5
Figure 3: Band Steering ................................................................................................................................ 6
Figure 4: MaintenanceDebugCapture .................................................................................................... 9
Figure 5: MaintenanceDebugPing/Traceroute ....................................................................................... 9
Figure 6: Maintenance  Syslog ................................................................................................................ 10
Figure 7: Core Dump Files .......................................................................................................................... 10
Figure 8: Acrylic WiFi Pro for Network Environement Analysis ................................................................... 11
Figure 9: Wireshark Wifi Trafic .................................................................................................................... 12

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WiFi Troubleshooting Guide
 WIFI PERFORMANCE

Signal Strength issue

Symptoms:

• I can connect to my WiFi, but my WiFi speed is much slower than supposed to be!

• Signal level indicator shows a weak reception . WiFi scan tools can help measuring signal

strength (Ex: WiFi Analyzer for AndroidTM).

Troubleshooting

For diagnosis, users need to verify the signal strength on both directions (AP to Client, and Client to AP).

1) Check the AP signal strength detected at the client station.

 You can run a protocol analyzer, Ex: Acrylic, for PC.

Figure 1: RSSI Values

*RSSI (Received Signal Strength Indicator) is a term used to measure the relative quality of a received
signal at a wireless device. Below are some reference values:

Table 1: RSSI Reference Values

Level (dBm) Description

-30 Excellent
-67 Good
Between -80 and -70 Acceptable

2) Check the client’s signal strength detected at the AP.

 View client’s signal strength detected by the AP on GWN web GUI under Access
PointEditUser, and check user RSSI level. For GWN, it’s 0-60, and the larger the better.

Solution

1) In case of multiple AP deployment, we recommend adding more APs for more coverage.
2) In case of single AP deployment, make sure to verify that TX power is set to High which is the default.

GWN Settings

Under the menu Access PointEditConfiguration, users can:

▪ Increase the Radio Power to have more coverage around the area.

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 ▪ Set the Channel Width (Lower channel width usually lead to better coverage, but usually device
with auto-negotiate to lower width when signal is weak).

Interference Issue

Because WiFi is using unlicensed bands, Interference can be a serious issue which affects the signal
transmission quality and performance. we can distinguish two sources of interference:

Non-WiFi Transmitters

For example, some HDMI wireless transmitters utilize almost 100% of the 2.4G channel, which makes it
unusable.

Troubleshooting

User detects low performance and can confirm the existence of a neighboring interference source using
spectrum analyzer.

Solution

1) Check if possible to remove the offending device or change its location.

2) Try to change your AP operating channel(s) (5Ghz band is cleaner and less vulnerable to
interference).

Other WiFi Networks

WiFi operates on two standard bands (2.4Ghz and 5Ghz), APs using the 2.4Ghs band are more prone to
co-channel interference when multiple access points are using the same channel at the same time.

Troubleshooting

Run a WiFi Analyzer (Ex: Acrylic), on PC at the problem location to find the list of APs using same channels.

Figure 2: List of Channels Used By APs

Solution

1) Rearrange WiFi channels to use less crowded channels (better use 5Ghz band if supported).
2) Reduce the transmission power of each AP in high density deployment.

GWN Settings

From the web GUI menu Access PointEditConfiguration. Users can:

▪ Reduce the Radio Power.

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WiFi Troubleshooting Guide
 ▪ Reduce channel width (because large channels have more chance of interference.)
▪ Set Channel selection to auto. This way, the AP will choose the least crowded channel when
wireless interface boots up.
▪ Disable Short Guard Interval. SGI should be used only in good and clean RF (Radio) environment.

Congestion Issue

WiFi has no congestion detection, and its mechanism is designed for avoiding collisions. That is when a
unit hears a packet exceeding its strength threshold on same transmission channel, even if it doesn’t belong
to its connecting SSID, this client will always wait until it detects a clear air interface to transmit data. And if
the wireless network is crowded then this waiting time can become long.

Troubleshooting

Users could compare ping results between wired and wireless parts of a network. And if the ping on the
wired network is good then frequent ping loss or long response time could indicate that the wireless part of
the network is suffering from congestion and some adjustments are required to alleviate the problem.

Solution

Users can reduce the density of the devices on one single transmission channel with few ways:

1) Enable band steering, this way the access point will send dual-band clients (WiFi clients that
support both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz frequencies) to connect via 5Gh channels which are less congested.

Figure 3: Band Steering

2) Increase the number of APs in the area and set them to none overlapping (i.e. channels 1, 6 & 11).

3) Limit the number of clients that are allowed to connect to one access point (if supported on the AP).

GWN Settings

The above suggestions can be activated from GWN as follow:

1) Enable band steering under Access PointEditConfigurationBand steering.
2) Users can limit the number of stations that can connect to one AP under Network
GroupEditWiFi Wireless Client Limit.

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WiFi Troubleshooting Guide
Low Data Rates Issue

Since its beginning, the WiFi standard was developed over the years to support more speed with the
following amendments:
Table 2: Data Rates for WiFi Standards

WiFi Standard Average data rate

802.11 (legacy) 1 Mbps

802.11b 11 Mbps

802.11g 54 Mbps

802.11n 600 Mbps

802.11ac 1300 Mbps

Legacy protocol devices, or low data rate devices take longer time when transmitting same amount of data.
Also, when the access point supports legacy clients, it will need to broadcast signaling beacon frames on
low speed protocol (ex: 802.11b) and lower the whole network performance.

Troubleshooting

To avoid this problem is more like to optimize your network

environment other than Troubleshooting the problem.

You can probably use a packet sniffer to check negotiated

data rates or you can use the following commands:

Windows command: netsh wlan show interfaces

Linux command: iwconfig

Solution

1) Disable legacy protocols like 802.11b (disabled by default on GWN).

2) Disable low data rates and select higher standards.

GWN Settings

User can select which norm to enable on the GWN as follow:

1) Make sure the option Access PointEditConfigurationAllow Legacy devices (802.11b) is
disabled (default setting).

2) Users can manage Upstream and Downstream bandwidth:

• Per SSID under Network GroupEditWiFiUpstream Rate/Downstream Rate
• Per client under ClientEditBandwidth Rules.

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 WIFI CONNECTION PROBLEM

Phenomenon:

I cannot connect to WiFi, there is an exclamation mark on my WiFi icon , or I am connected to my WiFi,
but cannot get onto the internet or a local network resource such as a local mail server.

Cannot Connect to WiFi

This issue is usually a less common in connection problem but it can be due to one of the following problems.

▪ Interference / signal strength.  check sections [Interference Issue] and [Signal Strength issue]

▪ Misconfiguration.

▪ Security settings / wrong credential.  double check the authentication credentials.

▪ Firmware problem.  make sure to always upgrade to latest fw version.

Cannot Connect to Network Resources

This issue usually happens with your wired network simultaneously, and is not related with your WiFi
network. We recommend that you troubleshoot your wired network first!

▪ Confirm that there are no client IP issues (DHCP problem, IP pool depletion) (most common)

▪ DNS issues (DNS server not reachable or not responding).

▪ Routing problem (Gateway is down).

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 ANALYSIS TOOLS

Packet Capture

GWN comes with built-in packet capture tool which can be accessed under
MaintenanceDebugCapture, and users will need to plug a USB device to one of the USB ports on the
backside of GWN AP. Using this menu you can start, stop and list the captured files along with the possibility
to filter the captured traffic.

Figure 4: MaintenanceDebugCapture

Traceroute/Ping

GWN has built-in ping and traceroute utilities to verify network connectivity, this can be accessed under
MaintenanceDebugPing/Traceroute.

Figure 5: MaintenanceDebugPing/Traceroute

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Syslog

Please collect syslog for development/product engineer to analyze. You can use one of the two following
methods:

Syslog on Web GUI

Users can get updated syslog messages from GWN76xx Web GUI under System
SettingsDebugSyslog. Syslog messages are by default refreshed each 15 second.

Using External Syslog server

Another option would be to point the GWN access point to send syslog messages to your syslog server, to
do so you can simply point it under the menu MaintenanceSyslog.

Figure 6: Maintenance  Syslog

GWN core dump file

In most of the cases, when a system crash happens on GWN AP. A core dump will be generated, and its
naming rule is core.$binary.$mac.$model.$fw_version.$hash.gz.
$binary part will usually tell the crashed process.
Please help collect and send this file under System SettingsDebugCore Files along with syslog to
development/product engineer for analysis purposes.

Figure 7: Core Dump Files

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Protocol Analyzers

Acrylic WiFi Pro

This tool will help you to capture and analysis your network environment.
Make sure you enable the channel hooping for both 2.4G and 5G and capture long enough for your
environment analysis. You can also set it to capture on designated channel to only capture continues packet
on that channel.
Saved pcap file can be imported by acrylic pro. If you need help with Troubleshooting, make sure you saved
the pcap file, so you can pass to others to review.
Below is a reference guide for Acrylic WiFi sniffer:
https://www.acrylicwifi.com/en/wlan-software/wifi-analyzer-acrylic-professional/wifi-network-scanner-
windows/

Figure 8: Acrylic WiFi Pro for Network Environement Analysis

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Wireshark

Wireshark is the well know packet sniffer which helps troubleshoot network issues in depth, by checking in
details the traffic between the network components, below is a list of useful filters that can be used for WiFi:
Table 3: Wireshark WiFi Filters

Frame type Filter

Management frames wlan.fc.type eq 0
Control frames wlan.fc.type eq 1
Data frames wlan.fc.type eq 2
Frame subtype Filter
Association request wlan.fc.type_subtype eq 0
Association response wlan.fc.type_subtype eq 1
Probe request wlan.fc.type_subtype eq 4
Probe response wlan.fc.type_subtype eq 5
Beacon wlan.fc.type_subtype eq 8
Authentication wlan.fc.type_subtype eq 11
De-authentication wlan.fc.type_subtype eq 12

Figure 9: Wireshark Wifi Trafic

RF Analyzers

Suggested Device: http://nutsaboutnets.com/models/ WiFi Combo for $270 USD

Reference

WLAN channels: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels

Wireshark 802.11 filters: wireshark_802.11_filters_-_reference_sheet

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