Leaf APs on a WDS Network Fail to Go Online
Symptom
Leaf APs on a WDS network fail to go online.
Possible Causes
- WDS links are not established properly.
- The root AP is offline.
- Leaf APs are not imported.
- The WDS whitelist, key, or WDS role is incorrectly configured on the AC.
- The WDS distance parameter is incorrectly configured.
- The signal strength is incorrect.
Troubleshooting Procedure
- Check whether a WDS link is established on the AC.
- V200R006 and later versions:
<AC> display wlan wds link all Info: WDS link does not exist.
- V200R005:
<AC> display bridge-link all Info: Bridge-link does not exist.
If the 5 GHz frequency band is used for bridging and radar channels are configured, it may take a long time for the leaf AP on the WDS network to go online. In this case, run this command multiple times to check whether a link is established or whether the link is stable.
This step helps locate the fault. If no link is established, the WDS whitelist profile may be incorrectly configured. If the WDS link is established intermittently, the WDS link is unstable, indicating that zero touch provisioning is normal. The fault may occur after the configuration is delivered. Continue with the following steps to rectify the fault.
- V200R006 and later versions:
- Check whether the root AP is online.
On a WDS network, a leaf AP can connect to a root AP only after the root AP goes online. To determine whether an AP is a root AP, query the MAC address or ID of the root AP on the WDS network.
# Find the bound WDS profile based on the MAC address or ID of the AP.
[AC-wlan-view] display ap config-info ap-id 10 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- AP MAC : 8038-bc1b-8840 AP SN : 21023581099WG1000056 AP type : AP5030DN AP name : ap-yuan AP group : default Country code : CN -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ...... Radio 1 Radio 5G profile : default VAP profile : Mesh profile : WDS profile : wds-root
# When the bound WDS profile is found, check the current role.
[AC-wlan-view] display wds-profile name wds-root -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WDS name : HUAWEI-WLAN-WDS WDS work mode : root Security profile : default-wds DHCP trust port : enable ......
# After confirming the root AP, check whether the root AP goes online normally.
[AC-wlan-view] display ap all | include 8038-bc1b-8840 Total AP information: idle : idle [10] nor : normal [2] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ID MAC Name Group IP Type State STA Uptime ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ 10 8038-bc1b-8840 ap-yuan default 10.1.1.253 AP5030DN nor 0 6H:21M:21S ...... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Total: 12
If the root AP fails to go online, locate the fault by referring to the AP login failure.
- Check whether leaf APs are imported.
On a WDS network, leaf APs connect to the network in wireless mode. Leaf APs can go online on the AC only when the AC has leaf AP information. Therefore, you need to check whether leaf AP information exists on the AC.
[AC-wlan-view] display ap all | include 8038-bc1b-8820 Total AP information: idle : idle [10] nor : normal [3] ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ID MAC Name Group IP Type State STA Uptime ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3 8038-bc1b-8820 8038-bc1b-8820 default 10.1.1.252 AP5030DN fault 0 6M:33S ...... ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total: 13
If no leaf AP is imported, run the ap-id ap-id ap-mac ap-mac ap-sn ap-sn command in the WLAN view to manually add leaf APs.
- Check whether the AC configuration is correct.
- Check whether the WDS function is enabled and whether the whitelist function is configured.
Run the ap-id command to enter the AP view or the ap-group command to enter the AP group view, and run the display this command in the AP view or AP group view to check the configuration.
<AC> system-view [AC] wlan [AC-wlan-view] ap-id 25 [AC-wlan-ap-25] display this # radio 0 radio-2g-profile huawei vap-profile huawei wlan 1 channel 20mhz 1 radio 1 radio-5g-profile huawei vap-profile huawei wlan 1 wds-profile huawei-root wds-whitelist-profile huawei channel 20mhz 161 # return
- If no WDS profile is configured and the WDS function is not enabled, configure a WDS profile. If the whitelist function is not enabled, you are advised to enable this function. In WDS networking, if the whitelist function is not enabled, any AP can establish a WDS link with the root AP, which may cause the network to become uncontrollable.
- The root AP or middle AP needs to be configured with the MAC address of the peer AP. Therefore, it is recommended that the WDS function and the whitelist function be enabled on the leaf AP.
- A leaf AP can go online only when it works on the same radio as the root AP.
The leaf AP also needs to be enabled with the WDS function and the whitelist function. It is recommended that the leaf AP be enabled with the WDS function because the MAC address of the peer AP needs to be configured on the root AP or middle AP. If this function is not configured, the leaf AP can set up a link with the root AP or middle AP.
[AC-wlan-view] ap-id 3 [AC-wlan-ap-3] radio 1 [AC-wlan-radio-3/1] display this # radio-5g-profile huawei wds-profile huawei-leaf wds-whitelist-profile huawei # return
- Check whether the whitelist is configured correctly.
# Check the configuration of the WDS whitelist profile.
<AC> system-view [AC] wlan [AC-wlan-view] wds-whitelist-profile name huawei [AC-wlan-wds-whitelist-prof-huawei] display this # peer-ap mac 8038-bc1b-8860 peer-ap mac 8038-bc1b-8820 # return
# Check whether the MAC address of the leaf AP is contained in the whitelist on the root AP. If the MAC address of the leaf AP is not contained in the whitelist, add it to the whitelist.
[AC-wlan-view] wds-whitelist-profile name huawei [AC-wlan-wds-whitelist-prof-huawei] peer-ap mac 8038-bc1b-8860
- Check whether the WDS mode of the AP is configured correctly.
<AC> system-view [AC] wlan [AC-wlan-view] wds-profile name huawei-root [AC-wlan-wds-prof-huawei-root] display this # wds-name CHINAHUAWEI wds-mode root # return
If the WDS mode of the AP is incorrect, configure the correct WDS mode. In V200R006C10 and later versions, an AP works in leaf mode by default. Therefore, the root AP must be configured to work in root mode.
[AC-wlan-view] wds-profile name huawei-root [AC-wlan-wds-prof-huawei-root] wds-mode root
After changing the WDS mode (root, middle, or leaf) of an AP, restart the AP for the configuration to take effect. Otherwise, the AP may fail to register.
- Check whether the WDS security profile is configured correctly.# Check the WDS security profile bound to the AP.
<AC> system-view [AC] wlan [AC-wlan-view] wds-profile name huawei-root [AC-wlan-wds-prof-huawei-root] display this # security-profile huawei-wds wds-name CHINAHUAWEI wds-mode root # return
# Check the encryption mode.
<AC> system-view [AC] wlan [AC-wlan-view] security-profile name huawei-wds [AC-wlan-sec-prof-huawei-wds] security wpa2 psk pass-phrase huawei@123 aes Warning: This action may cause service interruption. Continue?[Y/N] y
The WDS security profile must use the WPA2+PSK+AES encryption mode, and the root AP and leaf AP must use the same encryption key.
- Check whether the WDS name is configured correctly.
# Check the WDS name.
<AC> system-view [AC] wlan [AC-wlan-view] wds-profile name huawei-root [AC-wlan-wds-prof-huawei-root] display this # security-profile huawei-wds wds-name CHINAHUAWEI wds-mode root # return
# On a WDS network, the root AP and leaf APs must have the same WDS name. Otherwise, the WDS link is unstable. To configure the WDS name, run the following command.
[AC-wlan-wds-prof-huawei-root] wds-name CHINAHUAWEI [AC-wlan-wds-prof-huawei-root] display this # security-profile huawei-wds wds-name CHINAHUAWEI wds-mode root # return
- Check whether the WDS function is enabled and whether the whitelist function is configured.
- Check the antennas.
Check whether the antenna model is correct and whether the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz antenna is correctly selected.
- Check whether the radio coverage distance parameter is configured correctly.
In a WDS system, the distance between two APs differs. Therefore, the period of time during which an AP waits for ACK packets differs greatly during data transmission. You can adjust a proper timeout interval to improve data transmission efficiency between APs and prevent packet loss that may cause online failures of leaf APs.
# Check the radio coverage distance parameter.
<AC> display ap config-info ap-id 1 Radio 0 ...... Coverage distance(100 m) : 3 ...... Radio 1 ...... Coverage distance(100 m) : 3 ......
# If the configured radio coverage distance parameter is improper, for example, the actual distance between the root AP and leaf AP is 600 m but the radio coverage distance parameter is set to 300 m, change the radio coverage distance parameter to 600 m. Use the following commands to change the radio coverage distance parameter:
[AC-wlan-view] ap-id 25 [AC-wlan-ap-25] radio 1 [AC-wlan-radio-25/1] coverage distance 6 [AC-wlan-radio-25/1] display this # radio-5g-profile huawei vap-profile huawei wlan 1 wds-profile huawei-root wds-whitelist-profile huawei channel 20mhz 161 coverage distance 6 # return
- The unit of the radio coverage distance parameter is 100 m. For example, value 5 indicates 500 m.
- The radio coverage distance parameter needs to be configured on both the root AP and leaf AP.
- Check whether the signal strength on the WDS network is proper.
# Check whether the signal strength from the root AP is in an appropriate range.
[AC-wlan-view] display radio ap-id 25 CH/BW:Channel/Bandwidth CE:Current EIRP (dBm) ME:Max EIRP (dBm) CU:Channel utilization ----------------------------------------------------------------------- AP ID Name RfID Band Type Status CH/BW CE/ME STA CU ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 25 ap-yuan 0 2.4G bgn on 1/20M 29/29 1 40% 25 ap-yuan 1 5G an11ac on 161/20M 30/30 0 4% ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Total:2
# If the power of the root AP is not set to the maximum value, change it to the maximum value. Run the following commands to change the power to the maximum value (5 GHz radio is used as an example):
<AC> system-view [AC] wlan [AC-wlan-view] ap-id 25 [AC-wlan-ap-25] radio 1 [AC-wlan-radio-25/1] eirp 127 [AC-wlan-radio-25/1] display this # radio-5g-profile huawei vap-profile huawei wlan 1 wds-profile huawei-root wds-whitelist-profile huawei channel 20mhz 161 erip 127 coverage distance 10 # return
# If the link still cannot be set up after the maximum power is configured, perform the following operations. For an outdoor AP, check whether the AP antennas are correctly installed, for example, whether the antenna port is fastened and whether two APs' antennas are aligned. Check whether the two APs' antennas are aligned by referring to Antenna Alignment.
- Check whether a loop occurs on the network.
Check whether WDS links are configured on the two radios of the same AP. If WDS links are configured on both radios, a loop occurs on the network, causing the device to go offline. In this case, delete the WDS configuration from a radio.
Find the bound WDS profile based on the MAC address or ID of the AP.
[AC-wlan-view] display ap config-info ap-id 10 ... Radio 0 ... WDS profile : xxxx ... Radio 1 ... WDS profile : xxxx ...
- Use other methods to restore the network.
If the preceding configurations are correct but the leaf AP on the WDS network cannot go online, perform the following operations to rectify the fault.
- Change the channel of the root AP to prevent strong channel interference or ensure that the leaf AP supports the channel configured on the root AP.
[AC-wlan-view] ap-id 10 [AC-wlan-ap-10] radio 1 [AC-wlan-radio-10/1] channel 20mhz 157
- Restart the root AP.
[AC-wlan-view] ap-reset ap-id 10
- Change the channel of the root AP to prevent strong channel interference or ensure that the leaf AP supports the channel configured on the root AP.
- Collect fault information.
- Check AC version information.
[AC-diagnose] vrbd
- Check the AC configuration.
<AC> display current-configuration
- Check AP version information.
[Huawei-diagnose] vrbd
- Collect AP information by one click.
<Huawei> display diagnostic-information saved-file <Huawei> display diagnostic-information
- Collect kernel logs of the AP.
[Huawei-diagnose] display kernel-logbuf record-range 1 [Huawei-diagnose] display kernel-logbuf record-range 2 [Huawei-diagnose] display kernel-logbuf record-range 3
If the problem persists for a long time, export logs on the AP or AC as follows.
<fce3-3cb6-47e0> save logfile [fce3-3cb6-47e0-diagnose] save diag-logfile <fce3-3cb6-47e0> cd logfile/ <fce3-3cb6-47e0> dir Directory of flash:/logfile/ Idx Attr Size(Byte) Date Time(LMT) FileName 0 -ro- 1,113,850 Aug 31 2015 11:26:57 2015-08-31.12-29-00.dblg 1 -ro- 1,113,970 Aug 31 2015 19:45:02 2015-08-31.23-14-59.dblg 2 -ro- 1,113,920 May 06 2016 08:42:07 2016-05-06.08-47-07.dblg 3 -ro- 1,113,472 May 11 2016 16:19:54 2016-06-09.17-15-52.dblg 4 -ro- 1,114,104 Jun 14 2016 17:55:56 2016-06-14.18-29-52.dblg 5 -ro- 1,114,031 Jun 14 2016 22:22:06 2016-06-14.22-54-08.dblg 6 -ro- 1,113,835 Jun 17 2016 17:29:24 2016-06-17.18-08-54.dblg 7 -ro- 1,113,843 Jun 17 2016 20:34:50 2016-06-17.20-47-59.dblg 8 -ro- 1,113,743 Jun 22 2016 20:06:19 2016-06-22.20-50-06.dblg 9 -ro- 1,113,271 Jun 28 2016 16:58:37 2016-06-28.19-58-45.dblg 10 -ro- 1,113,494 Jun 29 2016 17:33:23 2016-06-29.18-32-36.dblg 11 -ro- 1,113,824 Jun 30 2016 01:22:38 2016-06-30.02-19-21.dblg 12 -ro- 1,113,773 Jun 30 2016 09:10:31 2016-06-30.10-09-39.dblg 13 -ro- 1,125,418 Jun 30 2016 09:26:03 2016-06-30.12-25-03.log 14 -ro- 1,113,801 Jul 11 2016 09:59:38 2016-07-11.10-13-26.dblg 15 -ro- 1,113,732 Jul 13 2016 15:41:02 2016-07-13.15-54-31.dblg 16 -ro- 1,129,531 Jul 13 2016 19:55:33 2016-07-15.10-37-46.dblg 17 -ro- 1,113,787 Nov 26 2018 21:54:45 2018-11-27.01-02-52.dblg 18 -ro- 1,113,604 Nov 27 2018 22:56:38 2018-11-28.00-20-24.dblg 19 -ro- 1,113,723 Nov 28 2018 07:37:57 2018-11-28.08-40-58.dblg 20 -ro- 1,113,744 Nov 28 2018 15:14:40 2018-11-28.16-10-55.dblg 21 -rw- 384,570 Jul 19 2016 10:07:11 log.dblg 22 -rw- 681,533 Jul 19 2016 10:06:57 log.log 11,144 KB total (1,512 KB free)You must log in to the AP to collect AP information.
In V200R008C10 and later versions, you only need to run the save logfile command. After the logs are saved, use FTP or TFTP to export the log files with the extension name .log and .dblg in the corresponding time period.
Information collection is mainly performed in the diagnostic view. To enter the diagnostic view, run the following commands.
<Huawei> system-view [Huawei] diagnose
- Check AC version information.
