MSM765zl wireless n + radius issue

[Bradh1982]

Hi All,

We are currently testing a MSM765zl in a 5406zl chasis with E-MSM460 AP's.

After a week of setting it up, i have things working, two VSC's one for main users using radius PEAP for user based auth only, which works fine, but we only get wireless g connection to via this method. I have a second VSC setup using WPA2 for testing, and Wireless N works fine with that VSC all be it 72mb only..

Anyone else had this problem?

Cheers

Brad

[DougB-CCCP]

300Mbit N connections require a few things:

-WPA2 with AES encryption enabled. WPA with TKIP will not suffice.
-Max data rates selected (MCS15)
-40MHz channel width. Do not enable this on the 2.4GHz radio if there is more than one access point in the vicinity. Use the 5.8GHz radio, and preferrably enable Band Steering
-N needs to be enabled on the radio. Verify it is so.
-Make sure the VSC is enabled on both radios via the VSC bindings.

It could also be a client driver problem. Make sure the drivers are the latest on the client.

[Stephen Swain]

> PEAP for user based auth only, which works fine, but we only get wireless g connection to via this method

I find given certain SSID and security method, applied to both radios, clients will mostly choose the better signal which is by default the 2.4Ghz range. Clients will behave in a non-standard way when dealing with AP selection, I can't say I've ever seen it work well.

The workaround is possibly to use band steering (new feature on certain APs only), or the cludgy option is to have the 5.8Ghz capable clients try an SSID in the 5.8 Ghz range first.

It's a bit difficult for band steering with the older APs. :(

Regards,

Steve.

[Stephen Swain]

> -WPA2 with AES encryption enabled. WPA with TKIP will not suffice.

I've just found out that "WPA (TKIP)" alone is not supported on MSM460s. I've had to choose "WPA or WPA2" or "WPA2 only" as the only options that will work - otherwise I get an "incompatible" error and sync doesn't complete.

When I check this link, it certifies WPA as well as WPA2.

http://certifications.wi-fi.org/pdf_certificate.php?cid=WFA10228

I'm kind of stumped to the why of this one - some older client devices don't work well on mixed mode, hence the reason why we continue to need to support the most compatible version by itself, i.e. WPA (TKIP).

It had something to do with RC4 based chipsets and firmware dealing with multiple security advertisements on a single SSID. I remember facing this challenge on Cisco APs many years ago, and having to back off from mixed mode and return to a single security option like WPA.

So in effect, I'm finding the MSM460s actually less functional than the older and more error prone MSM422s.

Totally stumped by this move.

Regards,

Steve.

[Bradh1982]

hi Guys,

Ended up in a conference call with HP yesterday which seems to have cleared up some issues.
Had to use WPA2-Enterprise with AES, and enabled band steering (460's support it). 

On 2.4ghz N we wont see any more than 72mbit to clients, at 5ghz N we would see up to 300mbit. (Glad i wasnt the one to give the go ahead to purchase the 174 netbooks....).

Thank you all for your input, all steered me in the right direction :)

Cheers