SM Linking & Unlinking

Hi. We have a tech out in the field right now..   so when his SM tries to connect to the AP, this is what we see on the AP side.  It connects  for a few seconds and then disconnects, and his signals are -95 / -63

So, I'm guessing that means that the authentication is wrong somehow?  That the WPA2 key is wrong, or something is set to Open when it should be WPA2 or something like that.  Would that be what's happening?

What is your distance on your AP?

We are about 8 KM.  There are a bunch of other clients right in that same area, all about mid to low 60's signals.  We have client up to 21 KM on this sector.  

and you double checked the authentication?

Hello,

What do you see in the SM side at Monitor->Wireless?

http://community.cambiumnetworks.com/t5/ePMP-Troubleshooting/Network-Entry-State-Definitions-and-Courses-of-Action/m-p/40712#U40712

Regards

I believe it was complaining about GPF's 


We ended up giving up, re-installed them with the our older (non-Cambium) gear, that connected right up at -61
It's possible that the Cambium Sector is just that much 'better' than the KP Performance sector, and even though they are pointed exactly the same, the KP antenna might be wider, and the Cambium might be shielded and issolated from where we are located to the side a bit. 

I'm not sure but the Tech ran out of daylight and so repaced it with StarOS gear and it connected right up.  We'll go back and try again another day.

Hello,

GPF is the first management message in the TDD frame which helps the SM sync up and be able to access the system. As other management messages, it is sent in lower modulations (MCS1 or MCS0) so it can be "heard" easier by the SM.

If the SM is at the fringe of the sector, with the possibility of the signal from an adjacent sector also in the area, you could try pre-populating the preferred AP info and select the operating channel, to prevent the SM from scanning other channels, and see if that helps the SM "lock up" to the desired AP faster.

Regards

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OK, well we will have to go back in January and re-try then.  It was a surprising result since our StarOS gear connected right up and passes 25 Mbit to the client. However, I'm suspecting that the Cambium AP & Sector is 90* with fairly sharp edges and the StarOS AP & KP Performance sector probably just has a side lobe out there that connects this client just fine.

We will go out again after Christmas and we'll give it another go.

Hello,


I'm assuming you are using 5GHz equipment. Which Cambium sector are you using?
The older ePMP sectors (C050900D003A, C050900D002A) or the new 120/90 (C050900D021A) sector? Just wondering if the difference in electrical downtilt between the antennas could be part of the issue, unless you are already taking that into account.

KP Performance antennas seem to have around 1deg downtilt, while Cambiums will have either no electrical downtilt or 2deg, depending on the model.


Regards

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Must ask , are you refering to StarOS as firmware running on ePMP or physical AP ? 


@yagobe wrote:

Must ask , are you refering to StarOS as firmware running on ePMP or physical AP ? 


I was referring to a real StarOS AP.  We have StarOS on this tower with KP Performance sectors, and then under that we have ePMP AP's with the Cambium Sectors.  On this client, we were trying to switch them from StarOS CPE to Cambium CPE.  That normally works great - but on this client, it wouldn't link and stay linked to the Cambium AP. 


When I first posted, I was thinking it was due to some config issue - encryption mismatch or something, and I thought I'd ask and someone could point me in the right direction so that I could tell the field tech what he was doing wrong. I ended up driving out (you know, to show the idiot installer what he was doing wrong) and I couldn't really get a reliable signal either.

SO, my best suspect now is that the Cambium Sector is just that much better at isolating the sides - and we were about 45 degrees to the side of this sector.  We ended up putting a new StarOS unit back up there and the client connects well with that, and we'll re-visit after Christmas / New Years to really figure out what that is.  I think it's just that the Cambium sectors are 90* and drop off really well on the edges, and I think that KP sector is 90-120 with more mushy edges I think.


@yagobe wrote:

Must ask , are you refering to StarOS as firmware running on ePMP or physical AP ? 


But I'd LOVE LOVE to see Elevate for StarOS CPE's.  :)  That would really make my life simpler.  I've got ~2,000 CPE's in the field and if I could pay $70,000 and 'elevate' them all, I'd be a happy camper for sure!