Saturday, October 6, 2018
Comparing my Proxim 8494 to my Sidekick
Wednesday, August 29, 2018
How to test your RADIUS configuration on the Cisco 5508 controller without having APs and clients.
How to test your RADIUS configuration on the Cisco 5508 controller without having APs and clients.
Authentication problems are pretty common when configuring the WLAN controller to authenticate users on a WLAN against a RADIUS server.
When configuring the WLAN controller, you have to create the WLAN itself on the controller, and then create the RADIUS Authentication and Accounting configurations as well. This is where most of the problems lie. If the RADIUS keys do not match, the users will not be able to get on the WLAN.
Create the WLAN according to your requirements:
Create the RADIUS Authentication and Accounting configurations:
Go back to the WLAN and add/select the AAA servers you just created:
With the WLAN completely configured to your requirements (meaning, configure the other requirements on the other tabs for the WLAN) it is time to test. One way would be to use an AP and a client and try to join the WLAN. However, if you are remote, and configuring the WLANs for future deployments, not being onsite presents a challenge when testing the RADIUS configuration on the WLAN Controller.
This document assumes you are comfortable with command line access into the WLAN Controller.
We are going to use the “test aaa radius” command to test the scenario mentioned in the paragraph above. We are going to use a fictitious username and password of “juser” & “mypassword”. Since we just created the WLAN, we know it is WLAN ID #5, and there is no AP Group, so we will use “default-group”. We just created the RADIUS server configuration, and its server index is #1.
Here is the syntax of the command:
Test aaa radius username juser password mypassword wlan-id 5 apgroup default-group server-index 1
Next, you have to issue a command, “test aaa show radius” to see if everything is working correctly: (your session will tell you the command to issue, as seen here:
Here’s a successful authentication test output:
(Cisco Controller) >test aaa show radius
Radius Test Request
Wlan-id........................................ 5
ApGroup Name................................... default-group
Server Index................................... 1
Radius Test Response
Radius Server Retry Status
------------- ----- ------
192.168.100.100 1 Success
Authentication Response:
Result Code: Success
Here’s an unsuccessful authentication test output:
(Cisco Controller) >test aaa show radius
Radius Test Request
Wlan-id........................................ 5
ApGroup Name................................... default-group
Server Index................................... 1
Radius Test Response
Radius Server Retry Status
------------- ----- ------
192.168.100.100 1 Success
Authentication Response:
Result Code: Authentication failed (this is wrong username/password)
Here’s an unsuccessful authentication test output because controller cannot reach server:
(Cisco Controller) >test aaa show radius
Radius Test Request
Wlan-id........................................ 5
ApGroup Name................................... default-group
Server Index................................... 1
Radius Test Response
Radius Server Retry Status
------------- ----- ------
192.168.100.100 6 No response received from server (this is self-explanatory)
Authentication Response:
Result Code: No response received from server (this is self-explanatory)
Here’s how to test RADIUS Fallback:
Make sure it is configured:
Make sure both authentication servers are listed in the WLAN profile
Then go back to where we were in testing:
(Cisco Controller) >test aaa show radius
Radius Test Request
Wlan-id........................................ 5
ApGroup Name................................... default-group
Server Index................................... 1
Radius Test Response
Radius Server Retry Status
------------- ----- ------
192.168.100.100 6 No response received from server
192.168.100.101 1 Success
Authentication Response:
Result Code: Success
Tuesday, July 24, 2018
How to remedy the non-digitally signed driver issue with AirMagnet and Windows 10
If you’re a WLAN Engineer, you likely have a lot of Wireless tools in your arsenal. At the last wireless conference I went to, I took the CWAP course, and we installed Omnipeek on our laptops. Many of us had an issue where we had to configure our laptops to be able to install a driver that was not digitally signed.
One of my tools is AirMagnet Wi-Fi Analyzer. I have been upgrading my toolbox and decided to install the software on my new machine, which is a Dell with Windows 10 on it. I downloaded the same old multi-adapter kit drivers that I had done in the past, but this time the Proxim 8494 adapter was not seen when I launched it. I looked in the Device Manager and found the dreaded exclamation point.
I remembered back to the CWAP class, and that we had a similar issue. I tried the “fix” that we had done in class to no avail. I tried everything that Google told me to do. Still nothing. Admitting defeat, I called Netscout support and explained my issue.
It turns out there is a digitally signed driver that will make this problem go away! The gal on the other end of the conversation pointed out to me that there is a digitally signed driver on the Downloads page. It doesn’t say “digitally signed” anywhere on the description, but it does state Windows 10. I downloaded and installed it and it fixed the issue. The digitally flavored driver to download is the one my red arrow is pointing to.
Saturday, July 21, 2018
Outdoor GPS site survey - using Ekahau ESS/GPS & Venvolt MK1
Most WLAN Engineers I know don’t have to do outdoor APoS surveys very often, however when you need to, this post might come in handy.
The last time we did an outdoor survey, we used a lightweight Cisco 1532i series access point, a small PoE+ switch, a Cisco 2504 WLAN controller and a fairly large UPS to power it all. We learned that an AC inverter plugged into a 12v power outlet in a vehicle just didn’t work for us and would not charge the UPS when driving from point A to point B. We had to look for power outlets and drag long extension cords around – which might get damaged if people drive over them.
This time, we changed it up a bit. Our task was to test a Cisco 1532e series access point with an external directional antenna. For this, we purchased the new Ventev Venvolt MK1 power supply that can supply PoE+ (802.3af & 802.3at) power to an autonomous AP that requires 802.3at power – for hours on a single charge. We loaded the autonomous code on to the access point and then configured it like you would an autonomous AP during an APoS survey.
We used the same old survey cart and telescoping pole that we always use, mounted everything like you would expect it to see on an outdoor wall or pole, and plugged it into the new Venvolt MK1. A few minutes later, the AP was online and ready to go. Here’s what the rig looked like:
We configured our Ekahau ESS site survey software to do an outdoor survey. There are a few HowTo’s floating around on how to do it. I must admit, we spent the previous day getting ESS to work with the GPS adapter. We had to download drivers, etcetera, and go through all the motions to get it working. It wasn’t simply plugging in the GPS receiver and running out the door. That said, spend the time to get all of that working first. I used a BU-353 GPS receiver, if you are wondering. Set an hour or two aside the day before (or longer) and get that working. Do not wait until you are in the parking lot with your AP up high on a pole and then decide to embark on that task. You might need access to the Internet to get the drivers, etc. Familiarize yourself with how to use ESS with a GPS outdoors – figure out how to start and stop the survey, etc. Practice with it at home if you live in a quiet neighborhood, or in a park, or somewhere else where someone won’t call the police on you.
When you are setting up your project, you need three locations in a triangle on your “floor plan” before you start surveying. We were indoors when creating the project, and we figured out that when looking at maps.google.com, it was giving us the coordinates in Decimal degrees, and ESS wanted Degrees, minutes and seconds (DMS).
We searched around and found this website to convert decimal degrees to DMS: https://www.latlong.net/lat-long-dms.html I believe if you install Google Earth on your laptop, it will give you the requirements you need in the format ESS wants. We didn’t want to go that route – just our preference.
We also used the same website where we got the “floor plan” to measure the distance between two corner parking spaces, and then used that measurement in our project. Worked beautifully.
I cannot stress enough to set everything up before you go out on-site to do your survey!
With our project ready to go in ESS this is what we looked like:
Our first “driveabout” was to see how much energy would be behind the panel antenna. We aimed the antenna to the south, put the GPS and Wi-Fi adapter on the roof of the car and started driving around. As we expected, we had some RF propagation behind the panel antenna, seen below:
Why is this important? Keep in mind all the channels that we use/don’t use, and if this antenna is on a pole, it is susceptible to interference from that direction. Since our application will be pole mounted, we mounted it on a pole to see what might happen in the installed environment. If we were going to install this antenna on a brick wall, we would have parked our survey rig up against a brick wall and walked the other side.
For our next driveabout, we moved the survey rig to an area that had a row of small trees between the rows of parking. I think it is rather obvious where the trees are:
The point of this is to see how far the 5 GHz signal will propagate outside, when impeded by a number of small trees. That distance is about 100 feet. The fewer the trees, the farther the signal goes. We have to keep in mind that these trees are going to likely grow in the future, so if we were covering this parking lot, we would have to plan for that. One thing to note – having trees is not necessarily a bad thing. Having attenuation outdoors keep your cell sizes smaller – all part of a carefully crafted RF plan.
Our third test spot was closer to the road that is more like a long hallway in a building with less attenuation. As you can see from the graphic below, the signal traveled almost twice as far in that spot:
From this testing, we learned a few things:
- We now have a good feeling of how the antenna’s RF propagates.
- Height and antenna down-tilt affects the size and shape of the cell.
- Trees attenuate RF which affects the cell size.
- We measured the 2.4 GHz cell size, which was larger, but won’t be using it for the deployment and will be turned off.
- Outdoor site surveys attract Police cars.
- *Keep in mind the transmit power and channel selections may increase/decrease the cell size.
To sum it all up – a little planning at the beginning of an outdoor deployment may save a lot of time and money in the long run, since installing outdoor Wi-Fi gear can be expensive.
Monday, July 9, 2018
A Healthcare WLAN build from start to finish - and why it should be built as designed
Saturday, July 7, 2018
Cisco 3802i series power levels
For those of you in Cisco shops and need to know the power level of the access point when on different channels, this post is for you.
This is a list of the Cisco 3802i power levels per Channel scraped from the WLAN controller.
Channel 36
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 8
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 22 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 19 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 16 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 13 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 10 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 7 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 4 dBm
Tx Power Level 8 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 40
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 8
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 22 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 19 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 16 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 13 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 10 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 7 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 4 dBm
Tx Power Level 8 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 44
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 8
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 22 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 19 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 16 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 13 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 10 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 7 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 4 dBm
Tx Power Level 8 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 48
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 8
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 22 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 19 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 16 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 13 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 10 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 7 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 4 dBm
Tx Power Level 8 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 52
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 6
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 17 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 14 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 11 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 8 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 5 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 56
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 18 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 15 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 12 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 9 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 6 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 3 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 60
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 18 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 15 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 12 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 9 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 6 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 3 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 64
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 20 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 17 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 14 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 11 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 8 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 5 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 100
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 6
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 17 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 14 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 11 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 8 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 5 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 104
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 18 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 15 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 12 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 9 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 6 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 3 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 108
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 18 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 15 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 12 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 9 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 6 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 3 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 112
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 19 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 16 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 13 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 10 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 7 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 4 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 116
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 18 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 15 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 12 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 9 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 6 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 3 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 120
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 18 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 15 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 12 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 9 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 6 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 3 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 124
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 18 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 15 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 12 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 9 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 6 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 3 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 128
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 18 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 15 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 12 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 9 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 6 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 3 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 132
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 18 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 15 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 12 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 9 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 6 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 3 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 136
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 20 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 17 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 14 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 11 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 8 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 5 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 140
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 20 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 17 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 14 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 11 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 8 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 5 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 144
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 20 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 17 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 14 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 11 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 8 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 5 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 149
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 7
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 19 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 16 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 13 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 10 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 7 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 4 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 153
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 8
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 23 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 20 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 17 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 14 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 11 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 8 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 5 dBm
Tx Power Level 8 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 157
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 8
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 23 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 20 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 17 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 14 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 11 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 8 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 5 dBm
Tx Power Level 8 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 161
Tx Power
Num Of Supported Power Levels ............. 8
Tx Power Level 1 .......................... 23 dBm
Tx Power Level 2 .......................... 20 dBm
Tx Power Level 3 .......................... 17 dBm
Tx Power Level 4 .......................... 14 dBm
Tx Power Level 5 .......................... 11 dBm
Tx Power Level 6 .......................... 8 dBm
Tx Power Level 7 .......................... 5 dBm
Tx Power Level 8 .......................... 2 dBm
Channel 165
Not supported