Poor WiFi connection in Intel AX210,AX211

[Hiro]

Hello everyone.

Thank you for all your great tips.

We are currently experiencing the title trouble in the following environment.

Controller: vSZ-H (ver. 5.2.2.0.317)
AP: Ruckus R650 (ver. 5.2.1.0.698)

Client PC environment: Windows11
WiFi driver: Intel AX210
(Latest ver. as of 2/22/2023)

Authentication method: 802.1X EAP (WPA2)

The symptom is that I cannot connect to 802.11ax and 802.11ac WiFi.

We have investigated here and found the following.

After disabling WiFi6E, the authentication succeeded. →After that, after updating BIOS, I can't connect even if I enable or disable it.

When I set the authentication method to OPEN (WPA2,WPA3-Mix), the authentication succeeded.

I want to keep 802.1X EAP (WPA2) as the authentication method.
Do you have any ideas as to the cause or how to fix this? Any and all are welcome.

Thank you again for all your help.

[mark_pledl · Accepted solution]

Dear Hiro,

there are 2 possibilities for you.

6.1.1.0.595 supports AP Zones with 3.6.2.0.795 there you can run R700 with even new WIFi 6E APs on same Controller but in different Zones.

6.1.0.0.935 has some nasty bugs and you need to run it with ap firmware 6.1.0.0.9240 that you cannot get APs with broken Firmware field in Controller. In that state AP is unusable and blocking, better causing failing API requests if the AP is included in request. No R700 possible.

5.2.2.0.1563 is best solution for you or you stick with 5.2.2.0.317 and consider to use 5.2.2.0.2064 AP firmware (downloadable as Ap patch and is a 5-10 minutes things install it). It will bring R650 some good benefits and fix bugs that can cause a AP reboot)

I am glad that your issue seems to have been solved even with 5.2.2.0.317 already.

Best regards,

Mark.

[mark_pledl · Accepted solution]

Dear Hiro,

there are 2 possibilities for you.

6.1.1.0.595 supports AP Zones with 3.6.2.0.795 there you can run R700 with even new WIFi 6E APs on same Controller but in different Zones.

6.1.0.0.935 has some nasty bugs and you need to run it with ap firmware 6.1.0.0.9240 that you cannot get APs with broken Firmware field in Controller. In that state AP is unusable and blocking, better causing failing API requests if the AP is included in request. No R700 possible.

5.2.2.0.1563 is best solution for you or you stick with 5.2.2.0.317 and consider to use 5.2.2.0.2064 AP firmware (downloadable as Ap patch and is a 5-10 minutes things install it). It will bring R650 some good benefits and fix bugs that can cause a AP reboot)

I am glad that your issue seems to have been solved even with 5.2.2.0.317 already.

Best regards,

Mark.

[Hiro]

Dear Mark.

Thank you for your specific solution.
So by installing 6.1.1.0.595, I can create a zone with 3.6.2.0.795 applied for R700, in addition to the AP patch I have applied to R650?

That would be great. I will try this method first.

If the problem occurs, I will revert to a backup and then try to update to 5.2.2.0.1563.

[mark_pledl · Accepted solution]

Dear Hiro,

you need to upgrade to 5.2.2.0.1563 anyway before you will be able to upgrade to 6.1.0.0.959 (had  mixed up numbers). Check upgrade guide

https://support.ruckuswireless.com/documents/4376-smartzone-6-1-1-lt-ga-smartzone-upgrade-guide-sz10...

From my point of view you need to do it like this:

Step 1: Upgrade to 5.2.2.0.1563.
Step 2: Upload AP patch 3.6.2.0.795 and create a zone with it and move all R700 there. 
Step 3: Upgrade your 5.2.1.x zone to 5.2.2.0.2069 firmware
Step 4: Upgrade your SZ to 6.1.1.0.959.
Step 5: Change firmware from 5.2.2.0.2069 to 6.1.1.0.1274 (optional if you expiriance problems stay with 5.2.2.0.2069)

Hope this helps you.

Br,

Mark. 

PS: Only 3.6.2 and 5.2.2 Zones are possible on 6.1.1 - no 5.2.1

[Hiro]

Dear Mark.

Thank you again and again for your help.
Thanks to you, almost all of my questions have been answered.

I will follow the steps you provided.
I will make another backup when I update vSZ to 5.2.2.0.1563 and if I encounter problems with 6.1.1.0.959, I will revert back to 5.2.2.0.1563 to operate.

Yours sincerely,

Hiro.

[mark_pledl]

Dear Hiro,

you are welcome.

Br,

Mark.