Eufy security camera connectivity issues - FW 200.17 and 200.18

[Lacuna]

Hi - small residential network with 2 R650 APs, 3 SSIDs: 5G, 5G guest, 2.4g IOT. 

The problematic devices are the Eufy S330 Floodlight Camera 2 pro of which we have three. These are hard wired, always on devices but, they can be powered off and on using a switch (like any regular light). These devices work flawlessly on FW 200.16.7.0.402 and 200.15.6.212.27.  The problem is that on both FW 200.17.7.0.139 and 200.18.7.101.244, all three of these devices suffer from an intermittent failure to reconnect to WIFI following a "soft" reboot (soft reboot meaning the device automatically rebooting itself or, manually commanding the device to reboot itself via the Eufy app).  Notably, a "hard" reboot of these device always results in the device connecting to the WIFI without any problem and remaining connected until another failed "soft" reboot occurs (hard reboot meaning total power off / power on of the device).  The devices are connected to a dedicated WPA2 2.4g only SSID using auto ch (1,6,11 only) and channelization of 20. With the 200.17 and 200.18 FW, I have tried every variation of the AP and SSID settings I can think of but the intermittent reconnect failure always remains.

The problem is these devices will reboot themselves overnight every few days which, according to Eufy, is done intentionally to maintain device stability.  The result is the devices are occasionally found offline due to their failure to reconnect to WIFI following the automatic reboot.  To rejoin the WIFI, the device must be momentarily powered off and then powered back on.

I am at a loss to understand why these specific devices work just fine with 200.15 and 200.16 FW, but have the intermittent re-connection issues on the 200.17 and 200.18 FW.

Any suggestions please?

EDIT: added troubleshooting screenshot showing a re-connection failure after soft reboot.

Here is a screenshot showing the end of a troubleshooting trace I ran where I reproduced the re-connection failure.  This was on the fourth consecutive soft reboot of the Eufy device - the first three the device re-connected OK.  On the fourth, it just sits on the 802.11 authentication request step, as shown.  The entire third reboot sequence, which is successful, is shown in its entirety as well.Re-connect fails

[Lacuna]

Bump.  Still at a loss to understand why these devices work perfectly with 200.15.6.212.27 but fail as described above in 200.17+, regardless of using the same exact settings in the GUI.

Could PMF be a factor? If so, could anyone describe how to disable it for the 2.4 iot WLAN?  I don't see PMF/802.11w options in the GUI.  CLI only?

[Imran_ruckus]

Hi @Lacuna 

Greetings!!!

Thank you for reaching out to the RUCKUS Community Forums. 

Based on the trace showing the failure occurring at the 802.11 authentication stage after a soft reboot, this appears to be related to changes in WPA2/PMF handling introduced in 200.17+.

I would suggest disabling PMF and Fast Transition (802.11r) on the 2.4GHz IoT WLAN via CLI and testing multiple soft reboot cycles.

Several IoT devices have shown interoperability issues with stricter PMF enforcement introduced in later firmware builds.

If disabling PMF resolves the issue, it confirms a compatibility gap between the Eufy firmware and updated Unleashed WPA2 handling.

I would suggest taking a glance at some of the troubleshooting steps discussed in another case with similar device issues:

https://community.ruckuswireless.com/t5/Unleashed/jbl-500-authentics-connection-problems/td-p/112985...

The steps there may help provide additional context or potential solutions for your situation.

Please let us know how it goes.

Thank you again.

Best regards,

Imran Sanadi

RUCKUS | Community Forums Support

[Lacuna]

Thank you @Imran_ruckus for your reply.  I will try disabling PMF via CLI on the IOT wlan when I next update firmware.  

I found these instructions for setting the PMF behavior via CLI in an old post from @sanjay_kumar ;
===============
ruckus> en
ruckus# conf
You have all rights in this mode.
ruckus(config)# wlan test
The WLAN service 'test' has been loaded. To save the WLAN service, type 'end' or 'exit'.
ruckus(config-wlan)# 80211w-pmf
Enter the number,0:Disable,1:Optional,2:Required..
ruckus(config-wlan)# 80211w-pmf 0
The command was executed successfully. To save the changes, type 'end' or 'exit'.
ruckus(config-wlan)# end
The WLAN service 'test' has been updated and saved.
Your changes have been saved.
ruckus(config)# end
Your changes have been saved.
===============

A few more questions please:

1. Are the directions pasted here correct for changing PMF on a specific WLAN (using 0 for disable)?
2. Must I disable PMF on all the APs individually or, will the change propagate through the system after setting only the Master AP to disabled?
3. Any idea on a timeline for the next release of a 200.18 or 200.19 Unleashed version?

Thank you.

[Imran_ruckus]

Hi @Lacuna 

Greetings!!!

Thank you for the response.

Please find answer to your questions:

1. Are the directions pasted here correct for changing PMF on a specific WLAN (using 0 for disable)?

- Yes, those commands are correct for Unleashed.

2. Must I disable PMF on all the APs individually or, will the change propagate through the system after setting only the Master AP to disabled?

No, in Unleashed, configuration is centralized. When changed on the Master AP, it propagates automatically to all Member APs.

The change only needs to be made on the Master AP. It will automatically synchronize to all member APs in the Unleashed cluster.

3. Any idea on a timeline for the next release of a 200.18 or 200.19 Unleashed version?

- The tentative ETA for version 200.19 is March 6, 2025.

Hope it helps.

Thank you again for your patience.

Best regards,

Imran Sanadi

RUCKUS | Community Forums Support