iPad 2s losing connection

[sue_ellingson]

We are new to Ruckus (last summer) running ZD 9.6.2.0 build 13. We updated to that firmware version on the advice of support, who also told me to not go any higher than that one, that it's the most stable.

We are a school district, PC based, and have had no problems, until now. We're using WPA2, with no captive portal or web authentication.

The problem - we just purchased 90 iPad 2s, and they will not stay connected, even though the wireless icon shows that they are still connected. The dashboard also says they are connected. But after a minute or two, we can no longer access the app store, the Internet, etc. I've tried forgetting the network and reconnecting, resetting the network, and so far the only thing that works is to restart the iPad. Every couple of minutes. That is getting really old, needless to say.

So far, I've started up 13 of the 90, and this is happening on each and every one of them.

I've taken a couple of these home and connected to my home wireless with no problem and no disconnects. I have a personal iPad that has no problem anywhere else, but it does the same disconnect dance here on the Ruckus wireless.

We also have one user that brings in her personal Macbook, and it does the same thing. That's been going on for a couple of months, but since it is her personal laptop, and she's supplied a PC for work, it hasn't been a priority. Now, with all these iPads, it's a huge priority.

I have a support case going, but so far nothing is working. Does anyone out there have any ideas why this is happening? A fix?

[michael_brado]

If MacBook clients have similar problems, you may need to work with support to
determine if you have coverage or interference problems. You might tighten the
coverage to encourage iPads to roam sooner with bss-minrate 5.5 and a
smart-roam 3 on the WLAN, if they seem to report very weak signals.

[sue_ellingson]

LOL I'm pretty new to all this. The network was installed on the recommendation of the "partner" Ruckus suggested, so I thought the coverage was supposed to be decent. The apple engineer I spoke to suggested interference as the problem, but I was under the impression that the system was supposed to mitigate that by itself.

Being a newbie, what do you mean by tighten coverage? More APs? The MacBook in the equation is sitting in the same room with an AP about 10 feet away from it.

Whether it's true or not, I've read that iPads tend to hold on to an AP, even when they roam and should latch on to a nearer one - don't quite know how to encourage them to roam. What do you mean by "bss-minrate 5.5 and a smart-roam 3 on the WLAN"? (again, newbie here).

Thanks!

[primoz_marinsek]

Can you make 2 additional SSIDs, one with WPA-TKIP and another without any auth/enc and see if the problem persists on those 2?

[sue_ellingson]

@Primoz - I just set up the SSIDs you suggested, hooked up an iPad to each one, and both lost the connection within a few minutes. Tested this several times with the same result.

I also watched the logs while this was going on. The iPad joins the WLAN, then there are no entries about disconnecting when the connection has been lost. There are also no entries if I tell the iPad to forget the connection and reconnect to the SSID. Putting the iPad in airplane mode brought up a disconnect entry in the log, as does restarting the iPad.

Any ideas?
Thanks again.