Resolved MacBook Dropping wireless connectivity

[warrmr]

Hey Guys,

I have a 2008 unibody MacBook running OSX 10.8.3 that has a bit of a strange issue with the wireless.

I have recently acquired a Meraki MR12 Wireless Access Point and 3 year cloud controller license. This has replaced my Airport Extreme as my main access point purely for the stats and information that you can get from the cloud controller.

Since the change I have been having some issues with my network where the wireless icon shows that you are connected to the network and you can ping some key IP addressed

192.168.1.1 - Firewall / Gateway
192.168.1.2 - Airport Extreme (Time Machine only)
8.8.8.8 - Google DNS

This is telling me there is some connectivity, but if you try to do anything on the network that requires application traffic nothing gets through. For example loading a web page in Chrome or Safari fails, dropbox looses its √ from the icon(lost connectivity) and time machine cannot find the disk (although you can ping the airport)

If you turn the wireless on and off again then you get your connectivity back for a while sometimes it can be 10 mins others its 3 hours before the drops.I have seen on some forums that you have to force your WAP to use WPA2-PSK rather than WPA and WPA2 as this can confuse the clients.

This is a summary as to how I have my SSIDs setup

I have setup a secondary SSID for testing as it is not affecting my flatmates laptop and have managed to find the optimal settings are no encryption with Meraki RADIUS authentication. Obviously this is not ideal so to add a little level of security I have hidden the test SSID.

I have tried everything to try and get my mac working on the main SSID
SMC & PRAM reset
New Network profile
reset network settings to factory defaults

I have made a quick youtube video to demonstrate the issue, I hope I have blanked out any details that anyone could use to take advantage of my network.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S-RVRV5nvfg

The WAP is plugged into the PoE port on my ASA 5505 Firewall/Gateway I have no Vlan trunking setup yet and the ASA provides DHCP.



EDIT: Additional information.


This is the interface configuration for the ASA I have omitd alot of the conf file as it is either irrelivent or provides to much information.

The AP is plugged into eth 0/7 and the Airport in 0/1 No other client is affected but they are all non osx (iPhone, Win 7, Ubuntu, openWRT.)

interface Ethernet0/0
description physical connection to O2 Box IV
switchport access vlan 2
!
interface Ethernet0/1
switchport trunk allowed vlan 1
switchport trunk native vlan 1
switchport mode trunk
!
interface Ethernet0/2
switchport trunk allowed vlan 1
switchport trunk native vlan 1
switchport mode trunk
shutdown
!
interface Ethernet0/3
shutdown
!
interface Ethernet0/4
switchport trunk allowed vlan 1-3
shutdown
!
interface Ethernet0/5
shutdown
!
interface Ethernet0/6
shutdown
!
interface Ethernet0/7
switchport trunk allowed vlan 1,3
switchport trunk native vlan 1
switchport mode trunk
!
interface Vlan1
description to inside VLAN
nameif inside
security-level 100
ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0
!
interface Vlan2
description to outside interface (DHCP O2 Modem)
nameif outside
security-level 0
ip address xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx 255.255.254.0
!

 

[warrmr]

Bump,

Any ideas 419 views someone must have an input or at least something I can try.

 

[warrmr]

Come on Guys someone must have something to add to this or even sugguest some things to try.

 

[GiantJambo]

You are not alone...

I've suddenly started having the same problems in the last 24 hours - OSX 10.8.3, a BT Homehub, and it affects all my wifi connections in just the same way.

I can connect to a neighbour's hub no bother, and other kit in my house work fine with the hub I have.

 

[GiantJambo]

One side balmes the other

Today's been fun. My broadband provider (BT) says it's a problem with the Mac, Apple say it's a problem with the broadband router.

 

[finishmarketing]

I've suddenly started having the same problems in the last 24 hours - OSX 10.8.3, a BT Homehub, and it affects all my wifi connections in just the same way.

I can connect to a neighbour's hub no bother, and other kit in my house work fine with the hub I have.

have you done anything in the past 24 hours..
install new software,
changing settings?

.......

 

[warrmr]

Thanks guys for the replies, my issue only started since I installed the Meraki AP in place of my airport extreme.

When I setup my Meraki AP I used the same SSID and password as I was previously using with my airport, this has allowed all of my other devices to seamlessly switch over without having to reconfigure them. This issue is only affecting my macbook and nothing else.

I have managed to find out if I setup a second SSID on the AP using the WPA2-Enterprise with Meraki RADIUS I dont get any drop outs and it has been stable for a week. Ideally I would like to use one SSID rather than having one dedicated just for my macbook.

I have no created another SSID with WPS2-Personal with the same password as my primary SSID that I wish to use and have connected my macbook to that to see if it is stable.

I am pretty sure this issue is something to do with my mac caching the password/network name in the keychain but I have no idea how to fix it short of formatting and manually restoring my data or trashing the keychain.


I do still have my Airport setup purley for time machine disk but dont want to use it as my AP as the Meraki one has all kinds of cool graphs and it emails you if your internet connection is offline for 30 mins( polls a cloud controller and if it looses connectivity the cloud controller pings you the mail.)

 

[warrmr]

Ok so I have deleted everything in my keychain that is labelled with SKY76403, setup a secondary SSID called HIDDEN-SSID with the same password as my main SSID with the WPA2 security settings.

I have been connected for around 24 hours and have experienced 2 dropouts where I have had to restart my WiFi. So it cant be what I thought it was in that my macbook is somehow confused by the new AP.

Anyone got any input on this issue, thanks,

 

[erikincali]

Exact Same Issue

Warrmr,

I have the exact same issue happening and currently have a case open with Meraki. I too replaced my airport extreme which worked perfectly with all my devices. I'm a Managed Serviced Provider and would like to get this issue fixed before I start promoting or reselling their products. The drops not only happen on my Mac but on our PC's and iOS devices. They need to fix the issue or I'll have to go back to my Airport.

Nothing shows in the logs, I've hidden SSID'S, Multiple SSID'S, different authentication methods to no avail. Point is the device should would per their design and stated configuration.

I'll reply with what Meraki tech support sends me here.

 

[warrmr]

Thanks Erik, I did have a case raised with Meraki but it was closed off as it was looking to be a client issue rather than an AP issue as I dont recall my sister complaining of the dropouts with her Mac when she was round to visit last time.

They enabled the option in my account to be able to choose "WPA & WPA2" or WPA2 Only.

The only settings that I seem to be able to get working stable is open with Meraki auth or WPA2-Enterprise with Meraki RADIUS.

Now I know that is a decent work around and I could if I wanted to setup WPA2-Enterprise on my main SSID but then I would have to setup user accounts for everyone who uses my wireless and take them through deleting the old wireless profile and reconfiguring the new one. To much of a PITA to bother with.

When you replaced your Airport did you remove it from your network completely or do you still have it plugged in as a Time Machine disk only.

The other thing I have noticed is when the issue is occouring you cant even get tto the my.meraki.net page on the local AP but you can see traffic flowing to and from 10.128.128.126 which I believe is the my.meraki.net page.

Warrmr,

I have the exact same issue happening and currently have a case open with Meraki. I too replaced my airport extreme which worked perfectly with all my devices. I'm a Managed Serviced Provider and would like to get this issue fixed before I start promoting or reselling their products. The drops not only happen on my Mac but on our PC's and iOS devices. They need to fix the issue or I'll have to go back to my Airport.

Nothing shows in the logs, I've hidden SSID'S, Multiple SSID'S, different authentication methods to no avail. Point is the device should would per their design and stated configuration.

I'll reply with what Meraki tech support sends me here.

 

[justperry]

If you haven't done so delete/move the following Folder and restart, this will reset ALL network settings and has helped other people.

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration

Move the folder the Desktop is a better option since you can drag it back to restore settings.

 

[SMDBill]

That solution fixed all 3 of my Macbook Pros that were having connectivity (unable to stay connected and then prompted for password to the network) issues. Deleted the file and restarted, worked great.

 

[warrmr]

Thanks, that looks like it may hit the spot.

I had already been into that folder and renamed the preferences.plst file and that seemed to have reset some of the network settings but not all. I didn't realise moving the whole folder would remove all network settings that is quite useful to know.

It has even got rid of the bluetooth DUN and VPN profiles I had setup but they were no problem to reconfigure.

I will report back later and let you know if this has fixed the issue.

If you haven't done so delete/move the following Folder and restart, this will reset ALL network settings and has helped other people.

/Library/Preferences/SystemConfiguration

Move the folder the Desktop is a better option since you can drag it back to restore settings.

 

[justperry]

Thanks, that looks like it may hit the spot.

I had already been into that folder and renamed the preferences.plst file and that seemed to have reset some of the network settings but not all. I didn't realise moving the whole folder would remove all network settings that is quite useful to know.

It has even got rid of the bluetooth DUN and VPN profiles I had setup but they were no problem to reconfigure.

I will report back later and let you know if this has fixed the issue.

Yeah, network settings are easy to set up again.

I know this trick for I don't know how long (Very long), most people don't know this but it seems to help a lot of people which migrated/updated from earlier OS's

 

[SMDBill]

Yeah, network settings are easy to set up again.

I know this trick for I don't know how long (Very long), most people don't know this but it seems to help a lot of people which migrated/updated from earlier OS's

Saved me a 90 minute drive to the nearest Apple store to get 3 Macbook Pro's fixed! And so easy.

 

[warrmr]

Saved me a 90 minute drive to the nearest Apple store to get 3 Macbook Pro's fixed! And so easy.

Thats what Im trying to avoid as I dont fancy walking through a town center with close to £500 worth of network gear and my macbook.

I may have spoken to soon about removing the SystemConfiguration folder, I have had 1 dropout since my last post, I will see if I can grab a packet capture next time it happens to see what is going on.

One other setting I have changed is to enable IPv6 Bridging on the AP not that it will make any difference as im running IPv4 but its worth a shot.


EDIT: Looks like I have spoken to soon, I have had 2 dropouts now since resetting my network settings and rebooting.

I have managed to get a Wireshark capture from my macbook when the issue is happening.

Strangely you can see broadcasts coming from my flatmates laptop you can also see some successful DNS queries.



But when you try and load macrumours or another site it doesn't load and you can see quite a few retransmissions unless im reading the packet trace all wrong.



I have attached a copy for any of the network guys to have a look, hopefully it doesn't give away to much information about my network that would let bad people in.

 

[warrmr]

Ok so I have been doing some more reading and have spotted loads of posts on the apple discussions and on here that are showing similar issues but on SL rather than Mountain Lion.

I have gone through most of the troubleshooting steps they have outlined in there and none of it has worked.


First was to try and telnet to Google.com to see if it is just chrome or the whole OS that is not working.

This failed as expected

localhost:~ mattwarrillow$ telnet google.com 80
Trying 173.194.41.142...
telnet: connect to address 173.194.41.142: Operation timed out
Trying 173.194.41.133...
telnet: connect to address 173.194.41.133: Operation timed out
Trying 173.194.41.131...
telnet: connect to address 173.194.41.131: Operation timed out

Can ping google DNS just fine

localhost:~ mattwarrillow$ ping 8.8.8.8
PING 8.8.8.8 (8.8.8.8): 56 data bytes
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=0 ttl=49 time=37.826 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=1 ttl=49 time=38.933 ms
64 bytes from 8.8.8.8: icmp_seq=2 ttl=49 time=38.094 ms
^C
--- 8.8.8.8 ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 3 packets received, 0.0% packet loss
round-trip min/avg/max/stddev = 37.826/38.284/38.933/0.472 ms

Cant see anything squiffy in the routing table

localhost:~ mattwarrillow$ netstat -rn
Routing tables

Internet:
Destination        Gateway            Flags        Refs      Use   Netif Expire
default            192.168.1.1        UGSc           17      169     en1
127                127.0.0.1          UCS             0        0     lo0
127.0.0.1          127.0.0.1          UH              5    36127     lo0
169.254            link#5             UCS             0        0     en1
192.168.1          link#5             UCS             4        0     en1
192.168.1.1        0:23:4:c8:2e:11    UHLWIir        18       24     en1   1107
192.168.1.4        0:1:d2:7:30:65     UHLWIi          0        0     en1   1129
192.168.1.10       127.0.0.1          UHS             1        0     lo0
192.168.1.254      0:c:30:42:15:c0    UHLWIi          0       16     en1   1185
192.168.1.255      ff:ff:ff:ff:ff:ff  UHLWbI          0        3     en1

Internet6:
Destination                             Gateway                         Flags         Netif Expire
::1                                     link#1                          UHL             lo0
fe80::%lo0/64                           fe80::1%lo0                     UcI             lo0
fe80::1%lo0                             link#1                          UHLI            lo0
fe80::%en0/64                           link#4                          UCI             en0
fe80::%en1/64                           link#5                          UCI             en1
fe80::225:ff:fe46:5fc1%en1              0:25:0:46:5f:c1                 UHLI            lo0
fe80::bac7:5dff:fec7:9a65%en1           b8:c7:5d:c7:9a:65               UHLWIi          en1
ff01::%lo0/32                           fe80::1%lo0                     UmCI            lo0
ff01::%en0/32                           link#4                          UmCI            en0
ff01::%en1/32                           link#5                          UmCI            en1
ff02::%lo0/32                           fe80::1%lo0                     UmCI            lo0
ff02::%en0/32                           link#4                          UmCI            en0
ff02::%en1/32                           link#5                          UmCI            en1
ff02::fb%en1                            link#5                          UHmW3I          en1   1416
localhost:~ mattwarrillow$

DNS Lookup appears to be working as Ping will resolve hostnames just fine but for some reason Dig failes

localhost:~ mattwarrillow$ dig google.com

; <<>> DiG 9.8.3-P1 <<>> google.com
;; global options: +cmd
;; connection timed out; no servers could be reached
localhost:~ mattwarrillow$
localhost:~ mattwarrillow$ ping currys.co.uk
PING currys.co.uk (77.75.51.29): 56 data bytes
Request timeout for icmp_seq 0
Request timeout for icmp_seq 1
^C
--- currys.co.uk ping statistics ---
3 packets transmitted, 0 packets received, 100.0% packet loss

(Note Currys website doesnt ping even if you are connected and working fine.)

I even tried restarting mDNS and clearing the DNS Cache but that made no difference

localhost:~ mattwarrillow$ sudo dscacheutil -flushcache
Password:
localhost:~ mattwarrillow$ sudo killall mDNSResponder

I haven't checked with the airport utility to generate a fault report. But I did do another packat capture and I can see the AP has been spamming my macbook with ARP requests.

The only thing that I forgot to do while the wireless was broken was to run the wireless diagnostics.

 

[warrmr]

Ok so I have been to the apple store to see if they have any idea what the issue is.

They guy pretty much advised me that I have already done everything that he would have tried along with changing the wireless channel. He did mention that this was a known issue in one of the versions of SL and that because I have always done an upgrade install and never a clean install some of that code may still be on my system somewhere.

What he suggested as to start again with a clean install of ML and work back slowly adding your files back in, I will type up his plan of action shortly and post it here for Erik and any others that may be having this issue.

Currently I am running a fresh install of 10.8.3 and the only app I have installed is Chrome, I have not restored my user account or anything back from time machine yet but will do that once I am happy that a vanilla install doesn't have the same issue.

So far with the clean install the wireless has been stable since yesterday evening, I will monitor over the next few days and if all is well then I will migrate my user account over test and report back.

1) Erase and Install OS
2) Create new user account (Apple/Apple)
3) Test router for a good period of time
4) Run migration assistant from Mac HD/Applications/Utilities
5) Locate time machine
6) In Migration Assistant, you can tick ‘users’ applications’ and ‘other settings’ so just tick ‘users’ and ‘applications’ if you prefer.
7) Log out and back into your new user account.
8) If problem persists then the issue lies in the Users/<User>/Library folder

Users/<User>/Library/Preferences
Internet Plugins
Application Support/ {Safari/Chrome/Mozilla}
Caches - Delete content anyway.

 

[GiantJambo]

Solved - new router did it

After weeks of "nothing-to-do-with-us-it-must-be-your-Mac" from my provider (BT), they eventually sent me a replacement router... and now everything works perfectly, including a few things that have never worked and I din't know were supposed to. I'm currently negotiating compensation for (a) my period without broadband and (b) my wasted time - over 8 hours on the phone at least. Plus the cost of two calls to Apple.

I hate people who refuse to accept the possiblity that they might possibly be responsible for things going wrong.

Thanks for all your helpful posts and hope you get things working soon. Out of interest, can I use any router in my setup? I have optical broadband, which feeds into a wee white box, which then connects into my router after that.

 

[warrmr]

Thanks for all your helpful posts and hope you get things working soon. Out of interest, can I use any router in my setup? I have optical broadband, which feeds into a wee white box, which then connects into my router after that.

Good to know you got your issue resolved, you should probably start a new topic about using your own router with the BT broadband.

But yes you should be able to use your own equipment with BT infinity, as far as I am aware the only piece you are not allowed to replace is the Openreach VDSL modem. This is the white box plugged into your "Home Hub"

All you need to do is plug the ethernet cable from your BT VDSL modem into the WAN port of a "Cable" router and the default settings should take care of the rest. You may need to setup NAT and Wireless to suit your needs but it should be plug and play for the most part.

You cant be to hard on the guys on the helpdesk, Im not sticking up for them but there are very clear on what they can and cannot do. I can only speak from purely an IT support point of view but I used to work on a first line help desk a while ago and some of our users were "homeworkers" who used a VPN to connect into the works network. The VPN software was installed on a works laptop and we had people calling up for wireless issues, our biggest issue with home users was the router not giving them an IP address and all we were allowed to advise the user is to reboot the router and call their ISP. Regardless of if we knew what the issue was and how to fix it, it was purely from a liability point of view, as if we broke the users internet connection then we would be liable for resolving it.

This could be a similar thing for the BT guys they can advise you in regards to the homehub and VDSL modem but are only allowed to advise a limited amount of things to try on the home PC for fear of breaking it.

 

[GiantJambo]

Hi Warrmr

Thanks for all your help - that stuff about the router makes things a lot clearer. In fact I've been told that the routers supplied by internet providers aren't great, and it can often be worth while buying an independent one. At least I know that's an option in the future if I need to go there.

The problem with BT is only 1% to do with liability, in truth. It's really all about communication difficulties - Indian call centres - and problems with the structures within all aspects of the company which mean that it takes ages to explain pretty simple problems. That (I hope) isn't racist: on the contrary it's well-known that Indian call centre staff there may be paid peanuts but it's enough peanuts to attract highly educated applicants, usually graduates.

There's also a major training issue if BT IT staff are "not trained to deal with Macs", as one told me. If true, that should concern all Mac users. And throughout my dealings with BT it sounded as if they were reading from a script and were completely unfamiliar with Macs. For instance, everyone insisted that I open the network preferences pane using the exact same method.

But one area I do agree with you is that it appears that BT staff are barely allowed to do anything. I may be up and running again, but I don't see why I should be paying for a broadband service I didn't receive for almost a month, and I have literally been on the phone for hours about that, too. Someone should simply have been able to say within minutes "Oh sorry, here's a little compensation to repay (a) the broadband charge and (b) the hassle you've had." Instead, this is taking days as well.

However, once again, thanks for your help.

 

[warrmr]

Afternoons,

So I have completed what the Genius advised and the drop outs seem to have stayed away even after migrating my data from the backup to my mac.

Over the weekend I tried to confirgure time machine to start backing my mac up again and low and behold the connectop drops out when it trys to do the first backup so now I am back to square 1 again. This may also explain why my sister didnt have the probelm when she used her Macbook Pro on my network.

I had to restore my backup using a cable as it would stall over the wireless so I wonder if time machine is doing something funny on the network and causing the ASA to fall over. But then again if it was a fault with the ASA then it would be affecting everyone.


any ideas guys?

 

[justperry]

Afternoons,

So I have completed what the Genius advised and the drop outs seem to have stayed away even after migrating my data from the backup to my mac.

Over the weekend I tried to confirgure time machine to start backing my mac up again and low and behold the connectop drops out when it trys to do the first backup so now I am back to square 1 again. This may also explain why my sister didnt have the probelm when she used her Macbook Pro on my network.

I had to restore my backup using a cable as it would stall over the wireless so I wonder if time machine is doing something funny on the network and causing the ASA to fall over. But then again if it was a fault with the ASA then it would be affecting everyone.


any ideas guys?

Is your TimeMachine a USB 3 device, if so that is the problem, USB 3 can interfere with Wireless!!!!

 

[warrmr]

no the time machine device is my old Airport Extreme which I was using as a Wireless AP until I got my Meraki Gear that I want to use.

Since then I have had this problem.

 

[DJS1234]

OK there's goto to be something in this re: the Meraki MR12, I have also got one recently and ever since I installed it wife's Macbook Pro constantly drops out, today my old Macbook has started doing it too so I started having a look online and found this thread.

Warrmr - have you got anywhere with Meraki? I'll log a support call with them tomorrow and see if they can get any logs off the MR12 that might show why the Mac's are dropping out.

I also tried creating another SSID but without any encryption and my Wife's MBP still drops out so it's almost like there's a problem with Meraki AP's and some Mac wireless cards/drivers/OS levels....