Ghosts in our 6 New Ubiquity Pros - provision issues.

Fri Jun 19 16:30:08 UTC 2015

The UBNT controller is only required when setting up the APs or for certain guest portal functions. I'd just leave it connected all of the time. 

----- 
Mike Hammett 
Intelligent Computing Solutions 
http://www.ics-il.com 

Midwest Internet Exchange 
http://www.midwest-ix.com 

----- Original Message -----

From: "Bob Evans" <bob at FiberInternetCenter.com> 
To: "Steve Naslund" <SNaslund at medline.com> 
Cc: nanog at nanog.org 
Sent: Friday, June 19, 2015 11:26:42 AM 
Subject: RE: Ghosts in our 6 New Ubiquity Pros - provision issues. 

> That's possible but I if they are re-provisioning on a regular schedule I 
> kind of doubt it. It would be easy to test though. Plug an AP directly 
> into your switch with a quality pre-manufactured patch cord and see how it 
> acts. If it exhibits the same symptom it is probably not cabling. Also, 
> have you checked your interface counters for any packet errors? 

Yes, no packet errors crcs or frags. 

> Don't 
> forget to look at your controller because if the controller became 
> unreachable for any length of time that could easily cause your APs to 
> re-provision as they reconnect with the controller. 

This is did not know - thought the controller was just to provision and 
monitor. After all why would a manufacturer make one point of failure for 
a campus setup that uses thier own edgerouter for the dhcp etc. Doesnt 
seem correct. But will will investigate it. 

> I might set up a ping 
> every second from the site of the access points to the controller and make 
> sure the availability of the controller is 100%. 

Yes that and what the ciscos report on the port link. 

> If you are on Cisco 
> switches you should have log messages regarding PoE be granted on 
> particular ports as well as up down messages on the interfaces. 

Yep and we get them. 

> Do you 
> see the ports going up and down? It is important to have NTP on the APs 
> and switches so that you can correlate events in time (i.e. did the AP 
> reboot causing the Ethernet link to drop or did the link drop causing the 
> reboot?) 

I am sure its the APs dropping - as non of the other devices VOIP phones 
etc drop in the logs. 

Thanks Steven 
Bob 
> 
> Steven Naslund 
> Chicago IL 
> 
> 
>>Bob, I've deployed tons of Ubiquiti gear, and have seen this problem 
>> before. It always turns out to be poor quality cable installation. POE 
>> does not tolerate low quality connectors, especially in outdoor 
>> environments. There are >many aspects to a quality cabling job, so the 
>> best thing you can do is seek out a qualified installer with outdoor POE 
>> experience. 
>> 
>>The most common problem I see is people using crimp-on RJ45 connectors 
>> directly on the ends of their cable runs. This is not how structured 
>> cabling is designed to work, in particular because most crimp-on 
>> connectors are intended for >stranded copper wire (such as that used in 
>> very flexible patch cords, designed to run horizontally over only a few 
>> dozens of feet), whereas the "riser" and "plenum" cable used for 
>> long-distance runs has solid core wires. The tiny >teeth in standard 
>> crimp connectors are designed to penetrate stranded wire, to make a solid 
>> electrical contact. With solid core wire, they just bend to the side of 
>> the copper core, making tenuous contact, which will conduct POE >current 
>> poorly (resulting in the resets you see) and eventually fail altogether 
>> as the improper connection corrodes over time. 
>> 
>>The correct installation process is to use "punch-down" RJ45 jacks at 
>> each end of the cable run, and connect from those jacks to your equipment 
>> (radio at one end, POE switch at the other). On the outdoor side, the 
>> jack/plug junction >needs to be in a NEMA weatherproof enclosure, with 
>> weathertight fittings. And, for human and equipment safety, you must use 
>> shielded Cat5e/6 cable anytime you go outdoors, grounding only one end 
>> (usually the radio end), and >protecting the cable with an inline 
>> lightning protector between the RJ45 jack and the radio. 
> 
>>If you haven't done that, then that's the first thing to fix. 
> 
>>BTW, avoid homemade patch cables whenever possible. Quality factory 
>> cables are hydraulically pressed and the plug is hermetically fused for a 
>> vastly superior connection compared to anything you can do with simple 
>> hand crimpers. And >all outdoor cables must be UV-grade cabling with 
>> weatherproof sheathing and water repellant inside (so-called "flooded" 
>> cable). 
> 
>> -mel beckman 
> 
> 