Access Point (AP) Crash and Reboots Troubleshooting

Summary

AP reboots due to different reasons like Kernel Panic, Watchdog timeout, Problem Detected, Power Cycle, Application reboot etc. Support log must be collected for the affected APs to analyze the reason of troubleshooting. If possible, APs should be upgraded to latest recommended release for better stability.

Question

How to troubleshoot AP Crash and frequent reboots?

Customer Environment

Any Access Point managed by SmartZone, R1 or Unleashed

Symptoms

AP's rebooting frequently, performance issue, sudden client disconnections, memory leak

Troubleshooting Steps

1. First, gather the following information to narrow down the scope of troubleshooting and identify the pattern involved -

General Information -

1.    AP models and total number of APs deployed
2.    AP models affected
3.    SZ and AP firmware version
4.    Has the issue started after upgrading AP version? If so, what was the previous AP firmware version?

Reboot details -

1.    Frequency of reboot
2.    Concentrated in a specific location or is it random.
3.    Concentrated at some hour range (for example during peak period) 

Network Details -

1.    Any recent change in topology or traffic, number of users?
2.    Network topology, switches in use.
3.    Traffic type: Is there any specific traffic in use like multicast, IPv6?
4.    Are APs rebooting connected to some specific switches, or acting as MAP, or connected to other AP switch port?
5.    AP powering details:
a.    Power source: Are APs powered using DC, power injector, or PoE?
b.    If PoE, add power budget details (like 802.3af, 802.3at, 802.3bt etc.)

Features enabled -

1.    Is there some specific feature(s) used only in the APs rebooting? 
2.    Any recent change in the features or WLAN types enabled?
3.    Feature details: Any specific feature or WLAN type enabled in these APs like URL filtering, Applications Visibility and Control (AVC), Firewall profile, Mesh, Bonjour Gateway etc.

2. Once above information is collected, please download Support log from the affected AP.
a. For SmartZone managed APs, refer to this article on how to download AP support log from SZ GUI -https://docs.commscope.com/bundle/sz-600-adminguide-sz300vsz/page/GUID-5FA0745C-C493-40BE-A684-387D3CB9D820.html
 
b. For RUCKUS One (R1) managed APs, refer to this article on how to download AP support log - https://docs.cloud.ruckuswireless.com/LTE/GUID-22F36FBD-8D66-474E-BE69-1875CEAC9DC6.html 
 
c. For Unleashed APs, refer to this article - https://support.ruckuswireless.com/articles/000005712 

3. Open the AP Support log in a text editor and note down the reboot reason from the following section –
### Reboot Reason ###

For example, the logs below show the AP was last rebooted due to Power-Cycle –
### Reboot Reason ###
application reboot

 
4. If the reboot reason in step 3 shows as “Power Cycle”, this means that the AP had a cold reboot due to power issue. In such case, we need to investigate if there is some POE issue on the switch such power-budget limitation and ensure the minimum required power is supplied to the AP particularly for Wifi6 and Wifi7 model APs which need more power than legacy models.
 
5. If reboot reason identified in step 3 is other than "Power Cycle", please open a case with RUCKUS Support and share the AP support log and the information gathered in step 1 for further analysis.

Resolution

Resolution will vary based on the reason of reboot. Please upgrade your Access Point to a recommended software version. If issue still persists, please collect the information in the Troubleshooting section and open a Support case with RUCKUS.
 

Related Articles

000008941

Article Number:
000014525

Updated:
October 09, 2024 01:13 PM (2 days ago)

Tags:
Performance, Troubleshooting, Known Issues and Workarounds, Unleashed, ZoneFlex Indoor, SmartCell Gateway, Smart Wireless Services

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