H3C Wireless Client Compatibility
Troubleshooting Guide

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Contents

Introduction· 1

Troubleshooting wireless client compatibility issues· 1

Slow Wi-Fi icon activation on Apple clients during first connection to a wireless service· 1

Symptom·· 1

Analysis· 1

Solution· 1

Auto Wi-Fi disconnection upon screen-off on Apple clients· 1

Symptom·· 1

Analysis· 2

Detection failure for Apple client MAC addresses through WIPS and WLAN probe· 2

Symptom·· 2

Analysis· 2

Solution· 2

Unable to enter the authentication username on portal authentication page for an Apple client 2

Symptom·· 2

Analysis· 2

Solution· 2

Wi-Fi via WeChat authentication failed when the automatic pop-up window is used· 3

Symptom·· 3

Analysis· 3

Solution· 3

Apple clients prompt unsecured network when connecting to unencrypted Wi-Fi 3

Symptom·· 3

Analysis· 3

Solution· 3

Samsung S8 download speed issue due to low wireless performance· 4

Symptom·· 4

Analysis· 4

Apple clients prompt network connection failure for Wi-Fi via WeChat authentication even if the network access is normal 4

Symptom·· 4

Analysis· 4

Solution· 4

Apple clients prompt password error at Wi-Fi connection even if the correct password was input 4

Symptom·· 4

Analysis· 5

Solution· 5

 

Introduction

This document provides information about troubleshooting common compatibility issues with H3C wireless clients.

Troubleshooting wireless client compatibility issues

Slow Wi-Fi icon activation on Apple clients during first connection to a wireless service

Symptom

It takes a long time for the Wi-Fi icon on an Apple client to turn on when the client is connected to a wireless service for the first time.

Analysis

The issue might occur due to the following causes:

·     The client fails to obtain a DNS address when obtaining an IP address through DHCP, causing slow Wi-Fi icon activation. This is related to Apple clients' judgment mechanism.

·     Apple clients have a 45-second waiting mechanism for pop-up of the authentication window.

Portal authentication is required for connecting to wireless services. Upon connecting a wireless service, the client sends a sniffing packet with a delay of no more than 45 seconds to the Apple server. The client determines whether to turn on the Wi-Fi icon based on the reachability of the server. A client that has not passed portal authentication typically cannot reach the Apple server. Thus, the Wi-Fi icon is still off.

Solution

To resolve the issue:

·     Assign a DNS address for the client.

·     The 45-second waiting mechanism for the pop-up of the authentication window is controlled by the Apple client itself, rather than the device side or the server side. To speed up pop-up of the window, you can try PSK encryption.

Auto Wi-Fi disconnection upon screen-off on Apple clients

Symptom

An Apple client automatically disconnects the Wi-Fi connection after its screen turns off.

Analysis

Debugging information and wireless packet capture data are collected from the AC for analysis. The analysis result shows that the client proactively sends a disconnection packet after its screen turns off. However, the Wi-Fi connection can be retained when the client is being charged. It can be determined that auto Wi-Fi disconnection upon screen-off is a power saving mechanism of Apple clients and cannot be solved on the device side.

Detection failure for Apple client MAC addresses through WIPS and WLAN probe

Symptom

WIPS and WLAN probe cannot detect the MAC address of an Apple client.

Analysis

The issue is caused by the pseudo-MAC address mechanism of Apple clients. WIPS and WLAN probe obtain the MAC address information of a client by scanning the probe requests sent by the client. However, Apple clients typically use pseudo-MAC addresses, rather than the actual MAC address of the NIC, to send probe requests.

Solution

To resolve the issue, execute the random-mac-scan enable command to configure WIPS not to trigger alarms for Apple clients that use a random MAC address. This method takes effect only on Apple clients of specific models and versions.

Unable to enter the authentication username on portal authentication page for an Apple client

Symptom

After an Apple client of IOS 9.2.1 or a higher version is connected to a wireless network, the user cannot enter the authentication username on the portal authentication page.

Analysis

The issue might occur because a third-party input software is installed on the client. The username cannot be entered, and the authentication server cannot obtain correct user information, which leads to authentication failure and reporting of user disassociation.

Solution

To resolve the issue, uninstall the third-party input software or use the built-in input software.

Wi-Fi via WeChat authentication failed when the automatic pop-up window is used

Symptom

When a user uses the automatic pop-up window to open the Wi-Fi via WeChat authentication page, a prompt indicating that an error occurred when opening the page appears, causing authentication failure.

Analysis

The issue occurs because the interface for invoking the WeChat client is disabled. The issue is waiting to be fixed by WeChat.

Solution

To resolve the issue:

1.     When you connect an Apple client to a Wi-Fi service, click Cancel at the upper right corner immediately upon the pop-up of the window. Then, select not to use the Internet connection, and manually open the built-in iOS browser or a third-party browser to trigger Wi-Fi via WeChat authentication.

2.     Execute the captive-bypass ios enable command on the portal device to enable the captive-bypass feature for iOS users. In this way, the device will not automatically push the portal authentication page to iOS users.

Apple clients prompt unsecured network when connecting to unencrypted Wi-Fi

Symptom

When an Apple client is connected to an unencrypted Wi-Fi service, the prompt indicating unsecured network appears.

Analysis

The issue is related to Apple clients' judgment mechanism. The client considers that a network that can be accessed without a password is not secure.

Solution

To resolve the issue:

·     If allowed, configure an encrypted wireless network as a best practice.

·     If encryption cannot be configured in a public Wi-Fi scenario, ignore this prompt.

Samsung S8 download speed issue due to low wireless performance

Symptom

The download speed of a Samsung S8 mobile phone cannot meet the requirements because the wireless performance of the phone is low.

Analysis

Traffic performance tests were performed and the negotiated speeds show that the phone NIC operates with two spatial streams when the remaining power is 50% or more. If the remaining power drops below 50%, the performance of the phone degrades. The issue is related to the power saving mechanism of the client and cannot be solved on the device side.

Apple clients prompt network connection failure for Wi-Fi via WeChat authentication even if the network access is normal

Symptom

When an Apple client performs Wi-Fi via Weixin authentication, the prompt indicating network connection failure appears. The details show that the network access failure might be caused by the merchant's network configurations and the error type is 0. However, the client can access the network correctly.

Analysis

The issue occurs because of incompatibility between the Apple client version and the WeChat version, rather than merchant-related reasons. Specifically, users use iOS 12 and WeChat version 6.7.4 encounter the issue when performing Wi-Fi via WeChat authentication.

This is a compatibility issue on the client side and has nothing to do with device-side configuration or product implementation.

Solution

To resolve the issue, you can update the version of the client's iOS operating system or WeChat.

Apple clients prompt password error at Wi-Fi connection even if the correct password was input

Symptom

When an Apple client is connected to a Wi-Fi service, the password error prompt appears. However, the password was input correctly.

Analysis

Because of a special mechanism on Apple clients, the incorrect password prompt appears when the network access attempts of a client fail multiple times even if the correct password was input.

Solution

To resolve the issue, troubleshoot Wi-Fi connection failure if the password is confirmed to be correct.