Troubleshooting a Cisco Meraki Wireless Network
In this blog
To view this post as a video presentation click here.
Wi-Fi trouble ticket complaints have been the same since the beginning of Wi-Fi. It's not working. It's dropping, the Wi-Fi is down and the end user only knows how to explain things so far. They give you inaccurate data because they don't know what you need to know.
The person who's receiving the complaint needs to know what type of questions to ask to get at the Who, what, where, when and find out the why.
For general wireless troubleshooting and information-gathering tips, see this blog Troubleshooting a Wireless Network - Information Gathering or video
If somebody says the wireless network is slow, you're going to need the basics. You need to know if they're on Mac/Windows, their IP address or MAC address.
Then ask questions. What do they mean when it gets slow? Was it just one application? Is it multiple applications? Is it just them? Is it everybody in their department?
Places to look in the CiscoMeraki dashboard for data on a client device
- Network-wide>Clients>Search for clients> [client IP, MAC or 802.1x username]
- Overview>Usage for the last 30 days
- Policy>Show Details
- Performance
If they say that the Wi-Fi isn't working, ask them to elaborate on what they mean by not working. You will need their IP address or MAC address and more information on what was happening when the Wi-Fi stopped "working".
Places you can look in the CiscoMeraki dashboard to get data on client connections over time:
Overview>Current Client Connection and Timeline>History
If someone says the Wi-Fi is dropping, this speaks to people being in video conference calls and experiencing the video conference stream freezing up or the video dropping out. The audio may be getting jittery.
What do they mean when they say the Wi-Fi is dropping? Can you elaborate on what you were doing when the Wi-Fi began dropping? Same questions about their IP address or MAC address.
Overview>Current Client Connection
If someone says the Wi-Fi is "down": Navigate to Timeline>History Clients>Overview>Current Client Connection> Click on current AP and choose "View more details" Wireless>Access Points. This will show a list of all access points for this location. The status icon next to each access point will indicate if the AP is offline, alerting or online. Click on the AP name to find out why it is alerting.
In this instance, the AP is in "unplanned low-power mode" which may cause certain features of the access point to be non-operational. Each model of access point will have different features which cannot be enabled when the access point is in low-power mode. Consult the specific model of access points' whitepaper to find out what is disabled when the access point is in low-power mode.
Accessing the Wireless Network Overview: Log into the Meraki Dashboard at https://dashboard.meraki.com. Navigate to Wireless > Monitor > Overview. Review the Connection, Performance, Network Service Health section for insights on network stability and key metrics. Note any anomalies, such as significant fluctuations in the Usage Overview statistic, which may indicate network instability.
Reviewing Client Connectivity Logs: Go to Network Wide > Clients to view a list of devices connected to the wireless network. Review specific performance for each client by selecting the client's name, then go to Overview Connections, Performance, Roaming, Timeline or Stored Captures in the client's profile.
Checking for Dropped Connections and Authentication Failures: Navigate to Network-wide > Event Log. Choose Event log for access points to view the 802.1x event log history Filter according to 802.11 association/disassociation, 802.1x authentication/deauthentication. Investigate repeated patterns or specific timeframes with a higher frequency of these events.
Validating Access Point Status and Connectivity: Go to Wireless > Access Points to view a list of all APs in the network. Check the Connection Health for the overall APs, which reflects failed clients, time to connect and roaming for wireless clients. Identify APs with poor signal strength or connectivity errors; drill down to Performance Health to view Latency, Packet loss and Signal quality (SNR) values. Confirm all APs show an Online status and an acceptable channel utilization and packet loss under Wireless > RF Spectrum.
RF and Spectrum Analysis: In Wireless > RF Spectrum, validate channel utilization and packet levels.
- Click into each AP to view Interfering Aps (same channel), Interfering Aps (some overlap), Non-Interfering APs and Total In-Network Neighbors.
- Utilize the Live Tools feature select the access point of interest from the Monitor > Access points page to run real-time ping tests or packet capture on specific APs for deeper diagnostics if performance issues are detected.
Relevant Documentation
- Meraki Wireless Issue Resolution Guide
- Meraki Radius Issue Resolution Guide
- Meraki Wireless Health Overview
Regularly Audit Administrator Accounts
Periodically review all active administrator accounts and their assigned permissions.
- Best Practice: Perform audits at least quarterly to identify unused or misconfigured accounts and adjust permissions as needed.
Use Role-Based Access Control (RBAC): Define access controls based on administrator responsibilities rather than personalizing permissions.
- Best Practice: Update roles and permissions when an administrator's responsibilities change rather than creating new permissions for specific users.
Disable Inactive Accounts: Immediately remove access for any users who no longer require it, such as terminated employees or personnel who have shifted roles.
- Best Practice: Implement automated processes for disabling accounts when staff departs to prevent unauthorized access.
Document Administrator Policies: Create a policy document for onboarding new administrators, detailing access requirements, authentication methods, and MFA setup.
- Best Practice: Require administrators to review and acknowledge policies during onboarding.
Network Monitoring
Monitoring the wireless network in real time helps ensure continuous performance and identify potential issues.
Wireless Health: Regularly monitor the Wireless Health section in Wireless > Monitor > Health for a high-level overview of client connectivity and potential issues with association, authentication, and DHCP.
- Best Practice: Set up alert notifications for issues such as access point downtime, high association failures, and excessive packet loss. Review these alerts daily or weekly.
RF Spectrum Analysis: Use RF Spectrum tools under Wireless > Monitor > RF Spectrum to monitor interference and channel utilization, which can directly impact network performance.
- Best Practice: Adjust channels for APs in areas with high interference, or enable Auto RF if it's not yet configured to automatically adjust to optimal channels.
Uplink Monitoring: Go to Wireless > Monitor > Access Points to view each access point's status and connectivity.
- Best Practice: Regularly check for high latency, packet loss, and failed uplink connections on APs, especially in critical areas with high traffic.
Relevant Documentation
Client Management and Troubleshooting
Proactively managing client connectivity and handling client issues promptly are essential for a seamless user experience.
Client List: Access Network-Wide > Monitor > Clients to see a comprehensive view of all devices, including their connection status, bandwidth usage, and SSID.
- Best Practice: Review clients frequently to identify high-bandwidth users or devices that may be causing network congestion.
Client Event Logs: Select a client from the Clients list to review specific Event Logs for each connection attempt, including association and authentication events.
- Best Practice: For clients facing persistent connectivity issues, use the Event Log to diagnose problems such as signal strength, association failures, or authentication errors.
Block/Unblock Clients: From the Clients page, block clients that abuse bandwidth or do not adhere to network policies.
- Best Practice: Set up policies to automatically restrict bandwidth for specific client types or SSIDs as needed.
Logging and Auditing
- Meraki Client Details Page Overview
- Meraki Clients Usage Page
- Meraki Summary Report Overview
- Meraki Traffic and Bandwidth Shaping
Wireless Optimization
Fine-tuning wireless settings optimizes performance and enhances user experience across the network.
Auto RF Optimization: Enable Auto RF in Wireless > Radio Settings for automated channel and power settings based on real-time RF conditions.
- Best Practice: Enable Auto RF on networks with numerous APs to reduce co-channel interference and adjust AP power levels automatically.
Channel Width and Band Selection: Configure appropriate channel widths (e.g., 20 MHz for 2.4 GHz and 40 or 80 MHz for 5 GHz) to balance performance with range and interference.
- Best Practice: Use 5 GHz whenever possible to avoid congestion in the 2.4 GHz range. Limit SSID Broadcast on 2.4 GHz to reduce interference on large networks.
Band Steering: Enable Band Steering in Wireless > Configure > Radio Settings > RF profiles to encourage clients to use 5 GHz over 2.4 GHz for better performance.
- Best Practice: Configure Band Steering on SSIDs where most devices support 5 GHz, ensuring that newer devices utilize the less congested frequency band.
Relevant Documentation
- Meraki Best Practice Design – MR Wireless
- High-Density Wi-Fi Deployments
- Wireless Layer 3 Roaming Best Practices
- Wireless VoIP QoS Best Practices
- Meraki Wireless for Enterprise Best Practices - Architecture
- Meraki Band Steering
Reporting and Insights
Use the Meraki Dashboard's reporting tools to gather insights into network usage, identify trends, and create reports for further analysis.
Usage Reports: Go to Network-wide > Traffic Analytics to view data on bandwidth consumption by application, user, and SSID.
- Best Practice: Generate weekly or monthly usage reports to understand trends, such as high-bandwidth applications, to make informed adjustments on QoS and bandwidth policies.
Access Point Summary Reports: In Organization > Summary > Networks > Usage and clients > SSID, generate reports on SSID applications, ports, HTTP content, IP version, and Trusted Traffic statistics.
- Best Practice: Review AP summaries monthly to evaluate if additional APs are needed in high-density areas or if any APs require relocation or reconfiguration.
Scheduled Reports: Set up automated reporting via Syslog, API/Webhooks, or SNMP alerting to send IT staff regular updates.
- Best Practice: Schedule reports weekly to track the network's health, usage trends, and troubleshoot recurring issues without logging in daily.
Relevant Documentation
- Meraki Summary Report Overview
- Meraki Insight
- Meraki Insight Alerts Management
- Meraki and ThousandEyes Integration
- Meraki Device Reporting
Logging and Auditing
Regular auditing of administrative actions is essential to track changes and identify potential security incidents:
Event Logs: In Organization > Change Log, you can view recent administrative actions, including login attempts, configuration changes, and permission updates.
- Best Practice: Review logs weekly for unusual activity or unauthorized configuration changes. Look specifically for failed login attempts or changes made outside business hours.
Automated Alerts: Set up alerts for critical events such as multiple failed login attempts or unauthorized changes to network settings. Organization > Monitor > Login Attempts
- Best Practice: Ensure that alerts are sent to a shared IT mailbox or ticketing system so that they are not missed.
If you haven't already done so, create an account on WWT.com to access all of WWT's knowledge and contact the WWT Global Engineering Team with your questions.