Issues with connecting to Home Wi-Fi

[Lou Hamilton]

Keep in mind that my day job is to design networks, so I hope this is not a user issue. LOL

I cannot get my new Expedition to connect to ANY secured network at my house.

I have tried:
My main network -- FAIL
Setup a new network using 2.4 only -- FAIL
Setup a Guest network -- FAIL
Tried a different Access Point -- FAIL
Removed LocalDomainName -- FAIL

The only way I could connect is to create a new VLAN isolated from my home network. Create a hidden network that is OPEN and only has 5M guest access to the Internet. This is NOT ideal, but the only way I could do it.

My home network is business grade equipment by a company called Ubiquiti, so it is not the generic Big Box equipment. I am able to fine tune it pretty much any way I want to.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions or insights.

 

[duneslider]

Is it possible the access point is too far from your vehicle and the signal is questionable?

I don't have any issues getting mine to connect with my google wifi mesh setup. I had planned to move to the ubiquiti stuff due to my new house being bigger and worrying that the google stuff wouldn't give me enough range. The ubiquiti stuff is pretty nice so I wouldn't think it would be at fault. Do you have a different brand router hanging around that you could test with? I know years ago I had a ton of issues with connectivity with an asus router, it gave me fits.

 

[Lou Hamilton]

Is it possible the access point is too far from your vehicle and the signal is questionable?

I don't have any issues getting mine to connect with my google wifi mesh setup. I had planned to move to the ubiquiti stuff due to my new house being bigger and worrying that the google stuff wouldn't give me enough range. The ubiquiti stuff is pretty nice so I wouldn't think it would be at fault. Do you have a different brand router hanging around that you could test with? I know years ago I had a ton of issues with connectivity with an asus router, it gave me fits.

Maybe 35 feet.

I can connect on an OPEN network (no password). So, it HAS to be something with my equipment or setting that I am overlooking.

 

[Skud]

I’m in IT as well.

There are a few things I would rule out:

Is it associating, but not getting an IP?
Do you see it associate in the UniFi server/app?

Troubleshoot on your guest network. See if you can get it to connect with the most basic security settings. WPA2-PSK, all lowercase and less than 10 character SSID. Same for the key - make it as basic as possible to see if it will connect. It'll suck if this is the issue, but at least you'll know.

I run Cisco 2800 series APs at home and I've had issues with things not connecting as well.

Sonos - had to disable WMM
Anova Cooker - only works with lower-case SSIDs, no special characters in the key, etc... (Serious? I returned that one, lol...)
iBaby Camera - same as the Anova.

You might want to see if there is an "increased compatibility" mode on the AP. Disable fast roaming. Sometimes devices don't play nice with all the extra WiFi extension standards (802.11r, k, etc.).

Can it connect to the hotspot on your phone? Sometimes two vendors just won't walk to each other.

If all that doesn't work or send you in the right direction then I'm afraid you're going to have to start getting into the debug logs of your UniFi.

 

[5280tunage]

Another question, have you upgraded Sync? And before folks blast me saying this too can be spoofed (i'm aware), as part of defense in depth, I use only known and allowed MAC's and could connect using WPA2 properly until I upgraded to 3.4. I also couldn't on my guest network as I require a splash page acceptance and obviously Sync doesn't have a browser. Ever since I upgraded to 3.4 I was able to do either 2.4 or 5 just fine. I'm all Meraki, multiple AP's, good signal strength in my garage. But it seems pretty useless, the upgrade over the air I don't believe has ever worked.

 

[LokiWolf]

Lou,
You mentioned Ubiquiti, so what manager are you using? UDMPro, or a Cloud Key? Make sure that if you are using WPA3, that you have turned on the WPA2 compatibility. Yell at me, and I can send you a screen shot of the exact settings that will work for Sync4 on Ubiquiti. These things are picky.

 

[Lou Hamilton]

Lou,
You mentioned Ubiquiti, so what manager are you using? UDMPro, or a Cloud Key? Make sure that if you are using WPA3, that you have turned on the WPA2 compatibility. Yell at me, and I can send you a screen shot of the exact settings that will work for Sync4 on Ubiquiti. These things are picky.

Cloud Key Gen2+ running the latest OS 2.4.8.

Not running WPA3. Straight WPA2 (not Enterprise).

 

[kyrasubmit]

The first thing to do if you have trouble connecting to a Wi-Fi network is reboot the router. Disconnect the power supply from the router and reconnect it after a few seconds. After 1-2 minutes, the device will boot, then try to connect to the wireless network again. To avoid similar situations in the future, I recommend updating the router's firmware. I did this with a router in my old house that I already sold to a company https://www.thepropertybuyingcompany.co.uk/. One problem of not working the Internet can be prescribed a static address, not with the needed network settings. In this case, I recommend that you use the automatic retrieval of network settings.

 

[LokiWolf]

The first thing to do if you have trouble connecting to a Wi-Fi network is reboot the router. Disconnect the power supply from the router and reconnect it after a few seconds.

DUDE! Did you even read any of the above? The fix for this was WAY beyond a reboot. Yes, that will fix a basic issue, but if you ready ANY of the above it should be VERY clear it was not a simple fix.

 

[Skud]

Have you customized the MCS table at all and/or disabled the lower rates?

Also, have you disabled b/g support? Sounds crazy in 2022, but keep in mind that Sonos still sells products that are only 802.11g.