WiFi network causing premature hair-loss and insomnia!

[Dan No]

Hello everyone, I'm seeking some help & advice. I inherited a gaming centre from previous manager and am trying to optimize it for 16-20 stations. Here's our current configuration:

2x Superlogics i7-8086K servers, 64gb RAM, GTX-1050, x540 dual-port 10gbe NIC
1x Synology RS3618xs for iSCSI storage, E10G17-F2 dual-port 10gbe NIC
1x Netgear XS716T 16-port 10gbe switch
2x Ruckus R720 AP, Standalone AP firmware 106.0.0.99.1363
client stations have Realtek RTL8822BE PCIe adapters

My director had removed previous Aruba 325 AP and installed Ruckus R720. Now I'm trying to configure one R720 AP first for optimum performance (minimum latency) to all the client stations. What I'm experiencing is as more stations connect, ping-test shows random spike in latency from 1-2ms up to 150-500ms every couple of seconds. This causes game to stutter with motion lagging and causing nausea in users.

I have R720 with following settings:

- 2.4ghz bands disabled
- 5.0ghz band has 2 wireless networks with same SSID activated
- Channel = SmartSelect
- 40mhz channel width
- Protection Mode = disabled

This firmware doesn't let me make any other adjustment like ChannelFly or other advanced features. I tried using Unleashed firmware 200.6.10.1.312 to have access to these features, but that caused the AP to crash & reboot every ~20 minutes or so. Back to Standalone AP firmware.

Another problem is when I change default IP 192.168.0.1 to my local subnet and reboot, I can reach log-in screen on web-browser, but it refuses to accept any credentials, even the default super user. SSH works to get in.

At this point, I'm trying to go through local sales team to get my APs registered for warranty and buy a support contract. Until then, does anyone have any suggestions?

Thanks

 

[Dan No]

I should add:

- booth containing stations is about 10x10m with AP directly above centre. So no more than 15m between any station and AP

- throughput is about 30-40mbps from gaming-server to each station through WiFi

 

[st3v3n]

Dan, for premature hair loss, docs usually prescribe Rogaine, for insomnia, never take naps amd work non-stop 10 hours per day and bench-press 250 lbs for 30 minutes before bedtime. Upon retiring for the day, read the most boring book you can find, romance novels, political science, etc. Docs prescribe short-term use of Ambien for insomnia, usually less than 30 days and you should take the dose only after you've crawled into the sack (ie, don't drive or tweet afterwards). If you sincerely believe the router or WI-fi is affecting your hair-growth and causing sleeplessness, that's too much radiation; you could try removing the antennas on the router and connecting all devices with CAT 6 or 7; you'd have to forgo WiFi altogether.. It may be possible to enclose the router in a metal case such as a cake or bread box to to minimize the effects of EMP or RF leakage, but drill a few discrete vent holes to prevent overheating. With extreme symptoms some users have reported relief just by getting out of doors; hunting and fishing may be beneficial. (Just facetiousness). Cheers.

 

[thiggins]

I have R720 with following settings:

- 2.4ghz bands disabled
- 5.0ghz band has 2 wireless networks with same SSID activated
- Channel = SmartSelect
- 40mhz channel width
- Protection Mode = disabled

Why do you have two networks with the same SSID? Can you say some more about this configuration?

I am not familiar with SmartSelect, but I'm assuming it is auto channel selection technology.
Some quick Googling turned up this old post about ChannelFly, but I can't find anything, including on Ruckus' site about SmartSelect.

At any rate, auto channel selection uses the same radio to service clients and scan for better channels. When it does this, it must go "off channel", i.e. not respond to clients.

My guess is the more clients you have, the more noticeable the off-channel time is because someone is going to end up waiting.

Short answer: try assigning a channel manually and use one network on that SSID.

 

[Dan No]

hahah, I've tried Rogaine! In my case, it only slowed hair-loss, but not reverse it. Turned out the McDonalds fries are cooked with a silicone-type anti-splash compound that actually works at re-growing hair!
https://nypost.com/2018/02/05/chemical-in-mcdonalds-french-fries-could-cure-baldness-study/

In any case, I'm extremely drug resistant. No kind of sleeping-pills work for me. Ambien was complete bust, even at 4x dosage. Doctor was worried about addiction? Bah! I must've been taking placebos! Didn't notice a thing!

 

[Dan No]

I have both APs broadcasting same SSID as in paired controller-mode, they will load-balance clients between them using different channels. I had Unleashed firmware with one master managing this and it appears to spread clients and load between them pretty evenly.

Same SSID makes managing clients easier as I just connect them once to that SSID and they will connect to either AP automatically later. Also required for load-balancing as one AP will disconnect client, then client will re-connect to other AP with same SSID.

Yes, SmartSelect is background-scanning and selecting clear channel with little usage and interference.

Ok, I've reverted back to Standalone AP 106.0.0.99.1363 on both R720s with different SSIDs as tweaking the advanced load-balancing/ChannelFly features really didn't reduce random high-latency spikes. Between two of them, I have manually selected unused channels as follows:

SSID1 = AP1 channel 3, for management/monitoring stations
SSID2 = AP2 channel 9, for management/monitorign stations
SSID3 = AP1 channel 60 for 1st-half of gaming stations
SSID4 = AP2 channel 149 for 2nd-half of gaming stations​

My original idea was to have few stations on as many separate channels as possible. I guess I'll have to get more APs in order to use more separate channels as I don't see any way to set up multiple-channels on a single R720 AP.

I'll have some more testing this week to see how it goes. Unfortunately, latency issue only rears its ugly head when there's a lot of activity (as expected).

Are there any known issues with client cards? These have Realtek RTL8822BE PCIe adaptors. What I've been able to research is some configurations have driver issues with Win10. But those are severe things like not starting the card at all and not being visible in Windows. I'm just having latency issues.

thanks,

 

[thiggins]

Sorry, I thought you said you were using one AP (with multiple SSIDs).

I think the next step is to run some Wireshark captures to see what's going on.

 

[Dan No]

Ah yes, originally I had 2 SSID with same name on 1 AP.

Seems clients were connecting to one or other.

There are 8 SSIDs available on 2.4ghz and 8 available on 5ghz.

Would this cause problems with having 2 SSIDs with same name on same AP?

Which interface should I capture with Wireshark? Main AP connection? Or the individual clients?

 

[thiggins]

Ah yes, originally I had 2 SSID with same name on 1 AP.

Seems clients were connecting to one or other.

There are 8 SSIDs available on 2.4ghz and 8 available on 5ghz.

Would this cause problems with having 2 SSIDs with same name on same AP?

More SSIDs just means more overhead. See this discussion.

Which interface should I capture with Wireshark? Main AP connection? Or the individual clients?

You need a wireless capture on the channel where you are seeing the latency problem.