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[oo]

I have a brand new DAP-1522 A1 connected to an 802.11n wireless LAN in bridge mode. Running in the 2.4GHz band with WPK-2 and AES security/encryption.

Everything runs fine 99% of the time, but once a day or so the wireless LAN connection on the DAP-1522 drops and then takes about two minutes to re-connect.  It re-connects and then everything is fine for a day or so until the next dropped wireless connection episode on the DAP-1522.  Very frustrating.

I know my 802.11n wireless network is 100% fine as during the dropped connection to the DAP-1522 I can connect directly to the 802.11n wireless network (running from my gateway/router) using my other computer, no issues.

I've seen some posts on this forum that the A1 version of the DAP-1522 hardware is not 100% compatible with the 802.11n network standard and there will be intermittent wireless drops.  If this is true, it's just insane.  All I can say is I can't believe DLink would allow a product to be sold that won't work properly on 802.11n networks.

I check the logs each time I see the dropped wireless connection and all that shows is the following.

1) Negotiating connection   2) 4-way handshake success [mac address]

There's no message in the logs about why the wireless connection dropped, but I assume it has something to do with re-newing a key for the wireless network as the successful key renewal messages are the only other messages in the log.  When the wireless network dropped I don't see the successful key renewal message at the time I should see it.

If anyone that knows this DAP-1522 can provide a clear solution to get rid of these intermittent wireless connection drops it would be appreciated.

I sent two messages to Dlink support via the email form on their web site a week ago, but no reply back.  So I'm trying the forum.

I thought this DAP-1522 would take 15 minutes to configure in bridge mode and then I'd forget about it.  Spend too much time on this already, so a bit disappointed with this DAP-1522 and DLink tech support....though when it's connected to the 802.11n wireless LAN it works fine.

Thanks in advance.

[FurryNutz]

Link>Welcome!

Link>What Firmware version is currently loaded on DAP?
What region are you located?


 
What wireless modes are you using on the main host router?
Try single mode G mode as a test? Does it happen on G mode too? You'll need to switch to WPA2 and Mixed TPIK and AES on the main host router.
Channel Width set for Auto 20/40Mhz or try 20Mhz only.
Try setting a manual channel to a open or unused channel on the main host router. 1, 6 or 11. 11 for single mode N if the channel is clear.
What wireless devices do you have connected?
Any cordless house phones?
Any other WiFi routers in the area? Link> Use InSSIDer to find out. How many?
Try turning off Short GI, WLAN Partition,and Extra Wireless Protection if you have it. Under Advanced/Advanced Wireless.
Enable WMM Enable Under Advanced/Advanced Wireless.

[oo]

Hello.

DAP-1522 is running 1.41 firmware....the latest one for the A1.

I'm not running it in G mode.  I'm running an 802.11 n (N mode) network.  Not going to play around and upset everything in G mode.  Defeats the purpose of everything I'm doing and what I spend money on.

[oo]

Also, I had it in AES and TKIP originally....I went to AES only after reading this forum when people suggested that the AES is the latest for 802.11n...which I've verified is correct way for 802.11n to run so I'll leave it in AES.

[FurryNutz]

Understand the features of N mode however I mentioned running G mode to see if the problem follows. If it does then possible problem with the DAP and would need to be RMAd to DLink. Any other main host router you can test the DAP on in N mode by chance?

Any cordless house phones?
Any other WiFi routers in the area? Link> Use InSSIDer to find out. How many?

[oo]

Understand what you're saying about verifying in G mode.  But no other router around to test the G mode performance on the DAP-1522 and I don't want to mess with the configuration on my AP gateway/router....as I mentioned the gateway/router and the 802.11n LAN itself are running 100% fine and is 100% stable.

Yes, there are other devices (phones) and wireless networks nearby (neighbors networks) running in the 2.4GHz band, but that is the case for most deployments of a 2.4GHz router/bridge.  The DAP-1522 should be able to handle the other devices around. 

I run this 802.11n wireless LAN on channnel 11, which should be one of the best channels to run for an 802.11n network.   

I'm sure these intermittent drops have something to do with renewal of that key.  I'm studying what this key renewal process is, just I have not come across anything yet that looks like it will fix the issue.

[FurryNutz]

Another test would be to shut off security to see if the DAP drops with out using any WiFi security. Means being unsecured though.

If there are other WiFi neighbors near by, they can and will effect any router or AP using same channels, regardless of distance or not. Most newer routers have the "Good Neighbor Policy" that is effected by this and it's nothing we can disable either. Cordless house phones running on same frequency will have same problem.

I believe the Rev As were draft N and follow on Revs were certified. If your main host router is certified N then the issue maybe with the Draft N on the DAP. D-Link might swap out for a certified N DAP. Worth asking.

I think your best bet would be to contact DLink support and see what they say. Ask for level 2 or higher support.

Let us know how it goes.

[oo]

Understand all your points (thanks for your time and help), but I can't run the network with no security for a day or more waiting for the wireless connection to drop....this DAP-1522 should be able to run 100% within the operating environment and base configuration settings that I have it in...that should be what it's designed to do.

Hopefully, someone form D-Link tech support and/or D-Link Marketing/Sales sees this forum string and realizes this does not look good on their products and offers a fix for the unit (either a firmware fix for the DAP-1522 A1 or offer a new unit that they know works 100% for this operating environment at 802.11n). 

I'm starting to think that is DAP-1522 is simply not designed 100% properly and it's an issue they know about with the intermittent dropped wireless connections at 802.11n.

We'll see what they say I guess.

[FurryNutz]

Please phone this in so you can get immediate help and information. We do know know if any developers or engineers review these forums. And rarely post anything.

Most cases the DAP does function well and may function with a Draft N router instead. Follow on DAPs probably do work well with Certified routers. If your not satisfied with this DAP then you should return it and get you something that works for you.

Good Luck.

[oo]

Just FYI!

I tested all the signals within range of my DAP-1522 and channel 11 is in fact the best channel to use for my 802.11n network.  All the other signals within range of my DAP-1522 are running at very low signal strength.  In fact, my 802.11n network signal strength ranges between 90% and 94% at my DAP-1522, so signal strength/quality is not an issue.

More and more convinced this dropped wireless connection activity is an 802.11n networking issue with my DAP-1522.  We'll see what D-Link tech support can do to fix this.

Funny, it happened multiple times today...but 48 hours ago it went for more than a day without a dropped wireless episode.  It seems to be becoming more random than it was a couple days ago.

Again, it works great when the wireless is connected, which still is 99% of the time.  But the wireless network should be perfect.  Ideally, it should go for months without interruption.  Networks I had before were stable like that...maybe did a couple soft re-boots a year if anything started acting funny.

[oo]

Hopefully last question on this. 

I have learned the inSSIDer is a simple diagnostic tool for evaluating Wifi networks, and a more involved tool would be needed to do a deep dive on the other networks on the same channel and overlapping with my network.

What do people consider a "very good" Link Score for inSSIDer??  I've gone through the use guide, but I don't see any indication what the threshold (or distribution of link scores according to link quality) for a good or very good inSSIDer Link Score is?  Thanks in advance.

I think I'm onto the route of the issue, just trying a few more things and hopefully I get it operating stable 24/7 going forward.

Thanks, again.

[oo]

No firm answer yet from Dlink tech support on this.  I've explained everything to them and sent the logs.  We'll see.  I'll let you all know what I find out.

Also, using inSSIDer the highest link score I got on my 802.11n network was about 50 with my laptop 2 feet away from my wireless source router/gateway.  So I've determined a very good link score for a functional wireless network is above 40, let's say.

My DAP-1522 (based on where I have it located ) link score varies from 30 to about 35.  Most of the time it's around 34.  So I'm assuming 34 is still a very good operational link score according to inSSIDer.

Let me know if my interpretation is wrong on this.

[oo]

Still no answer from the Dlink support people....explained everything to them. 

That said, I played around on my own and for some reason (I did not really change anything that I can point to) the DAP-1522 has not dropped the wireless connection for over a day now.  The longest I've seen it go without dropping the connection.  Hopefully this stability keeps up for another few days...if so, I'll put this to rest and consider it stable.  As I thought, the DAP-1522 A1 is not defective.

There is/was a legitimate reason for the dropped connections....I just can't confirm what it is or was.  We'll see.  Sorry I can not confirm, so the next person that runs into this knows what to look for.

[FurryNutz]

I might think it's something environmental and conditions in your area maybe.

Hope it will keep going for you.

Keep us posted.

[oo]

It's been 5 days without the DAP-1522 dropping the wireless connection now and the overall performance of the DAP-1522 (bridge mode) on the 802.11n wireless LAN at 2.4GHz is very good.  I'll call it stable and say thanks for all the help on this.

I don't know specifically what I did to fix/address the dropping of the wireless connection.  Didn't really change anything, just re-set a couple of the same parameters (re-set them exactly as they were before) and soft re-booted both my gateway/router and the DAP-1522.  From then on everything has been stable. 

The issue was the drops were intermittent, so interference of some kind could have been the issue, but I'll never know for sure unless the issue re-appears.  Right now, if it was interference, it's gone.

Hopefully, I'll have no more issues going forward....the way routers/bridges, etc. should be.

Take care all.

Thanks.