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ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

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  • 1.  ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 20 days ago

    Hi there

    I'm looking for advice/support on how to proceed with an issue with our ChromeOS Devices.

    We are a secondary school in the UK, using a mix of ChromeOS, Windows and iOS devices. 

    We have recently switched from a Cisco Meraki wifi setup to an HPE Aruba setup using 76 x AP-635 and 2 x AP-675 devices in the new Central dashboard. Our previous Meraki setup worked well, we changed because the devices became EoL and we decided that the Aruba setup gave us more flexibility with various aspects of our setup and how we wanted to use wifi in the school.

    At the moment we are using WPA3-Personal keys as our security method. We will change this over time to use some of the captive portals etc. All Windows, Android and iOS devices are connecting to the new Aruba APs fine.

    However, we have run into issues with our ChromeOS devices. Due to the volume of devices we have in the school, this is a significant problem for us. It is probably worth pointing out at this stage that we have worked closely with the team who installed and set up the new system, and have a ticket open with TAC, but unfortunately the issue has persisted for around 4-5 months now. It is also worth pointing out that we did not have any of the issues with our ChromeOS devices on the previous Meraki setup.

    Essentially, when an AP sees the ChromeOS device for the first time, it connects fine. And the user is able to browse, work etc. without any issues. The problems start when the ChromeOS device is moved to a different location - perhaps the teacher has moved to a different classroom or the student chromebook is now being used in a different lesson. If the AP in the new location has seen the ChromeOS device before, it often refuses the connection. The device throws up errors such as 'Error connecting to network' or 'DHCP Lookup Failed' - however TAC have seen in the logs that the AP is not passing any information on (eg to DHCP servers) because it thinks that the ChromeOS device is 'spoofing' and therefore rejects the connection request or roaming request. 

    There are a couple of workarounds - you can try connecting to a different SSID which works if you haven't connected to that SSID on that AP before, or we can reboot the AP completely which clears logs and other info etc. from the AP so makes it think it hasn't seen this particular device before. But neither of these workarounds are long term solutions - restarting APs may disconnect clients that are connected without issues, and if you run out of available SSIDs (because you are rejected from all of them) then you just can't connect.

    We have already tried a few things. Each SSID has been set to only allow 802.11k roaming. We've disabled 6GHz bands on the SSIDs as well. We've also disabled WiFi 7 on them. We've changed the AP System Profile to make sure that it is only using IPv4. All of these are the suggestion of the team we worked with on the install, or from TAC. 

    We didn't change any of our ChromeOS config when we moved from Meraki to Aruba, and as there were no connection issues previously I don't believe that the issue lies with ChromeOS (or at least with our network config). 

    On the whole, lots of schools use ChromeOS devices, and lots of schools will use Aruba APs for their wifi. So we can't be the only school with this setup. Has anybody else seen this problem, or anybody got any suggestions about how we might be able to resolve this issue?

    Thanks in advance for taking the time to read the post, and for any support.

    Stephen



    ------------------------------
    Stephen
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  • 2.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 20 days ago

    Hey Stephen, can you send me the TAC case ID so I can look into this further? Do you have pcaps of the beacons from both systems that we can compare?




  • 3.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 20 days ago

    Hi Josh. Thanks for the reply. The case ID I have is 5404960345.

    I'm sorry but I'm not sure what the 'pcaps of the beacons' means! I'm very new to all this! I don't have access to the old meraki system any longer though if you were hoping that I could get some info from there?

    Thanks

    Steve


    Original Message


  • 4.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 20 days ago

    Hey Stephen,

    No worries at all. Here is a link to a great learning resource on all things Wi-Fi from Rasika: Wireless Packet Capture - mrn-cciew

    What I meant is that the over-the-air packet captures (pcap) of the 802.11 beacon frames, which are used to advertise WLANs to nearby wireless clients (as well as probe responses and other frames in certain situations).

    It _could_ be useful to compare these frames from both systems to see if there are any differences in the effective and advertised WLAN configuration, since you stated there were no changes on the station side. There are likely other configurations between the two systems that wouldn't show in the beacon/probe response frames that are worth knowing about in terms of broadcast multicast handling, ACLs, etc.

    Can you share the tech support logs with TAC?


    Original Message


  • 5.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 18 days ago

    Hi Josh

    I haven't been able to collect any logs as since the update to v 10.8.1.1_96846 we haven't had the issue reoccur. Wondering what was changed in this update. Keeping things open with TAC at the moment in case it does happen again over the next week or so. But they have collected lots of logs before whilst the issue was occuring.

    Thanks

    Steve


    Original Message


  • 6.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 18 days ago

    We are experiencing this exact same issue with our chromebooks and at times seems to flow to our window devices.  Have you heard anything further?




  • 7.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 18 days ago

    Hi Jarrett

    TAC are waiting for me to upload some logs, but I actually can't do that at the moment as we haven't had the issue reoccur (or at least staff haven't let me know when it has occured lately) since we updated to v 10.8.1.1_96846. Touch wood, things have been loads better since that update.

    Have you tried updating? That is the only thing that we have changed since experiencing this issue last.

    Thanks

    Steve


    Original Message


  • 8.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 4 days ago

    Hi,

    We are also running  a fleet of Chromebooks on an HPE Aruba Wi-Fi network and experiencing persistent Wi-Fi disconnection and reconnection issues.

    Has anyone found a reliable solution or workaround for this? Alternatively, is there an HPE Aruba support representative available to assist?

    Environment details:

    • Access Points: AP-503 and AP-505 (150+ APs total)

    • Clients: Chromebooks (ChromeOS)

    Any advice or recommendations would be greatly appreciated.

    Thanks in advance

    Kudze


    Original Message


  • 9.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 4 days ago

    Hi Kudze,

    We need way more information and more details to help. The best thing to do is open a TAC case and provide as much detail as possible. Provide an AP tech support when the issue is happening. Provide as many details about the Chromebook as you can. It's a "Chromebook" is not specific enough. There are many different types of Chromebooks with various driver versions across various WLAN chipsets. 


    Original Message


  • 10.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 4 days ago

    We have a highly escalated TAC with Aruba HPE now. VPs are aware and some top engineers. We don't have answers but the issue is devices having issues flood the RF spectrum with packets and basically cascades from there. If we get anywhere, I'll let you know. Interesting to hear you are reporting issues with 500 series. Are you on central or conductor? What Firmware?


    Original Message


  • 11.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 4 days ago

    The site is running on  HP Central 

    Firmware is 10.7.2.6_96203


    Original Message


  • 12.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 4 days ago

    I would open a TAC and go from there. We are having the same issue with 7.2.6 and 8.1.1 but there are options we changed. May have helped not sure yet. We are doing further testing while working with TAC. Get the extact models of your chrome books. Get the Wireless NIC card info. We only see it with 1 certain nic.


    Original Message


  • 13.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 2 days ago
    Hi, 

    Thanks for the email.

    We are using Mobility Conductor and not Central.
    Also, our firmware is on 8.13.1.1 LSR.

    Regards, 



    Original Message


  • 14.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 4 days ago

    How has it being going for you. Yes we have tried and still having a lot of issues. What chromebook models and wireless nics are you running?


    Original Message


  • 15.  RE: ChromeOS Devices won't connect to SSIDs at times

    Posted 2 days ago

    Hi Jarrett

    Very tentatively, I would say that we are looking ok. Since the update to the version mentioned previously, we haven't had any reports from staff or students that their ChromeOS device won't connect. A bit bizarre though, as the engineer on the case can't see anything in the release notes that relates to this OS or issue!

    We have a wide variety of Chromebook models being used, and the issue affected all of them. Dell, Acer, Lenovo are our main hardware kit. So no pattern around nic or make etc. 

    Thanks
    Steve


    Original Message


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