Posted: Mon Oct 30, 2006 6:55 Post subject: WAP54G high number of wireless TX errors
I'm wondering what would cause a high number of wireless TX errors.
I have 2 WAP54G's, each running DD-WRT v.23 SP2 micro.
Unfortunately, one WAP54G is reporting a large number of TX errors. The other one is working fine.
Here's the one with errors:
Quote:
Wireless Packet Info
Received (RX)
100%
128 OK, no error
Transmitted (TX)
17%
1903 OK, 9454 errors
Notice the high number of TX errors, and the low overall percentage of success. The small total packet counts are because I just rebooted it, in an effort to see if the problem would go away. It didn't.
And here's the other one, for comparison, just fine:
Quote:
Wireless Packet Info
Received (RX)
100%
301689 OK, no error
Transmitted (TX)
100%
1973268 OK, 28 errors
Nice! No problems at all, with this one.
What would be some possible causes of the TX errors, on the other one?
Is there a way to run the "dmesg" command, to see the kernel logging? Couldn't find it in the micro build. As for userspace logging, I have syslog turned off, to save memory (where would the logs go?).
My setup has these 2 WAP54G's both set up as access points. Both are connected to the same wired LAN. Channels are different on both, and don't overlap. SSID and WEP keys are the same, though. Wireless users can connect to whichever's strongest, and roam, and things usually work well.
I've been getting random dropouts, and wonder if these TX errors are part of the cause. The symptom is that a client is connected, and has reasonable wireless signal strength, but no packets can get through.
Tx errors are indication that no client is connected to it - beacon packest not replied.
To test, turn off your second AP, connect to 1st AP and all will be OK.
I actually had a handful of clients connecting to the WAP54G at the time, so a "lonely" access point wasn't the cause of the TX errors.
I had other problems with this particular WAP54G unit, as it would freeze up occasionally. Or, it would continue to function as an access point and bridge for others to use, but it could not "see" any packets going to itself (so no Web UI access was possible).
I'm chalking it up to flaky hardware. My other WAP54G, same model, same revision, running the exact same firmware on the exact same network, has no problems at all. It's running great to this day!
I've since decommissioned the WAP54G and just running my location with only one AP (dead spots in the corners, oh well) until I find a replacement. Since I don't like the way Linksys is going, with their non-Linux firmware, what is the current best recommended cheap router for installing DD-WRT (or similar open source firmware) on?
