Controllerless Networks

Hi,
we are in a project where the IAP's in most of our sites will increase. Now we are working on the first site (in total 183 IAP's will be connected there). The plan is to split them over 2 clusters (2 different management vlans).
So the cabling works are still going on and today we have a cluster of a little more than 50 IAP's.
We use

Firmware:

8.6.0.14-8.6.0.14_81691

This week a few more AP's were connected and now this IAP cluster seems to be not very stable anymore. We use Airwave as a management platform and there I can see that random AP's go offline, sometimes they are all ok, sometimes some are offline, sometimes the whole cluster is offline, ...
So I ran a ping -t to the cluster IP address. This confirms what I see in Airwave. See below.
I also surfed to the webpage of the IAP cluster itself, there I don't see alerts except for x AP's are offline.

Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=67ms TTL=60
Request timed out.
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=73ms TTL=60
Request timed out.
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=56ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=57ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=60
Request timed out.
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=62ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=59ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=64ms TTL=60
Request timed out.
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=60
Request timed out.
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=59ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=65ms TTL=60
Request timed out.
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=66ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=63ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=59ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=60
Request timed out.
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=60
Request timed out.
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=56ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=63ms TTL=60
Request timed out.
Request timed out.
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=60ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=58ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=56ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=61ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=65ms TTL=60
Request timed out.
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=76ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=75ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=72ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=65ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=63ms TTL=60
Request timed out.
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=63ms TTL=60
Reply from 10.185.156.10: bytes=32 time=65ms TTL=60​

Does anyone have an idea how we can solve this instability?

Thanks!

With larger clusters, it is even more important that you have a well-controlled wired infrastructure to support the APs. Also, things like broadcast control, having dedicated management networks, controlled broadcast domains (not spanning too many switches), become critical. It can be many things, but based on my experience the highest chances are for something not optimal in the wired environment.

Best is to take the Aruba Instant VRD as a guide-line, and if that doesn't help, work with your partner or Aruba support to find the issue of why APs go offline.

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Herman Robers
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If you have urgent issues, always contact your Aruba partner, distributor, or Aruba TAC Support. Check https://www.arubanetworks.com/support-services/contact-support/ for how to contact Aruba TAC. Any opinions expressed here are solely my own and not necessarily that of Hewlett Packard Enterprise or Aruba Networks.

In case your problem is solved, please invest the time to post a follow-up with the information on how you solved it. Others can benefit from that.
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