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ISSUE |
KB242: Cyber Café Wireless – Internet Access
Failure and/or Printing Failure
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SOLUTION DIALOGUE |
Determine the extent and the source of the broken wireless communications and fix accordingly |
Overview:
Internet connections for PCs
located at the Cyber Café, Lowell Campus are provided through wireless technology. The hardware used for the wireless technology
includes Aironet 4800 Series access point devices. The access point device on the fourth floor
of the
Separate wireless technology is used for communications between any Café PC and the shared black-and-white network printer in the Café.
Symptoms:
Problems with the wireless operations at the Cyber Café fall under one of three possible conditions error:
§ loss of Internet access
§ loss of ability to print
§ loss of Internet access and ability to print
On each Café PC in the lower right corner, an active and functioning wireless capability is indicated by an icon picturing two small computers . The icon appears in the system tray section of the task bar on the user’s desktop. Placing the cursor over the icon will cause the text, “Wireless Network Connection (café)” to display. When this capability is not functioning, a red “X” appears with the computers in the icon.
Supporting Documents:
§ Maintaining Aironet 4800 Wireless Devices
TROUBLESHOOTING STEPS:
Troubleshooting steps assume you are physically at the Cyber Café.
Start with the appropriate troubleshooting section based on the symptom encountered:
§ lose Internet access, retain ability to print – start at section A
§ retain Internet access, lose ability to print – start at section C
§ lose both Internet access and ability to print – start at section C
The loss of access to the Internet may be either a local area issue or a wide area network issue. The loss of print capability is always a local issue. If print capability is lost along with access to the Internet, first assume it is a local area issue since there is a definite local area issue associated with the loss of printing (section C). If upon restoring printing capability, Internet access is not also restored, then explore issues with the wide area network (section A). When only Internet access is lost, explore wide area network issues first (section A) and then local area issues (section C).
Note: Sometimes the ability of new users to access the Internet is lost, but users already connected are able to maintain their connection. In this situation, consider access to the Internet lost when determining which section of troubleshooting to start with.
A. Verify with the Help Desk whether other locations can access the Internet.
1. Call the Help Desk and have that person determine whether the Cyber Café is the only location unable to access the Internet.
Is the Cyber Café the only location without Internet access?
YES --> proceed to section B (issue is local to Cyber Café)
NO --> exit this procedure (issue is general). Verify how the Help Desk will communicate with you when the issue is solved. Wait for Help Desk to solve this general Internet access problem.
B. Check
the wireless access point device in
1.
Ask the Help Desk person to check the access point
device in the
2.
Locate
the Aironet 4800 access point device in the
The device sits on the sill of a window facing the Cyber Café. The device has three small, circular, and yellowish-green lights in a vertical row on the top of the device, similar to a traffic light (see the figure below).
Aironet
4800 Series – Access Point
3. Verify the center light is constantly on. Verify the top and bottom lights blink sometimes. The blinking indicates data is being sent or received.
Is the
YES --> proceed to section C (issue is within the Cyber Café)
NO --> exit this procedure. Confer with the Help Desk person and IT support to determine how to get the access point device to operate normally (e.g., turn it off and after 20 seconds turn it back on, completely reload the software, or another alternative).
C. Check the wireless access point devices in Cyber Café.
1. Locate either of the two Aironet 4800 access point devices in the ceiling (push away the drop ceiling panels).
The Café front access
point is above the right side of the old bar.
The Café back access point is near the windows just after the steps in
the center of the Café. These devices
are physically the same type of device as the one in the
2. Verify the center light is constantly on. Verify the top and bottom lights blink sometimes, indicating data is being sent or received.
Is the center light?
CONSTANTLY ON --> check the other access point device and if that center light is also constant then consult with Help Desk person and IT support for what to do next as both devices appear to be working normally
CONSTANTLY BLINKING --> this is an error condition. Proceed to section D.
D. Turn off individual PCs in Cyber Café.
The problem has been narrowed down to the access point device encountering a problem during communication with an individual PC and the PC is somehow overloading or not releasing the access point device for communication with other PCs. By finding and shutting off the PC causing this condition, the condition is cleared the access point device can again communicate normally with all PCs. Proceed to test each PC one-by-one until the problem PC is found.
1. Turn off one of the PCs.
2. Check whether the center light on the access point device is still constantly blinking.
Is the center light still constantly blinking?
YES --> turn the PC back on
repeat steps 1 and 2 for another PC
NO --> this was the PC with the communications problem, proceed to next step
3. Verify that printing and/or Internet access have returned to normal.
4. Turn the PC back on.
Note: This problem occurs with different PCs, so it is not a problem related to an individual PC’s hardware or software.
