Complete Sputnik step-by-step documentation. Troubleshooting
Troubleshooting 1 Troubleshooting Sputnik Agent Firmware 1.1 1.2 Sputnik Agent Error Messages 4 Ensuring that Sputnik Agent can communicate with SputnikNet over a device's WAN port 8 2 Troubleshooting Sputnik-Powered Devices 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 Low output power (Engenius EOC2610) 10 How to hard reset a router (30/30/30 reset) 11 How to change the router's local Web administration interface language. 12 How to use Sputnik-powered devices with half-bridged modems 15 How to Prevent Your Device from Changing its WAN MAC 16 3 Troubleshooting SputnikNet 3.1 3.2 Extend DHCP Lease Range to Enable More Client Connections 20 Out of Licenses Error Message 22
Troubleshooting Sputnik Agent Firmware Troubleshooting - 3
Sputnik Agent Error Messages How to troubleshoot Sputnik Agent error messages. The goal: "Running normally - Managed." Log into the local DD-WRT web interface on the Sputnik-Powered device. By default, login at http://192.168.180.1 with username root, password admin. Those values can be changed (and for security purposes, its important to change the password). Select "Status/Sputnik Agent". "Managed by" should show your SputnikNet ID. "State" should show "Running normally - Managed". If it does, you're up and running. If not, review the error messages below. Troubleshooting - 4
"Waiting for route availability". Check WAN port connectivity. You're not connected to the Internet. The WAN IP address, shown in the upper right hand side of the screen, will show 0:0:0:0. "Unable to resolve Jabber server IP address". Check DNS (domain name services) settings. If your device connects via DHCP, the upstream DHCP server isn't providing valid DNS server IP addresses. If it connects via static IP, configure valid DNS server IP addresses. Troubleshooting - 5
Modifying your device's DNS settings. To access your device's DNS settings in the DD-WRT web interface, select "Setup/Basic Setup" and look under "WAN Setup" at the top of the page. "Auth. sent, awaiting reply" Make sure your upstream firewall isn't blocking high-numbered ports. Port forwarding is not required. Troubleshooting - 6
How to check to be sure your AP is able to communicate with SputnikNet. The AP initially connects with SputnikNet over port 5222. This port must be open, outbound, and almost always is. The AP and SputnikNet then choose a random, high-numbered port for ongoing communications. These are sometimes blocked by upstream firewalls. To test that communications between an AP and SputnikNet are working, open a terminal from a PC connected to the Internet through the AP or through the same WAN connection that the AP is using. At the prompt, type: telnet wifi.sputnik.com 5222 You should see a response similar to: Trying 206.223.158.30 Connected to wifi.sputnik.com Escape character is '^]'. If you do not see this, then you need to open high-numbered ports on the upstream firewall. Troubleshooting - 7
Ensuring that Sputnik Agent can communicate with SputnikNet over a device's WAN port How to set the DD-WRT Keep Alive function so that the WAN port is open for the Sputnik Agent. Enable DD-WRT Keep Alive. In some versions of DD-WRT firmware, the Sputnik Agent, once enabled, can attempt to reach Sputnik Instant Setup or its assigned SputnikNet server before the WAN port becomes active. If this happens, the Sputnik Agent has no way to make a successful connection, and will eventually time out. This can significantly slow down the provisioning process. Here's how to ensure the WAN port is opened first, and speed up provisioning. For non-sputnik default DD-WRT firmware, take these steps before enabling the Sputnik Agent. Browse to the DD-WRT administrative interface (if using Sputnik defaults, http://192.168.180.1; otherwise http://192.168.190.1 if stock DD-WRT). Select "Administration/Keep Alive". Click "Enable" under "WDS/Connection Watchdog". Set the interval to 900 seconds. Set the IP Address to the server domain of the SputnikNet server you are on, e.g. scc22.wifi.sputnik.com. (Do not enter your specific account name, just the server URL). Click "Apply Settings". Troubleshooting - 8
Troubleshooting Sputnik-Powered Devices Troubleshooting - 9
Low output power (Engenius EOC2610) Some versions of DD-WRT firmware reverse the primary and secondary antenna settings. In this case, the firmware assigns the "external antenna" as your primary antenna even if you don't have one attached. This can lead to extremely poor signal quality. Change TX and RX Antennas to "Secondary". Associate with the device and log into the DD-WRT control panel. Sputnik default IP is 192.168.180.1. Under Wireless Settings, change the TX Antenna and RX Antenna from Primary to Secondary. Then click Apply/Save Settings. Troubleshooting - 10
How to hard reset a router (30/30/30 reset) Here's how to reset Sputnik-powered DD-WRT firmware to default values. More details can be found here. Hard reset procedure The following procedure will set Sputnik-powered DD-WRT firmware back to default ("factory") values: - With the unit powered on, press and hold the reset button on back of unit for 30 seconds - Without releasing the reset button, unplug the unit and hold reset for another 30 seconds - Plug the unit back in still holding the reset button a final 30 seconds This procedure is recommended before and after every firmware upgrade/downgrade. Troubleshooting - 11
How to change the router's local Web administration interface language. If the local Web interface in your Sputnik device comes up in Chinese, and it's a language you don't understand, here's how to get it back to English. How the language got set to Chinese in the first place. WIth Sputnik-default firmware (downloaded from http://www.sputnik.com/support/download/) the language is factory set to English. When you first log into the router's local web interface at 192.168.180.1, you are required to change the password as a security precaution. The language selection menu is on the same page though usually scrolled off the page - it is displayed, expanded, below. Language selection. If your web browser's default language is set to Chinese (which can happen with compromised browsers), DD-WRT detects this and will switch the language to Chinese. In other cases misconfigured browsers will auto-select the first menu option (Chinese - simplified). Since this option is not visible to the user the language selection may be changed without notice. Troubleshooting - 12
First, perform a 30-30-30 reset. If you are using Sputnik-default firmware from http://www.sputnik.com/support/download, a 30-30-30 reset will clear all nvram values (the router's configuration file) and set the default language to English. Please see: How to hard reset a router (30/30/30 reset) Issue the following commands via SputnikNet (if router is online). Select the router in SputnikNet and choose "Execute Command". From the command line option, send the following commands. nvram set language=english nvram commit reboot Troubleshooting - 13
Issue the following commands via telnet (if router is not online). Telnet into the router and issue the same commands as above: nvram set language=english nvram commit reboot Troubleshooting - 14
How to use Sputnik-powered devices with half-bridged modems Some ISPs deploy half-bridged modems which can cause intermittent connectivity issues with Sputnik-powered devices. Here's how to fix it. Disable the SPI firewall. Normally the router's SPI firewall is enabled as a security precaution. However it must be disabled if the Sputnik-powered device is connected to a half-bridged modem. Browse to MANAGE > Routers > your router > Execute Command: Command Line and enter: nvram set filter=off nvram commit startstop lan Confirm the new settings. From Execute Command, enter: nvram get filter The result should be: off IMPORTANT: If you have multiple routers at a single location, power off all routers after you have disabled SPI firewall, and turn them back on again. If even a single router is left powered on with SPI enabled, it will disrupt the connection for the other routers onsite in a way that is not fixable by rebooting those other routers individually. Troubleshooting - 15
How to Prevent Your Device from Changing its WAN MAC Some devices (notably single-port access points from Ubiquiti) randomly change the WAN MAC address they use when they start up. Then when they attempt to connect to your SputnikNet account, there is no record of the new MAC and the device is denied access. Here's how to ensure that the device consistently uses the same MAC address for its WAN connection, ensuring a stable connection with SputnikNet. Obtain the original LAN MAC from SputnikNet. The first time you connect your device to your SputnikNet account, it will register with a MAC address. (If you have not yet connected your router to SputnikNet, please do that first.) Browse to MANAGE > Routers > your router > Status. From Interfaces, copy the LAN MAC (usually the lower address of the pair). Troubleshooting - 16
Clone the MAC in the device's DD-WRT interface. Associate with the router and browse to its DD-WRT web admin console (by default, at http://192.168.180.1). Browse to Setup > MAC Address Clone. Enable MAC Clone and enter the MAC address obtained above in Clone WAN MAC address fields. Leave Clone Wireless MAC alone. Click Save, then Apply Settings. Troubleshooting - 17
Add startup script. From the DD-WRT interface, browse to Administration > Commands and enter the following startup script (use your LAN MAC address, the address included here is for illustrative purposes): sleep 4 ifconfig br0 hw ether DC:9F:DB:01:39:31 nvram set lan_hwaddr=dc:9f:db:01:39:31 nvram commit killall sputnik /usr/sbin/sputnik & Save the script as Startup. Reboot your router. Troubleshooting - 18
Troubleshooting SputnikNet Troubleshooting - 19
Extend DHCP Lease Range to Enable More Client Connections If your customers' browsers show a "page cannot be displayed message" when they connect to your hotspot, the reason may be that you are out of DHCP leases. Here's how you can increase the number of DHCP leases available to your customers. Standard DD-WRT DHCP lease settings Log into the local DD-WRT web interface on the Sputnik-Powered device. By default, login at http://192.168.180.1 with username root, password admin. Those values can be changed (and for security purposes, its important to change the password); in this example, the network is at 10.0.1.1. Select "Setup/Basic Setup". DD-WRT is factory set to allow 50 DHCP leases with 24-hour expiration. This is not enough for a typical hotspot. Troubleshooting - 20
Recommended DD-WRT DHCP lease settings Change "Start IP Address" to 10, change "Maximum DHCP Users" to 240, and "Client Lease Time" to 300 minutes (5 hours). These values are approximate. NOTE: do not allow DHCP lease addresses outside the range of 2-254. (Here the start address is 10, and 240 addresses are allowed. That means the highest possible value is 250, which is in range.) If you do, you may need to reset the device to restore functionality. Click "Save" to apply and save your new settings. For good measure, reboot the router after saving settings to make sure they are applied. Troubleshooting - 21
Out of Licenses Error Message If you have more Sputnik-powered devices connected to your SputnikNet account than you have subscriptions, your customers may see an "out of licenses" error message. Here's how to fix. Error message "no licensing information available". Every SputnikNet Account is authorized to manage a certain number of Standard and Pro device subscriptions. You can set this number in the Account/Settings page in SputnikNet. If a Sputnik-powered device attempts to join your SputnikNet network, and there are no more subscriptions available, its clients will see the following error message: "Sorry, but we're currently experiencing technical difficulties. The present error condition is: No licensing information available." (This error never applies to Sputnik-powered APs running in NMS mode, as those are free.) Out of Subscriptions Notice If the number of Sputnik-powered devices currently active on your SputnikNet network is greater than the number of subscriptions you have authorized, you will see the following notice on the Site Overview page in SputnikNet. Troubleshooting - 22
Increase SputnikNet Subscriptions From SputnikNet, click on the Account/Settings page to increase the number of devices subscribed to your SputnikNet account. Or Reset Subscriptions Sometimes a Sputnik-powered device can continue to use a subscription after it becomes inactive. This can happen, for example, if you're swapping out an old router with new hardware. SputnikNet doesn't "know" your intent; it simply continues to reserve the subscription for the formerly active router in case it was a momentary outage. If you want to dissociate inactive devices from your SputnikNet account, click "Reset Subscriptions". When you do this, SputnikNet will clear all subscription assignments, and then re-assign available subscriptions to Sputnik-powered devices in the order that they connect to your account. Please note: if you want to continue to use a router that was formerly subscribed to your SputnikNet account, but don't want it to use up a subscription, be sure to disable the Sputnik Agent on the device. You can do this from the device's local web interface, or remotely using SputnikNet. For more information on the latter, please see the documentation chapter titled "Remotely Disabling the Sputnik Agent on a Device". Troubleshooting - 23