Network troubleshooting vdos
Brief Introduction
Our network consists of a few parts, and a brief intro may help figure out where a problem might be located:
- Access Points (APs): These are the discs that you see all over the building. They project the wireless signal all over building.
- Switch Boards: You can find them in the server room, basement room, 2nd and 3rd floor electrical closets. They are like a network version of a power strip. Take one source of data (or internet if you will), and then spread it out to all of the devices plugged into it. You'll see a ton of cables plugged into them and then running out to the rest of the building.
- Controller: Literally a program running on the Mac Mini in the server room. It helps to control how the APs handle all of the devices connecting to them, help the APs talk to each other, and generally make sure everything is safe and working. Most of the time if something is down, you'll need to check the controller to see what is up.
Controller Access
There are two ways to access the controller: physically and digitally.
Physical Access
In the server room, if you move the mouse or tap the keyboard, the screen should light up after a moment (may be a little slow sometimes). This is the Mac Mini. You should see a lovely photo of Benny, and a prompt to enter the password for pco. The password is V4ncouver$. This should get you into the Mac Mini.
The first thing that opens should be a Firefox tab, with something like "Unifi Network" or something. This is the controller. You'll probably see a list similar to the picture below. If you don't, click on the buttton on the left hand tab that looks like a little circle.
If things are running fine, the screen should look similar to above. Status is "Online", Experience is varied but mostly green, and most of the APs are "Wired" (though others won't be, but that should be ok).
Digital Access
The Mac Mini is also set up with Remote Desktop Access through Chrome. The pin to connect to it is 894523. When you use this method, you have full control over the desktop from where ever you are. However, if the entire network is down, this may not be an option. Similar to physical access, you'll need the password for pco (again it's V4ncouver$), and the same screen should pop up.
Either way, if there are issues, then we'll need to troubleshoot the APs. Unless of course the entire thing is down, then... shoot.
Unifi Credentials
If for any reason the Unifi Network is not already logged in, the username is CtcAdmin (case sensitive) and password: QuartzClockLol.
APs Troubleshooting
However, if there is an issue, you should be able to see something up with one of the APs, such as "Pending Adoption", "Offline", or something else. This simplest way to resolve this is to reset the AP.
Physical Reset
The AP can be physically reset by locating it in the building. I try to name them with their location, though there are a couple that I haven't been able to locate physically, which are named UAP-AC-PRO for now. You'll need to pull the AP down (keep it connected), and find the "Reset" button on the back. Shove a paperclip into the hole and hold it for 10 seconds. You should see the light on the front of the AP blink or change. Then release the pin, and wait. Within a minute you should see the light on the front blink a few times (10-20) and then finally go solid again. It has been reset!
If you return to the controller you should see an AP listed with the status "Click to Adopt". When you click on the AP, a little screen will show up from the side and there should be an "Adopt" button. Click it, and the controller should go through the process and after a minute or two the AP will show up as connected and online!
Occasionally it may not work fully, so see below on that.
SSH Reset
Some the APs may be difficult to access (either in someone's room, or way up in a ceiling, or maybe they won't come off the mount). We can still reset the AP using SSH.
To begin, return to the Mac Mini, and find the "Terminal" app. When you first click on it you'll see a black box with some gibberish in it. We need to establish a fresh connection, so go to "Shell" and click "New Window". You should now see something similar to below.
We then need to SSH into the AP, which is done by typing "ssh CtcAdmin@[insert the IP address of the AP you're trying to get to (which can be found in the list of APs)]" and hitting enter. It may ask if you want to continue connecting. Type "yes" and hit enter. Then when it asks for the password enter QuartzClockLol and hit enter. When you're typing the password it won't register that you have pushed anything. So you have to make sure you are properly typing the right letters. (Eg. a lot of times when you enter a password you get like ******* for each key you hit.) You should then see a Unifi logo and some more text. Then type 'syswrapper.sh restore-default' and hit enter. Here is a screenshot of the entire thing to help. You can kind of follow along as you do it.
You will either get a message that says something like "Clearing CFG....100%" and then "Connection closed." It is now reset! You can close the current window of Terminal (but don't close the one behind it).
It may take a few minutes for the AP to show up in the list (back on FireFox), and you may want to refresh the page. But once it shows up you should be able to adopt it like the above method.