Lock to AP not working

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Lock to AP not working

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Lock to AP not working
Lock to AP not working
2023-03-21 21:44:56
Tags: #Bug
Hardware Version:
Firmware Version: 5.9.31

Hi,

I have been trying to get several devices to stay connected to a set access point, and it seems like the Lock to AP feature is not working at all. I have tried to lock multiple different clients to multiple different APs (EAP225, EAP610-Wall, EAP-650), with no success. The client still jumps to a different access point even though it has a weaker signal than the one I specified the client to connect to with the Lock to AP feature. Any ideas? Thanks!

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#1
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20 Reply
Re:Lock to AP not working
2023-03-22 02:40:08
Lock to AP is new to Omada and not yet supported by Omada EAPs until they receive a firmware update, which can't come soon enough.
Hybrid OPNsense/Omada EAP Cat6 backhaul 4 x EAP670 1 x EAP610-Outdoor Omada Controller v5.15.6.4 Win 11x64 Router: OPNsense Intel N5105 quad-core I226V 2.5Gbe w/16GB RAM Dual WAN Fios/Spectrum 1Gbps
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#2
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Re:Lock to AP not working
2023-03-22 13:15:24

  @Shoresy Do you have an estimated release date for the new firmware for the EAP660HD and EAP653 supporting the "Lock to AP" feature (considering 5.9.31 is already the second FW version of the controller that is advertised to have this feature that cannot be used) ?

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#3
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Re:Lock to AP not working
2023-03-22 13:55:33 - last edited 2023-03-22 13:56:41

I have no idea of the release date...I believe it's a matter of device firmware being updated for EAPs in order for "Lock to AP" to function. I will say that from personal experience if you enable "Lock to AP" on any of your Wifi clients and you backup/restore settings or go through an Omada Controller migration, those clients will go missing from the clients list, so avoid enabling that feature until your device firmware is updated.

Hybrid OPNsense/Omada EAP Cat6 backhaul 4 x EAP670 1 x EAP610-Outdoor Omada Controller v5.15.6.4 Win 11x64 Router: OPNsense Intel N5105 quad-core I226V 2.5Gbe w/16GB RAM Dual WAN Fios/Spectrum 1Gbps
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#4
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Re:Lock to AP not working
2023-03-22 20:05:57 - last edited 2023-03-22 20:08:32

Thanks for your answer @Shoresy, I thought you were TP-Link staff.

Anyway, how do you know that the "Lock To AP" feature requires new firmware for the EAPs to work?

The release notes do not state that:

(capture taken from the Release Notes of Omada Software Controller_V5.9.9_Linux (Released on Feb 28, 2023))

https://community.tp-link.com/en/business/forum/topic/600706

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#5
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Re:Lock to AP not working
2023-03-22 20:55:10 - last edited 2023-03-22 20:55:19

The topic has been brought up a few times in the Omada EAP forum. The general consensus has been that the "Lock to AP" feature is not yet supported in the actual EAP device firmware.

 

https://community.tp-link.com/en/business/forum/topic/601484

Hybrid OPNsense/Omada EAP Cat6 backhaul 4 x EAP670 1 x EAP610-Outdoor Omada Controller v5.15.6.4 Win 11x64 Router: OPNsense Intel N5105 quad-core I226V 2.5Gbe w/16GB RAM Dual WAN Fios/Spectrum 1Gbps
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#6
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Re:Lock to AP not working
2023-03-22 21:40:32 - last edited 2023-03-22 21:44:45

Thanks again for your reply. I hope the general consensus is correct and that the new FWs for the EAPs and switches to support this feature are around the corner. As you wrote in the other topic, it is just what we need for IoT devices that don't need to be roaming.

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#7
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Re:Lock to AP not working
2023-03-27 06:59:40

I can personally vouch for the fact if you enable the feature currently strange things happen and you will have one hell of a job getting things back straight.

 

Why on earth there are options that can be enabled in software which require further firmware updates baffle me. I would have thought for those options to become enabled the code would have done a dependent hardware check first, only if met does the option wake up.

 

Usually I am very wary of new features in this system as more often than not they are not fully implemented, cause other issues, buggy or simply don't work. Always worth a check here to see if someone else has tested it.

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#8
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Re:Lock to AP not working
2023-03-27 12:59:16
It's best not to use the "Lock to AP" feature, for now, until device firmware has been updated to handle it. I experimented with enabling the new "Lock to AP" feature and just so happened to do an Omada Controller migration afterward which caused a number of my Wifi clients to disappear off the clients list. I've been on a new beta firmware that fixes that issue. Hopefully it's released soon.
Hybrid OPNsense/Omada EAP Cat6 backhaul 4 x EAP670 1 x EAP610-Outdoor Omada Controller v5.15.6.4 Win 11x64 Router: OPNsense Intel N5105 quad-core I226V 2.5Gbe w/16GB RAM Dual WAN Fios/Spectrum 1Gbps
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#9
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Re:Lock to AP not working
2023-03-27 13:48:41 - last edited 2023-03-27 13:49:52

In my case, I have the controller installed in a Linux LXC (Ubuntu) and after installing v5.9.9 I've enabled "Lock to AP" for several clients (there are about 60 devices connected at all times) and off course the feature was not working, then I migrated to v5.9.31 and the feature still not works, but I haven't noticed any issues other than the clients roaming normally instead of keeping the connection only to the selected AP.

 

Hopefully the new firmware for the APs supporting this feature arrives soon, but IMHO it is very confusing to have a feature in two consecutives versions of the controller that can not be used by any Omada hardware yet. Specially when it is not menthioned anywhere in the Release Notes of the software.

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#10
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Re:Lock to AP not working
2023-03-27 14:03:50

Thoroughly disappointed to see this still not implemented. I bought a second access point thinking this was supported after seeing it in the controller. Will be returning all of my tplink gear and moving to another manufacturer if we can't count on basic features working.

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#11
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