AP Scan Tools: Diagnose and Troubleshoot Your Access Points Effectively

Maintaining a robust and reliable wireless network is crucial for any modern business or organization. Access Points (APs) are the backbone of these networks, and ensuring their optimal performance is paramount. When issues arise, having the right diagnostic tools at your fingertips can significantly reduce downtime and streamline troubleshooting. WatchGuard Cloud offers a suite of integrated Ap Scan Tools designed to help you diagnose and resolve network connectivity problems directly from the cloud interface.

This guide will walk you through the diagnostic tools available in WatchGuard Cloud for your Access Points, including Ping, Packet Capture, Traceroute, DNS Lookup, and Snapshot. These tools empower network administrators and IT professionals to quickly identify the root cause of issues, whether it’s a connectivity problem, packet loss, or DNS resolution failure. By leveraging these AP scan tools, you can proactively manage your wireless network and ensure seamless connectivity for your users.

Utilizing Diagnostic Tools in WatchGuard Cloud

Accessing and using the diagnostic tools in WatchGuard Cloud is a straightforward process. Follow these steps to begin troubleshooting your access points:

Navigate to Monitor > Devices in your WatchGuard Cloud interface.
Select the specific access point you wish to diagnose from the device list.
Open the Devices menu and choose Live Status > Diagnostic Tools. This action will open the Diagnostic Tools page, providing you with access to the various AP scan tools.
From the Task dropdown menu, select the diagnostic tool you need to use. Your options include:
- Ping: To test basic network reachability.
- Packet Capture: For in-depth analysis of network traffic.
- Traceroute: To map the network path to a destination.
- DNS Lookup: To verify DNS resolution.
For Ping, Traceroute, or DNS Lookup, enter the target IP address or domain name in the Address (IP or Domain Name) field. For example, you might enter a known IP address like 8.8.8.8 (Google’s public DNS server) or a domain name such as example.com.
Click Run to execute the selected AP scan tool. The results will be displayed in a window, allowing you to immediately review the output and gain insights into the network behavior.

Let’s delve deeper into each of these powerful AP scan tools.

Ping: Verify Access Point Reachability

The Ping tool is a fundamental network utility that allows you to test the reachability of an IP address or hostname from your access point. It sends ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) echo requests to the target address and listens for echo replies. Successful ping responses indicate basic network connectivity.

How to use Ping in WatchGuard Cloud:

Follow steps 1-4 in the “Utilizing Diagnostic Tools in WatchGuard Cloud” section.
Select Ping from the Task dropdown list.
Enter the target IP address or hostname in the Address (IP or Domain Name) field.
Click Run.

The Ping results will show the round-trip time (RTT) for each packet sent, indicating the latency in network communication. Packet loss will also be evident, highlighting potential network issues. Ping is an essential first step in diagnosing connectivity problems with your access points.

Packet Capture: Deep Dive into Network Traffic

Packet Capture is a powerful AP scan tool that allows you to intercept and analyze network traffic to and from your access point. By capturing packets, you can gain granular visibility into data exchange between wireless clients and the AP, or between the AP and the wired network. This is invaluable for troubleshooting complex network issues such as dropped connections, latency spikes, and packet loss. WatchGuard Cloud utilizes the tcpdump utility to capture packets from both wired and wireless interfaces of the access point.

You can view the captured packets in real-time or download them as a .PCAP file for later analysis using tools like Wireshark. Packet capture requires access point firmware version 2.5 or higher.

How to Perform a Packet Capture:

Follow steps 1-3 in the “Utilizing Diagnostic Tools in WatchGuard Cloud” section.
Select Packet Capture from the Task dropdown list.
Choose the interfaces you want to capture traffic from using the Interface dropdown list. You can select multiple interfaces, including wired and wireless interfaces of the access point.
(Optional) Enable Stream data to a file to directly save the captured data as a .PCAP file. If you select multiple interfaces, separate files will be created for each.
Click Run to start the packet capture.

The packet capture will run for a maximum of five minutes, updating the data every five seconds. You can use the Search box to filter and find specific terms within the captured data. To stop the capture prematurely, click the Stop Task button.

If you chose to stream data to a file, the Download PCAP file button will become available after the capture is complete, allowing you to download the file for offline analysis.

Packet Capture Arguments for Advanced Filtering

For more refined packet capture, you can utilize tcpdump command arguments in the Arguments text box. This allows you to filter captured traffic based on various criteria such as ports, protocols, and hosts.

Examples of Packet Capture Arguments:

-i eth0 port 443: Capture all port 443 (HTTPS) traffic on the wired interface (eth0).
-i eth0 udp port 67 or 68: Capture DHCP traffic (UDP ports 67 and 68) on the wired interface.
-i eth0 -c 4: Limit the capture to only four packets on the wired interface.
-i eth0 host 10.0.1.10 and port 53: Capture DNS traffic (port 53) to or from the host 10.0.1.10 on the wired interface.
-i ath0 / -i ath1: Capture traffic on the 2.4 GHz (ath0) or 5 GHz (ath1) wireless interfaces respectively. ath01, ath02, etc., represent additional SSIDs on the 2.4 GHz radio, and similarly for ath11, ath12, etc., on the 5 GHz radio.

Refer to the tcpdump.org manual pages for a comprehensive list of available arguments. Note that using arguments with wireless interfaces may prevent the capture of wireless-specific packets like beacon and probe requests. For these, select interfaces directly from the Interface dropdown without using arguments.

Traceroute: Map the Network Path

Traceroute is another valuable AP scan tool that helps you visualize the network path from your access point to a specified destination. It identifies each hop (router) along the path and measures the round-trip time to each hop. This is crucial for pinpointing network bottlenecks or routing issues.

How to use Traceroute in WatchGuard Cloud:

Follow steps 1-4 in the “Utilizing Diagnostic Tools in WatchGuard Cloud” section.
Select Traceroute from the Task dropdown list.
Enter the destination IP address or hostname in the Address (IP or Domain Name) field.
Click Run.

The Traceroute results will display a list of hops, their IP addresses, and the round-trip times. High latency or timeouts at specific hops can indicate where network problems are occurring.

DNS Lookup: Verify Domain Name Resolution

The DNS Lookup tool allows you to query DNS (Domain Name System) servers to find the IP address associated with a given hostname. This is essential for verifying that your access point can correctly resolve domain names, which is fundamental for internet access and many network applications.

How to use DNS Lookup in WatchGuard Cloud:

Follow steps 1-4 in the “Utilizing Diagnostic Tools in WatchGuard Cloud” section.
Select DNS Lookup from the Task dropdown list.
Enter the hostname you want to resolve in the Address (IP or Domain Name) field.
Click Run.

The DNS Lookup results will show the IP address(es) resolved for the hostname, along with the DNS server that provided the response. If the DNS lookup fails, it indicates a potential DNS configuration issue on your network.

Snapshot: Gather Diagnostic Log Data

The Snapshot tool allows you to download a diagnostic snapshot file containing logs and system information from your access point. This file is invaluable for sharing with WatchGuard Technical Support when troubleshooting complex issues that require deeper investigation.

How to Download a Diagnostic Snapshot File:

Follow steps 1-3 in the “Utilizing Diagnostic Tools in WatchGuard Cloud” section.
Select the Snapshot tab on the Diagnostic Tools page.
Click Download snapshot file.

The diagnostic snapshot file, typically named [device name]_support.tgz, will be downloaded to your specified location. You can then provide this file to WatchGuard Support to assist with troubleshooting.

Conclusion

WatchGuard Cloud’s integrated AP scan tools provide a comprehensive suite of diagnostic capabilities to ensure the health and performance of your wireless network. From basic connectivity checks with Ping to in-depth packet analysis with Packet Capture, and network path mapping with Traceroute, these tools empower you to proactively manage and troubleshoot your access points. By utilizing these features effectively, you can maintain a reliable and efficient wireless network environment.

For further information, refer to the related topics within WatchGuard Cloud documentation: