AX1800 WPA3-related Issues

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AX1800 WPA3-related Issues

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AX1800 WPA3-related Issues
AX1800 WPA3-related Issues
2021-01-17 20:13:22 - last edited 2021-02-02 14:01:44
Model: Archer AX1800  
Hardware Version:
Firmware Version: 1.2.0

Hello all!

 

First of all, my device seems to work great generally. My only issue is WPA3. It doesn't seem to work properly. If I leave it disabled, everything is great and I never need to reboot. However, if I turn on WPA3, the next day I'll have a handful of devices that can see the network but cannot connect.

 

I have a background in operating systems and computer networks, and I can perform sniffing or other data collection as needed to document the potential issue.

 

Has anyone else experienced this problem? I'd like to use WPA3 with my Wifi 6 devices.

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#1
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12 Reply
Re:AX1800 WPA3-related Issues
2021-01-18 09:38:30 - last edited 2021-01-18 09:39:52

@henfredemars 

 

Hi, thanks for reporting the issue to the TP-Link community.

 

Can we have a screenshot about the wireless security settings on the AX1800? You may mask or cover the wireless name and password for any security concerns.

 

As far as I know, some devices cannot connect to the mixed WPA2/WPA3-Personal type, it may then cause some unknown issue when connecting. WPA2-PSK/AES security should be secure enough for the wireless connections, it is suggested to choose that if you are experiencing an issue with the WPA3 security.

 

Just to confirm, what are the devices cannot connect to the network after a restart? Which can still reconnect?

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#2
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Re:AX1800 WPA3-related Issues
2021-01-18 13:26:27

 

Devices that have had issues so far when WPA3 is enabled: iPhone SE 2 (ax), Oculus Quest (1, ac), Google Pixel 2 (ac). Issue is always corrected by a router restart, but WPA3 enabled seems to cause a random subset of devices to fail to connect after a day or two. The subset of devices with an issue doesn't seem to be stable, but I've not tested every client when the issue emerges.

 

If I disable WPA3 as shown in the above image, I don't have any issues. It would be nice to have the additional security, such as protection of management frames and forward secrecy, but it's satisfactory for home use. I thought that I would contribute by reporting my observations.

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#3
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Re:AX1800 WPA3-related Issues
2021-01-19 08:31:10

@henfredemars 

 

We appreciate all the info and tests you have performed, we will report this to our engineers, they will try to investigate this.

Any more observations will be welcomed. wink

Nice to Meet You in Our TP-Link Community. Check Out the Latest Posts: Connect TP-Link Archer BE550 to Germany's DS-Lite (Dual Stack Lite) Internet via WAN Archer GE550 - BE9300 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Gaming Router EasyMesh Is Available When Wi-Fi Routers Work in AP Mode as A Controller. Archer AX55V2 Supports WireGuard VPN, EasyMesh Ethernet Backhaul, IoT Network, Speed Limit,and More If you found a post or response helpful, please click Helpful (arrow pointing upward icon). If you are the author of a topic, remember to mark a helpful reply as the "Recommended Solution" (star icon) so that others can benefit from it.
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#4
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Re:AX1800 WPA3-related Issues
2021-01-20 14:35:36

@Kevin_Z 

 

I have re-enabled the setting. When/if the issue recurs, I'll provide PCAP of the devices trying to join the network. 
 

If the issue does not recur within one week, I'll say it was not reproducible. 

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#5
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Re:AX1800 WPA3-related Issues
2021-01-21 02:32:29

@henfredemars 

 

Copy that. Thank you very much.

Nice to Meet You in Our TP-Link Community. Check Out the Latest Posts: Connect TP-Link Archer BE550 to Germany's DS-Lite (Dual Stack Lite) Internet via WAN Archer GE550 - BE9300 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Gaming Router EasyMesh Is Available When Wi-Fi Routers Work in AP Mode as A Controller. Archer AX55V2 Supports WireGuard VPN, EasyMesh Ethernet Backhaul, IoT Network, Speed Limit,and More If you found a post or response helpful, please click Helpful (arrow pointing upward icon). If you are the author of a topic, remember to mark a helpful reply as the "Recommended Solution" (star icon) so that others can benefit from it.
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#6
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Re:AX1800 WPA3-related Issues
2021-01-25 01:46:03

@Kevin_Z 

 

Thank you very much for your help! Unfortunately, it looks like the issue could not be repeated. It may be that the condition no longer exists. 

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#7
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Re:AX1800 WPA3-related Issues
2021-01-25 08:07:35

@henfredemars 

 

Does it mean all the devices can now connect to the WPA2/WPA3-Personal mixed security fine? If so, please keep monitoring the connectivity, and let us know if there are more updates.

 

Thank you very much again, have a nice day.

Nice to Meet You in Our TP-Link Community. Check Out the Latest Posts: Connect TP-Link Archer BE550 to Germany's DS-Lite (Dual Stack Lite) Internet via WAN Archer GE550 - BE9300 Tri-Band Wi-Fi 7 Gaming Router EasyMesh Is Available When Wi-Fi Routers Work in AP Mode as A Controller. Archer AX55V2 Supports WireGuard VPN, EasyMesh Ethernet Backhaul, IoT Network, Speed Limit,and More If you found a post or response helpful, please click Helpful (arrow pointing upward icon). If you are the author of a topic, remember to mark a helpful reply as the "Recommended Solution" (star icon) so that others can benefit from it.
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#8
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Re:AX1800 WPA3-related Issues
2021-02-02 13:07:49

@henfredemars Just bought a TP-LInk AX90 (AX6600)

 

THIS!

 

WPA3 clearly isn't implemented properly. my IPHONE 10 supports full  WPA3, but the router refuses the allow the connect/expires the lease without allowing renew. 

 

Once I put it on WPA2 (which i DONT want), things start to work. 

 

This is simple stuff that shouldn't be an issue with a super expensive router, which I'm about to send back...

 

 

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#9
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Re:AX1800 WPA3-related Issues
2021-02-02 14:04:53

@Austnaaron 

 

Hi! My issue did return after a few days. It looks like the DHCP server on the device might stop responding after a while for reasons unclear. I'm not sure if this is the same issue that you are having or even the same issue I had earlier. I captured network activity that seems to show this, and I'm working with a support person on their side to understand better what's going on. 
 

Again, not sure if current issue related or not to WPA3. 

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#10
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Re:AX1800 WPA3-related Issues
2021-02-06 14:01:47

@henfredemars 

 

I had similar problems with my AX11000. With WPA3 turned on, devices would initially connect and access the Internet without issue. But after some time (about a day or so and perhaps when the DHCP lease had expired), waking the device would show that the wifi was connected to the AX11000, but there would be no Internet access. (Other devices at the time would be fine, so this is not a system-wide router issue.)

 

Disabling and re-enabling wifi would take much longer to reconnect than usual (say 20-30s), and even then, sometimes fail. Eventually the Internet access would return.

 

What solved it was turning off WPA3 on the router and going back to WPA2.

 

The device with problems seemed to be only the newer ones with WPA3 capability.

 

Seeing that WPA3 was added to the AX11000 relatively recently at the last firmware update, I have to assume that the implementation is buggy.

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