Printer Gives an Authentication Error when SON is Active

[determinedd1]

With Self Organizing Network (SON) active on the Quantum Gateway router my wireless printer has worked fine until the router received an update about a week ago (UI now has additional IPv6 settings). Since then my printer gives an authentication error when SON is active. Turning SON off works, so there is some kind of bug. I've always used WPA2 security.

Router specs:

Firmware Version: 02.03.00.04

Hardware Version: 1.04

UI Version: v1.0.410

Model Name: Fios-G1100

Printer wifi specs:

Standard: IEEE 802.11b/g/n

Security: WEP (64/128bit), WPA-PSK (TKIP/AES) WPA2 compliant

Frequency band: 2.4 GHz

Communication mode: Ad hoc mode, infrastructure mode

Things I've tried

- factory reset + erase settings, then reenter settings and turn SON back on - printer still won't connect

- turn SON off - printer immediately connects

- turn Guest network on with SON on - printer will connect to Guest network with WPA2

[Cang_Household]

Always turn off the SON as it does more harm than good.

It is recommended to disable IPv6 on both the printer and the router. You don’t have that many devices at home, why bother with IPv6?

[DomFre021]

I don't want to disable SON because I think it helps.  Any other fixes?

[Cang_Household]

What do you need SON for? Excuse my frankness. Are you constantly plugging and un-plugging networking devices? Typically, you only need to manually configure the network once and you should be good to go.

[DomFre021]

I have about 15 network devices running during a normal day.  It seems as though SON helps get a better connection for those devices during the day.  Am I wrong about that?  I was under the impression that SON picks the best connection available (either 2.4 g or 5 g).  But if you think I can disable SON without any problems, by all means let me know!

[jonjones1]

It’s amazing that when Verizon uses the term Self Organizing Network (SON) customers think that it’s a wonder setting. It is not. Other routers have this ability like Netgear or Asus or others but it is called something else, and it is off by design.

basically it is a setting for advanced users. But a regular customer won’t need it.

turn it off. Additionally this son is useless in that many devices cannot connect to 5 Ghz bands, and if they do it’s because it’s close by such broadcast. For the most part 2.4 Ghz is perfectly fine.

read a manual on Netgear routers etc. and look for what they call SON. It will make you smile. 

[DomFre021]

ok!  Thanks!  That solves the problem!

[smith6612 · Accepted solution]

If the printer is old enough, SON may be enabling a feature called 802.11r (Fast BSS Transition) which allows for devices to quickly roam between wireless radios as well as access points (FiOS Network extenders) without much of an interruption. Older devices tend to break when 802.11r is enabled, and will either claim the network is a WPA2-Enterprise network, or be unable to authenticate despite showing the correct encryption type. Normally, you would want the option to disable 802.11r while leaving the rest of SON enabled.

As a workaround, consider dropping the transmit power of your 2.4Ghz wireless radio, say to 50%, while keeping 5GHz on high. This will help convince devices to join 5Ghz more often when the network name on each radio is the same. Additionally, if you have a FiOS network extender, manually set it to operate on different channels from the FiOS Router. Channels 1, 6, and 11 are non-overlapping for 2.4Ghz. On 5Ghz, note that Channels are grouped together in series of four, for a total of 6 non-overlapping channels (as the routers run in VHT80 mode). So channels 36-48 are one, 52-64 are one, 100-112 are one, 116-128 are one, 132-144 are one, and 148-161 are one. Make sure at least ONE router or access point is using channel 36-48 or 149-161, as not all devices support the other channels (which are known as DFS channels). Rokus, Smart TVs, and other "IoT" devices like smart cameras and doorbells tend to be the biggest culprits, so prioritize non-DFS near those non-supporting higher bandwidth devices.

For AP roaming, note that many devices start to scan for access points starting around -75dB signal strength. You can use Wi-Fi diagnostics or Stumbling tools to figure out your signal strength. Adjust power levels and placement of your network equipment to reach your desired overlap/roaming setup without SON.

[determinedd1]

Thank you Smith6612 for answering my question. My printer diagnostics also stated that there might be overlapping channels.