Meru Technical Note - What are the 802.11 Disassociation Codes in the station logs?

[Andy_G]

Description

What are the 802.11 Disassociation Codes in the station logs?

Scope

KB ARTICLE TYPE:  Configuration, information

RELATED PRODUCTS: All AP models

RELATED SOFTWARE VERSIONS: NA

KEYWORDS: Disassociation, Codes, ACK, AID

Solution
The 802.11 Disassociation Codes are based on the 802.11 standards.

For example:

2013-04-09 12:24:20.981 | 00:23:12:05:66:f6 | Station Assign         | <AID=11> assigned to <AP_ID=23><ESSID=Guest><BSSID=00:0c:e6:02:d7:5f><reason=Station probed>
2013-04-09 12:24:24.009 | 00:23:12:05:66:f6 | 802.11 State           | Disassoc received <AP_ID=23><BSSID=00:0c:e6:02:e0:6a> <Reason code=8> <RSSI=-53>

As we can see in the station-log above, the client probed, and then Dissassociated due to "Reason code=8", which as per the 802.11 standard noted below, was disassociated because the sending station has left or is leaving BSS.    This was a station initiated disassociation.

These codes can be extremely useful in troubleshooting wireless issues.
 

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

Value	802.11 or Symbol/WPA Reason Code	Description
0	REASON_CODE_80211_SUCCESS	Reserved internally to indicate success
1.	REASON_CODE_80211_UNSPECIFIED_ERROR	Unspecified Reason
3.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_STATION_LEAVING_ESS	Deauthenticated because sending station has left or is leaving IBSS or ESS
4.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_INACTIVITY	Disassociated due to inactivity
5.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_STATION_LIMIT_EXCEEDED	Disassociated because AP is unable to handle all currently associated stations
6.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_CLASS_2_PKT_FROM_NON_AUTH	Class 2 frame received from non-authenticated station
7.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_CLASS_3_PKT_FROM_NON_ASSOC	Class 3 frame received from non-associated station
8.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_STATION_LEAVING_BSS	Disassociated because sending station has left or is leaving BSS
9.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_STATION_NOT_AUTHENTICATED	Station requesting re-association is not authenticated with responding station
13.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_INVALID_INFORMATION_ELEMENT	Invalid Information Element
14.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_MIC_FAILURE	Michael MIC failure
15.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_4WAY_HANDSHAKE_TIMEOUT	4-Way Handshake timeout
16.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_GROUP_KEY_UPDATE_TIMEOUT	Group key update timeout
17.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_4WAY_IE_DIFFERENCE	Information element in 4-Way Handshake different from Re-associated request/Proberesponse/Beacon
18.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_MULTICAST_CIPHER_INVALID	Multicast Cipher is not valid
19.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_UNICAST_CIPHER_INVALID	Unicast Cipher is not valid
20.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_AKMP_NOT_VALID	AKMP is not valid
21.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_UNSUPPORTED_RSNE_VERSION	Unsupported RSN IE version
22.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_INVALID_RSNE_CAPABILITIES	Invalid RSN IE Capabilities
23.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_8021X_AUTHENTICATION_FAILED	IEEE 802.1X Authentication failed
44.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_PSP_TX_PKT_BUFFER_EXCEEDED	Symbol defined (non 802.11 standard) code. The Wireless Switch has exceeded it’s time limit in attempting to deliver buffered PSP frames to the Mobile Unit without receiving a single 802.11 PS Poll or NULL data frame. The Wireless Switch begins the timer when it sets the Mobile Unit’s bit in the TIM section of the 802.11 beacon frame for the BSS. The time limit is at least 15 seconds. The Mobile Unit is probably gone (or may be faulty).
77.	DISASSOCIATION_REASON_CODE_TRANSMIT_RETRIES_EXCEEDED	Symbol defined (non 802.11 standard) codes. The Wireless Switch has exceeded it’s retry limit in attempting to deliver a 802.1x EAP message to the Mobile Unit without receiving a single 802.11 ACK. The retry limit varies according to traffic type but is at least 64 times. The Mobile Unit is either gone or has incorrect 802.1x EAP authentication settings.