SXTsq 5 ax disconnects every 4h (reason code 8) on WPA3-EAP

RouterOS Wireless Networking
1

Hello,

I’m testing a SXTsq 5 ax in station mode (RouterOS 7.19.4 and also 7.20rc1, same result).
The device connects to my university’s WPA-Enterprise WiFi using PEAP (EAP username/password, no certificate verification). I also tested WPA3-EAP, and the issue is identical.

Problem:

  • The station disconnects every 4 hours + a few seconds with:

    wifi1: disconnected, reason code 8, signal -53

  • About 10–15 seconds later it reconnects automatically.

  • DHCP client logs show the lease stopped locally after the disconnect. Just before the event, I captured a valid DHCP ACK (lease time = 2h), so DHCP seems fine.

  • Signal is strong (-53 dBm), so it is not RF. The timing is very precise (≈14400s), which looks like 802.1X periodic reauthentication (RADIUS Session-Timeout) or GTK rotation.

Tested:

  • ROS versions: 7.19.4 and 7.20rc1
  • Security: WPA2-EAP and WPA3-EAP
  • Set group-key-update explicitly but no luck.

Configuration:

[admin@MikroTik] /interface/wifi> print detail
Flags: M - master; D - dynamic; B - bound; 
X - disabled, I - inactive, R - running 
 0   BR name="vap1" l2mtu=1560 mac-address=<mac-address> arp-timeout=auto 
        disable-running-check=yes master-interface=wifi1 
        configuration.mode=ap .ssid=<ssid>
        security.passphrase=<passphrase>

 1 M BR default-name="wifi1" name="wifi1" l2mtu=1560 
        mac-address=<mac-address> arp-timeout=auto 
        radio-mac=<radio-mac>
        configuration.mode=station .ssid=<ssid> .country=<country>
        .station-roaming=no 
        security=<security-profile-name>
        security.authentication-types=wpa3-eap .group-key-update=3h 
        .eap-methods=peap .eap-certificate-mode=dont-verify-certificate 
        .eap-username="<username>" .eap-anonymous-identity="" 
        .eap-password="<password>" .ft=no 
        channel.band=5ghz-ax .width=20/40/80mhz .skip-dfs-channels=10min-cac

Thanks in advance for any suggestions!

2

Seems like translation of "reason code 8" is "Disassociated because sending STA is leaving (or has left) BSS".

As to why it happens: I assume that if your SXT would initiate disconnection, then there would be something more in logs. Which would mean that it's AP which initiates disassociation (disconnection).

Yes, it could be due to 802.1x requiring re-authentication. Or it could be due to (very poorly implemented) channel change. Can you check if frequency used by AP changes in those moments?

3

Hi,

I’m having the same issue, but in my case the network is WPA2 PSK and the Mikrotik is a HAP AX2
Wifi keeps disconnecting with Reason Code 8. Both 2Ghz and 5Ghz radios.
I also have a MAP lite connected to the same network and it does not give me any issue.

Any idea how to fix this?

Thanks

4

My IT department told me it’s actually their policy to disconnect all devices every 4 hours, so in my case the Reason Code 8 drops were “expected” behavior from their side. That said, your setup sounds different, so my situation probably isn’t directly helpful here. Sorry I can’t offer a real fix in your case.