Phones fail a WPA2 pre-shared key that the front desk swears is correct. The controller value matches the card except for a space at the end. What is wrong?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
The card and the controller disagree by one invisible character. Your phones are typing the key the card shows, and the controller is also requiring the space at the end. Remove that space, and the timer has nothing to do with the length of a passphrase.
Full Explanation
A pre-shared key is compared exactly. A space at the end is part of the controller's value, and phones that follow the card without that space will not match, so the handshake fails. WPA2 can use a pre-shared key. That is a normal security type, and the front desk is using one. The space is not stripped before the handshake. If it were, the phones would succeed. The beacon interval is not checked against the length of the key. The configured pre-shared key has a trailing space. Clients type the key without the space and fail. The WLAN security type is fine. Check one live client after the change and leave the rest of the floor alone until that client matches the result you expected. Exam caveat: a leading space or a look-alike character fails the same way. Read the configured value, do not retype it from memory over the top of the old one. Read the live counters after you retest. Operational check: set the controller key to the card with no trailing space, forget the network on one phone, and confirm it joins.