Every laptop on a new WLAN sits in authenticating, and the RADIUS server log shows no requests from the controller. A ping from the controller to that server fails. What is the first fault?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
The RADIUS server never saw a request, and your controller cannot even ping it. The laptops are waiting on an authentication that is not leaving the building. Fix the path before you blame a certificate.
Full Explanation
If the RADIUS log is empty and the controller cannot ping the server, the authentication requests are not arriving. Every laptop stuck in authenticating is the symptom of that missing path, whether it is routing, a firewall, or the wrong server address. Laptop certificates are checked by the server after a request arrives. An empty log means the server did not accept the certificates. It never saw them. Beacons do not carry authentication requests. The RADIUS exchange is between the controller and the server. Antenna gain does not make a ping to a RADIUS server fail, and a strong signal would not empty the server log while a controller ping fails. An empty RADIUS log plus a failed ping means the requests are not arriving. Certificate checks happen only after a request reaches the server. Exam caveat: a ping can succeed and RADIUS still fail if the RADIUS ports are filtered. Here the ping already fails, so the path itself is the first fault. Operational check: restore reachability, confirm the controller can reach the server, and watch a test laptop produce a request in the RADIUS log.