Passpoint Network Disappears or Stops Working After a Controller Reboot

What's happening

The Passpoint SSID was working normally, but after a wireless controller reboot (planned or unplanned), it disappears entirely or clients can no longer connect — even though other SSIDs on the same controller continue to work fine.

Why this happens

Occasionally, a controller reboot can cause a Passpoint WLAN's configuration to become corrupted or fail to reload correctly — the WLAN profile may still technically exist but no longer broadcast or function as expected. This is more of a controller-level glitch than a configuration mistake, and it doesn't always have a clear root cause beyond "the reboot didn't reapply the configuration cleanly."

Troubleshooting steps (for your network/IT team)

1. Confirm the Passpoint SSID is actually broadcasting. Check from a client device whether the network even appears in the Wi-Fi list.
2. Check whether affected access points are assigned to the correct WLAN/AP group. An AP that ends up in the wrong group after a reboot or config push won't broadcast the intended SSID — this is a quick, common check before assuming deeper corruption.
3. If the SSID is missing or clearly broken, rather than trying to patch the existing configuration, delete and recreate the Passpoint WLAN from scratch. This is often faster and more reliable than troubleshooting a partially-corrupted profile.
4. Reapply all Passpoint-specific settings (Hotspot 2.0 configuration, NAI realms, roaming consortiums, RADIUS server settings) when recreating the WLAN, since a fresh WLAN won't retain the old Passpoint-specific configuration automatically.

5. Test with a live device to confirm auto-join and successful authentication before considering the issue resolved.

    

If the issue continues

If recreating the WLAN doesn't resolve it, or you're seeing this happen repeatedly after routine reboots, contact support with:

• What controller platform you're using
• Whether this happens after every reboot or was a one-time occurrence

Our team can help investigate whether there's an underlying configuration or firmware issue causing the instability.