MSM720 Clients choosing wrong ap

[Tim Frodermann]

Hi,

I have a MSM720 with 10 Access Points around the building. The AP's are on different channels to avoid interference.

Latelay I noticed that some of the wireless clients are logged into AP's that are not the nearest choice nor have the strongest signal from the clients standpoint.

This is quite annoying because it results in an unnecessarily bad network performance.

So my question is: I have a lot of stationary wireless clients (PC's with no network in the room); is there a way to bind those clients to a specific AP?

Could it be that there is some automatic redistribution mechanism that moves clients to different AP's?

Thanks in advance for your thoughts and help!

Bye,

Tim

[Niko-Lizard]

Hi Tim.

Sounds a little like some of the issues I am seeing. The clients are jumping from one AP to another. In addition, they do not connected to the one with best coverage.

In my case, I think this has something to do with the new ETSI standards being updated 1 January 2015. However, I am trying to find answers in another tread in the forum.

Could you please provide the firmware revision that you are running on the controller?

You could easily create different “Controlled AP” groups with a single AP inside. Then create a VSC that is only present in one group and then another VSC for another group. Think it like binding the groups to an AP location. Then connect the stationary PC to the right location VSC. Put the VSC for roaming on all AP groups.

Kind regards

[Tim Frodermann]

Hi,

the system is running:

Software version:

5.7.3.0-13117

Thanks so far!

Tim

[Niko-Lizard]

Hi.

It is not because of the new ETSI standard running when you are running that firmware. I do not know if the possibility I suggested in my first reply is the best or right one. However, it is a possibility.

Kind regards.

[Arimo]

Since you're running 5.7.3, it seems this is an old implementation with a new issue, correct?

There isn't a client redistribution mechanism. There can be multiple reasons for clients connecting to wrong APs. For starters you should:

1. Update your controller - go for 5.7.5 or 6.4.2.1 (if you go to 6.x, do two-step upgrade and remember to save your config before upgrade so you can perform a rollback if necessary!)

2. Disable all low data rates in your VSCs (below 11 on a/b/g, below 18 on n)

3. Drop the transmit power of your APs - it's not the best idea to let them blast on 100% power (actually you should do a site survey to determine the power you need from each AP)

4. If you go to 6.x, you can let RRM manage AP channels and power - note that RRM doesn't override the need of a site survey

5. Enable bandsteering

The first step will fix known issues listed in the Release Notes. 2 and 3 are aimed to reduce your cell size which forces clients to connect to a closer AP and roam faster. 4 makes the controller look at the wireless as a whole to determine appropriate channels / power instead of each AP making an independent desicion. 5 forces all 5GHz capable clients to 5GHz radio to reduce the traffic on 2.4GHz spectrum.

There are MAC filter and MAC lockout functionalities (check the manual) but I'd start with the steps above.