When Channel Management is enabled, the Access
Point automatically assigns wireless radio channels used by clustered access
points. The automatic channel assignment reduces mutual interference (or
interference with other access points outside of its cluster) and maximizes
Wi-Fi bandwidth to help maintain the efficiency of communication over the
wireless network.
At a specified interval, the Channel Manager
maps APs to channel use and measures interference levels in the cluster. If
significant channel interference is detected, the Channel Manager
automatically re-assigns some or all of the APs to new channels per an
efficiency algorithm (or
automated channel
plan).
The Channel Management page shows previous,
current, and planned channel assignments for clustered access points. By
default, automatic channel assignment is disabled. You can start channel
management to optimize channel usage across the cluster on a scheduled
interval.
From this page, you can view channel
assignments for all APs in the cluster and stop or start automatic channel
management. By using the Advanced settings on the page, you can modify the
interference reduction potential that triggers channel re-assignment, change
the schedule for automatic updates, and re-configure the channel set used for
assignments.
The Current Channel
Assignments section shows a list of all access points in the cluster by
IP Address. The display shows the band on which each AP is broadcasting
(a/b/g/n), the current channel used by each AP, and an option to lock an AP on
its current wireless radio channel so that it cannot be re-assigned to
another.
The Proposed Channel
Assignments shows the last channel plan. The plan lists all access
points in the cluster by IP Address, and shows the current and proposed
channels for each AP. Locked channels will not be re-assigned and the
optimization of channel distribution among APs will take into account the fact
that locked APs must remain on their current channels. APs that are not locked
may be assigned to different channels than they were previously using,
depending on the results of the plan.
The advanced settings allow you to customize
and schedule the channel plan for the cluster. If you use Channel
Management as provided (without updating Advanced Settings), channels are
automatically fine-tuned once every hour if interference can be reduced by 25
percent or more. Channels will be re-assigned even if the network is busy. The
appropriate channel sets will be used (b/g for APs using IEEE 802.11b/g and a
for APs using IEEE 802.11a).
Use Advanced Settings to modify the interference
reduction potential that triggers channel re-assignment, change the schedule
for automatic updates, and re-configure the channel set used for assignments.
If there are no fields showing in the Advanced section, click the toggle
button to display the settings that modify timing and details of the channel
planning algorithm.
Click Apply under Advanced settings to apply these
settings.
