Configuring Advanced Radio Settings on the WAP131 and WAP351

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Updated:December 12, 2018

Document ID:SMB5066

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Configuring Advanced Radio Settings on the WAP131 and WAP351

Objective

Radio settings are used to configure the wireless radio antenna and its properties on the wireless access point (WAP) device. These settings are helpful in a situation where the WAP is surrounded by other WAPs, and settings like channel mode and frequency need to be changed to achieve smooth communication. If multiple WAPs in close proximity are broadcasting at the same frequency or channel, the transmitted data can become corrupted or canceled out, which greatly decreases performance.

The objective of this document is to explain how to configure Advanced Radio Settings on the WAP131 and WAP351 Access Points.

Note: For information on how to configure Basic Radio Settings on the WAP131 and WAP351, refer to the article Configuring Basic Radio Settings on the WAP131 and WAP351.

Applicable Devices

• WAP131

• WAP351

Software Version

• v1.0.0.39

Configuring Advanced Radio Settings

Step 1. Log in to the web configuration utility and choose Wireless > Radio. The Radio page opens:

Step 2. In order to configure advanced radio settings, select the radio interface you want to configure in the Radio Setting Per Interface area. Radio 1 (2.4 GHz) is more compatible with older devices and has a wider range, while Radio 2 (5 GHz) is faster but with less range.

Step 3. Make sure that the selected radio interface is turned on. To turn on a radio, check the Enable check box in the Radio field, under the Basic Settings area.

Note: To learn more about configuring basic radio settings, refer to the article Configuring Basic Radio Settings on the WAP131 and WAP351.

Step 4. Click on Advanced Settings to display the advanced settings for the selected radio.

The Advanced Settings area appears.

Step 5. If you selected a mode that contains 802.11n in the Mode field of the Basic Settings area, the Short Guard Interval Supported drop-down list will be available. The guard interval is the amount of time that the WAP waits between transmissions, which prevents interference. The guard interval can be shortened to increase throughput by up to 10 percent. If this field is available, select an option from the drop-down list; otherwise skip to the next step.

The available options are defined as follows:

• Yes — Reduces transmission time to every 400 nanoseconds when communicating with clients that also support the short guard interval. This is the default option.

• No — Keeps transmission time to every 800 nanoseconds.

Step 6. Choose an option from the Protection drop-down list. The protection feature contains rules to guarantee that 802.11 transmissions do not cause interference with legacy stations or applications.

The available options are defined as follows:

• Auto — Enables protection when legacy devices are within the range of the WAP device. This is the default option.

• Off — Disables the protection feature.

Step 7. In the Beacon Interval field, enter the interval of milliseconds between the transmission of beacon frames. Beacon frames announce the existence of the wireless network. The value must be between 20 to 2000 milliseconds. The default behavior is to send a beacon frame once every 100 milliseconds.

Step 8. In the DTIM Period field, enter an integer from 1 to 255 beacons to specify the Delivery Traffic Information Map (DTIM) period. The DTIM period indicates how often, in terms of beacon frames, the clients served by your WAP device should check for buffered data still awaiting pickup. The default value is 2, which specifies that clients will check for buffered data on your WAP device on every 2nd beacon frame.

Step 9. In the Fragmentation Threshold field, enter an even number between 256 and 2346 bytes to specify the size limit for packets transmitted over the network. If a packet exceeds the fragmentation threshold, the fragmentation function is activated and the packet is sent as multiple 802.11 frames. By default, fragmentation is off at a threshold of 2346 bytes. Fragmentation is not recommended unless you experience radio interference.

Step 10. In the RTS Threshold field, enter an integer between 0 and 2347 to specify the Request to Send (RTS) Threshold value. A lower threshold value sends packets more frequently which results in higher bandwidth consumption and quicker recovery from collisions or interference on the network. A higher threshold value sends packets less frequently which results in lower bandwidth consumption and a longer recovery time from collisions or interference on the network.

Step 11. In the Maximum Associated Clients field, enter the maximum number of clients that can connect to the WAP at one time. The range is 0-200, and is set to 200 by default.

Step 12. In the Transmit Power drop-down list, select the percentage of transmit power the WAP uses when broadcasting. A high percentage is more cost-efficient, since it gives the WAP the widest range and thus requires fewer access points to cover the same area. A low percentage requires devices be close to each other, but reduces the overlap and interference among other APs. The default is 100%.

Step 13. In the Fixed Multicast Rate drop-down list, select the transmission rate in Mbps for broadcast and multicast packets. The range of possible values is determined by the radio mode in basic settings. Selecting Auto lets the WAP automatically choose the best rate based on the connected clients.

Step 14. In the Legacy Rate Sets table, check the check boxes underneath the available rates to determine the Supported and Basic Rate sets. The Supported Rate Sets indicate rates that the WAP supports, while the Basic Rate Sets are the rates that the WAP advertises to the network to set up communication with other devices. It is more efficient to have a WAP device broadcast a subset of its supported rates. The rates are in Mbps.

Note: In order to select a rate as Basic, it must also be selected as Supported. A rate that is not selected as Supported cannot be selected as Basic.

Step 15. (Optional) Check the Broadcast/Multicast Rate Limiting checkbox if you want to limit the number of packets transmitted across the network. By default, this feature is disabled. If you do not want to enable this feature, skip to Step 16.

Step 16. If you enabled Broadcast/Multicast Rate Limiting, the Rate Limit and Rate Limit Burst fields will become available. Enter in the appropriate values for each field.

The fields are defined as:

• Rate Limit — This is the rate limit for multicast and broadcast traffic. This rate is expressed in packets per second. The range is 1 – 50, and the default is 50.

• Rate Limit Burst — This indicates the amount of traffic that is allowed to pass as a temporary burst even if it exceeds the above maximum rate. The range is 1 – 75, and the default is 75.

Step 17. In the TSPEC Mode drop-down list, choose the traffic specification (TSPEC) mode for the WAP. TSPEC is sent from a QoS (Quality of Service) capable client requesting a certain amount of traffic from the WAP. Selecting On enables TSPEC and the WAP handles traffic from QoS devices. Off disables TSPEC, and QoS devices are not given priority.

Step 18. In the TSPEC Voice ACM Mode drop-down list, choose a mode that regulates the admission control mandatory (ACM) for the voice access category. Selecting On means that a station must send a TSPEC request for bandwidth to the WAP before sending or receiving a voice traffic stream. Off allows stations to send and receive voice traffic without a TSPEC request.

Step 19. In the TSPEC Voice ACM Limit field, enter the maximum amount of traffic the WAP tries to transmit through wireless with a voice AC to gain access. The range is 0 – 70 percent, and the default is 20 percent.

Step 20. In the TSPEC Video ACM Mode drop-down list, choose a mode that regulates the admission control mandatory (ACM) for the video access category. Selecting On means that a station must send a TSPEC request for bandwidth to the WAP before sending or receiving a video traffic stream. Off allows stations to send and receive video traffic without a TSPEC request.

Step 21. In the TSPEC Video ACM Limit field, enter the maximum amount of traffic the WAP tries to transmit through wireless with a video AC to gain access. The range is 0 – 70 percent, and the default is 15 percent.

Step 22. In the TSPEC AP Inactivity Timeout field, enter the number of seconds for a WAP device to detect a downlink traffic specification as idle before deleting it. The range is 0 – 120 seconds, and the default is 30. Entering 0 disables this feature.

Step 23. In the TSPEC Station Inactivity Timeout field, enter the number of seconds for a WAP device to detect an uplink traffic specification as idle before deleting it. The range is 0 – 120 seconds, and the default is 30. Entering 0 disables this feature.

Step 24. In the TSPEC Legacy WMM Queue Map Mode drop-down list, select whether to enable (On) or disable (Off) the intermixing of legacy traffic on queues operating as ACM. By default, this feature is disabled.