Optimizer

Report
A1B-322-RAB9657

12/11/2023
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Table of Contents

Table of Contents
Next steps to the great Wi-Fi 2

Access point configuration changes 6

Network configuration changes 7

Interfering devices 8
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Next steps to the great Wi-Fi

Next steps to the great Wi-Fi

We have automatically analyzed your network based on the survey data, and in this report you will find summary
findings and exact configuration changes recommended to resolve potential issues.

Improve Primary Coverage

Primary Coverage is all about optimizing the distance around your wireless access points (APs) to ensure there
is sufficient signal strength for Wi-Fi-enabled devices to connect and transmit data. For many devices, a signal
strength of -67 dBm represents the lower limit of a healthy signal. Different wall materials and physical
obstacles absorb Wi-Fi at different rates so it's always important to design your network based on your
requirements for primary coverage. Here are some suggestions for improving primary coverage:

Check your controller to ensure all your APs & antennas are installed correctly, online, and broadcasting.

Increase transmitting power to 14-17dBm (25-50mW) if currently lower.

Excellent Secondary Coverage

Secondary coverage is critical to ensure you have great roaming between APs and redundancy in the event an
AP has a failure. Here are some suggestions for improving secondary coverage:

Check your dashboard to ensure all your APs & antennas are installed correctly, online, and broadcasting.

Increase transmitting power to 14-17dBm (25-50mW) if currently lower.

Reduce Channel Interference

An effective channel plan ensures client devices can connect with access points efficiently and without
unnecessary degradation of performance. For the best results, minimize channel overlap and adjacent channel
interference in order to maximize airtime, which is one of the foundations of high-performing Wi-Fi networks.
Here are some channel planning best practices:

Reduce your channel widths to the next available size to create more channels and reduce contention.

Remove rogue and interfering APs that may be adding unnecessary contention.

Utilize all the channels that are available for your specific frequency and region (as long as your access
points and client devices support them).
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Next steps to the great Wi-Fi

Great Channel width settings

It's important to carefully consider your network requirements and environment before selecting a channel
width. Wider channel widths can result in a shorter range, more susceptibility to interference and may not be
compatible with all Wi-Fi client devices. For most enterprise-type deployments with many APs in 2.4 Ghz and 5
Ghz bands, narrow 20 MHz Wi-Fi channels will give you the spatial reuse you need for your WLAN to perform
optimally by reducing noise and possible channel interference. For 6E deployments, if your region has access to
the full 1.2 GHz of 6 GHz spectrum, use 80MHz, anywhere else that has 500 MHz or less use 20/40 MHz.

6 GHz: Use 80MHz (If you have access to full 1.2GHz of 6GHz) or 20/40 MHz (If you have access to
500MHz of 6GHz or less) wide channels.

5 GHz: Use 20 MHz (high density) or 40 MHz (low density) wide channels.

2.4 GHz: Use 20 MHz wide channels.

No issues with MFP settings

Management Frame Protection (MFP) is a security feature that adds an extra layer of protection to the
management frames of Wi-Fi devices, such as authentication and association frames. In general, if security is a
top priority for your Wi-Fi network, enabling MFP is a good idea. However, if you have older devices or devices
that don't support MFP, you may need to consider the tradeoffs and make a decision that best balances security
and compatibility. Note: For Wi-Fi 6E networks, MFP will always be enabled.

Use MFP only on the 6 GHz band, unless you know your devices support it on 2.4 or 5 GHz.

Great Minimum Basic Rate (MBR)

Data rate is the speed that data can be transmitted in your network. Allowing low rates can cause client devices
to cling to a particular access point even if it's far away, monopolizing network resources and reducing overall
performance for all nearby clients. It can also set the speed that overhead management frames get passed,
again unnecessarily slowing down network performance. By disabling low data rates, you can ensure client
devices will only connect to an access point when they are close enough to receive an adequate signal. It's also
a nice way to disable legacy devices that don't meet the minimum rate.

To reduce network overhead from non-data frames, set your Minimum Basic Rate (MBR) to 12 Mbps for
lower density networks or 24 Mbps for higher density networks.

Disable all rates below the MBR.

Support all rates above MBR.

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Next steps to the great Wi-Fi

Mitigate Interfering devices

Rogue access points are unauthorized wireless access points which are present on your floor plan but do not
belong to your network. The risks associated with rogue access points include unauthorized access, network
congestion and interference. You can easily detect and locate rogue access points by periodically doing a survey
with Sidekick 2. Here are some tips for identifying and removing rogue devices:

Survey the network with Ekahau Survey mobile app and Sidekick 2.

Remove all APs that do not belong to your Wi-Fi network to reduce interference and mitigate potential
security risks.

Change Encryption settings

Securing your Wi-Fi network is essential for protecting sensitive information and preventing unauthorized
access. We recommend WPA2 Enterprise for your corporate networks and WPA2 personal for guest networks in
2.4 GHz and 5 GHz bands. For networks in the 6 GHz band, we recommend WPA3 Enterprise/Personal.

Use WPA2 or WPA3 to ensure sufficient network security.

Excellent Signal to Noise Ratio

SNR is a component of signal strength and coverage and plays an important role in the data rates and
throughput that can be achieved by users in a given area. SNR is impacted not only by the distance away from
an access point, but also by the amount of interference adding noise and degrading the signal. A user's device
may have enough signal to send and receive information like loading web pages or sending emails, but if the
SNR is too low, it could cause certain data-hungry applications like video calling to fail. Here are some
suggestions for improving SNR in your network:

Check your dashboard to ensure all your APs & antennas are installed correctly, online, and broadcasting.

Increase transmitting power to 14-17dBm (25-50mW) if currently lower.

Remove any rogue interference devices that may be adding unnecessary noise and thereby lowering your
SNR.
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Next steps to the great Wi-Fi

Change your SSIDs configuration

If the same network name is used across frequency bands, some of your client devices may opt for the 2.4 GHz
network, even if the 5 or 6 GHz network is faster and more reliable. To address this issue, assign a unique name
to each network for each frequency. For example, you can name them "MyNetwork-2.4GHz", "MyNetwork-5GHz",
"MyNetwork-6GHz". This will enable you to identify the network and frequency you're using and ensure that your
devices are connected to the best possible network. Here are some more tips:

Broadcast business critical SSIDs on a single frequency band to improve roaming and connectivity.

Broadcast no more than 5 SSIDs on a single frequency band to reduce overhead.

Prioritize the 5 and 6 GHz bands for business critical SSIDs.

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Access point configuration changes

Access point configuration changes

Device Radio Band (GHz) Channel width (MHz) Channel TX power (dBm) Radio ON/OFF

A1-B03-P305
Radio 1 2.4 20 11 6 4 8 ON
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A1-B03-P305
Radio 2 5 20 40 44 14 17 ON
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A1-B03-P307
Radio 1 2.4 20 6 11 10 8 ON
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A1-B03-P307
Radio 2 5 20 44 108 17 11 ON
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A1-B02-P206
Radio 1 2.4 20 6 11 4 8 ON
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A1-B02-P206
Radio 2 5 20 44 124 17 11 ON
A1-B03-RAB9657

A1-B03-P315
Radio 1 2.4 20 6 8 ON
A1-B03-RAB9657

A1-B03-P315
Radio 2 5 20 64 100 23 ON
A1-B03-RAB9657

A1-B03-P309
Radio 1 2.4 20 6 4 14 ON
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A1-B03-P309
Radio 2 5 20 112 60 11 14 ON
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A1-B03-P308
Radio 1 2.4 20 11 1 4 17 ON
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A1-B03-P308
Radio 2 5 20 36 17 14 ON
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A1-B03-P304
Radio 1 2.4 20 6 4 8 ON
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A1-B03-P304
Radio 2 5 20 140 116 14 11 ON
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A1-B03-P306
Radio 1 2.4 20 1 6 10 8 ON
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A1-B03-P306
Radio 2 5 20 132 52 17 11 ON
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A1-B02-P205
Radio 1 2.4 20 1 6 4 8 ON
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A1-B02-P205
Radio 2 5 20 48 36 14 11 ON
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Network configuration changes

Network configuration changes

Management Frame Minimum Basic
SSID Band (GHz) Encryption
Protection (MFP) Rate (Mbps)

eduroam eduroam_2.4 2.4 WPA2 (802.1X) OFF 24

eduroam 5 WPA2 (802.1X) OFF 24

nyu nyu_2.4 2.4 WPA2 (802.1X) OFF 24

nyu 5 WPA2 (802.1X) OFF 24

nyuadguest nyuadguest_2.4 2.4 open WPA3 OFF 24

nyuadguest 5 open WPA3 OFF 24

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Interfering devices

Interfering devices
Device Floor SSIDs

Measured AP-c4:df A1-B03-RAB9657 NETGEAR03-5G

Measured AP-c4:e0 A1-B03-RAB9657 NETGEAR03