5GHz/2.4GHz Radio Advanced Settings for Provisioning Profiles

These settings affect the operation of the radio bands. The SonicPoint/SonicWave has two separate radios built in. Therefore, it can send and receive on both bands at the same time.

The 5GHz Radio Advanced screen has the same options as the 2.4GHz Radio Advanced screen, plus other options. The screens are similar across the different access point models. Differences are noted in the procedure where necessary.

To configure the 5GHz Radio /2.4GHz Radio Advanced setting

1. Click 5GHz Radio Advanced or 2.4GHz Radio Advanced as needed.
2. Toggle the option if you want to Hide SSID in Beacon. This allows the SSID to send null SSID beacons in place of advertising the wireless SSID name. Sending null SSID beacons forces wireless clients to know the SSID to connect. This option is disabled by default.

3. From the Schedule IDS Scan drop-down menu, select a schedule for the IDS (Intrusion Detection Service) scan.

   Select a time when there are fewer demands on the wireless network to minimize the inconvenience of dropped wireless connections. You can create your own schedule by selecting Create new schedule or disable the feature by selecting Disabled, the default.

   IDS offers a wide selection of intrusion detection features to protect the network against wireless threats. This feature detects attacks against the WLAN Infrastructure that consists of authorized access points, the RF medium, and the wired network. An authorized or valid-AP is defined as an access point that belongs to the WLAN infrastructure. The access point is either a SonicPoint, a SonicWave, or a third-party access point.

4. From the Minimum Data Rate drop-down menu, select the speed at which the data is transmitted and received. Best (default) automatically selects the best rate available in your area, given interference and other factors.

5. If you are configuring a SonicPoint NDR: from the Minimum Data Rate drop-down menu, select Best (default).

   The Minimum Data Rate setting determines which antenna the access point uses to send and receive data. When Best is selected, the access point automatically selects the antenna with the strongest, clearest signal.

6. From the Transmit Power drop-down menu, select the transmission power. Transmission power effects the range of the SonicPoint.

   • Full Power (default)

   • Half (-3 dB)

   • Quarter (-6 dB)

   • Eighth (-9 dB)

   • Minimum

7. In the Beacon Interval (milliseconds) field, enter the number of milliseconds between sending wireless SSID beacons. The minimum interval is 100 milliseconds (default); the maximum is 1000 milliseconds.

8. In the DTIM Interval field, enter the DTIM interval in milliseconds. The minimum number of frames is 1 (default); the maximum is 255.

   For 802.11 power-save mode clients of incoming multicast packets, the DTIM Interval specifies the number of beacon frames to wait before sending a DTIM (Delivery Traffic Indication Message).

9. If you are configuring a SonicPointNDR: in the RTS Threshold (bytes) field, enter the number of bytes of fragmented data you want the network to allow.

   The fragmentation threshold limits the maximum frame size. Limiting frame size reduces the time required to transmit the frame and, therefore, reduces the probability that the frame is corrupted (at the cost of more data overhead). Fragmented wireless frames increase reliability and throughput in areas with RF interference or poor wireless coverage. Lower threshold numbers produce more fragments. The minimum is 256 bytes, the maximum is 2346 bytes (default).

10. In the RTS Threshold (bytes) field, enter the threshold for a packet size, in bytes, at which a request to send (RTS) is sent before packet transmission.

    Sending an RTS ensures that wireless collisions do not take place in situations where clients are in range of the same access point, but might not be in range of each other. The minimum threshold is 256 bytes, the maximum is 2346 bytes (default).

11. In the Maximum Client Associations field, enter the maximum number of clients you want each access point using this profile to support on this radio at one time. The minimum number of clients is 1, the maximum number is 128, and the default number is 32.
12. In the Station Inactivity Timeout (seconds) field, enter the maximum length of wireless client inactivity before the access point ages out the wireless client. The minimum period is 60 seconds, the maximum is 36000 seconds, and the default is 300 seconds.

13. If you are configuring the 2.4GHz Radio Advanced screen settings, define the following settings which are specific to that window; otherwise skip to the next step.

    Options	Settings
    Preamble Length	Select from the drop-down menu: Long (default) Short
    Protection Mode	Select from the drop-down menu: None Always Auto
    Protection Rate	Select from the drop-down menu: 1 Mbps (default) 2 Mbps 5 Mbps 11 Mbps
    Protection Type	Select from the drop-down menu: CTS Only (default) RTS-CTS
    Enable Short Slot Time	Select to allow clients to disassociate and reassociate more quickly. Specifying this option increases throughput on the 802.11n/g wireless band by shortening the time an access point waits before relaying packets to the LAN.
    Do not allow 802.11b Clients to Connect	Select if you are using Turbo G mode and, therefore, are not allowing 802.11b clients to connect. Specifying this option limits wireless connections to 802.11g and 802.11n clients only.

14. From the WMM (Wi-Fi Multimedia) drop-down menu, select whether a WMM profile is to be associated with this profile:

    • Disabled (default)
    • Create new WMM profile.
    • A previously configured WMM profile
15. Toggle the option box to Enable WDS AP. It allows a wireless network to be expanded using multiple access point without the traditional requirement for a wired backbone to link them.
16. Select Enable Green AP to allow the access point radio to go into sleep mode. This saves power when no clients are actively connected. The access point immediately goes into full power mode when any client attempts to connect to it. Green AP can be set on each radio independently, 5GHz Radio and 2.4GHz Radio.
17. In the Green AP Timeout(s) field, enter the transition time, in seconds, that the access point waits while it has no active connections before it goes into sleep mode. The transition values can range from 20 seconds to 65535 seconds with a default value of 20 seconds.
18. If configuring a SonicWave or SonicPoint ACe/ACi/N2 profile, select Enable RSSI to enable a RSSI threshold. Clients with signal strengths below the threshold are disassociated by the access point so that they are associated to a closer access point. This option is not selected by default.
19. If Enable RSSI is selected, enter the threshold value as a negative number into the RSSI Threshold(dBm) field. The default is -95 dBm. For more information about RSSI thresholds, see Configuring the RSSI Threshold.

20. If configuring a SonicWave device, toggle the option to Enable Air Time Fairness.

    This feature is disabled by default. If enabled, it steers the traffic for devices that can use the 5GHz band to that band because it usually has less traffic and less interference. If the signal strength or signal conditions are better on the 2.4GHz band, traffic is steered to that band. The intention is to use both bands in the most effective manner.

21. In 2.4GHz Radio Advanced setting, under IEEE802.11r Settings, select Enable IEEE802.11r to enable secure, fast roaming. If Enable IEEE802.11r is selected, you can select the other options:

    • Enable FT over DS – enable fast transition over DS
    • Enable IEEE802.11r Mix Mode – enable fast transition in mixed mode

    For more information about these options, see Configuring IEEE802.11r Settings for Secure Fast Roaming.

22. Under IEEE802.11k Settings, select Enable Neighbor Report to enable collection of information about neighboring access points. This option is not selected by default. See Configuring IEEE802.11k Settings for Dynamic Radio Management for more information.
23. Under IEEE802.11v Settings, select Enable BSS Transition Management to enable the access point to request a voice client to transition to a specific access point if the client sends a query to the access point. This option is not selected by default. See Configuring IEEE802.11v Settings for Dynamic Environment Management for more information.
24. Under IEEE802.11v Settings, select Enable WNM Sleep Mode to enable a non-access point station to signal to an access point that it is sleeping for a specified time. This option is not selected by default. See Configuring IEEE802.11v Settings for Dynamic Environment Management for more information.