Design and Deployment of Wireless

LANs for Mobile Applications

BRKEWN-2000

Jerome Henry, Technical Marketing Engineer

Agenda
How Much Bandwidth do You Need?
Determine Cell Size Shape

Determine Cell Size AP Power

Determine Cell Size Protocols and Rates

Determine Cell Size 20, 40, 80 MHz?

AP Placement Strategies
Taking Care of the Roaming Path
Client and AP 802.11 Optimizations
Last Words - Troubleshooting

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How Much Bandwidth do you Need?

How Much Bandwidth Is Required?

Often Less than You May Think
It is most likely that you wont be supporting
just one application

Design for the highest bandwidth demand

that you intend to support
What you need is the minimum acceptable
throughput that the application will require
Most users use only ONE high performance
demanding application at a time

Multiply this number by the number of

devices that you need to support
This is the aggregate bandwidth you will
require in your space
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Application By Use
Case

Throughput
Nominal

Web - Casual

500 Kbps

Web - Instructional

1 Mbps

Audio - Casual

100 Kbps

Audio - instructional

1 Mbps

Video - Casual

1 Mbps

Video - Instructional

2-4 Mbps

Printing

1 Mbps

File Sharing - Casual

1 Mbps

File Sharing - Instructional

2-8 Mbps

Online Testing

2-4 Mbps

Device Backups

10-50 Mbps

How Much Bandwidth do You Need?

Example, Skype (Up/Down):
Call type

Audio

Video/screen share

Video HD

Group Video (5 people)

Typical
Bandwidth

30Kbps/30kbps

130kbps/130kbps

1.2 Mbps/1.2 Mbps

130 kbps/2 Mbps

Now that you get the picture, a few other examples:

Fring (video): 135 kbps,

Facetime (video, iPhone 4S): 400 Kbps, (audio) 32 kbps
Viber (video) 120 kbps, (audio) 30 kbps
Skype/Viber/other chat: around 850 to 1000 bytes (6.8 to 8 kb) per 500 character
message
Netflix (video), from 600 kbps (low quality) to 10 Mbps (3D HD), average 2.2 Mbps
This bandwidth consumption is one way, you need to double for 2-way conversations
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Real Life Example?

Medical Center
Density studies show 12 users / cell on average

I need 6.65 Mbps throughput

everywhere in the cell
- > therefore I need it here

Expected 2 HD video calls (Skype type)

5 audio calls
All users may browse

Lets do the math:

2 HD video calls = 1.2 Mbps x 2 x 2 ways = 4.8 Mbps
5 audio calls mmm what application?
Skype too? 30 kbps x 5 x 2 ways = 600 kbps

Others are browsing (5 people) 250 kbps /people?

Total = 6.65 Mbps needed
Funny that browsing requires more than voice
Should I design for browsing?
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AP

VoIP Requirements
VoIP carries voice sound with UDP and Real Time Protocol (RTP), voice
control traffic uses Real Time Control Protocol (RTCP)
Voice sound is converted to digital packets using codecs
Resulting packet size ranges from 8 to 64 bytes per packet (+40 bytes L4/L3
headers, +L2 header)

Voice has very strict requirements as an application

Packet Error Rate (PER) <=1%

As low jitter as possible, less than 100ms
Retries should be < 20%
End to end delay 150 200 ms, 30 ms in cell
When these values are exceeded, MOS reduces
Your mission is to keep MOS high

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Video Applications
Video uses video and audio codecs
Some codecs are built for real time exchange, some for streaming
Video algorithms refresh entire images when large changes occur
The changes generate traffic bursts

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Cell Size and Shape

Cell Shape and Cell Size

Your cell shape depends on the antenna you use:

Directional
Omnidirectional

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Cell Shape and Cell Size

Your cell shape depends on the antenna you use:
Directional
Omnidirectional
The cell size depends on 3 parameters:
The AP power level

The protocol you use (802.11a/b/g/n/ac)

The Data rates you allow

This is in open space in real world, you also need to

account for RF obstacles
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Cell Size - AP Power

Power and Channel Plans

Many BYODs support all UNII bands
BUT: BYOD power varies with the band

Client devices cannot actively scan UNII-2e (ch 100 to 140)

So those that support UNII-2e passively scan them only once every 6 to 18 cycles
(this means that, when on the Wi-Fi page, where an Iphone 5 scans every 11.4s, you
get UNII-2e channels every 68.4 s; when running to 8 second scans in roaming panic
mode, you get UNII-2e channels every 48 s)
Avoid UNII-2e in your channel planning if fast roaming is a concern

This may limit your options if you decide to use 40 MHz channels

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Cell Size Depends on Protocol and Rates

Channel Utilization levels should be
kept under 50%.

Higher power does not always mean

higher SNR

You can check it using a spectrum

analyzer like SpectrumExpert or Fluke
AirCheck
Noise levels should not exceed -92
dBm, which allows for a Signal to
Noise Ratio (SNR) of 25 dB where a 67 dBm signal should be maintained.

Is it better now?
Blah blah blah

You are a bit quiet

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Cell Size Lets get rid of the Power Checkbox

RF is symmetrical on paper:
If your AP signal is heard by a client,
the AP should hear the client signal
symmetrically (because the antenna Rx matches its Tx gain)

In real world, this is true, if the client RF parameters (Tx/Rx sensitivity,

antennas, power level) are the same otherwise, the client signal may be so
weak that the AP cant make sense out of it
2 causes:
Client rate decision is based on CLIENT perception of AP signal if AP
signal is strong, client will use high rate
The client reaches the AP mixed in surrounding noise SNR too low and AP
cannot demodulate

This is the AP signal (at phone level)

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This is the phone signal (at AP level)

17

Power -client Side vs AP Side

BYODs commonly have smaller power ranges than APs
Example: 3700i AP
(+4 dBi antenna on 2.4 GHz,
Example: Iphone 5
+6 dBi antenna on 5 GHz)
Band

Max Tx Power

2.4 GHz ISM

16 dBm

UNII-1

14 dBm

UNII-2

13.5 dBm

UNII-2e

12 dBm

UNII-3

13 dBm

ISM (Ch 165)

13 dBm

Source: FCC

This is the max Tx power

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This is the TX Power

(to the antenna)

Power, Spatial Streams and Data Rates

Do not think that multiple stream devices are always better
They may have higher power, but also require higher SNR

e.g.: 4 streams gives you a higher throughput

at same SNR level, than 2 streams
BUT the 2 stream device reaches its max speed
at 24 dB SNR,
while the 4 stream device needs 30+ dB

Conclusion: at same distance from the AP,

multiple stream devices will operate faster than
single stream device, but each individual stream
is slower
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How can you tell the AP Power level?

WLC global level gives you the overall resulting power (this is what you care
about):
(Cisco Controller) >show advanced 802.11a txpower
/
AP Name
Channel
TxPower
-------------------------------- ---------- ------------AP702W
157
*1/8 (20 dBm)
AP2602
48
1/4 (14 dBm)
AP3702
(52,56)
*2/5 (12 dBm)
AP3602
(40,36)
*2/7 (12 dBm)

Allowed Power Levels

-----------------------[20/17/14/11/8/5/2/-1]
[14/11/8/5/5/5/5/5]
[15/12/9/6/3/3/3/3]
[14/12/10/8/5/-1/-4/-4]

AP is on 40 MHz channel
Power is dynamically assigned by WLC
Current level is 2 (12 dBm),
there are 7 levels
Allowed levels, 7 to 8 are the same,
so AP is configurable down to level 7
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How can you tell the Client Power level?

You can check, live the client power levels on the AP (useful to check symmetry
in AP to client and client to AP signal when building your cell edge):
This is on 5GHz radio, d0 is 2.4 GHz radio
2 client signals reported
AP7cad.74ff.36d2#debug dot11 dot11Radio 1 trace print rcv
*Jun
*Jun

1 04:11:43.663: D5B70D90 r 6
1 04:11:43.664: A2CEF918 r m15-2s

49/46/42/48 54- 0803 000 m010B85 477AAF m010B85 33E0 477AA0 l46
53/63/54/61 40- 8841 030 1A096F A36F20 m333300 76B0 q0 l100

Timestamp
Client used MCS 15 (2SS)

Client RSSI on each antenna

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Client SNR

L+length of
rest of the frame
With WMM, shows the queue
without WMM, DCF queue index
Sequence number
Address 3

Frame type (follows 802.11 spec)

Frame duration
Receiver and transmitter
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addresses (last 3 bytes)

Some Client Max EIRPs

Model

EIRP 2.4 GHz

Worst* EIRP 5 GHz

Iphone 5

14.6 dBm

10 dBm

Ipad 4

15.2 dBm

22.67 dBm

Samsung S3

14.9 dBm

10.18 dBm

Samsung S4

12.05 dBm

11.24 dBm

Samsung S5

13.4 dBm

10.61 dBm

HTC One

14.4 dBm

13.8 dBm

Nokia Lumia 1520

13.1 dBm

11.6 dBm

ASUS PCE-AC66

22 dBm

22.83 dBm

* EIRP varies with sub-band, displaying worst of all sub-bands

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So, what is the right Power?

In short: half your worst client max power
E.g. you design for 5 GHz, worst client max is at 11 dBm, set your AP power to 8 dBm

Otherwise, you get this:

Which BYOD is the worst out there? No names, but 11 dBm is a good
assumption
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Power Levels and Client Density

Reducing cell size by matching client
power and disabling low speed
decreases the user number per cell
Each user has better throughput and
less risk of encountering interference
Coverage holes might cause probing
devices to disturb the WLAN clients

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What if I crank up my AP power a bit?

Bad design example: Client @ 12 dBm, AP @20 dBm
Based on Rx AP signal, BYOD thinks 54 Mbps rate is okay

But client message is too weak,

and AP does not ACK
Retry @ 54
Again
and Again
Okay try 36
Wow, lets drop to 12
Now I get an ACK
Start over

Each message takes 8 times more to be transmitted

(including EIFS and retries)
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Cell Size - Protocols and Rates

Cell Throughput by Protocol

Protocol

Throughput (Mbps)

802.11b

7.2

802.11b/g mix (1 b client)

9.5

802.11g

22.5

802.11a

22.5

802.11n (HT20 1ss MCS7)

35

802.11n (HT20 2ss MCS15)

75*

802.11n (HT20 3ss MCS23)

110

802.11ac (VHT80 3SS MCS 9)

630**

These are average throughputs, with one client close to the AP (high SNR/RSSI)
* Two spatial streams note most PDAs are SISO (MCS 7) 35 Mbps max
** You could have guessed that : 256-QAM max PHY is 1.3 Gbps, max throughput is
typically less than half of max PHY
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Cell Size and Data Rate

Each cells useful radius is determined by the minimum allowed
data rate
1 Mbps DSSS
2 Mbps DSSS
5.5 Mbps DSSS
6 Mbps OFDM
9 Mbps OFDM
11 Mbps DSSS
12 Mbps OFDM
18 Mbps OFDM
24 Mbps OFDM
36 Mbps OFDM
48 Mbps OFDM
54 Mbps OFDM

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Protocol Support and Channel Utilization

Example low rate time waste

ACK frames are sent at the first mandatory speed below the speed at which the
frame was received

802.11a/n: SIFS = 16 microsec

802.11b/g/n: SIFS = 10 microsec

802.11a/g/n: slot = 9 microsec

802.11b: slot = 20 microsec

1 DIFS = 1 SIFS + 2 slots

OFDM physical header = 16 microsec (312 b at 6 Mb/s)

802.11 physical header = 192 microsec (192 b at 1 Mb/s)

ACK sent at 24 Mb/s uses 4.67 microsec. airtime

ACK sent at 1 Mb/s uses 304 microsec. Airtime
Impact on throughput higher for shorter frames
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Protocol Support and Channel Utilization

Before: 8 SSIDs, all

rates allowed

After: 2 SSIDs, 802.11b

rates disabled

60% Before

5% After

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Protocol Support and Channel Utilization

Disabling 802.11b in this network would:

Suppress 27% of frames (slow frames would be sent faster)

Decrease airtime consumption from 62% to 18 % if using 24 Mbps

(slow frames take much longer
to be sent than faster frames)

Reduce cell size:

Clients nearby would benefit from higher speeds

Clients far would not sick to the AP

DSS/CCK
Airtime
consumption
OFDM
Airtime
consumption

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Low rates impact Depends on frame size

20000
18000
16000
14000
12000
10000
Time/
8000
S
6000
4000
2000
0

Mb
ps

64 Byte

DSSS
CCK CCK
DSSS

OFDM
OFDM

512 Byte
1024 Byte
2048 Bytes
2

5.5 11

Time
consumption
per voice flow
at 1 Mb/s

Time
consumption
per voice flow
at 24 Mb/s

Time
consumption
per voice flow
at 54 Mb/s

G.711
(64 Kb/s)

102.4 ms

9.45 ms

6.49 ms

G.729
(8 Kb/s)

46.4 ms

6.27 ms

5.20 ms

G.726
(32 Kb/s)

70.4 ms

7.27 ms

5.64 ms

G.728
(16 Kb/s)

42.43 ms

4.72 ms

3.74 ms

128 Byte
256 Byte

Codec & Bit

Rate

12 24 36 48 54 130 300

Frame
Size/Bytes

Individual theoretical time consumption:

SLOT + DIFS + (voice packet + headers) x speed x (number of packets per second) + SIFS + ACK

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And most BYODs know that

Most BYODs take advantage of 802.11 blocks to group small
frames (even if they end up sending one frame at a time):
Viber on Iphone 5S

Viber on Samsung S5

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What should be your Minimum rate?

You want to stop your cell in a place where the following happens:

Signal to your clients is still strong

Clients and overhead traffic still reasonably fast

Retries are low

54 Mbp

Beyond that point, clients should be able to get to another AP

if they want to. On the right:

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6 Mbps

STA3

STA1 and STA2 hear each other -> less collisions

STA 1 and STA2 send @ 54 Mb/s -> short delays

STA3 is far from AP -> lower data rate (longer transmission delay),
higher PER and loss risks

STA3 does not hear STA1 and STA2 -> higher collision risk
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STA1

STA2

What should be your Minimum signal level?

Multiple measurements show a sweet spot by -67 dBm:
802.11n client still communicates at 72 Mbps (MCS 7)

Management/control frames still sent fast (24 Mbps)

But you start seeing devices (here the AP) dropping rate because signal starts to degrade

What minimum configured data rate is that? Depends

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What should be your Minimum data rate?

And BER is important, because more retries means more
chances that the frame will be dropped
Your job is to limit frame drops to
1% or less to maintain 4.1 MOS
At -67 dBm RSSI, SNR is
typically around 25 dB or more*

You can run any rate of 24 Mbps

and up, and still have good
frame success rate

* well, at least in ideal conditions see next slides

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Signal Attenuation
Your hand position may make things worse

Object in Signal Path

Signal Attenuation
Through Object

Plasterboard wall

3 dB

Glass wall with metal frame

6 dB

Cinderblock wall

4 dB

Office window

3 dB

Metal door

6 dB

Metal door in brick wall

12 dB

Phone and body position

3 - 6 dB

Phone near field absorption

Up to 15 dB

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There can be a 20 dB difference

between these photos

Lets do the signal level math

-67 dBm

AP

AP

-67 20 = -87 dBm

Signal is too weak
But you can roam to the other AP @ -67 dBm!
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BTW, where do you put an antenna on a BYOD?

Head not good

Iphone 5,
Antenna is at
bottom

Hand not good

Samsung S5, antenna

is at bottom, behind button

HTC One, whole

back cover is metal and
antenna

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Disable 802.11b but not 802.11n low rates!

Each SSID will advertise at the
minimum mandatory data rate
Disabled not available to a client
Supported available to an associated client
Mandatory Client must support in order to
associate

Lowest mandatory rate is beacon rate

Highest mandatory rate is default Mcast rate
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Disable 802.11b but not 802.11n low rates!

Many BYODs rely on the beacon to validate that the
AP is still there (and sync their clock)
Many BYODs also ignore AP instructions about
supported 802.11n rates (disable them, and your
client talks at a speed the AP will ignore)

In standard density environment, stop your cell @ -67 dBm.

When power is @ 11 or 14 dBm, this is about 12 Mbps

Everything below 12 Mbps is disabled
(but NOT 802.11n low rates)
First allowed rate (12 Mbps) is mandatory

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Cell size strategies

In HIGH density environment, also stop your
cell @ -67 dBm.
Power is usually low, 14 dBm or lower
Cells are smaller than in standard density
environment
Roaming occurs faster
Rate @ -67 dBm is more commonly 24 Mbps
You want to allow your client to roam at that point
-> 24 Mbps is set to Mandatory (below 24 Mbps,
client does not hear the beacons and typically scans
to find alternate AP)
You still want the client to communicate with the AP
while getting into panic scan
Set lower rates (18, 12 Mbps) to Supported
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Disable Slow rates, and maybe fast rates!

What about the other rates?
For Voice, rates faster than 24 Mbps do not bring any clear advantages
Codec & Bit
Rate

Time
consumption
per voice flow
at 1 Mb/s

Time
consumption
per voice flow
at 24 Mb/s

Time consumption
per voice flow
at 54 Mb/s

G.711 (64 Kb/s)

102.4 ms

9.45 ms

6.49 ms

G.729 (8 Kb/s)

46.4 ms

6.27 ms

5.20 ms

G.726 (32 Kb/s)

70.4 ms

7.27 ms

5.64 ms

G.728 (16 Kb/s)

42.43 ms

4.72 ms

3.74 ms

Time consumption = SLOT + DIFS + (voice packet + headers) x speed x (number of packets per second) + SIFS + ACK

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Disable Slow rates, and maybe fast rates!

Faster rates DO have an impact on rate shifting:
200 byte frame @ 54 Mbps is sent in 3.7 s
200 byte frame @ 24 Mbps is sent in 8.3 s

Rate shifting from 54 Mbps to 24 Mbps wastes 1100 s

(65 times longer to send the next frame), in ideal (no congestion) conditions

36 Mbps
24 Mbps

24 Mbps
36 Mbps
48 Mbps
54 Mbps
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54 Mbps
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Disable Slow rates, but not 802.11n rates!

Conclusion: disable low rates
If your real time applications are Voice only,
disable rates higher than 24 Mbps, and set
channels to 20 MHz
If your real time applications are Voice AND
Video, then you need higher rates
In 5 GHz, set channels to 40 MHz if your
clients support 40 MHz
Leave all 802.11n / ac rates enabled
(if your clients support 802.11n and 802.11ac)

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Cell Size - 20, 40, 80 MHz?

Cell Size Depends on Power, Protocol and Rates

With the explosion of 802.11ac, majority of devices are dual-band
98% of devices observed are 802.11n
5 GHz 802.11n devices are not always 40/80 MHz-able
120
100

99

80

62

60

38

40
20
0

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53

5 GHz

0.1

60
40

71
55
45

5050
29

60
40

Cell Size Depends on Power, Protocol and Rates

What about YOUR network?
If there is no network deployed yet, capture
traffic at different times and observe

Example: large airport on US East Coast,

last month
12 captures of 10 minutes each at different
times / days, with wireshark display rates
20 MHz rates

In this network, enabling 40 MHz is a waste

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54

40 MHz rates

AP Placement Strategy

Real Time AP Placement

Coverage Areas
A huge percentage of problems come from
incorrectly defined coverage areas
Coverage areas: where the real time service
should be offered
Typical errors: not needed in the bathrooms,
not in the elevators, not in the stairs,
not in the outdoor smoking area
Talk to end-users. Think what they will need
and when

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AP Placement Guidelines
Mount APs so that antennas are vertical (we use vertical polarization)

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AP Placement Guidelines
Avoid metallic objects that can affect the signal to your clients

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RF Design Matters
Highly reflective environments
Multipath distortion/fade is a consideration
Legacy SISO technologies (802.11a/b/g)
are most prone

802.11n improvements with MIMO

Devices are susceptible
Things that reflect RF
Irregular metal surfaces
Large glass enclosures/walls
Lots of polished stone
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AP Placement Bad Examples

Issue is sometimes in the environment

Ceiling is highly reflective

metallic mesh
AP behind ceiling
(yes they did that)

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AP Placement Bad Examples

AP too high:
Low rate to the ground
Client signal too weak at the AP level

Nice but you wont cover the

jetway as soon as the door closes

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> 20ft

AP Antenna Guidelines
Use matching antennas

These are dual band plugs (2.4 and 5 GHz)

They require dual band antennas they are labelled a,b,c,d

These are single band antennas

are you going to get 2.4 or 5 GHz?

Antenna gain mismatch: AP

wont know which to believe

Coverage pattern mismatch:

Are you covering through the
wall?

When RF cluelessness becomes art

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Taking Care of the Roaming Path

Rates and Cell Overlap

Cell overlap is designed so that when a VoWLAN device gets to the
67 dBm area, it is already in good range of another access point.
20-percent overlap between cells is recommended
How much is that? Use the -75 dBm rule if you are not sure.

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Network Design
Try to design small cells, with clever overlap

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Channel Plan and Data Rate

Each cells useful radius is determined by the minimum allowed
data rate
RF
edge

24 Mbps OFDM
36 Mbps OFDM
48 Mbps OFDM
54 Mbps OFDM

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Client Signal Detection Optimization

AP Rx sensitivity is MUCH higher than that of most BYODs and improved over the
years beyond the 802.11 requirements
E.g. 1242 Rx sensitivity at 1 Mbps is -96 dBm, with a typical SNR of 3 dB (so you need -96
dBm signal, with background noise not more than -99 dBm, to recognize and read a frame
sent at 1 Mbps). With the 3700 AP, that threshold is -101 dBm (with the same SNR
requirements), so we are 5 dB better
We need more signal to read 802.11n than legacy protocols. If we disable legacy
protocols on our new APs, the problem would probably more or less go away by itself, but
the issue is that we keep the old protocols and at the same time build smaller cells to
benefit from the additional throughputs.
Rate

Recommended RSSI (3700AP)

Recommended SNR

1 Mbps

-91 dBm

6 Mbps

-87 dBm

MCS 0 (6.5 Mbps)

-82 dBm

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Sending modulation depends on Received RSSI and

SNR
802.11 determines minimum RX performance values RSSI based
Vendors achieve at least these values
Example: Cisco 3700e Rx performances:

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RX-SOP (Receive - Start of Packet) What is it?

Receiver Start of Packet Detection Threshold (RX-SOP) determines the Wi-Fi
signal level in dBm at which an AP radio will demodulate and decode a packet.
The higher the level, the less sensitive the radio is and the smaller the receiver cell size
will be

By reducing the cell size we can affect every thing from the distribution of clients
to our perception of channel utilization
This is for High Density designs and requires knowledge of the behavior you
want to support
A client needs to have someplace to go if you ignore it on the current cell

WARNING This setting is a brick wall if you set it above where your clients
are being heard they will no longer be heard. Really.
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RX-SOP configuration
Settings High, Medium, Low, Auto
Auto is default behavior, and leaves
RX-SOP function linked to CCA
threshold for automatic adjustment
Most networks can support a LOW
setting and see improvement
This affects all packets seen at the
receiver

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Radiation Pattern and Roaming Buffer

When users are expected to roam while communicating, make sure
their BYOD can detect neighboring APs BEFORE roaming

AP signal drops slowly

AP signal drops fast

User does not have much space/time

to find the next AP
Directional vs omnidirectional antenna
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Floor

VoWiFi Rate Shifting and Transition AP

At A the phone is connected to AP 1
A

B
C

At B the phone has AP 2 in the neighbor

list, AP 3 has not yet been scanned due
to the RF shadow caused by the elevator
bank
At C the phone needs to roam, but AP 2
is the only AP in the neighbor list

The phone then needs to rescan and

connect to AP 3
200 B frame @ 54 Mbps is sent in 3.7 s
200 B frame @ 24 Mbps is sent in 8.3 s
Rate shifting from 54 Mbps to 24 Mbps can
waste 1100 s
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VoWiFi Rate Shifting and Transition AP

At point A the phone is connected to
AP 1

1
A

B 2

At point B the phone has AP 2 in the

neighbor list as it was able to scan it
while moving down the hall

At point C the phone needs to roam

and successfully selects AP 2
The phone has sufficient time to scan
for AP 3 ahead of time

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Controller Redundancy and Roaming Paths

Design expected roaming paths and make sure all APs connect to the same
controller, and overlap allows for next AP discovery

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Avoid Ping Pong Zones

Client stays here

Ping-pong effect occurs when a wireless client is at the edge of two cells
and hops between them.
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Avoid Ping Pong Zones

Ping Pong zone recipe:
Set overlap along pacing path
Let user head force the roam

Pacing back and forth zone

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Cisco ClientLink Technology

Advanced Beam Forming Technology

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BandSelect Test Before Full Deployment

Caveat Possible Increased Roaming Delay
No Delay

2.4G band
5G band

Some Delay
(1.5s)

Possible Delay
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Client and AP 802.11 Optimizations

Cisco VideoStream - How Does it Work?

5
6

2
3

1.
2.
3.

4.
5.

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Client sends IGMP

join
WLC intercepts
IGMP join
WLC sends AP
RRC request
AP sends RRC
response
WLC forwards join
request

6.
.

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9

8.
9.

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Multicast source
sends IGMP join
response
Multicast stream
sent
WLC forwards
multicast stream to
AP
AP converts stream
to unicast and
delivers to client

Thinking BANDWIDTH in Terms of Directions

In a standard cell, 70% of traffic is downstream (from AP to client)
30% is upstream
We can definitely control downstream, especially as 802.11n/ac stations are
necessarily WMM
Can we control the upstream? Not directly, but we may have an indirect way of
controlling it
I decide, alone,

when to send (thank

you CSMA/CA)

Dont
send!
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10
2

Bandwidth Control
You can also control upstream and downstream bandwidth consumption:
Per QoS Profile (Gold etc.)
Per SSID
Per user type (guest etc)
Per device type
Per individual user

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If you have Several Traffic Types to Target: Use Application

Visibility and Control
Dont Allow

Voice
Video
Best-Effort
Background

Client Traffic

Rate Limiting

Identify Applications using NBAR2

Control Application Behavior

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Last Words - Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting Tools
Wireless Captures, RF Analysis, Configuration Analysis
Wireless sniffer
Omnipeek/Wireshark (multichannel, for roaming issues)
Mac with OS X 10.6 and above, Windows 7 with Netmon 3.4
AP in Sniffer mode
L1 analysis: SpectrumExpert
WLCCA (WLC Configuration Analyzer) TAC support
NCS / Cisco Prime Infrastructure for Historical view
and Client Troubleshooting tool

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Support Community
https://supportforums.cisco.com/community/5771/wireless-ip-voice-and-video

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Continue Your Education

Demos in the Cisco Campus

Walk-in Self-Paced Labs

Table Topics

Meet the Engineer 1:1 meetings

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Call to Action
Visit the World of Solutions for
Cisco Campus
Walk in Labs
Technical Solution Clinics

Meet the Engineer

Lunch time Table Topics
DevNet zone related labs and sessions

Recommended Reading: for reading material and further resources for this
session, please visit www.pearson-books.com/CLMilan 2015

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Complete Your Online Session Evaluation

Please complete your online session
evaluations after each session.
Complete 4 session evaluations
& the Overall Conference Evaluation
(available from Thursday)
to receive your Cisco Live T-shirt.
All surveys can be completed via
the Cisco Live Mobile App or the
Communication Stations

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