Configuring Radio Parameters

To configure RF Radio Frequency. RF refers to the electromagnetic wave frequencies within a range of 3 kHz to 300 GHz, including the frequencies used for communications or Radar signals. parameters for the 2.4 GHz Gigahertz., 5 GHz, and 6 GHz radio bands Band refers to a specified range of frequencies of electromagnetic radiation. on an Instant AP (IAP), complete the following steps:

  1. In the WebUI, set the filter to a group containing at least one AP.

    The dashboard context for the group is displayed.

  2. Under Manage, click Devices > Access Points.

    A list of APs is displayed in the List view.

  3. Click the Config icon.

    The tabs to configure the APs are displayed.

  4. Click the Radios tab.

    The RF page is displayed.

  5. Expand the Radio accordion in the RF dashboard.
  6. Under 2.4 GHz band, 5 GHz band, and 6 GHz band, perform one of the following steps:
    • To configure existing radio parameters, select the radio profile on 2.4 GHz band, 5 GHz band or 6 GHz Band table and click the edit icon on the right.
    • Click + to configure a new radio profile as described in the Table 1:

    Table 1: Radio Configuration Parameters

    Data Pane Item

    Description

    Name

    Enter a name for the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz or 6 GHz radio profile.

    Zone

    Allows you to configure a zone per radio band for IAPs in a cluster. You can also configure an RF zone per IAP.

    NOTE: HPE Aruba Networking recommends that you configure RF zone for either individual AP or for the cluster. Any discrepancy in the RF zone names may lead to configuration errors.

    Legacy Only

    Turn on the Legacy Only toggle switch. When enabled, the IAP runs the radio in the non-802.11n 802.11n is a wireless networking standard to improve network throughput over the two previous standards, 802.11a and 802.11g. With 802.11n, there will be a significant increase in the maximum raw data rate from 54 Mbps to 600 Mbps with the use of four spatial streams at a channel width of 40 MHz. mode. This option is disabled by default.

    NOTE: This option is available for 6 GHz Band and is not available for other frequency bands.

    802.11d / 802.11h

    Turn on the 802.11d / 802.11h toggle switch. When enabled, the radios advertise their 802.11d 802.11d is a wireless network communications specification for use in countries where systems using other standards in the 802.11 family are not allowed to operate. Configuration can be fine-tuned at the Media Access Control (MAC) layer level to comply with the rules of the country or district in which the network is to be used. Rules are subject to variation and include allowed frequencies, allowed power levels, and allowed signal bandwidth. 802.11d facilitates global roaming. (Country Information) and 802.11h 802.11h is intended to resolve interference issues introduced by the use of 802.11a in some locations, particularly with military Radar systems and medical devices. Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) detects the presence of other devices on a channel and automatically switches the network to another channel if and when such signals are detected. Transmit Power Control (TPC) reduces the radio frequency (RF) output power of each network transmitter to a level that minimizes the risk of interference. (Transmit Power Control) capabilities. This option is disabled by default.

    Beacon Interval

    Configures the beacon period for the IAP in milliseconds. This indicates how often the 802.11 802.11 is an evolving family of specifications for wireless LANs developed by a working group of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). 802.11 standards use the Ethernet protocol and Carrier Sense Multiple Access with collision avoidance (CSMA/CA) for path sharing. beacon management frames are transmitted by the AP. You can specify a value within the range of 60–500. The default value is 100 milliseconds.

    Free Channel Index

    The free channel index metric measures interference for a specified channel and its surrounding channels. This value is calculated and weighted for all APs on those channel. Set the free channel index for the AP. The difference in the interference index between the new channel and current channel must exceed this value for the AP to move to a new channel. The higher the value, the lower the chance an AP will move to the new channel. The recommended value is 25.

    Default: 25

    Range: 10-1000

    Channel Switch Announcement Count

    Configures the number of channel switching announcements to be sent before switching to a new channel. This allows the associated clients to recover gracefully from a channel change.

    Zero Wait DFS Dynamic Frequency Selection. DFS is a mandate for radio systems operating in the 5 GHz band to be equipped with means to identify and avoid interference with Radar systems.

    Select this check box to enable zero wait Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) for seamless change of radio channels and to avoid the period of no transmission. DFS is a mandate for radio systems operating in the 5 GHz band to identify and avoid interference with radar systems that supports zero-wait feature. When an 802.11 radio detects radar, it vacates its channel and switches to another channel. Hence, stations do not lose its connectivity when an AP moves to a DFS channel. Zero wait DFS can be configured for the 5 GHz and secondary 5 GHz radio profiles. This feature is disabled by default.

    Following are the limitations of zero wait DFS feature:

    • Zero-wait DFS is disabled when the home channel is at narrow band on 5 GHz radio. The supported home channels for narrow band are from channel 149 onwards.

    • Zero-wait DFS is enabled only when the home channel is between channel 36 and channel 144.

    • Mesh APs do not support zero wait DFS feature.

    Background Spectrum Monitoring

    Turn on the toggle switch to enable background spectrum monitoring of the APs. When enabled, the APs in the access mode continue with their normal access service to clients, while performing additional function of monitoring RF interference (from both neighboring APs and non Wi-Fi Wi-Fi is a technology that allows electronic devices to connect to a WLAN network, mainly using the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radio bands. Wi-Fi can apply to products that use any 802.11 standard. sources such as, microwaves Electromagnetic energy with a frequency higher than 1 GHz, corresponding to wavelength shorter than 30 centimeters. and cordless phones) on the channel they are currently serving the clients.

    Customize ARM Power Range

    Configures a minimum (Min Power) and maximum (Max Power) power range value for the 2.4 GHz, 5 GHz, and 6 GHz band frequencies. The default value is 3 dBm Decibel-Milliwatts. dBm is a logarithmic measurement (integer) that is typically used in place of mW to represent receive-power level. AMP normalizes all signals to dBm, so that it is easy to evaluate performance between various vendors.. Unlike the configuration in the ARM Adaptive Radio Management. ARM dynamically monitors and adjusts the network to ensure that all users are allowed ready access. It enables full utilization of the available spectrum to support maximum number of users by intelligently choosing the best RF channel and transmit power for APs in their current RF environment. profile, the transmit power of all radios in the Radio profile do not share the same configuration.

    Enable 11ac

    Turn on the Enable 11ac toggle switch. When enabled, VHT Very High Throughput. IEEE 802.11ac is an emerging VHT WLAN standard that could achieve physical data rates of close to 7 Gbps for the 5 GHz band. is enabled on the 802.11ac 802.11ac is a wireless networking standard in the 802.11 family that provides high-throughput WLANs on the 5 GHz band. devices for the 5 GHz radio band. If VHT is enabled for the 5 GHz radio profile on an IAP, it is automatically enabled for all SSIDs Service Set Identifier. SSID is a name given to a WLAN and is used by the client to access a WLAN network. configured on an IAP. By default, VHT is enabled on all SSIDs.

    NOTE: If you want the 802.11ac IAPs to function as 802.11n IAPs, clear this check box to disable VHT on these devices.

    NOTE: This option is available for 5 GHz Band and is not available for other frequency bands.

    Smart antenna

    Turn on the Smart antenna toggle switch to combine an antenna array with a digital signal-processing capability to transmit and receive in an adaptive, spatially sensitive manner.

    NOTE: This option is available for 6 GHz Band and is not available for other frequency bands.

    ARM/WIDS Override

    Select one of the following from the drop-down list:

     

    40 MHz Megahertz Intolerance

    Select this check box to enable 40 MHz intolerance. This parameter decides whether the APs using this radio profile will advertise intolerance of 40 MHz operation. This feature is disabled by default.

    Honor 40 MHz Intolerance

    Select this check box to enable the Honor 40 MHz intolerance. When enabled, the radios will stop using the 40 MHz channels if the 40 MHz intolerance indication is received from another AP or station. This feature is enabled by default.

    RRM IE

    Select the Radio Resource Management Information Element (RRM IE) profiles advertised by an AP from the drop-down for 6 GHz Band.

    NOTE: This option is available for 6 GHz Band and is not available for other frequency bands.

    Transmit Rates

    Sets the transmit rates for 6 GHz radio. The available values are 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54. Mbps.

    NOTE: This option is available for 6 GHz Band and is not available for other frequency bands.

    Basic Rates

    Selects the basic rates for 6 GHz radio. The available values are 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54 Mbps.

    NOTE: This option is available for 6 GHz Band and is not available for other frequency bands.

    Beacon Rate

    Configures the beacon rate for 6 GHz radio. (For Distributed Antenna System (DAS Distributed Antenna System. DAS is a network of antenna nodes strategically placed around a geographical area or structure for additional cellular coverage. ) only). The available values are 6, 9, 12, 18, 24, 36, 48, 54, default Mbps. The default is the minimum valid rate.

    NOTE: This option is available for 6 GHz Band and is not available for other frequency bands.

  7. Click Save on the new radio profile window.
  8. Click Save Settings on the RF dashboard.

To delete the radio profile, select the radio profile on 2.4 GHz band, 5 GHz band, or 6 GHz Band table and click the delete icon.

Configuring External Antenna

HPE Aruba Networking Central now allows you to configure external antennas in a group context.

To configure the external antenna properties for an AP, complete the following steps:

  1. In the WebUI, set the filter to a group containing at least one AP.

    The dashboard context for the group is displayed.

  2. Under Manage, click Devices > Access Points.

    A list of APs is displayed in the List view.

  3. Click the Config icon.

    The AP group configuration page is displayed.

  4. Click the Radios tab.

    The RF page is displayed.

  5. Expand the External Antenna accordion and configure the following parameters for 2.4 GHz Antenna Gain and the 5 GHz Antenna Gain:

    Table 2: External Antenna Configuration Parameters

    Parameters

    Description

    Antenna Gain

    Enter the Antenna Gain values in dBi. The antenna gain is the measure of an antenna's ability to direct radio frequency energy in a particular direction , measured in dBi.

    Antenna Polarization Type

    From the Antenna Polarization Type drop-down list, select any of the following:

    • none—Select this option to disable the polarization of both the transmitting and receiving antennas.
    • co-polarization—Select this option to set the polarization of both the transmitting and receiving antennas to be the same.
    • cross-polarization—Select this option to set the polarization of both the transmitting and receiving antennas to be different.

    The integrated antennas of the wireless bridge sends a radio signal that is polarized in a particular direction. The receiving sensitivity of the antenna is also higher for radio signals that have the same polarization. To maximize the performance of the wireless link, both antennas must be set to the same polarization direction.

  6. Click Save.

To configure the external antenna in a device context, see Configuring External Antenna.