An access point can have its radio profile configuration overridden after its radios have successfully associated to the network.
To define a radio configuration override from the access point‘s associated controller or service platform:
Note
A blue override icon (to the left of a parameter) defines the parameter as having an override applied. To remove an override go to the Basic Configuration section of the device and click Clear Overrides. This removes all overrides from the device.Name |
Displays whether the reporting radio is the Access Point's radio1, radio2 or radio3. |
Type | Displays whether the radio has been designated as a typical WLAN radio or if the radio has been designated as a sensor. |
Description | A brief description provided by the administrator when the radio's configuration was added or modified. |
Admin Status | A green check mark means the radio is enabled for client or sensor support. A red “X” means the radio is currently disabled. |
RF Mode | Displays whether each listed radio is operating in the 802.11a/n or 802.11b/g/n radio band. If the radio is a dedicated sensor, it will be listed as a sensor to define the radio as not providing typical WLAN support. If the radio is a client bridge, it provides a typical bridging function and does not provide WLAN support. The radio band is set in the Radio Settings tab. |
Channel | Lists the channel setting for the radio. Smart is the default setting. If set to Smart, the access point scans non-overlapping channels listening for beacons from other access points. After the channels are scanned, it selects the channel with the fewest access points. In the case of multiple access points on the same channel, it selects the channel with the lowest average power level. The column displays smart if set for dynamic Smart RF support. |
Transmit Power |
Lists the transmit power for each radio displayed as a value in milliwatts. Selecting smart allows the radio to perform power adjustments to compensate for failed neighboring radios. |
Overrides |
A Clear option appears for each radio configuration that has an override applied to the profile‘s configuration. Select Clear to revert this specific radio configuration to the profile configuration originally defined by the administrator for this radio. |
Description | Provide or edit a description (1 - 64 characters in length) for the radio that helps differentiate it from others with similar configurations. |
Admin Status |
Select Enabled or Disabled to define this radio‘s current status within the network. When enabled, the access point is operational and available for client support within the network. The radio is enabled by default and must be shut down manually. |
Radio QoS Policy | Use the drop-down menu to specify an existing QoS policy to apply to the access point radio in respect to its intended radio traffic. If no existing policy is suitable for this radio‘s intended operation, select the Create icon to define a new QoS policy. For more information, see Radio QoS Policies. |
Association ACL |
Specify an existing Association ACL policy to apply to the Access Point radio. An Association ACL is a policy-based Access Control List (ACL) that either prevents or allows wireless clients from connecting to a managed Access Point radio. An ACL is a sequential collection of permit and deny conditions that apply to controller or service platform packets. When a packet is received on an interface, the controller or service platform compares the fields in the packet against any applied ACLs to verify the packet has the required permissions to be forwarded, based on the criteria specified in the access lists. If a packet does not meet any of the criteria specified in the ACL, the packet is dropped. Select the Create icon to define a new Association ACL that can be applied to this profile. |
RF Mode |
Set the mode to either 2.4 GHz WLAN or 5 GHz WLAN depending on the radio‘s intended client support requirement. Set the mode to sensor if you are using the radio for rogue device detection. To set a radio as a detector, disable sensor support on the other access point radio. Set the mode to scan-ahead in DFS-aware countries to allow a mesh point's secondary radio to scan for an alternative channel for backhaul transmission in the event of a radar event on the principal radio. The secondary radio is continually monitoring the alternate channel, which means the principal radio can switch channels and transmit data immediately without waiting for the channel availability check. |
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Lock RF Mode | Select this option to lock Smart RF calibration functions for this radio. The default setting is disabled. | ||||
Channel | Select the channel of operation
for the radio. Only a trained installation professional
should define the radio channel. Select Smart for
the radio to scan non-overlapping channels to listen for
beacons from other access points. After channels are
scanned, the radio selects the channel with the fewest
access points. In case of multiple access points on the same
channel, it selects the channel with the lowest average
power level. The default value is Smart. Channels with a “w” appended to them are unique to the 40 MHz band. |
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DFS Revert Home |
Select this option to revert to the home channel after a DFS evacuation period. |
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DFS Duration | Set the DFS duration between 30 and 3,600 minutes. This is the duration for which the radio stays in the new channel. The default value is 90 minutes. | ||||
Transmit Power | Set the transmit power of the
selected access point radio. If the access point has two
radios, each radio should be configured with a unique
transmit power in respect to its intended client support
function. Select the Smart RF option to let Smart RF determine the transmit power. A setting of 0 defines the radio as using Smart RF to determine its output power. 20 dBm is the default value. |
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Antenna Gain | Set the antenna between 0.00 - 15.00 dBm. The access point‘s Power Management Antenna Configuration File (PMACF) automatically configures the access point‘s radio transmit power based on the antenna type, its antenna gain (provided here) and the deployed country‘s regulatory domain restrictions. Once provided, the access point calculates the power range. Antenna gain relates the intensity of an antenna in a given direction to the intensity that would be produced ideally by an antenna that radiates equally in all directions (isotropically), and has no losses. Although the gain of an antenna is directly related to its directivity, its gain is a measure that takes into account the efficiency of the antenna as well as its directional capabilities. Only a professional installer should set the antenna gain. The default value is 0.00. | ||||
Antenna Mode | Set the number of transmit and receive antennas on the Access Point. 1x1 is used for transmissions over just the single “A” antenna, 1x3 is used for transmissions over the “A” antenna and all three antennas for receiving. 2x2 is used for transmissions and receipts over two antennas for dual antenna models. The default setting is dynamic, based on the access point model and its transmit power settings. | ||||
Enable Antenna Diversity |
Select this option to enable antenna diversity on supported antennas. Antenna diversity uses two or more antennas to increase signal quality and strength. This option is disabled by default. |
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Adaptivity Recovery | Select this option to switch channels when an access point‘s radio is in adaptivity mode. In adaptivity mode, an access point monitors interference on its set channel and stops functioning when the radio‘s defined interference tolerance level is exceeded. When the defined adaptivity timeout is exceeded, the radio resumes functionality on a different channel. This option is enabled by default. | ||||
Adaptivity Timeout | Set the adaptivity timeout from 30 to 3,600 minutes. The default setting is 90 minutes. | ||||
Wireless Client Power | Select this option to enable a spinner control for client radio power transmissions in dBm. The available range is 0 - 20 dBm. This option is disabled by default. | ||||
Dynamic Chain Selection | Select this option to allow the access point radio to dynamically change the number of transmit chains. This setting is disabled by default. | ||||
Rate |
Use the Select button to set rate options depending on the 802.11 protocols selected. If the radio band is set to Sensor or Detector, the Data Rates drop-down menu is not enabled, as the rates are fixed and not user configurable. If 2.4 GHz is selected as the radio band, select separate 802.11b, 802.11g and 802.11n rates and define how they are used in combination. If 5 GHz is selected as the radio band, select separate 802.11a and 802.11n rates then define how they are used together. When using 802.11n (in either the 2.4 or 5 GHz band), Set an MCS (modulation and coding scheme) in respect to the radio‘s channel width and guard interval. A MCS defines (based on RF channel conditions) an optimal combination of 8 data rates, bonded channels, multiple spatial streams, different guard intervals and modulation types. Clients can associate as long as they support basic MCS (as well as non-11n basic rates). If you are dedicating an AP 81XX model radio to either 2.4 or 5 Ghz support, a Custom Rates option is available to set a modulation and coding scheme (MCS) in respect to the radio‘s channel width and guard interval. An MCS defines (based on RF channel conditions) an optimal combination of rates, bonded channels, multiple spatial streams, different guard intervals and modulation types. Clients can associate as long as they support basic MCS (as well as non-11n basic rates). If Basic is selected within the 802.11n Rates field, the MCS0-7 option is auto selected as a supported rate and that option is grayed out. If Basic is not selected, any combination of MCS0-7, MCS8-15 and MCS16-23 can be supported, including a case where MCS0-7 and MCS16-23 are selected and not MCS8-15. The MCS0-7 and MCS8-15 options are available to each support Access Point. However, the MCS16- 23 option is only available to AP 81XX model access points and its ability to provide 3x3x3 MIMO support. |
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Radio Placement | Specify whether the radio is located Indoors or Outdoors. The placement should depend on the country of operation selected and its regulatory domain requirements for radio emissions. The default setting is Indoors. | ||||
Max Clients | Set the maximum permissible client connections for this radio. Set a value from 0 - 256. The default value is 256. | ||||
Rate Selection Methods |
Specify a radio selection method for the radio. The selection methods are:
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Beacon Interval | Set the interval between radio beacons in milliseconds (either 50, 100 or 200). A beacon is a packet broadcast by adopted radios to keep the network synchronized. Included in a beacon is the WLAN service area, radio address, broadcast destination addresses, a time stamp, and indicators about traffic and delivery (such as a DTIM). Increase the DTIM/ beacon settings (lengthening the time) to let nodes sleep longer and preserve battery life. Decrease these settings (shortening the time) to support streaming-multicast audio and video applications that are jittersensitive. The default value is 100 milliseconds. |
DTIM Interval | Set a DTIM Interval to specify a period for Delivery Traffic Indication Messages (DTIM). A DTIM is periodically included in a beacon frame transmitted from adopted radios. The DTIM indicates broadcast and multicast frames (buffered at the access point) are soon to arrive. These are simple data frames that require no acknowledgment, so nodes sometimes miss them. Increase the DTIM/ beacon settings (lengthening the time) to let nodes sleep longer and preserve their battery life. Decrease these settings (shortening the time) to support streaming multicast audio and video applications that are jitter-sensitive. |
RTS Threshold | Specify a Request To Send (RTS)
threshold (from 1 - 65,536 bytes) for use by the WLAN's
adopted access point radios. RTS is a transmitting station's
signal that requests a Clear To
Send (CTS) response from a receiving client. This
RTS/CTS procedure clears the air where clients are
contending for transmission time. Benefits include fewer
data collisions and better communication with nodes that are
hard to find (or hidden) because of other active nodes in
the transmission path. Control RTS/CTS by setting an RTS threshold. This setting initiates an RTS/ CTS exchange for data frames larger than the threshold, and sends (without RTS/CTS) any data frames smaller than the threshold. Consider the tradeoffs when setting an appropriate RTS threshold for the WLAN's access point radios. A lower RTS threshold causes more frequent RTS/CTS exchanges. This consumes more bandwidth because of additional latency (RTS/CTS exchanges) before transmissions can commence. A disadvantage is the reduction in data-frame throughput. An advantage is quicker system recovery from electromagnetic interference and data collisions. Environments with more wireless traffic and contention for transmission make the best use of a lower RTS threshold. A higher RTS threshold minimizes RTS/CTS exchanges, consuming less bandwidth for data transmissions. A disadvantage is less help to nodes that encounter interference and collisions. An advantage is faster data-frame throughput. Environments with less wireless traffic and contention for transmission make the best use of a higher RTS threshold. |
Short Preamble | If you are using an 802.11bg radio, select this option for the radio to transmit using a short preamble. Short preambles improve throughput. However, some devices (SpectraLink phones) require long preambles. This option is disabled by default. |
Guard Interval | Specify a Long or Any guard interval. The guard interval is the space between characters being transmitted. The guard interval eliminates inter-symbol interference (ISI). ISI occurs when echoes or reflections from one character interfere with another character. Adding time between transmissions allows echo's and reflections to settle before the next character is transmitted. A shorter guard interval results in shorter character times which reduces overhead and increases data rates by up to 10%. The default value is Long. |
Probe Response Rate | Specify the data rate used for the transmission of probe responses. Options include highest-basic, lowest-basic, and follow-probe-request. The default value is follow-probe-request. |
Probe Response Retry | Select this option to retry probe responses if they are not acknowledged by the target wireless client. This option is enabled by default. |
In both Inline or Promiscuous mode, the packets the radio is switching can also be used by the WIPS analysis module.
Administrators can assign each WLAN its own BSSID. For dual-radio access points, there are eight BSSIDs for the 802.11b/g/n radio and eight BSSIDs for the 802.11a/n radio.
Mesh | Set the mesh mode for this radio – either Client, Portal, or Disabled. Setting the mesh mode to Client enables the radio to operate as a mesh client that scans and connects to mesh portals or nodes connected to portals. Setting the mesh mode to Portal turns the radio into a mesh portal. This starts the radio beaconing immediately and will accept connections from other mesh nodes. Setting the mesh mode to Disabled deactivates all mesh activity on this radio. |
Mesh Links | Specify the number of mesh links allowed by the radio. The radio can have from 1- 6 mesh links when the radio is configured as a portal. |
Mesh PSK | Provide the encryption key in either ASCII or Hex format. Administrators must ensure that this key is configured on the access point when staged for mesh, added to both the mesh client and the portal access point‘s configuration on the controller or service platform. Select Show to display the characters used in the PSK. |
Note
Only single-hop mesh links are supported at this time.Click + Add Row to add preferred peer devices for the radio to connect to in mesh mode.
Note
Before configuring the client-bridge parameters, set the radio's rf-mode to bridge.An access point's radio can be configured to form a bridge between its wireless/wired clients and an infrastructure WLAN. The bridge radio authenticates and associates with an infrastructure WLAN Access Point. After successful association, the Access Point switches frames between its bridge radio and wired/wireless client(s) connected either to its GE port(s) or to the other radio, thereby providing the clients access to the infrastructure WLAN resources. This feature is supported only on the AP 6522, AP 6562, AP 7532, AP 7562, AP 7602, and AP 7622 model access points.
SSID | Set the infrastructure WLAN‘s SSID, with which the client-bridge access point associates. |
VLAN | Set the VLAN to which the bridged clients‘ sessions are mapped after successful association with the infrastructure WLAN. Once mapped, the client bridge communicates with permitted hosts over the infrastructure WLAN. Specify the VLAN from 1 to 4095. |
Max Clients | Set the maximum number of client-bridge access points that can associate with the infrastructure WLAN. Specify a value from 1 to 64. The default value is 64. |
Connect through Bridges | Select this option to enable the client-bridge access point radio to associate with the infrastructure WLAN through another client-bridge radio thereby forming a chain. This is referred to as daisy chaining of client-bridge radios. This option is disabled by default. |
Channel Dwell Time | Set the channel-dwell time from 50 to 2000 milliseconds. This is the time the client-bridge radio dwells on each channel (configured in the list of channels) when scanning for an infrastructure WLAN. The default is 150 milliseconds. |
Authentication | Set the mode of authentication
with the infrastructure WLAN. The authentication mode
specified here should be the same as that configured on the
infrastructure WLAN. The options are None and
EAP. If you select EAP,
specify the EAP authentication parameters. The default
setting is None. For information on WLAN authentication, see Configuring WLAN Security. |
Encryption | Set the packet encryption mode.
The encryption mode specified here should be the same as
that configured on the infrastructure WLAN. The options are
None, CCMP, and
TKIP. The default setting is None. For information on WLAN encryption, see Configuring WLAN Security. |
Type | Select the EAP authentication method used by the supplicant. The options are TLS and PEAP-MS-CHAPv2. The default EAP type is PEAP-MS-CHAPv2. |
Username | Set the 32-character maximum user name for an EAP authentication credential exchange. |
Password | Set the 32-character maximum password for the specified EAP user name. |
Pre-shared Key | Set the pre-shared key (PSK) used with EAP. Note that the authenticating algorithm and PSK should be the same as on the infrastructure WLAN. |
Handshake Basic Rate | Set the basic rate of exchange of handshake packets between the client-bridge and infrastructure WLAN Access Points. The options are highest and normal. The default value is highest. |
Trustpoint CA |
Set the Trustpoint CA name (this is the trustpoint installed on the RADIUS server host). This parameter is applicable to both EAP-TLS and PEAP-MS-CHAPv2 authentication modes. In case of both EAP-TLS and PEAP-MS-CHAPv2 authentication, provide the RADIUS server TP name to enable RADIUS server certificate validation at the client end. This parameter is not mandatory for enabling TP-based authentication of CB (Client-Bridge) AP. |
Trustpoint Client | Set the Trustpoint Client name (this is the TP installed on the CB AP). This parameter is applicable only for EAP-TLS authentication mode. When configured, this client certificate is sent across a TLS tunnel and matched for authentication at the RADIUS server host. This configuration is mandatory for enabling TP-based authentication of CB AP. |
Trustpoint Expiry | Use the drop-down menu
to specify whether the wireless client-bridge is to be
continued or discontinued in case of certificate
expiry. In EAP-TLS authentication, a CA-signed certificate is used to authenticate the CB AP and RADIUS server host to establish the wireless CB. Use this option to specify whether the wireless CB is to be continued or terminated on expiration of this certificate. continue – Enables continuation of the CB even after the certificate (CA/client) has expired. When selected, this option enables automatic CA certificate deployment as and when new CA certificates are available. This is the default setting. discontinue – Terminates the CB once the certificate (CA/client) has expired. Note: Configure
this parameter only if the CB AP and the RADIUS server
host are using a crypto CMP policy for automatic
certificate renewal. For more information, see Crypto CMP Policy.
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Band A | Define a list of channels for scanning across all the channels in the 5.0 GHz radio band. |
Band BG | Define a list of channels for scanning across all the channels in the 2.4 GHz radio band. |
Keepalive Type | Set the keepalive frame type exchanged between the client-bridge and infrastructure access points. This is the type of packets exchanged between the client-bridge and infrastructure access points, at specified intervals, to keep the client-bridge link up and active. The options are null-data and WNMP packets. The default value is null-data. |
Keepalive Interval | Set the keepalive interval from 0 to 86,400 seconds. This is the interval between two successive keepalive frames exchanged between the client-bridge and infrastructure Access Points. The default value is 300 seconds. |
Inactivity Timeout | Set the inactivity timeout for each bridge MAC address from 0 to 864,000 seconds. This is the time for which the client-bridge access point waits before deleting a wired/wireless client‘s MAC address from which a frame has not been received for more than the time specified here. For example, if the inactivity time is set at 120 seconds, and if no frames are received from a client (MAC address) for 120 seconds, it is deleted. The default value is 600 seconds. |
Shutdown Other Radio when Link Goes Down | Select this option to enable
shutting down of the non-client bridge radio (this is the
radio to which wireless clients associate) when the link
between the client-bridge and infrastructure access points
is lost. When enabled, wireless clients associated with the
non-client bridge radio are pushed to search for and
associate with other access points having backhaul
connectivity. This option is disabled by default. If you enable this option, specify the time for which the non-client bridge radio is shut down. Use the spinner to specify a time from 1 - 1,800 seconds. |
Refresh VLAN Interface when Link Comes Up | Select this option to enable the SVI to refresh on re-establishing client bridge link to the infrastructure access point. If you are using a DHCP assigned IP address, this option also causes a DHCP renew. This option is enabled by default. |
Seconds for Missed Beacons | Set this interval from 0 to 60 seconds. This is the time for which the client-bridge access point waits, after missing a beacon from the associated infrastructure WLAN access point, before roaming to another infrastructure access point. For example, if Seconds for Missed Beacon is set to 30 seconds, and if more than 30 seconds have passed since the last beacon received from the infrastructure access point, the client-bridge access point resumes scanning for another infrastructure access point. The default value s 20 seconds. |
Minimum Signal Strength | Set the minimum signal-strength threshold for signals received from the infrastructure access point. Specify a value from -128 to -40 dBm. If the RSSI value of signals received from the infrastructure access point falls below the value specified here, the client-bridge access point resumes scanning for another infrastructure access point. The default is -75 dBm. |
A-MPDU Modes | Specify the A-MPDU mode. Options include Transmit Only, Receive Only, Transmit and Receive, and None. The default value is Transmit and Receive. Using the default value, long frames can be both sent and received (up to 64 KB). When this option is enabled, define a transmit limit, a receive limit, or both. |
Minimum Gap Between Frames |
Specify the minimum gap between A-MPDU frames (in microseconds). The default value is 4 microseconds. A value of auto means that the gap is set by the system. |
Received Frame Size Limit | If a support mode is enabled allowing A-MPDU frames to be received, define an advertised maximum limit for received A-MPDU aggregated frames. Options include 8191, 16383, 32767, and 65535 bytes. The default value is 65535 bytes. |
Transmit Frame Size Limit | Use the spinner control to set a
limit on transmitted A-MPDU aggregated frames. The available range is from 2000 to 65535 bytes. The default value is 65535 bytes. |
RIFS Mode | Define an RIFS mode to determine whether interframe spacing is applied to access point transmissions or received packets, both, or neither The default mode is Transmit and Receive. Interframe spacing is an interval between two consecutive Ethernet frames to enable a brief recovery between packets and allow target devices to prepare for the reception of the next packet. Consider setting this value to None for high priority traffic to reduce packet delay. |
STBC Mode | Select a space–time block coding (STBC) option to transmit multiple data stream copies across access point antennas to improve signal reliability. An access point‘s transmitted signal traverses a problematic environment, with scattering, reflection and refraction all prevalent. The signal can be further corrupted by noise at the receiver. Consequently, some of the received data copies are less corrupt and better than others. This redundancy means there‘s a greater chance of using one, or more, of the received copies to successfully decode the signal. STBC effectively combines all the signal copies to extract as much information from each as possible. |
Transmit Beamforming | Enable beamforming to steer signals to peers in a specific direction to enhance signal strength and improve throughput among meshed devices (not clients). Each access point radio support up to 16 beamforming capable mesh peers. When enabled, a beamformer steers its wireless signals to its peers. A beamformee device assists the beamformer with channel estimation by providing a feedback matrix. The feedback matrix is a set of values sent by the beamformee to assist the beamformer in computing a steering matrix. A steering matrix is an additional set of values used to steer wireless signals at the beamformer so constructive signals arrive at the beamformee for better SNR and throughput. Any beamforming capable mesh peer connecting to a radio whose capacity is exhausted cannot enable beamforming itself. Transmit beamforming is available only on AP 81XX (AP 8132 and AP 8163) model access points, and it is disabled by default. |
Forwarding Host | Specify the Aeroscout engine‘s IP
address. When specified, the AP forwards Aeroscout beacons
directly to the Aeroscout locationing engine without
proxying through the controller or RF Domain manager. Note: Aeroscout beacon forwarding is
supported only on the AP 6532, AP 7502, AP 7522, AP 7532, AP 7562, AP 8432, and AP 8533 model access
points.
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Forwarding Port | Set the port on which the Aeroscout engine is reachable. |
MAC to be forwarded | Specify the MAC address to be forwarded. |
Forwarding Host | Specify the Ekahau engine IP address. Using Ekahau small, battery powered Wi-Fi tags are attached to tracked assets or carried by people. Ekahau processes locations, rules, messages and environmental data and turns the information into locationing maps, alerts, and reports. |
Forwarding Port | Set the Ekahau TZSP port used for processing information from locationing tags. |
MAC to be forwarded | Specify the MAC address to be forwarded with location data requests. |
Non-Unicast Transmit Rate | Use the Select drop-down menu to launch a sub-screen to define the data rate for broadcast and multicast frame transmissions. If you are not using the same rate for each BSSID, seven different rates are available – each with a separate menu. |
Non-Unicast Forwarding | Define whether client broadcast and multicast packets should always follow DTIM, or only follow DTIM when using Power Save Aware mode. The default setting is Follow DTIM. |
Host for Redirected Packets | If packets are redirected from a controller or service platform‘s connected access point radio, specify the IP address of a resource (additional host system) used to capture the redirected packets. This address is the numerical (non DNS) address of the host used to capture the redirected packets. |
Channel to Capture Packets | Specify the channel used to capture redirected packets. The default value is channel 1. |
Enable Off-Channel Scan |
Enable this option to scan across all channels using this radio. Channel scans use access point resources and can be time consuming, so only enable when your sure the radio can afford the bandwidth be directed toward the channel scan and does not negatively impact client support. |
Off Channel Scan list for 5GHz | Select the list of channels for
off-channel scans using the access point's 5GHz radio. Restricting off-channel scans to specific channels frees bandwidth otherwise utilized for scanning across all the channels in the 5GHz radio band. |
Off Channel Scan list for 2.4GHz | Select the list of channels for
off-channel scans using the access point's 2.4GHz radio. Restricting off-channel scans to specific channels frees bandwidth otherwise utilized for scanning across all the channels in the 2.4GHz radio band. |
Max Multicast | Set the maximum number (from 0 - 100) of multicast/broadcast messages used to perform off-channel scanning. The default setting is 4. |
Scan Interval | Set the interval (from 2 - 100 dtims) between off-channel scans. The default setting is 20 dtims. |
Sniffer Redirect | Specify the IP address of the host to which captured off-channel scan packets are redirected. |