navman Posted March 12, 2022 Share Posted March 12, 2022 I have 6 indoor Pakedge 4200 WAPs in my house and also an outdoor 2200 AP, 4 of these have been set-up by my dealer and I have added three since. A recent software update has changed the channels and also to use Auto channel functionality, and I have noticed some issues on the network interfering with Zigbee therefore I have a few questions having reviewed the publicly available pakedge documentation. Should I set channel to Auto for 2.4 GHZ or 5 GHZ networks? As a best practice should i still use Channels 1, 6 and 11 for 2.4GHZ? Should I enable Fast Roaming? Band Steering, should I enable? Should close by AP's be hardcoded to use the same channel? Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control4Savant Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 3 hours ago, navman said: I have 6 indoor Pakedge 4200 WAPs in my house and also an outdoor 2200 AP, 4 of these have been set-up by my dealer and I have added three since. A recent software update has changed the channels and also to use Auto channel functionality, and I have noticed some issues on the network interfering with Zigbee therefore I have a few questions having reviewed the publicly available pakedge documentation. Should I set channel to Auto for 2.4 GHZ or 5 GHZ networks? As a best practice should i still use Channels 1, 6 and 11 for 2.4GHZ? Should I enable Fast Roaming? Band Steering, should I enable? Should close by AP's be hardcoded to use the same channel? Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. How large is your home? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 99% chance you have too many APs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navman Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 4500 SQ foot house - single story with outdoor living space at front of house and rear. Also very poor cell phone coverage in area therefore wifi needs to cover dead spots around house that is why I added a few additional AP's. Is there g a good tool that I can use to validate wifi signal and overlapping coverage? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Too many APs. Way too many Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navman Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 The 4500 is indoor, approx another 500 feet at front and 900 ft at rear of house which is living space. I want to check for overlapping dead spots and remove excess Ads, I also want to set the correct channels for 2.4 GHZ to accommodate C4 and Philips Hue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gary Leeds UK Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 4 hours ago, msgreenf said: Too many APs. Way too many Total Agree - We had this issue and after taking out all our AP (Had 4 at the time) we replaced them with One Ruckus AP and our Wifi is amazing we even have Wifi calling set via the Ruckus. Sometimes less is More Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 This is an interesting post. I have a 10,000 plus square foot house. Concrete construction over 4 floors. An extra 3,000 square feet outside with coverage. I have 12 APs. Reading the above, it sound like I have too many? I have no issues with WiFi or Zigbee except that once every 2 or 3 weeks all of my APs CPUs go wild (100% CPU usage) and I have to reboot all of my APs to get this sorted… Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LollerAgent Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 12 minutes ago, South Africa C4 user said: This is an interesting post. I have a 10,000 plus square foot house. Concrete construction over 4 floors. An extra 3,000 square feet outside with coverage. I have 12 APs. Reading the above, it sound like I have too many? I have no issues with WiFi or Zigbee except that once every 2 or 3 weeks all of my APs CPUs go wild (100% CPU usage) and I have to reboot all of my APs to get this sorted… Any thoughts? I wouldn't say you have too many. I wouldn't even say the OP has too many without knowing more about his configuration. It really depends on how they are configured (power levels, neighboring channels, etc). What you don't want are 12 AP's cranked up to maximum power levels causing interference, etc. It's not uncommon to have a very high number of dense AP's (with finely tuned power and channel configuration) in non-residential environments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 2 minutes ago, LollerAgent said: I wouldn't say you have too many. I wouldn't even say the OP has too many without knowing more about his configuration. It really depends on how they are configured (power levels, neighboring channels, etc). What you don't want are 12 AP's cranked up to maximum power levels causing interference, etc. It's not uncommon to have a very high number of dense AP's (with finely tuned power and channel configuration) in non-residential environments. I feel pretty confident its too many for that sqft Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
msgreenf Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 17 minutes ago, South Africa C4 user said: This is an interesting post. I have a 10,000 plus square foot house. Concrete construction over 4 floors. An extra 3,000 square feet outside with coverage. I have 12 APs. Reading the above, it sound like I have too many? I have no issues with WiFi or Zigbee except that once every 2 or 3 weeks all of my APs CPUs go wild (100% CPU usage) and I have to reboot all of my APs to get this sorted… Any thoughts? What brand? Firmware updates? (max cpu issue). No, with your poured concrete you likely need more APs But that is not the norm. Most people have them too high and handoff doesn't occur properly and you get "stuck" on a far away AP and don't transition to a closer AP therefore impacting speed. Low power (13-15) is enough and then look for bad pockets and crank and adjust as needed. Most of the time it's not channel. It's fact that you have too many APs turned up too high Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 Thanks guys. I will need to check on power (not something I have ever looked at). Make is Luxul…. Not always a fan favourite but works perfectly until the CPU max’s out… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Control4Savant Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 3 hours ago, South Africa C4 user said: This is an interesting post. I have a 10,000 plus square foot house. Concrete construction over 4 floors. An extra 3,000 square feet outside with coverage. I have 12 APs. Reading the above, it sound like I have too many? I have no issues with WiFi or Zigbee except that once every 2 or 3 weeks all of my APs CPUs go wild (100% CPU usage) and I have to reboot all of my APs to get this sorted… Any thoughts? Absolutely too many TBH… even if you had an AP evenly at each end of every floor with concrete or a few “wings”. Are you using a Luxul controller? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ekohn00 Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 3 hours ago, South Africa C4 user said: This is an interesting post. I have a 10,000 plus square foot house. Concrete construction over 4 floors. An extra 3,000 square feet outside with coverage. I have 12 APs. Reading the above, it sound like I have too many? I have no issues with WiFi or Zigbee except that once every 2 or 3 weeks all of my APs CPUs go wild (100% CPU usage) and I have to reboot all of my APs to get this sorted… Any thoughts? I did some work overseas, and we ran into a few large villas that had some thick concrete structures. You can easily end up putting 3-4 per 2500 sq ft since signals may not transmit at all, especially if you want 5GHz. Hopefully you have an open floor plan so you don't need the extra WAPs. Easiest way to check is turn them all off except 1..... check with your phone/laptop how far you can get. Might also have to lower power on 2.4 GHz and up on 5Ghz. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
navman Posted March 13, 2022 Author Share Posted March 13, 2022 Any advice for the below, before I try to remove and replace AP's: Should I set channel to Auto for 2.4 GHZ? As a best practice should i still use Channels 1, 6 and 11 for 2.4GHZ at 20MHZ? Should I enable Fast Roaming? Band Steering, should I enable? Radio levels Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 2 hours ago, Control4Savant said: Absolutely too many TBH… even if you had an AP evenly at each end of every floor with concrete or a few “wings”. Are you using a Luxul controller? Yes, using an XWC-1000 controller which my dealer is going to swap for an XWC-2000 controller in the hope of fixing the issue… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
South Africa C4 user Posted March 13, 2022 Share Posted March 13, 2022 2 hours ago, ekohn00 said: I did some work overseas, and we ran into a few large villas that had some thick concrete structures. You can easily end up putting 3-4 per 2500 sq ft since signals may not transmit at all, especially if you want 5GHz. Hopefully you have an open floor plan so you don't need the extra WAPs. Easiest way to check is turn them all off except 1..... check with your phone/laptop how far you can get. Might also have to lower power on 2.4 GHz and up on 5Ghz. While we have a large open plan downstairs area (this only has one AP, we have lots of solid concrete between other areas downstairs) and upstairs every room (4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 Pyjama Lounges and a massive walk in closet have solid concrete walls except for one of the Pyjama lounges which is open plan connected to the master suite) . Our basement level has 2 parts separated by many metres of earth and concrete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cyknight Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/13/2022 at 1:30 PM, South Africa C4 user said: Pyjama Lounges Awesome - never heard that term before (though so obvious) and I now have them in my house too South Africa C4 user 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OceanDad Posted March 14, 2022 Share Posted March 14, 2022 On 3/13/2022 at 12:30 PM, South Africa C4 user said: one of the Pyjama lounges which is open plan connected to the master suite We have a pyjama drawer. It's self contained, rather than open plan, but it is immediately adjacent to the underwear drawer. South Africa C4 user and RyanE 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JR2 Posted March 15, 2022 Share Posted March 15, 2022 On 3/13/2022 at 10:54 AM, navman said: Should I set channel to Auto for 2.4 GHZ? No, Under Radio (2.4G) de-select every channel except for 1, 6, and 11. On 3/13/2022 at 10:54 AM, navman said: Should I enable Fast Roaming? No, this function allows a client device to roam quickly in environments implementing the WPA2 Enterprise security My iPhone 10 won't connect when this function is activated. On 3/13/2022 at 10:54 AM, navman said: Band Steering, should I enable? Yes On 3/13/2022 at 10:54 AM, navman said: Radio levels Ekahau HeatMapper is going to be your friend. There are older versions on the net = free. On 3/13/2022 at 10:14 AM, ekohn00 said: Easiest way to check is turn them all off except 1..... check with your phone/laptop how far you can get. Might also have to lower power on 2.4 GHz and up on 5Ghz. Great advice on initial set up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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