Wireless Access

last person joined: yesterday 

Access network design for branch, remote, outdoor, and campus locations with HPE Aruba Networking access points and mobility controllers.
Back to discussions
Expand all | Collapse all

Spectrum Analysis - Hybrid AP Mode Question

This thread has been viewed 3 times

  • 1.  Spectrum Analysis - Hybrid AP Mode Question

    Posted Sep 03, 2012 12:00 PM

    I'd like to enable spectrum analysis in my environment but don't think I can stand to lose one AP per floor for dedicated spectrum analysis.  I'm thinking about enabling hybrid AP mode and understand that the AP will only be able to monitor for interference on the channels it operates.  So I would need to enable all APs for hybrid AP mode if I want complete visibility.

     

    Are there any downsides to configuring every AP in the environment in hybrid AP mode?

     

    Should I instead add one more AP per floor and dedicate it to spectrum analysis.



  • 2.  RE: Spectrum Analysis - Hybrid AP Mode Question

    Posted Sep 04, 2012 08:27 AM

    I'm a big fan of having one or more AM (air monitors) per floor. With that setup you can turn that AM into a Spectrum Analyzer anytime you want. Once done analyzing the spectrum, you change it back to an AM to look for and contain rogues, IDS event monitoring, etc.

     

    Ian



  • 3.  RE: Spectrum Analysis - Hybrid AP Mode Question
    Best Answer

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted Sep 10, 2012 11:30 AM

    There should be no issues introduced by enabling hybrid spectrum analysis on your APs.  You will gain the benefit of devices getting classified and that information getting sent up to AirWave for reporting, locating and long term storage. 

     

    Spectrum processing does take a little bit of CPU resources.  In normal day to day operation it should have 0 impact on your network.  The maximum throughput of the AP may be brought down ~5% in some environments.  But if you are maxing out the throughput of your APs, you have bigger problems on your hands than the 5% performance lost to hybrid.

     

    I would recommend enabling it on a few APs for a week.  Once you have tested it, you can safely enable it for all of your APs.

     

    Dedicated SMs are good but they won't be hearing the exact same interference as the AP serving clients since they are physically located in different spots.  Hybrid gives you visibility into the channels your network is using, where it is using them.



  • 4.  RE: Spectrum Analysis - Hybrid AP Mode Question

    Posted Sep 11, 2012 04:42 PM

    Thanks for the info.  I'll proceed with creating new AP groups w/spectrum analysis enabled.

     

    One more question...  Can a RAP5 operate in hybrid mode?  The Aruba VRD for RAP deployments mentions using a RAP5 as a permanent SM, but no mention of hybrid mode.