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.
Expand all | Collapse all

fixed channels

This thread has been viewed 20 times
  • 1.  fixed channels

    Posted Feb 18, 2016 08:29 AM

    Does anyone have the exact settings/options for setting a fixed channel on an AP?  I want to prevent ARM from chaning the channel.  We have a few outdoor APs that are changing channels 40+ times per day in the 2ghz band.



  • 2.  RE: fixed channels
    Best Answer

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted Feb 18, 2016 09:05 AM

    Aruba APs are designed to use dynamic channel and power, so setting a specific channel is more difficult than choosing it.  You can create your own regulatory domain profile that has only the channels you want the AP to be on, and then apply it to the AP via an AP-specific configuration:

     

    Go to Configuration> Advanced Services> All Profiles. Expand AP. Expand Regulatory Domain. In the right pane, Type a friendly name for your new regulatory domain profile and click on Add. Click on the name of your new profile. In the Right Pane in the “Valid 802.11g Channel” section, uncheck channels 1 and 11 and click on apply. We just created a profile that will only allow your AP to be on channel 6. Next, go to Configuration> Wireless> AP configuration. Click on the AP specific Tab. Click on New. Select your access point in the dropdown and click on Add. Click on the Hyperlink for your AP. Expand AP. Click on Regulatory domain profile. In the right pane click on the dropdown for your friendly-named regulatory domain profile. Click on Apply.

    Your AP should be restricted to channel 6. To adjust the channel, go back to the regulatory domain profile and check or uncheck the channels you want that AP to be on. As soon as you click on Apply it works. To revert everything, you can go back and delete the AP specific settings; the AP should resume with the ap-group settings it had before.



  • 3.  RE: fixed channels

    Posted Feb 18, 2016 09:16 AM

    Thanks!  I wasn't sure if the regulatory domain was best or if there was something in the radio profile.



  • 4.  RE: fixed channels

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted Feb 18, 2016 09:19 AM

    Create a NEW regulatory domain profile.  Combined with ARM, the new regulatory domain profile will restrict that specific AP to only the channels you choose.

     

    The more complicated way is to create an AP group that has a modified regulatory domain profile and move your AP into that AP-Group.  The downside of that, is that it requires a reboot of the AP.  

     

    Assigning a modified regulatory domain profile to an AP is the quickest way to change the channel to a static one without rebooting.



  • 5.  RE: fixed channels

    Posted Feb 18, 2016 11:57 AM

    Do these rules apply the same for 5ghz channels?  2ghz works as expected, but as a test, I tried the same thing with some 5ghz channels and the 5ghz radio just shuts off.  To clarify, I restricted the channels to 36 (and later 36 and 40) and then set the AP specific config to the new regulatory profile.  

     

    I ask because I was considering the 1/6/11 static channel plan as outlined in the VRD for a project later this year.  The APs are sticking to high channel numbers and refusing to honor the custom reg profile.



  • 6.  RE: fixed channels

    EMPLOYEE
    Posted Feb 18, 2016 12:05 PM

    It does apply to that.  If an access point is provisioned for outdoors, depending on your regulatory domain it could have subset of the channels available of a regular AP.  For example:

    (Aruba7640-US) #show ap allowed-channels country-code GB ap-type AP-275
    
    Allowed Channels for AP Type AP-275 Country Code "GB" Country "United Kingdom"
    ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
    PHY Type                 Allowed Channels
    --------                 ----------------
    802.11g (indoor)         1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
    802.11a (indoor)         36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140
    802.11g (outdoor)        1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13
    802.11a (outdoor)        100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140
    802.11g 40MHz (indoor)   1-5 2-6 3-7 4-8 5-9 6-10 7-11 8-12 9-13
    802.11a 40MHz (indoor)   36-40 44-48 52-56 60-64 100-104 108-112 116-120 124-128 132-136
    802.11g 40MHz (outdoor)  1-5 2-6 3-7 4-8 5-9 6-10 7-11 8-12 9-13
    802.11a 40MHz (outdoor)  100-104 108-112 116-120 124-128 132-136
    802.11a 80MHz (indoor)   36-48 52-64 100-112 116-128
    802.11a 80MHz (outdoor)  100-112 116-128
    802.11a (DFS)            52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140
    

    If you are doing 20mhz channels on this AP and you only allow channels 36 and 40, it will shut off, because it is only allowed to do outdoor channels 100-140



  • 7.  RE: fixed channels

    Posted Feb 18, 2016 12:43 PM

    That explains it.  Thanks again.