Wireless Access

Hi,

We're configuring WLAN bridge with two Aruba AP-377 (RW) Outdoor 11ac APs. The distance between the two APs would be ~300meters (985ft)

So far we have established the bridge and placed the two APs 13meters (43ft) apart. If we ping the Point AP with packet size 5000 we get 4ms as average response time. Is this a normal response time on such a short distance?

What configuration changes are recommended when using APs as a WLAN bridge and distance is up to 300m?

4ms is not out of bounds, but note when placed that close together can overdrive the radios and cause contention issues (if you look at the mesh link strength, it's likely VERY VERY high). Also if you're pinging with 5000byte frames, you're fragmenting it as well so you will see an increase in latency as well.

As far as any config, at that short of a distance, you just need to adjust power so as not to overdrive the radio, and that power will depend to some degree on the environment. I would start at or near max power, check the mesh link strenght (command depends on OS used), and if it's over 50 or so, drop the power. Make sure the APs are face to face when installed (we've had some users place them both face down) and they won't like well in that configuration.

Thanks for your answer. 

When thinking about 300m distance, which settings should we choose?

- RF -> ARM -> Client control: band steering mode: prefer 5ghz?

- RF -> ARM -> Access point control: 80mhz support: enabled?

- RF -> Radio -> 2.4/5ghz band: smart antenna: disabled?

- RF -> Radio -> 5ghz band: very high throughput?

We don't need WLAN for any clients, just for the bridge

If you're not doing client access, client match won't matter. Channel width is determined by environment and throughput requirements. Smart antenna doesn't apply to the 377. VHT should be enabled on the mesh radios yes.

Ok, thanks!