Wireless Access

Hello all-

I have an open loft space that gets used for all-hands meetings about once a week.  I've been trying to dial in my inherited Aruba installation and have been making some forward progress, but came across a stumbling block last week.

I had set my max clients threshold on my SSID to 20 clients (per radio) for a max of 40 per AP.  All well and good until the AP reached a maximum and then refused connections.  I was under the impression that the AP would max out and then the clients would fall over to the next nearest AP.  I have TOO many AP's in this space, so it's not a matter of the individual radio's all becoming maxed out.  There were several AP's within the area that the clients were trying to access.

Is there another setting I am missing regarding having the clients move to the next AP?  I had to reset everything so that the threshold is back up to 64.  That will work until 64 laptops try to stream something and then the connection speed will drop like a brick.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks-

Chris

The number of clients on any particular access point means less than you think.  You can only have 3 access points in a space before your a 4th will start degrading performance on 2.4ghz, anyway.  In addition, clients, which also operate at full power interfere with each other, and that you cannot control.  Lastly, the extent to which a client interferes is more in line with how much traffic he/she passes, more than how many.  64 laptops streaming probably will outstrip your internet connectivity anyway, just like they would on your wired network.

I would leave the Max Clients at 64 and try to upgrade to ArubaOS 6.3 if possible.  Try ClientMatch in ArubaOS 6.3 for a more comprehensive approach to your issue.

Thanks for your help--

Is there a way to force an update to 6.3?  I only have 6.2.1.0-3.3.-.2_38733 as an option.  We're currently on 6.2.1.0-3.3.0.0_38115.

I definitely have an overabundance of AP's, and have been switching a few here and there to monitor mode to try and knock down the interference.  I am hesitant to shut down too many as I've got about 120 clients to worry about, and for some reason the previous guy thought he needed 10 AP's for 5500 sq/ft of open office space.

I don't see the ClientMatch in 6.2, so I imagine it's only a 6.3 thing. 

I apologize.  I did not see that you are using Instant APs.  ClientMatch is not available for controller-less access points.

A normal rule of thumb for access point deployments for regular offices is one access point per 3600 square feet, for coverage.  For capacity you would not add much more, as double that will just add interference.

Long story short, I would just try 3 access points for that area and see how it goes, first.

Thanks Joseph--

I'll be shutting down some extra AP's this Friday after-hours.  It should be interesting to see how this goes.  I have numerous complaints of bluetooth connectivity issues between pc's and their wireless mice.  I'm willing to bet if my eyes could see wireless signals, I'd be blinded by all that is going on in this space.

Chris