@billysneed wrote:
Do we have clients that can use those channels? Great question. I'm assuming so.
Our client base is roughly 70+% Apple devices (IOS and MacOS) and I believe their more recent clients can talk on those channels.
I've expected at least one of those channels to be in use somewhere. There's over 150 active AP125's in our deployment. I didn't realize the 105's wouldn't be able to take advantage, good thing to learn.
How many 5Ghz channels are US based organizations using?
By default, NONE of the DFS channels are enabled on most WLAN controllers because:
- Many Vendors have not enabled clients to scan on those channels and it involves driver maintenence for them to do so...so they don't go back and enable those channels.
- Access points must vacate those channels and not return for a set period of time when they detect radar. This process can cause disruption of clients when many of them have to change channel at the same time.
- Clients cannot probe on those channels, they must only passively listen to see if there is service.
- Radar detection is troublesome and can result in inadvertent changing of channels
- For every client that does not support/scan on those channels, you are effectively creating a black hole
- In some regulatory domains, the output power that is allowed on those channels are less than other channels
- Too much trouble... If some clients cannot operate on those channels...why bother?....
Even Apple has an article on how to make sure their wireless equipment is on a channel that is supported by all devices: http://support.apple.com/kb/TS4572