It would be important to know what version you upgraded from, are the AP's "n" versions or not, and if "n" do you have client link enabled. After the upgrade, do your RRM graphs in WCS show that a greater percentage of your AP's are running at lower power? I believe that in the later versions of Cisco's code, AP's are typically run at lower power when possible so that they are more sensitive to hearing clients - you'll also find that AP's within a given cell (AP's that can see each other) - will run at a consistent power level i.e. you won't see one at 1 and others at 3 - more likely to all be at power level 2. Again, this seems to help with client connectivity especially in cases of roaming. Of course, all of this counts on a "best practice" deployment of APs, and in cases where AP deployment is lacking even in basic coverage, it could have side-effects.
Oh, and don't forget - with a lot of client chip-sets/drivers, any SSID after the first being broadcast may report on the client as a lower signal strength i.e. SSID "a" is 5-bar - SSID "b" is 3-4 bar, yet they come from the same AP. The important question is this: fluctuating strength bar aside, are the clients now experiencing performance/connectivity issues? Jeff >>> Christina Klam <[email protected]> 9/1/2011 6:25 AM >>> After we upgraded our WLCs to 7.0.116.0, we received reports that people's wireless signal strength has decreased or has been fluctuating. Any ideas as to why this may have happened? While I already planned to add more APs in those areas a part of a 802.11n rollout, I would like a better understanding of the why the upgrade would have affected the APs in this way. Thank you, Christina Klam Network Administrator Institute for Advanced Study Email: [email protected] Einstein Drive Telephone: 609-734-8154 Princeton, NJ 08540 Fax: 609-951-4418 ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
