On thing to keep in mind is that iOS devices start behavior poorly when they have no good option above -65. That’s the threshold they prefer 5GHz and when you combine that with “hallway design” and “band select” you are asking for a bad time.
Scenario: Client doesn’t see 5GHz above -65. 2.4Ghz looks better, client tries to associate and bandselect tries to send them back. Client doesn’t think 5GHz meets its requirements, tries to associate on 2.4Ghz. Round and round they go. If you need band select for devices like iOS that prefer 5GHz, you likely don’t have enough 5GHz coverage, and trying to force them to 5GHz only results in issues. A better approach is to have at least 6db of transmit power more on 5GHz than 2.4. This makes 5GHz generally look more attractive so clients naturally pick it, band select not needed. You can easily do this with TPC min/max settings. Also keep in mind when looking at your survey reports. -65 is as measured by the device, not your fancy sidekick or aircheck. Figure you need an extra 7-10db delta to overcome the limitations of some mobiles devices. That puts you -58 to -55 as measured. Sent from my iPhone > On Oct 9, 2020, at 1:08 PM, James Helzerman <jarh...@umich.edu> wrote: > > > Best thing you can do for clients is have a 5GHz only SSID. We moved over > the summer to this with our main 802.1x network and it has fixed a ton of > these roaming issues and complaints of performance. Basically take the > decision making out of the hands of the client, give them only one band to > choose from. Band Select / steering may work but can lead to a lot of users > issues as roaming can break if the client doesnt take the hint to use 5GHz. > Transitions with real time applications like voice can be negatively affected. > > For those on our campus that have 2.4GHz only devices, we offer eduroam in > both bands and have them use that then use AAA override to place them in the > same network as our branded ssid giving them all the same access to > resources. Our branded 802.1x, MWireless, has 95% of our user devices. > > -Jimmy > > > -- > James Helzerman > Wireless Network Engineer > University of Michigan - ITS > >> On Fri, Oct 9, 2020 at 12:03 PM Enfield, Chuck <cae...@psu.edu> wrote: >> FWIW, I’ve been reluctant to assume this is a new problem. Usage patterns >> have changed in the dorms and people are spending much more time using >> real-time protocols than ever before. Those protocols make brief >> connectivity issues very noticeable. It’s quite possible we’ve always had >> these problems, but they rarely bothered users enough to make them open >> trouble tickets. >> >> >> >> From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Community Group Listserv >> <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> On Behalf Of Michael Davis >> Sent: Friday, October 09, 2020 10:49 AM >> To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU >> Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Client roaming >> >> >> >> We're an Aruba shop and only seeing it on iOS and MacOS devices. >> >> >> On 10/9/20 10:44 AM, Mallon, Jason wrote: >> >> I have not been able to pinpoint a device type as of yet. It seems to be >> happening across all platforms including game systems. >> >> >> >> Thanks, >> >> Jason Mallon | Network Engineer III >> >> <image001.jpg> >> >> >> OIT >> The University of Alabama >> jemal...@ua.edu >> >> <image001.jpg> >> >> >> >> >> From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Community Group Listserv >> <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> >> Date: Friday, October 9, 2020 at 9:40 AM >> To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> >> Subject: [EXTERNAL] Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Client roaming >> >> We’re an Aruba shop and have noticed similar behavior. We’re having more >> incidents of intermittent connectivity issues this year than in previous >> years, and most of those clients are making questionable roaming decisions. >> It’s been really prevalent with iOS and MacOS. Much less on Windows and >> Android. There’s always been problems with picking a good radio when those >> devices first connect, but, historically, once they were steered to a good >> 5GHz radio they stayed there. They’re not staying there this year. We >> haven’t figured out why. >> >> >> >> Chuck Enfield >> >> Manager, Wireless and Cellular >> >> Penn State IT >> >> 814.863.8715 >> >> >> >> From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Community Group Listserv >> <WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU> On Behalf Of Mallon, Jason >> Sent: Friday, October 09, 2020 10:30 AM >> To: WIRELESS-LAN@LISTSERV.EDUCAUSE.EDU >> Subject: [WIRELESS-LAN] Client roaming >> >> >> >> Wondering if anybody else is seeing this. We currently have devices doing a >> lot of roaming between 5 and 2.4 radios, especially in the dorms. I would >> not think anything of it normally, but they are moving from a -52 to -58 on >> the 5 radio to a -75 or worse on the 2.4 radio. This doesn’t seem to matter >> what SSID they are connected to. Band select is enabled on all SSIDs. We >> are running Cisco 8540 WLCs on 8.10.130. Most of the complaints are coming >> from the dorms, so I am not sure if it is happening on our other controllers >> with an older code level. >> >> >> >> Thanks, >> >> Jason Mallon | Network Engineer III >> >> <image002.jpg> >> >> >> OIT >> The University of Alabama >> jemal...@ua.edu >> >> <image002.jpg> >> >> >> ********** >> Replies to EDUCAUSE Community Group emails are sent to the entire community >> list. If you want to reply only to the person who sent the message, copy and >> paste their email address and forward the email reply. Additional >> participation and subscription information can be found at >> https://www.educause.edu/community >> >> ********** >> Replies to EDUCAUSE Community Group emails are sent to the entire community >> list. If you want to reply only to the person who sent the message, copy and >> paste their email address and forward the email reply. Additional >> participation and subscription information can be found at >> https://www.educause.edu/community >> >> ********** >> Replies to EDUCAUSE Community Group emails are sent to the entire community >> list. If you want to reply only to the person who sent the message, copy and >> paste their email address and forward the email reply. Additional >> participation and subscription information can be found at >> https://www.educause.edu/community >> >> >> >> ********** >> Replies to EDUCAUSE Community Group emails are sent to the entire community >> list. If you want to reply only to the person who sent the message, copy and >> paste their email address and forward the email reply. Additional >> participation and subscription information can be found at >> https://www.educause.edu/community >> >> ********** >> Replies to EDUCAUSE Community Group emails are sent to the entire community >> list. If you want to reply only to the person who sent the message, copy and >> paste their email address and forward the email reply. Additional >> participation and subscription information can be found at >> https://www.educause.edu/community >> > > > -- > James Helzerman > Wireless Network Engineer > University of Michigan - ITS > Phone: 734-615-9541 > ********** > Replies to EDUCAUSE Community Group emails are sent to the entire community > list. If you want to reply only to the person who sent the message, copy and > paste their email address and forward the email reply. Additional > participation and subscription information can be found at > https://www.educause.edu/community ********** Replies to EDUCAUSE Community Group emails are sent to the entire community list. If you want to reply only to the person who sent the message, copy and paste their email address and forward the email reply. Additional participation and subscription information can be found at https://www.educause.edu/community
