topic Re: Radio Policy set to 802.11a only in Wireless

Radio Policy set to 802.11a only

Endy00000 — Wed, 21 May 2025 15:47:31 GMT

Hello,

We currently have an SSID that is used for Video calls using iPad devices high density environment. I noticed today after a health check, that our Video SSID is using the Radio Policy "802.11a Only". I'm convinced this is the reason for our quality issues.

I'm curious if its because i have 2.4GHz disabled on this SSID?

WLC: 9800
Code: 17.12

Re: Radio Policy set to 802.11a only

Scott Fella — Wed, 21 May 2025 16:02:46 GMT

@Endy00000 you have gathered information like "poor video calls", which means, testing. There is not best practice that fit's every environment. I think you need to gather more information, hear the user complaints, because it my not just be video, collect all of the complaints and then start grouping them together so that you and your team can prioritize it and figure out how you need to troubleshoot.

I can always assume from what you have said, maybe you don't have enough 5GHz coverage, but that is just an assumption. You have to also look at the software you are using as some might require 2.4GHz to be enable. Again, I don't want to assume anything, but you need to be onsite and work with the users so you can determine and replicate the issue. Might be an issue in a certain area or maybe just a specific site. That is information you need to gather to help your troubleshooting.

Re: Radio Policy set to 802.11a only

Endy00000 — Wed, 21 May 2025 17:18:21 GMT

I'm trying to steer these iPads to use something like 802.11ac (since we're limited by WPA2).

Re: Radio Policy set to 802.11a only

Scott Fella — Wed, 21 May 2025 17:48:02 GMT

@Endy00000 that is up to you, but you can't do things that affect the user experience. You are limited to the device and how the software works. If you enable 2.4GHz and the issue resolves itself, then you are back to the start and figuring out why. If someone were to start troubleshooting, it would be with a site survey to check your RF, then gather data from users and last would be trying to reproduce the issue.

Re: Radio Policy set to 802.11a only

Haydn Andrews — Thu, 22 May 2025 00:39:08 GMT

For voice and video best using 5GHz only or 5 and 6GHz if available.

The 2.4 Band is generally congested leading to pore quality

Re: Radio Policy set to 802.11a only

Rich R — Thu, 22 May 2025 07:06:25 GMT

@Endy00000
> Code: 17.12
17.12 is not a release version number it is a release train - that could be 17.12.1, 17.12.2, 17.12.3, 17.12.4 or 17.12.5

What version of code is the WLC running?
What SMUs and APSPs are installed?
What model(s) of APs?

Like Haydn says it is best to run your voice/video on 5GHz (or 6GHz where available), not 2.4GHz (which is usually extremely congested), so that is very unlikely to be the cause of your problems. It's much more likely to be a problem with coverage, interference, bugs etc. Needs all the detailed troubleshooting and investigation the others have mentioned already.

See https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/products/collateral/wireless/access-points/enterprise-best-practices-ios-ipados-wp.html and https://support.apple.com/en-gb/guide/deployment/dep271900868/web Note Adaptive 802.11r is no longer recommended - Mixed is preferred. This is covered in https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/9800/technical-reference/c9800-best-practices.html#Enable80211rFastTransition

Review your WLC config with Config Analyzer (link and details below) which will highlight many common mistakes and best practices and see the TAC recommended code link below too.