power local settings on Cisco 1042

[Gerard Roy]

Does anyone know what dbm or mw each of the power local settings are? I see on a 1042 from -1 thru 20 and am assuming 20dBm is 100mW. Anyone know the others?

OM-ess-lab-WLAN1(config-if)#power local ?        
  <-1 - 20>  One of: -1 2 5 8 11 14 17 20
  maximum    Set power to allowed maximum

[George Stefanick · Accepted solution]

Hi there...

This blog post I did might help you a little.

http://www.my80211.com/cisco-wlc-labs/2009/10/30/what-you-need-to-know-about-tx-power-and-80211a-5ghz-on-a-ci.html

However, you are correct 20 dBm is 100mW. And it will get 1/2 each step down, thats why you see 17,14,11 etc ...

Make sense ...?

[Gerard Roy]

Ya, makes sense. Each 3 db doubles is what I used to remember. I used to know how to calculate this stuff but it has been a while. Thanks

[Stephen Rodriguez · Accepted solution]

Piggy backing George here.

Keep in mind that 802.11n does change the power scheme a bit, as it accounts for two transmitters not just one, as legacy 5GHz/2.4GHz does.

And finally, the 1-5 are subjective.  1 does not mean 20dBm, it means max power for that band + channel combo.

At one point I had been pushing for Cisco to show the actual dBm with/instead of the 1-5 designator, but I'm not sure where that is at.

HTH,

Steve

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Please remember to rate helpful posts or to mark the question as answered so that it can be found later.

[Gerard Roy]

Good Info as always, Cisco Forums ROCK!

Thanks guys

[George Stefanick]

If you find CSC helpful support the rating system!

[Vinay Sharma]

Gerard you are right, CSC Rocks ... . Don't forget to mark this questions as Answered.

Regards,

Vinay Sharma

Community Manager