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RF groups

nathan.ollis
Level 1
Level 1

Possibly a simple question but we have 15 WLC's running 7.0.230, WCS running 7.0.250.  RF groups are all set to auto, but we have usually 12 RF groups when I look at RRM in WCS.  The sites are separated geographically, so should I set the groups for leaders and members for same building?  This seems like it would make sense, then you get into how the APs build off of neighbors for RRM and in that respect it seems like it should not even matter...I have tried very unsuccessfully to research it, cant find much though.

 

Thanks!!
 

1 Accepted Solution

Accepted Solutions

I would split them into RF groups to see if that eliminated the issues.  I would also suggest that you make sure that APs in one building are all on the same controller.  This will help in roaming and RF.  Never slit the APs in a similar area/building onto different controllers if at all possible.  Physical grouping is important for building a consistent RF footprint.

 

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5 Replies 5

voipis4me
Level 1
Level 1

"RF Groups are groups of controllers that share the same RF group name and who’s APs can hear the neighbor messages of each other. "

I have a similar situation where my controllers are supporting APs that are deployed in different locations throughout the country.  It does not make sense to me to enable RF Grouping if, as an example, controller A has no influence over any of the APs on controller B.

"The APs use neighbor messages (sent every 60 seconds) that are authenticated by other APs that hear them. The neighbor messages include information about the AP, the controller, and the configured RF group name."

By turning off RF Grouping, thus disabling RF Group neighbor messages, will this provide better throughput?

 

Through my research, the only viable piece of information I found was this statement:

"If the APs on one controller will not be able to hear the APs on another controller, it is not practical to configure the controllers with the same RF group name."

Also found this in the Cisco WLC Configuration Guide:

"If you disable it, the controller does not participate in automatic RF grouping; instead it optimizes the access points connected directly to it."

 

Thank you in advance for your time and help!

I've got a huge university campus, with almost 40 buildings. We've got 2+1 controllers in High Availability and I'm wondering if each building should have a separate RF Group.

Each building is a different Department of the university.

The RF is still on the default configuration.

 

I do not know if it is a right or wrong answer, in my case I started splitting them up between buildings.  After a day or two we went from a few thousand channel changes to a few hundred.

that's what I'm looking for.. Because the AP's are constantly changing channels.

I do not know what's causing sudden changes in the wireless signal strengh on the laptops or mobile phones.

This is a visual issue for the users, because they have max signal strength and suddenly the have lower signal and so on.

My buildings are close to each other and each laptop ears 3 or 4 AP's same time, but still with different signal strengths.

As Nathan said, I'm about to split in RF Groups each building to check if this problem is gone or not.

 

 

 

I would split them into RF groups to see if that eliminated the issues.  I would also suggest that you make sure that APs in one building are all on the same controller.  This will help in roaming and RF.  Never slit the APs in a similar area/building onto different controllers if at all possible.  Physical grouping is important for building a consistent RF footprint.

 

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