Disabling 2.4Ghz Band

[zekebash]

Hello, 

I have been seeing several rogue devices which use the 1,6, and 11 channels. We have several end-users who experience intermittent disconnectivity issues. I am thinking of disabling the 2.4GHz band and just having the 5GHz band. 

Is it a good idea to disable the 2.4Ghz band? 

Are there any repercussions that I should consider? 

Thanks in advance. 

[MHM Cisco World]

"Creating over-saturation is actually pretty easy to do – refer to the discussion above in the chapter on Deployment Considerations – design for 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz. If you design for 5 GHz (which you absolutely should be doing) you will have an too many 2.4 GHz radios given the narrow bandwidth and 3 channels available. The solution to this prior to FRA generally involved a detailed analysis (pre or post deployment) by a trained professional to sort out the coverage issues and disable a number of the 2.4 GHz radios. That analysis was done on the Neighbor relations of the AP’s – the same data that FRA uses now."

check this doc.
https://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/td/docs/wireless/controller/8-5/Enterprise-Mobility-8-5-Design-Guide/Enterprise_Mobility_8-5_Deployment_Guide/wlanrf.html

in simple word can you disable some channel and keep other I think this is better than disable 2.4 in which it may be there is AP use only 2.4 not 5&2.4.
again check this doc. for final decision.

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

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@zekebash wrote:

Is it a good idea to disable the 2.4Ghz band? 

Are there any repercussions that I should consider? 

---

What is/are the models of your APs?  

The reason why I am asking is because we have several sites where I deploy 2800 exclusively and 3700 exclusively.  

One day, I got a call from this very irate customer complaining about the WiFi in the site with 2800 but he has no problem with the site with 3700.  He claims he cannot "see" the SSID with his three WiFi clients in the site where the 2800 is deployed. 

It took several hours (of troubleshooting) before it dawned upon us that the WiFi clients are all 2.4 Ghz ONLY.  2800 have FRA turned on.  And because the airspace was so thick with 2.4 Ghz co-channel interference, the APs turned off 2.4 Ghz radio and switched to the 5.0 Ghz micro radio.  

Because 3700 does not support FRA, if this person goes to a site with 3700-only deployment, there is no issue, albiet, the RSSI is very low.  

Turning off 2.4 Ghz may sound very logically sound but it will depend entirely upon the amount of 2.4 Ghz wireless clients and how important these people are.  

In our case, because there was only ONE person complaining, we recommend that he get a 5.0 Ghz dongle (at his expense).  

Finally, there are a lot (as in A LOT!) of IoFT (Internet of F**king Trash) wireless clients that not only talks 2.4 Ghz (even with dual-band radios) but only have 2.4 Ghz radio.  The medical equipment industry are the biggest offenders, hands down.  I have seen "critical patient" equipment with f**king WiFi radio.  I said "radio" (singular) and not "radios".  That's right.  "critical patient" equipment sold as "WiFi ready" or "enterprise WiFi capable" with 2.4 Ghz radio.  (My favorite response from the manufacturer:  We have installed/sold this <piece-of-crap> to over billions of customers in this universe with 2.4 Ghz and you want one with 5.0 Ghz?  Who the f**k do you think you are?)  The list is long.  I have enough materials to make any grown men cry.  I can go on for months at a time but the weekend is upon us and the keg is almost dry.  So I will end with that.  

[MHM Cisco World]

Thanks for sharing.

[zekebash]

@Leo Laohoo... thanks for the insight and recommendation. Luckily, we don't have business critical devices in our environment which use 2.4GHz, so I think it would be safe to disable this spectrum.

Thanks again and I do appreciate the input.

~zK