Roaming in WLC

[mohammad saeed]

Hi Guys,

I am confused about roaming within WLC! I found two channels type 6 + 11 configured for 175 Access points and roaming not working properly! Shall I make the same channels for all APs to get a better roaming?!

Thanks for all!

Mohammad Saeed

[David Vaquerano]

Hello Mohammad, 

There are a couple different types of roaming behaviours, intra-controller roaming occurs when you roam between APs associated to the same controller, depending on the security type of the WLAN and AP mode(local, flexconnect) roaming can be as simple as moving the client database to the new AP, or it can be disruptive as having the client to reauthenticate everytime it moves between APs. Also note that roaming decisions happen on the client itself, not the controller.

Can you tell us what WLAN security method are you using(WPA2 PSK, 802.1x)?

And also, what AP mode are your APs currently configured for(local, flexconnect)?

As for the channels, the answer is no, you should not have all APs on the same channel, this will cause negative effects on your wireless network performance(co-channel interference). For 802.11b/g radios is recommended to use channels 1,6 and 11, which are the only 3 non-overlapping channels available on the 2.4GHz band.

Thanks

-David

[mohammad saeed]

Hello David,

Thanks for your interactive,

I am using WEP for security until now because WPA need AAA server to do it and until this moment don't have.

About the AP mode I am using Local.

And for channels I am using channel 6 + 11 as a mix with all APs.

Thanks,

Mohammad Saeed

[abwahid]

Hi Mohammad,

As in 2.4GHz band we have three non-overlapping channels 1 + 6  + 11 , so you may select these channels in you enviornment as per attached patteren, to avoid co-channel interferance.

[mohanak]

Refer link for roaming : http://www.cisco.com/en/US/docs/wireless/controller/7.4/configuration/guides/system_management/config_system_management_chapter_01100.html

We recommend that you assign different nonoverlapping channels to access points that are within close proximity to each other. The nonoverlapping channels in the U.S. are 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 149, 153, 157, and 161 in an 802.11a network and 1, 6, and 11 in an 802.11b/g network.