WLC tuning datarates

[guy tec]

hi all,

I need some guidance on tuning the data rates of the 802.11a and b bands.

The setup we have is a 5508 with 1142/1600/2600 APs. It is a general office environment, clients are corporate and guest notebooks, phones and tablets.

At the moment the supported and mandatory data rates are on their default values.

I don't want to support legacy .11a and .11b (Its 2014 right)

I want only to allow g and bn on the 2.4GHz band and an on the 5GHz band.

What settings should I use (what is mandatory and what supported?)

What are the settings you use in your environment?

I notice in my Windows task manager, that when I move out of the coverage area my data rate drops to some low levels, the further I move away.

Is this something to keep in mind when disabling datarates in areas with not so good coverage?

And how can I see the datarate my clients are connected to on the WLC? (this does not seem to be in the clients details)

[Leo Laohoo · Accepted solution]

Check how your wireless AP deployment and wireless signal saturation is.  If it's that good, then it is a good practice to disable data rates from 1 Mbps to 11 Mbps.  Make 18 Mbps as Mandatory and the rest is Supported.  

There's a downside to this.  Disabling the low-speed data rates means you've also minimized the coverage radius per AP.  While this is good, you need to ensure your wireless NICs are running the latest drivers.  Default drivers and drivers downloaded from the wireless clients' website are woefully out-of-date.