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Frosty
Frosty
New Member
December 1, 2014
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FortiAP 220B and Channel selection

  • December 1, 2014
  • 1 reply
  • 13994 views

We have 4 x FortiAP 220B units running firmware v5.0.7 (build 64) . 

In the past these unit were spread across a number of WiFi Channels (1, 6 and 11). 

Just recently I noticed that all of them were using Channel 6 only. 

I cannot find any option in the Fortigate web interface to set the channel number. 

I cannot find any option in the FortiAP web interface to set the channel ID, although it does at least display on the Wireless tab that Channel = 1, 6, 11.

 

So ... to my question ... has the ability to set the WiFi Channel been removed from the FortiAP's?

    Best answer by Dave_Hall

    Stephen Frost wrote:

    So ... to my question ... has the ability to set the WiFi Channel been removed from the FortiAP's?

    See this post.  Just create a custom AP profile with the channel(s) you want then assign it to the 220B.  Ideally, you will want to choose a channel with the min. interference from other APs (at least +/- 3 channels) in the area. (See the Wireless Health monitor.)

    1 reply

    Dave_Hall
    Dave_HallAnswer
    New Member
    December 1, 2014

    Stephen Frost wrote:

    So ... to my question ... has the ability to set the WiFi Channel been removed from the FortiAP's?

    See this post.  Just create a custom AP profile with the channel(s) you want then assign it to the 220B.  Ideally, you will want to choose a channel with the min. interference from other APs (at least +/- 3 channels) in the area. (See the Wireless Health monitor.)

    Frosty
    FrostyAuthor
    New Member
    December 2, 2014

    Thanks Dave,

    That was very helpful.  I have had a go at creating a custom profile, but I have a few questions.  These are the settings that I am planning to use:

     

    I am turning Background Scanning ON because I do use the wireless "Rogue AP Scan" detection and reporting functions.

    I assume "WIDS" means Wireless IDS ... so I am happy to turn that ON unless there is a good reason not to use it (e.g. if it is known to be a resource hog?

    Can you explain what "Radio Resource Provision" does?  The online Help doesn't shed much light on it.  I am guessing that this means that the APs will scan the environment around them and then self-select the most appropriate channel to use?  Is that right?  If it is, then I am happy to do that ...

    Client Load Balancing: I am happy to use that, even though the wireless network is lightly loaded.  It just makes sense to utilise that feature, unless you know of some reason why I should disable it?

    So perhaps the most important question concerns the Channels selected for each Radio.  I would ideally like to have the APs decide on which Channels to use and I would like them to have the ability to use any of them (subject to them detecting and avoiding interference from other networks nearby).  So am I right therefore to tick ALL the Channel boxes?

    I am planning to apply this Custom Profile to just one of my APs and then see how it behaves over a few days, before rolling it out to the rest of the APs.

    Thanks for any further information you might be able to share. 

    Dave_Hall
    Dave_Hall
    New Member
    December 2, 2014

    Pretty much all of your questions can be answered in the Deploying Wireless Networks Guide.

    Turning on Rouge AP scanning and WIDS can both be resource hogs, especially on small Fortigates. If you do decide to enable these features, just monitor the Fortigate's CPU usage.  (It may not actually be a problem at all.) Regarding allowing the AP to "auto set" the channel, I'll be be honest and say I never watched these units to see if they actually auto-adjust the channels they are operating at.

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