Why devices are connected to 831F instead to the close 221F ?

[shlomim]

Hi,

I have 40F as Firewall and Controller, Connected to FortiSwitch, and has several FortiAP's connected to it.

I have 831F APs and 231F APs.

for some reason I see that there are 3 devices that are connected to the 831 which has much bigger distance than the 231F.

Despite the fact that the 231F have no clients connected to it at all.

This lead that the signal strength of these clients is "Fair" and not better.

yet - if any of them would connect to the 231, due to the distance (1-2 meters away from it) - it should be much better.

I assumed that the 231F doesn't support 802.11AX, yet one of the devices is using 802.11AC.

how can I tell the reason ? also can I "transfer" a device from the 831 to the 221 manually via the controller?

[bravishank_FTNT]

Hello Shlomin,

You can try "radio-sensitivity" option in SSID. Once you enable it will have 2G & 5G Threshold value, if you modify them according to your environment it will make client pick a better RSSI (closer AP) to connect to. 

Thanks.

[shlomim]

thanks for the suggestion.

A question about it.

lets say that the user has connected via 802.11ax which is supported by the 831F and not by the 231F.

in case I change the thresholds - will the user's laptop connect via 802.11ac to the 221F AP ?

[ebilcari]

You can find more details about balancing WiFi clients in this section of the Configuration Guide. However, keep in mind that even with these changes, the decision to switch from one AP to another is primarily made by the client. It is also advisable not to mix different APs (with different protocols) within the same coverage area. In some cases, physically repositioning the APs may be necessary.

[shlomim]

I understand it is not adisavble to mix different APs, unfortunately the case is that the High Density environment uses the 831 and the low density (the office next to it) uses 221F.

it was a mistake to purchase 221F - I don't have the budget to upgrade it.

should I disable 802.11ax in this case ?

[shlomim]

I'm looking at the 831F, I have disabled 802.11AX on it, so it will have 802.11AC like the 221F.

I see 3 clients connected to it - 

Client 1 Signal Strength -91 dBm

Client 2 Signal Strength -72 dBm

Client 3 Signal Strength -63 dBm

now the weird is that the 221F AP - is closer to Client 1 and 2.

yet they are not connecting to the 221F AP, despite the fact it is closer without clients.

This is the 831F Configuration:

onfig wireless-controller wtp-profile
edit "FAP831F-C5"
config platform
set type 831F
set mode dual-5G
set ddscan enable
end
set handoff-sta-thresh 55
set frequency-handoff enable
set ap-handoff enable
config radio-1
set band 802.11n-2G
set short-guard-interval enable
set auto-power-level enable
set auto-power-high 25
set auto-power-low 1
set darrp enable
set arrp-profile "arrp-default"
set vap-all bridge
set channel "1" "2" "3" "4" "5" "6" "7" "8" "9" "10" "11" "12" "13"
end
config radio-2
set band 802.11ac-5G
set band-5g-type 5g-high
set short-guard-interval enable
set channel-bonding 80MHz
set auto-power-level enable
set auto-power-high 23
set auto-power-low 1
set darrp enable
set arrp-profile "arrp-default"
set vap-all bridge
end
config radio-3
set band 802.11ac-5G
set band-5g-type 5g-low
set short-guard-interval enable
set channel-bonding 80MHz
set auto-power-level enable
set auto-power-high 23
set auto-power-low 1
set darrp enable
set arrp-profile "arrp-default"
set vap-all bridge
end
config radio-4
set mode monitor
end
next
end

this is 221F Configuration:

config wireless-controller wtp-profile
edit "FAP221E"
set handoff-sta-thresh 55
config radio-1
set band 802.11n-2G
set short-guard-interval enable
set auto-power-level enable
set auto-power-high 25
set auto-power-low 1
set darrp enable
set arrp-profile "arrp-default"
set vap-all bridge
set channel "1" "2" "3" "4" "5" "6" "7" "8" "9" "10" "11" "12" "13"
end
config radio-2
set band 802.11ac-5G
set short-guard-interval enable
set channel-bonding 80MHz
set auto-power-level enable
set auto-power-high 23
set auto-power-low 1
set darrp enable
set arrp-profile "arrp-default"
set vap-all bridge
set channel "36" "40" "44" "48" "52" "56" "60" "64"
end
next
end

[Toshi_Esumi]

As @ebilcari suggests, in the end you need to measure what the client side is seeing for signals from both APs. Even if you set the APs exactly the same signal-wise, the clients might not see them equally. Then picks one side whatever the main factor(s) of the decision.
I would install a free wifi analyzer app to those client devices to start with. Then based on the reading, would try adjusting AP side settings to see if I can get more desirable outcome in the client's decision making.

Toshi