fortiAP 221C channel utilization is High

[Ashish-pal]

Hi,

i have 4FortiAP 221C with OS as FP221C-v6.0-build0044 connected to Fortigate firewall 100F. Currently we are facing problem on wifi connectivity like we observed the randomly all AP channel utilization increased on both 2.4 and 5ghz. 

we have set 15 clients to connect per AP.

Also we observed some interfering SSID's . how to remove this from particular AP.

Kindly suggest what we have to do to resolve this issue

[anignan]

Hi @Ashish-pal 

Can you try enabling DAARP and set the radio transmit power to auto...

REF: https://docs.fortinet.com/document/fortiap/7.4.1/fortiwifi-and-fortiap-configuration-guide/148466/co...

Abdel

[Ashish-pal]

@anignan 

I have enabled the same but still the interfering SSID is coming. will this impact.

[anignan]

Hi @Ashish-pal 

What channel width are you using? You can try 20MHz for 2.4GHz and see... With the diagnostic tool you can see what SSID is interfering with yours you can also use netspot software to see this overlap.. Interference in 2.4GHz is not uncommon...

Abdel

[Ashish-pal]

Hi, @anignan 

we have 20 MHz for 2.4Ghz but still the interfering SSID's are there and some of the SSID are not our network . Please find the attached SS.

is any free software to perform the site survey to check how many AP is required and where we need to place it.

[anignan]

Hi @Ashish-pal 

This is probably your neighbors SSIDs and this is normal because in 2.4GHz we just have 3 non overlapping channels and this must be shared. From what i can see the signal strength is not strong and this will not have impact on your wireless network.. Can you try to filter by signal strength?

Abdel

[ebilcari]

For 2.4 GHz Band (Radio1) there is not much what you can do since there are few non overlapping channels (3~4) and has longer coverage distance from interfering SSIDs.

For 5 GHz Band there are many non overlapping channels that you can use depending on your environment/country.

You can also configure the AP to band-steer the users to the 5GHz band or if all the client supports "ac" you can completely disable 2.4 band if its channels are overused and the 5 band offers good coverage for the whole area.

[adambomb1219]

Probably time to look at replacing that old AP

[Ashish-pal]

@adambomb1219 

Can you please suggest which AP should we go for and how many we should go for. Any way we can check that part.

[adambomb1219]

Impossible to say without many more details.  RF environment, physical layout, location requirements, client types, client counts, etc. That being said the 221E would be the most direct replacement.  But it has no WiFi6 or 6E support.  So I would probably look at a 231G which has 6E support.  If you have no desire for 6E then the 231F.  

https://www.fortinet.com/products/wireless-access-points