What should I set my radio settings to on my APs?

[Laura]

I have a C5210 controller with 3605/3610 APs. We have our APs deployed in school in almost every classroom. We have 1:1 in every school. We have Chromebooks, macbooks, ipads, Apple tvs. I have changed the radio settings on my APs many times but still have wifi issues. Mostly I am trying to find a good settings for the Tx power on the 2.4 and 5 radios. Has anyone found settings that works well in a school environment?

[Rich_Upshaw]

"Ceiling Down" orientation will give you a little bit better containment. For example, if you placed an AP on the wall facing west and a few rooms down you placed one on the opposite wall facing east, the signals would probably hit each other. In this scenario, you're attempting to have the AP's as far reaching as possible to service a low density population.
However, if you have classrooms where there are 20-30 people inside each, you will want to contain the signal from the AP's to a smaller area so you can service the high density. If everyone in the room has a laptop and a cell phone, you are now servicing 60 devices...

Make sense?

[Stephen_McGuire]

Is ceiling mounted facing down the best orientation for AP's?

-Stephen

[Jeremy_Gibbs]

Depends on the building layout and density of your wireless APs. However, I find mounting them facing down from the ceiling is the best way in our environment. Although, sometimes the wall is the only place, and that's where we put it.

[Rich_Upshaw]

I have a few questions for you to begin to help you get a good channel plan going. (because this is your problem)

Do you have any software that will allow you to do planning like Ekahau, AirMagnet or ATPC?
Are your AP's mounted on the ceiling facing down in each classroom? Are they in the center or near the center in every room?
Do you have access to floor plans, particularly digital floor plans (autocad or pdf)?
Have you spoken with GTAC about advanced configuration for your access points and do they all have consistent settings? e.g. short guard interval, minimum basic rate, etc...

Some generalities that will help think about your wi-fi plan:

A good rule of thumb would be about 25-30 devices per access point.

Don't turn the 2.4Ghz radio (radio 2) on for every access point; you will cause interference even if they are turned all the way down. 1 AP - 2.4 radio will cover probably 3-4 rooms depending on how they are laid out.

2.4Ghz travels better through walls and goes further.
5Ghz is better for short distances, doesn't go through walls well and has many more channels to work with. You can use this to your advantage.