Populate your maps with real devices, simulated devices, or a combination.
Use this task to view device heat maps to see data about your wireless network
coverage, including RSSI, SNR, channels, data rates, and interference.
- From
Radio, select 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz.
- From Devices, choose to show heat maps for all devices
on a map, only for real devices, or only for simulated devices.
If you choose to show only real
devices, you can also show clients, rogues, meshed, and Ethernet devices.
- From Show on Heat Map select the type of heat map.
For any option besides
None,
a panel displays the multiple floors icon, a legend to explain the colored areas
on the map, and a drop-down list where you can change the power setting. For any
active heat map, you can change the signal strength by selecting from a range of
-40 dBm to -90 dBm in the dBm.
- Select None to clear heat maps.
Heat maps display the following information:
- RSSI: The
RSSI color bar indicates the strength of the signals, with red being the
strongest and light blue the weakest. When you raise the signal strength
threshold toward -40 dBm, the color bar shows only colors representing signal
strength levels strong enough to pick up clients at or above that threshold.
When you lower the threshold closer to -90 dBm, the color bar shows more colors,
indicating more signal strength levels at which clients can connect. Hover your
cursor over the color bar to see the RSSI values represented by colors.
- SNR Heat
Map: SNR (signal-to-noise ratio) is the difference between the
RSSI and the noise (low-level background radio signals that can interfere with a
wireless network) in the RF environment. A high SNR means that the potential for
interference is slight. A low SNR means that there is a greater potential for
interference. For good wireless performance, the SNR should be at least 25 dB
and never lower than 20 dB.
- Channels Heat
Map: ExtremeCloud IQ dynamically assigns channels when you add
devices either manually or automatically. Channels are displayed in different
colors so that you can easily identify which channel each devices is using. You
can adjust the lower end of the RSSI range to change the area of coverage
depicted.
Note
Channels and RSSI heat maps both display channel and RSSI
values. The difference is in the emphasis that each map places on different
types of data. The Channels option also shows RSSI data, but uses a single
color per device to make it easier to see which channels are in use in any
area. The RSSI option also shows channel data, but uses of different colors
to make it easier to distinguish RSSI values.
- Data Rates Heat
Map: Set the minimum data rate that you want the APs to provide.
Radio cells are colored to show the estimated data rates that are available at
various distances from the AP. The colors cover a range from the minimum data
rate to a maximum of 270 Mbps.
Note
Data rates above 54 Mbps are
only possible when the radio mode is 802.11n.
- Interference: Identify sources of interference from
obstructions inside your building, other electronic devices, or from other
wireless networks located nearby. There are many causes of interference, such as
microwave ovens, cordless phones, Bluetooth devices, wireless video cameras, and
even fluorescent lights. If your network is experiencing a great deal of
interference, you can try relocating devices, changing the power levels, and
changing the radio band.
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