D-Link DWS-3024 Product Manual - Page 110

D-Link Unified Access System User Manual The APs might take several minutes to reset and re-establish communication with the switch. While the AP is resetting, the status changes to failed, and then back to managed once the AP is back online. Managing Radio Frequency Settings The radio frequency (RF) broadcast channel defines the portion of the radio spectrum that the radio on the access point uses for transmitting and receiving. The range of available channels for an access point is determined by the IEEE 802.11 mode (also referred to as band) of the access point. The DWL-3500AP is a single-band system that operates in 802.11g mode, and the DWL8500AP is a dual-band system that operates in 802.11a and 802.11g modes. IEEE 802.11b and 802.11g modes (802.11 b/g) operate in the 2.4 GHz RF frequency and support use of channels 1 through 11. IEEE 802.11a mode operates in the 5 GHz frequency and supports a larger set of non-consecutive channels (36,40,44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165). NOTE: The available channels depends on the country in which the APs operate. The channels described in this section are valid for the United States. Interference can occur when multiple access points within range of each other are broadcasting on the same or overlapping channels. The impact of this interference on network performance can intensify during busy times when a large amount of data and media traffic is competing for bandwidth. For the "b/g" radio band, the classical set of non-interfering channels is 1, 6, 11. Channels 1, 4, 8, 11 produce minimal overlap. A similar set of noninterfering channels is used for the "a" radio band, which includes all channels for that mode since they are not overlapping. Configuring Channel Plan and Power Settings The D-Link Unified Switch software contains a channel plan algorithm that automatically determines which RF channels each D-Link Access Point should use to minimize RF interference. When you enable the channel plan algorithm, the switch periodically evaluates the operational channel on every AP it manages and changes the channel if the current channel is noisy. NOTE: The regulation of radio frequencies and channel assignments varies from country to country. In countries that do not support channels 1, 6, and 11 on the 802.11b/g radio, the channel plan algorithm is inactive. For the 802.11a radio, the algorithm is inactive in countries that require 802.11h radar detection, which includes European countries and Japan. The automatic channel selection algorithm does not affect APs that meet any of the following conditions: • The channel is statically assigned to the AP in the RADIUS or local AP database. • The channel has been statically assigned to the AP from the AP Management > Advanced page. • The AP uses a profile that has the Automatic Channel field disabled (Radio Configuration setting). 110 © 2001- 2008 D-Link Corporation. All Rights Reserved.