Dell PowerConnect W-IAP92 Dell Instant 6.1.3.1-3.0.0.0 User Guide - Page 141

Chapter 15 Adaptive Radio Management Adaptive Radio Management (ARM) is a radio frequency management technology that optimizes WLAN performance even in the networks with highest traffic by dynamically and intelligently choosing the best 802.11 channel and transmitting power for each IAP in its current RF environment. ARM works with all standard clients, across all operating systems, while remaining in compliance with the IEEE 802.11 standards. It does not require any proprietary client software to achieve its performance goals. ARM ensures low-latency roaming, consistently high performance, and maximum client compatibility in a multi-channel environment. By ensuring the fair distribution of available Wi-Fi bandwidth to mobile devices, ARM ensures that data, voice, and video applications have sufficient network resources at all times. ARM allows mixed 802.11a, b, g, and n client types to inter-operate at the highest performance levels. ARM Features This section describes ARM features that are available in Dell Instant. Channel or Power Assignment This feature automatically assigns channel and power settings for all the IAPs in the network according to changes in the RF environment. This feature automates many setup tasks during network installation and during ongoing operations when RF conditions change. Voice Aware Scanning This feature stops the IAP that is supporting an active voice call from scanning for other channels in the RF spectrum. The IAP resumes scanning when no more active voice calls are present on that IAP. This significantly improves the voice quality when a call is in progress while simultaneously delivering automated RF management functions. Load Aware Scanning This feature dynamically adjusts scanning behavior to maintain uninterrupted data transfer on resource intensive systems when the network traffic exceeds a predefined threshold. The IAPs resume complete monitoring scans when the traffic drops to the normal levels. Band Steering Mode This feature moves dual-band capable clients to stay on the 5 GHz band on dual-band IAPs. This feature reduces co-channel interference and increases available bandwidth for dual-band clients because there are more channels on the 5 GHz band than on the 2.4 GHz band. Band steering supports the following three different band steering modes:  Prefer 5Ghz- If you configure the IAP to use prefer-5GHz band steering mode, the IAP will try to steer the client to 5G band (if the client is 5G capable) but will let the client connect on the 2.4G band if the client persists in 2.4G association attempts.  Force 5Ghz- When the IAP is configured in force-5GHz band steering mode, the IAP will try to force 5Ghzcapable IAPs to use that radio band.  Balance Bands- In this band steering mode, the IAP tries to balance the clients across the two radios in order to best utilize the available 2.4G bandwidth. This feature takes into account the fact that the 5Ghz band has Dell PowerConnect W-Series Instant Access Point 6.1.3.1-3.0.0.0 | User Guide Adaptive Radio Management | 141