For mobile devices like scanners that roam frequently, a strong, consistent signal with intentional cell overlap (20-30%) is critical to prevent sticky clients and ensure seamless roaming. A signal of -67 dBm or better is a common design target for data services. While frequency reuse is important, tiny cells could cause excessive roaming events. Forcing a high MBR would disassociate the legacy clients, and deploying only Wi-Fi 6 APs is an expensive solution that doesn’t directly address the core roaming requirement of the legacy devices.

A strong RSSI but low SNR is a classic indicator of interference (noise), not a weak signal. The noise floor is elevated, reducing the clear signal margin (SNR). Voice quality, especially, requires a high SNR (25 dB or better is ideal). Spectrum analysis is the correct tool to identify non-Wi-Fi interferers (like microwaves, Bluetooth, video transmitters) or co-channel interference from other Wi-Fi networks, which would be the first step in remediation.

For RTLS design, you must first understand the client devices (tags). Their transmission power, data rate, and how often they transmit beacon frames directly dictate AP density and placement to ensure at least three APs hear the tag for triangulation. Secondly, the business requirement for accuracy (room-level, 3-meter, 1-meter) determines whether a standard AP density is sufficient or if a very high density of APs or specialized location appliances is needed. Aesthetics and switch brand are secondary concerns in the initial technical planning.

Outdoor links using 80 MHz channels are almost certainly operating in the 5 GHz UNII-2 or UNII-2e Extended bands, which are subject to DFS. If radar signals are detected, the AP must vacate the channel, causing instability. The best practice for critical point-to-point links is to use non-DFS channels (UNII-1 or UNII-3) or, if throughput allows, a narrower, more robust channel width like 40 MHz or 20 MHz to avoid DFS domains altogether.

In SD-Access, the Fabric Edge is the network device (typically a switch) where the AP connects. Its key role for wireless traffic is to de-encapsulate CAPWAP traffic from the AP, then re-encapsulate the client’s data payload into a VXLAN packet (specifically, LISP encapsulation for control plane and VXLAN for data plane). This VXLAN packet is then routed across the fabric overlay to its destination, which is often via a Fabric Border node.

Planning tools often use ideal or estimated values for the noise floor. A good RSSI indicates the signal strength is as planned, but data rate is a function of both signal strength and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR). If the real-world environment has higher interference or noise (from non-Wi-Fi sources or co-channel contention), the SNR will be lower than modeled. A lower SNR forces the client and AP to use more robust (slower) modulation and coding schemes (MCS), resulting in lower achievable data rates, even with a strong signal.

In high-density (HD) environments, the 2.4 GHz band, with only three non-overlapping channels, becomes a severe bottleneck and source of co-channel interference. Cisco’s HD design guides recommend disabling 2.4 GHz radios on many APs (often 75% or more) in the dense zone. This strategy forces modern dual-band clients to use the 5 GHz band, which offers many more channels and can better handle the dense client population with less interference, improving overall network capacity and performance.

Flexible Radio Assignment (FRA) allows a dual-band AP (e.g., one with a 2.4 GHz and a 5 GHz radio) to dynamically reassign one radio to monitor mode for security or analytics. The key intelligence is that it will revert the monitoring radio back to serving mode if the client load on the single serving radio becomes too high. This threshold-based decision ensures that network capacity is prioritized when needed, providing a balance between service and security/insight functions.

This scenario describes a classic use case for 802.1X with dynamic VLAN assignment (also called VLAN steering or identity-based networking). Both user groups connect to the same SSID. During the 802.1X authentication process, the RADIUS server (ISE) checks the user’s credentials. Based on the identity (e.g., membership in an ‘Employees’ AD group vs. a ‘Guests’ group), the server sends a specific VLAN ID (e.g., VLAN 10 for POS, VLAN 20 for Internet-only) to the WLC/AP as a RADIUS attribute, placing the user into the appropriate network segment.

For mobile devices like scanners that roam frequently, a strong, consistent signal with intentional cell overlap (20-30%) is critical to prevent sticky clients and ensure seamless roaming. A signal of -67 dBm or better is a common design target for data services. While frequency reuse is important, tiny cells could cause excessive roaming events. Forcing a high MBR would disassociate the legacy clients, and deploying only Wi-Fi 6 APs is an expensive solution that doesn’t directly address the core roaming requirement of the legacy devices.0