Technology: Interference Management

Bandspeed AirMaestro Access Points have multiple technologies in them that deal with interference.  Interference is one of the largest problems with Wireless LAN performance and reliability. Having a solution that is aware of interference and is proactive greatly increases your Wireless LAN’s performance and reliability.

The AirMaestro Access Points’ third radio provides continual scanning of the WLAN environment, making dynamic channel changes as the WLAN environment changes.  Each Access Point maintains an Interferer Database which monitors the WLAN Access Points in its environment.  It monitors the channels the Interfering Access Points operate on as well as their transmit power. In a cluster, the Interferer Databases of all AirMaestro Access Points are used in collaboration to select the best channel for all AirMaestro Access Points in the cluster. Similar enterprise-class solutions may monitor the WLAN environment only during the original power-up or once a day, usually in the middle of the night when service requirement is minimal.  The AirMaestro Access Points scan 24/7 and can dynamically adjust to avoid interference at any time.

In this screenshot, all of the circles surrounding each AP are Interferers.  The color of each circle represents the channel it is operating on.  The size of each circle represents how strongly each AirMaestro Access Point detects its transmit power. The AirMaestro Access Point that sees the interferer the strongest will have the interferer placed next to it.

The AirMaestro Access Points also include a built-in dual-band RF spectrum analyzer.  This valuable tool allows insight into the RF environment surrounding any AP.  The spectrum analyzer allows you to view interference caused by non-WLAN products such as microwave ovens and cordless phones.

In this screenshot, the spectrum analyzer has detected cordless phone interference around Channel 1.  It also shows other RF interference in both bands.