Wireless/Redundant Edge Services xl Module Management and Configuration Guide WS.02.xx and greater

3-44
Radio Port Configuration
Considerations for Enabling Client Roaming
Considerations for Enabling Client
Roaming
A mobile station may roam back and forth between several RPs. Ideally, such
roaming is hidden from wireless users, who do not need to know when they
connect to a new RP. They simply want their applications to continue func-
tioning smoothly.
A station itself determines when it needs to roam (typically, in order to
associate to a radio with a better signal). However, your wireless network
infrastructure should support roaming. When planning roaming, you must
consider the Physical Layer, Data Link Layer (Layer 2), and Network Layer
(Layer 3) of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model.
At the Physical Layer, most wireless stations roam seamlessly as long as your
RP radios provide seamless coverage. Generally, you should deploy RPs so
that their coverage areas overlap: stations should be able to roam between
RPs without losing the signal.
Note When the coverage areas of 802.11b/g radios overlap significantly, remember
to set the channels to non-interfering channels:
■ 1, 6, and 11
■ 1, 7, and 13
See “Configuring Radio Settings for a Particular Radio” on page 3-30 for more
instructions on setting a radio’s channel.
While a detailed discussion of wireless network design is beyond the scope of
this management and configuration guide, you should understand that the size
and pattern of an RP radio’s coverage depends on several factors, including:
■ the radio’s power level
The higher the power level, the larger the coverage area. An external
antenna raises the power level (to the degree that you may need to
manually lower the radio’s power in order to comply with your country’s
regulations). See “Setting the Desired Radio Power” on page 3-14 for more
information on configuring this setting.