WESM zl Management and Configuration Guide WT.01.28 and greater

3-14
Radio Port Configuration
Configuring Radio Settings
Setting the Desired Radio Power. After you have selected a channel, you must
select the radio power. Available settings are determined by previously defined
channel and location settings. A radio’s power determines the broadcast radio
frequency (RF) signal strength in dBm. It is important to set the power level to a
value that is strong enough to clearly reach all the stations, but not so strong that the
RF signal is garbled, overwhelms stations, or interferes with other RPs. The maxi-
mum broadcast power may also be governed by local and national restrictions. The
optimal power level for a particular channel is best determined by a site survey prior
to installation.
You might need to set a higher power to ensure RF coverage when:
■ a radio experiences electromagnetic interference—for example, from a nearby
microwave oven or from other wireless technology
■ the distance between the RP and wireless stations is long
Likewise, you may need to decrease the RF power level when:
■ the radio is close to other RP radios (unintentionally overlapping RF coverage
may cause lost packets and complicate roaming)
■ the radio uses an external antenna
The default radio power setting for 802.11bg radios is 20dBm, and the default setting
for 802.11a radios is 20 dBm. However, this default might change based on your
country code.
To set the radio power, complete these steps:
1. Select Network Setup > Radio Adoption Defaults and click the
Configuration tab.
2. Select the radio type and click the Edit button.
3. In the Desired Power (dBm) field, use the drop-down menu to select the default
power setting that you have determined for radios of this type.
4. Click the OK button.
Note A warning box may be displayed, reminding you to be careful when setting a power
for a radio that is using external antennas. Verify that the power and channel settings
are within local limits, and then click the OK button.
Configuring Rate Settings. You can specify the data rates, in Mbps, that default
radios support for traffic passing between the radio and a station. These data rates
determine the types of wireless stations that radios will support.
On the default Configuration screen for a radio type, click the Rate Settings button
to display a screen similar to the one shown in Figure 3-7.