That being said, it just feels like you need to go back into the RF Profile and make sure that the power min/max settings are where you want them. I personally have them set to exactly the dBm level I want and avoid using a range value. I want the access points running at the power level I designed them to be at. In addition, you might want to verify what channels they are using.
If your using for example, DFS channels, you'll want to verify that your warehouse devices (zebra scanners for example) have their configurations to match exactly what channels your access points are using. Otherwise an AP could be on channel 64 and the scanner isn't scanning that channel so the AP doesn't exist to him.
For warehouses I static my channels and power to be honest. Warehouses have a tendency to turn wireless on its head, so you have to put extra care and attention into the design. Office environments for example, I will let AutoRF do its thing with channels, however I still reign in the power to what I surveyed for, but I don't care about the channels so much in a multi-tenant environment.
Tune the power level. Verify the channels being used by the AP and devices. 25.13 should run solid as it does/has for all my sites.
I too would prefer to know specifically what the 'general improvements and stability' are in the release notes, so I feel your pain there.
You seem to be on the right track with how you have things configured as far as I can tell from here. Are you using directional antennas?
Just out of curiosity but how are you determining this 'percentage' of coverage going from 15% to 30% after upgrading the firmware? Are you surveying or using a client device or tool to measure RSSI etc.? You say you had weeks of issues, what specifically were users reporting was the problem?
If somehow the power level you have set (say 11dBm on 25.11), somehow ends up going to 14dBm (which is double FYI), when 25.13 is in use, then I would agree that would/could be an issue. I'm assuming the GUI/dashboard on the AP or on Radio Settings is showing you the actual transmit power still being the same.
Is support able to verify that you aren't somehow running into some strange bug where maybe your hardware batch (possibly only yours) is hitting that is causing power to increase unexpectedly?
Haha @PhilipDAth I don't disagree completely. =P
AutoRF/RRM/Whatever-vendor-flavor, like you said should be able to identify and self resolve problems etc. Honestly they all tend to do a not too bad job at it. Its going to be able to detect changes, and react, far better than I ever could. I use AutoRF myself for most of my deployments, with the exception being warehouses.
I will say though that they could always use improvement, no system is perfect and it requires the installer to understand how it works, and adjust/tune the settings so that they operate within the thresholds surveys for. Letting RRM run default out of the box, at least in my experience, has usually never worked out to well with how they end up finally settle (at least on power which is usually my main concern). Channels is meh...as long as they calm down after the first X hours/X days for it to adjust itself.
Warehouse though I use static power and static channels. Unless your's differ from mine, the warehouse is usually isolated in a field with nothing too close. So the only wireless in there is mine, and 5GHz only operation for production, I have yet to run into anything (other than itself) that it has to adjust to. And since it is production, I want it to be as stable as possible (meaning no changes like channels flapping around).
Not saying it isn't possible that someone or a vendor could come in and install a wireless camera without me knowing and its crushing say channel 149 for hundreds of feet. However I would classify that under the exception folder.
What I have seen though are deployments (specifically with Meraki back in my VAR days) where autoRF was changing channels like its life depended on it, which ended up causing more issues than not. This of course isn't autoRF fault, its just that warehouses in general suck for wireless. Giant metal box without any actual walls. You got lots of empty shelves because inventory is fluctuating and all of sudden 20 access points can see each other like they are 15 feet away, and not 60, because the inventory on 10 rows changes from bags of dirt to boxes of feathers or something.
Ekahau like to peddle the line that using their tool and statically calculating everything once is somehow better than letting the manufacturers own system dynamically calculate it. In Meraki's case, Ekahau doesn't even have the operating parameters of most of the Meraki APs and antennas available.
By all means use Ekahau to help plan out where to put APs, help select antennas, and perform post-installation surveys to verify coverage - but I wouldn't take it any further.
This is my personal opinion. Many many people will disagree.
Not sure about the Ekahau peddling part, but I agree with you if they are saying that. I use it to help me design, save me time onsite, but its not the end-all by any means.
Forgot to ask
Have you been using 26.X anywhere yet? I haven't. I heard AutoRF was 'vastly improved' by a source, so I'm curious if you've noticed anything. Nice to hear though they are always working to make it better 😃
