Vary SSID settings across different APs possible?

[RJordan-CCS]

We have seen and used the ability to set up tags to have certain APs offer or not offer specific SSIDs.

Now we'd like to see if there is a way for a specific SSID to have different settings on specific APs. 

We're having issues with interference at a specific location in a customer's offices and would like to test setting the APs servicing that area (for the specific or all SSIDs) to only operate in 5GHz. 

Apparently the Band Steering option is not adequate because some of the devices (we do not have an inventory but they're note antique 802.11B or anything) don't switch to 5GHz and then the interference (microwave ovens) breaks their connections.  Those are 'customer's customer' devices that neither we nor our customer have direct control over or access to.

Thanks!

[jdsilva]

Hey @RJordan-CCS, one of the main concepts of an SSID is that it's supposed to have the same settings across AP's. Generally speaking, if you require different settings then you should have different SSID's. Clients may not roam effectively, or at all, if you have things different from AP to AP. 

Now, the only way to do what you're asking that I can think of is to have each AP in its own network. You can't have different settings on an SSID between AP's in the same network, but you can have the same SSID with different settings in different networks.

[Raj66]

@RJordan-CCS , I sully support @jdsilva the main purpose of an SSID is to provide similar settings all across the campus and to provide seamless roaming for the clients when moving between APs.

That being said, there are certain settings that you change on a perAP basis within the same SSID. If you are only looking to change the band selection, then you can leverage the RF profiles to select a band on a per-AP basis. However, the catch is, this is going to be applied for all the SSID on those APs.

More information in this document
https://documentation.meraki.com/MR/Radio_Settings/RF_Profiles#Band_Selection

[PhilipDAth]

Do you actually need 2.4Ghz anywhere?  Most devices support 5Ghz these days.

Typically when I run into customers that have a small number of 2.4Ghz devices I encourage them to replace them.  It's like you spent tens of thousands of dollars deploying a great new WiFi system and by allowing 2.4Ghz you risk affecting the user experience.

Replacing a small number of devices is usually not a great cost compared to rolling out the new WiFi solution.

[RJordan-CCS]

Thanks to all who replied.

The issue is that the devices having problems are not ours, and not our customer's.  They are our customer's customer's devices.  We have no control or say over them.  And other than the info provided by the dashboard clients list that our customer is able to ID for us as belonging to that one group, we do  not have info on what they are  (though they are mostly mobile devices with a couple of laptops per the description).  

We have asked our customer if a separate SSID for that one customer would be appropriate and they said no.  So we were looking for alternatives.

Oh well, worth a check.

[Ferdy]

Hi,

What you could try, is to disable the 2.4 GHz radio on the specific AP's in that area through "radio settings" per AP (I use the old version of radio settings for that (upper right corner in radio settings)). That way, you will only have 5GHz from those AP's.

Don't know if that will affect the rest of your network, but it's worth a try.

Good luck!