Which Wi-Fi metrics are worth tracking and what can you do with those metrics?
This episode was sponsored by Metageek
Useful Wi-Fi Metrics To Track
Today’s Wi-Fi networks are the main point of access to network resources and have become mission critical service to employees. To monitor the Wi-Fi network, which metrics should you track to show the Wi-Fi network is performing optimally? We list our six useful Wi-Fi metrics worth tracking.
RSSI
- Most looked at metric
- Determines the strength of the signal
- Good to get both from AP and client perspective. Client may hear AP loudly but not the other way around
SNR
- Indication of signal quality
- Difference between the signal and noise
- Example: concert, kids talking over parents
Channel Utilization
- How busy the channel is
- Both 802.11 and non-802.11 traffic
- Congestion and capacity
- If youre seeing high channel utilization you may need to add more capacity
- Tells us if CCI is an issue
Data rate
- Especially useful on the client side
- Tells us how well the client is able to decode the Rx signal
- Tells us how the driver is handling data rates
Retry Rate
- Does it correlate with high channel utilization
- Are basic data rates too high
- If you’re seeing too high (10-15%) retry rate look into lowering data rates, look at potential interference, maybe even hidden nodes or devices with bad drivers
Association Time
- Why would it take a long time to associate
- Bandsteering could cause long association times because of delayed probe responses
- Are devices scanning DFS channels
- Can client and AP hear each other
Aerohive HMNG also provide association time stats in Nework 360 view