BEST WiFi Optimization Settings!

WiFi optimization is a subject I get asked about a lot - in this video, we're going to cover the method that I use to approach any wireless deployment. We'll discuss various aspects of wifi optimization such as AP placement, channel width, channel selection, and transmit power.

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[and]

I absolutely adore that even though neighbouring WiFi names are blurred on the list, they show up as soon as you hover over the graph.

[Bryan]

Thank you for the video. I would love to see someone do a multifloor video - I have 3 AP's on the first floor, 1 on the 2nd, and 1 on the 3rd.

[oscarmvl]

I just wanted to thank you for this video! I have a lot of neighbors with 2.4GHz networks so mine was almost unusable. I changed the channel width to 20MHz and not only the 2.4GHz network became usable, but the 5GHz also gained a bit more coverage (don't ask my why). I'll definitely apply this setting to my future network setups.

[neosmith]

Wi-Fi sends signals out in a 3d notion, not 2d. I wish that these programs/sites that use layouts would be in 3d instead of 2d! it would show more correct signal propagation... especially for people that have multiple levels in their homes/buildings.

[davidsanders]

Good info on the video. One thing to mention with Unifi is to disable Wireless Meshing when directly wired to a switch. Had to figure that out the hard way because my U6-LR kept trying to search for a wireless mesh connection even when hardwired.

[mjohnson]

Can you do another one of these that covers a multiple storyhouse.

[gregm.]

Nice vid Chris! Have you played with the RF Environment tool ? Click on an AP, then go to Insights, RF Environment, You will see an expanded view of all the WiFi channels and their utilisation/noise. Clicking Scan Channels will then take the selected AP off the air (you can do multiple scans on different APs simultaneously), for about 5 to 10 mins, to scan the WiFi channel spectrum, and then report back on the utilisation, and interference on each channel, with nice graphical representation. I've found it quite useful when selecting which channel to set my APs to. This may also make a good video too !

[danielbjohnson]

Missed concepts: How to handle two floor homes? How to handle AP orientation? How to debug devices hanging on to the wrong AP (AP switching). Also in the case for your example where there was only one offending (competitor) AP, maybe a bit of checking power at different corners of home to plan your channels around the general direction they are broadcasting from. Hate for your channel one to be nearest thier channel one of you can easily test and plan to avoid the condition in just two minutes.

[laloajuria]

17:00 would still rec the opposite actually. move tx power to lowest. if running into handoff or coverage issues, then increase in increments.

[OmarVR]

Pretty good video overall. The one thing you may want to revisit is Tx Power settings. It all starts there actually and it is determined primarily by the weakest client devices you will need to support in the network and the gain of the antennas in the AP. Once you have that, then you can go ahead and figure out number of required APs and proper placement. This means that more often than not you'll be either entering custom Tx power values or using one of the pre-defined ones, but never "Auto". Also it would be good to keep in mind that when it comes to UniFi there's nothing "auto" in the Auto Tx power setting.

Most Wi-Fi problems related to roaming, sticky clients, and the like usually can be traced back to inadequate Tx Power settings. Hope this helps.

[SeanAnthony]

About time someone took the time to truly explain how to tweak your Unifi APs. Thank you Chris!

[johnvanwinkle]

After reading other articles, I am going to follow your suggestions in this video. I am using 5 Ubiquiti U6-LRs in a 6000sqft house.

[WPayne]

I’d like to see some more advanced discussion on the minimum RSSI options. I’ve had issues with devices hoping back and forth between APs causing connectivity issues.

[jamesaikens]

One thing I would add is minimum RSSI! I have found this to be extremely useful, especially in Apple environments as they are sticky and will hang on to an out-of-range AP like it's the last internet connection on earth.

[GSMC]

Thank you so much for this video. I've been trying to figure this out for a school that I work at with over 70 AP's and having issues with coverage where clients don't hand-off to a closer AP as expected. I'll give this a go and hope for the best.

[MaximilianImaging]

Can someone please tell me why my UniFi AP Lite are only showing channels 1, 2, 3 on 2.4GHz and channels 36, 40, 44 on 5GHz? Many thanks in advance for any info and advice you can share with me. BTW, this is a great channel.

[PDSchofield]

Great video and very informative. How about a follow up covering multi level properties?

[chrisowen]

So as I was tweaking I found Enable Minimum RSSI which you do not cover in this video. As this is not a one size fits all setting you should discuss this setting. Basically it kicks a device off of an AP when the signal gets low to force it to find a stronger AP. In a multi AP setup this could help prevent devices from getting stuck on the old AP...

[mbourd]

Been waiting for a video like this a long time. Thanks for this video.

[amigaamiga]

Covers well all the basics. For complex installations (like 6 to >100 AP, multiple levels construction, ....) you could do a video about Power Output (in fact 'Auto' = max) / RSSI / Interference reducing (not clear from Unifi what it does). Also interesting is the changes by placing the AP vertically or horizontally (radiation diagram are not a 360 sphere) - even sometimes horizontally 'upside down'. Also if your customer has a really fast internet (fiber optic >500 Mb/s) you must use 80 Mhz channels in 5 Ghz, otherwise you're pretty limiting bandwith. In your exemple I would personnaly add a 4th interior AP to have better 5G coverage and at least 1 outside (or 2 or 3 depending on the outside zone of your property) - I like to have >-65 dBm everywhere, I'm not at all satisfied with some -75 dBm. I mostly have customers with 600 Mb/s or 1000 Mb/s and I try that they can have >200 Mb/s anywhere. 1Another factor is that in Europe 90% of inside walls are brick / concrete / block and almost never wood / placo / .... so much more attenuation between rooms. And today all windows / sliding outside doors are with double or triple layers with a metallic coating between layers - you open terrasse door and you have a good signal outside, you close it and signal disappear (at least 20 dBm below).
Thank you for the great work!