CTS 108: Useful Wi-Fi Metrics To Track

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