topic Re: Changing the bss-minrate for my access points in Access Points - Indoor and Outdoor

Changing the bss-minrate for my access points

tim_franklin_68 — Sat, 11 Oct 2014 18:43:44 GMT

Hello,
I've recently had a visit from a corporate IT representative. He suggests we change the bss-minrate so that the signal distance is less but stronger. Apparently 45Mbps down is not good enough. We have an AP in every room so coverage is great. I understand this is all done via CLI, I can log in but cannot find the option. I have read the bss-minrate vs smart-roam article but it doesn't tell me how to do it.

Could someone advise the basic commands I need to know and also the options I have for changing the signal distance? Also should I be aware of any possible outage when making this change? Can I apply this to a single WLAN-Group for testing only?

Many thanks,
Tim

Re: Changing the bss-minrate for my access points

kristijan_fabin — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 08:01:50 GMT

If it's managed by ZD controller, in ZD you log in with Putty

procedure is:

ruckus> enable
ruckus#

type

ruckus# config
You have all rights in this mode.
ruckus(config)#

ruckus(config)# wlan your_SSID
The WLAN service 'your_SSID' has been loaded. To save the WLAN service, type 'end' or 'exit'.
ruckus(config-wlan)#

and now you type

ruckus(config-wlan)# bss-minrate 12

Note:
It sets the minimum transmission rate of the WLAN in the BSS to 1, 2, 5.5, 12, 24 (Mbps). It may change the current value of mgmt-tx-rate and ofdm-only according to the selected value.

You can apply this per WLAN

Not sure for the standalone mode

Re: Changing the bss-minrate for my access points

monnat_systems — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 15:29:40 GMT

Hi Tim,

This feature is NOT changing (decrease or increase) the signal strength in any way.

Just keep in mind if you have legacy devices like handhelds which supports data rate upto 11 mbps will get stranded hence please evaluate what you have in the network so that there are no surprises.

hope this helps.

Re: Changing the bss-minrate for my access points

tim_franklin_68 — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 15:53:19 GMT

Hello,
Thank you both for your input. I have just three questions.

Is there a command like a "show" command in Cisco that I can see what the current rate is at?
In reference to the NOTE from Kristijan, if I set it to 12, does that mean it will only allow 12Mbps rate and above?
In reference to Monnat's recommendation, is there any way to check what speeds devices are running at so I can make a decision what to set my minrate at? In this particular WLAN every device is exactly the same (wireless GPS transmitters).

Many thanks again for your help.
Tim

Re: Changing the bss-minrate for my access points

kristijan_fabin — Sun, 12 Oct 2014 18:42:38 GMT

ruckus> enable
ruckus# show config

you will see something like this...
...
..
.
NAME = your_SSID
Tx. Rate of Management Frame(2.4GHz) = 6.0Mbps
Tx. Rate of Management Frame(5GHz) = 6.0Mbps
Beacon Interval = 100ms
SSID = your_SSID
Description = blank
Type = Standard Usage
Authentication = 802.1x-eap
EAP TYPE = PEAP
Encryption = wpa2
Algorithm = auto
Passphrase =
FT Roaming = Disabled
802.11k Neighbor report = Disabled
Web Authentication = Disabled
Authentication Server =
Called-Station-Id type = wlan-bssid
Tunnel Mode = Disabled
Background Scanning = Enabled
Max. Clients = 350
Isolation per AP = Enabled
Isolation across AP = Disabled
...
..
.

if you set minimum rate to whatever (6, 12, 24...) that will be the lowest rate at which the AP will communicate with clients.

The answer to your final question is > just check what 802.11 standards those devices support. Check in their options or just google it. Or check on the wi-fi.org under certificates database for particular product and you'll see a specification and what that device supports

Re: Changing the bss-minrate for my access points

monnat_systems — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 17:54:59 GMT

Hi Tim,

In reference to the NOTE from Kristijan, if I set it to 12, does that mean it will only allow 12Mbps rate and above? Yes, any device capable of transmitting only under 11MBPS wont connect at all.

is there any way to check what speeds devices are running at so I can make a decision what to set my minrate at? if device population is controlled one then just check their datasheet and if they support only 802.11 and 802,11 b then these device would be out once you apply above changes..

if you want to see this real time on ZD GUI then answer is NO as it shows connection with client on signal strenght % basis which will not help however there are ways to find out however i am out of pocket at the moment to check and post here.

I will be back.

Re: Changing the bss-minrate for my access points

michael_brado — Mon, 13 Oct 2014 23:04:52 GMT

If you have devices older than 2005 and *have* to support 802.11b/g only clients,
try setting the WLAN "bss-minrate to 5.5", which will allow 5.5mb and 11mb for
management frames between clients and the APs.

If you have devices that *all* can do WPA2, use "ofdm-only", which will set the
management frame min-rate to 6mb and refuse all CCK (802.11b/g only) clients.

These configurations can be used to tighten the AP coverage area with higher
data rate connectivity, assuming you have good overlap on your 2.4 band
to start with.

Re: Changing the bss-minrate for my access points

primoz_marinsek — Mon, 17 Nov 2014 08:52:04 GMT

Does setting bss-minrate to 5.5 enable short preamble or is preamble still modulated at 1?

Re: Changing the bss-minrate for my access points

darren_shipley — Tue, 28 Dec 2021 21:26:10 GMT

I know this is an old thread, but isn't 802.11r/k a better solution nowadays?

Re: Changing the bss-minrate for my access points

vijaykuniyal — Fri, 14 Jan 2022 22:08:25 GMT

Hi @darren_shipley,

Yes, it is a better solution for the devices which supports 802.11r/k.

However there are sticky clients/devices which do not want to roam generally (older models devices) support lower data rate will stuck to these data rates without roaming and will have slowness issues in case BSS min rate is not set to a upper limit.