Slow internet speeds after switching one side of the building from a 7636 AP to a 7982 AP

[headspring_llc]

We have a 50/50 symmetrical fiber connection in our office, and a ZoneDirector 1106 with two wireless access points, one on each side of the building. We have most of our employees on one side (working on wifi with MacBook Pros), and our conference rooms on the other. Until recently we had a 7982 AP on the side where everyone sits, and a 7636 AP over with the conference rooms. Usual connection speeds over the wifi are between 20-40 Mbps. 

This past weekend we replaced the 7636 with another 7982, replicating all of the same configuration settings. Now internet speeds have dropped for our users to between 10-20 Mbps average. A laptop plugged directly into our router gets close to 40 Mbps so the problem doesn't appear to be our internet connection.

Why might this be happening? What steps can we take to troubleshoot/correct this issue?

[max_o_driscoll]

Vague possibility: "replicating all the settings" - is it possible that you set the original AP to use a specific channel...in which case they (the two ZF7982) are now both fighting for the same channel. Default setting is let them auto sense the best channel to use.

[headspring_llc]

Thanks for the reply. Sorry, my phrasing wasn't specific: I meant that I replicated the settings from the 7636 on the new 7982. Both access points are set to specific channels, but they're different ones.

[michael_brado]

If you have a ZD1100, you should allow the ZD to choose (and sometimes tell APs to change) channels.
Like Max said - See Configure/Services, Self-Healing.  Background Scanning or ChannelFly methods use
channels 1/6/11 only, or all 11 x 2.4GHz channels, but may change channels more often than 10 minute
intervals if you have a lot of interference.  If you have hard set your AP channels now, they may not be
optimal choices.

And yes, the 7982 has stronger radio, more antennas and should perform better than 7363 AP models too.