Configure an AP’s Radios with the Web UI
After you “Add and Configure an AP with the Web UI” on page 337, the AP’s radios will be listed in FortiWLC (SD). Follow these steps to configure the radios:
- Click Configuration > Wireless > Radio.
- Select one of the radios by clicking the pencil icon in the first column; remember that most APs have two radios. In that case, you will want to configure both of them.
- There are three tabs of settings for a radio, Wireless Interface, Wireless Statistics, and Antenna Property. Wireless Interface is the default tab. Here you see the existing interface settings for the radio. Any setting that is greyed out cannot be changed. Make any of the changes listed in the following chart, and then click OK.
| Field | Description |
| Interface Description | Description can be up to 256 alphanumeric characters long and contain spaces (for example, Lobby AP interface 1). By default, the description is ieee80211-ap_id-index_ID. |
| Administrative Status | Indicate whether the interface is to be used:
Up: Enable the interface Down: Disable the interface |
| Primary Channel | In the drop-down list, select the channel number for the wireless interface to use. The channel numbers displayed depend on the RF Band Selection and the regulatory domain for each country; for example, in the United States 802.11b shows channels 1 through 11 and 802.11a shows channels 36, 40, 44, etc. Two access points can belong to the same virtual AP only if they are on the same channel. Thus, two neighboring access points on different channels cannot perform seamless handoff (0 ms). |
| Short Preamble | Short preambles are more efficient on the air, but not all clients support them. On
Off |
| RF Band Selection | Select the RF Band this interface uses. Available selections are based on both the AP model and radio cards installed (for example, 802.11an) and the licensing in effect. |
| Transmit Power (EIRP) | Fortinet AP radios operate at their maximum power level by default. High power level increases the signal strength of the frames received by the client stations, allowing a client station to decode frames at a higher rate and increasing the coverage area. This causes minimal interference because Fortinet uses Virtual Cell technology, moving clients to a better AP without re-association. For a very few cases, we recommend that you reduce the power level on APs due to co-channel-interference. Check with Support first to make sure your issue really is due to co-channel-interference. To change transmit power, change the value in the Transmit Power field. The maximum level depends on the country code and the RF band in use. |
Configure an AP’s Radios with the Web UI
| Field | Description |
| AP Mode | Select whether the radio for the interface is in Service Mode (servicing clients first and scanning in the background), ScanRogues Mode (dedicated monitoring for Rogue APs), and ScanSpectrum Mode. |
| B/G Protection Mode | Configures 802.11b/g interoperability mode. This setting defaults to auto and should not be changed without consulting Fortinet Support. |
| HT Protection Mode | HT protection is set to default Off. The options are:
On Off Auto |
| Channel Width | Channel Width can be:
20 MHz 40MHz Extension Channel Above 40MHz Extension Channel Below Note that all APs in a Virtual Cell must have the same channel width. |
| MIMO Mode | Select:
2×2 for either AP1000 with an 802.3af PoE 3×3 for AP400 depending on radio and power source configuration |
| 802.11n Only Mode | 802.11n only mode is for AP400/AP1000s with N capability. Select:
On: to support only 802.11n Off: (default) to support 802.11an or 802.1bgn |
| RF Virtualization Mode | This field is displayed only when the underlying AP is a AP400 model. If the underlying AP is any of the other APs, this field shall be greyed out in GUI. The default value of RF Virtualization Mode is Virtual Port. The options are Virtual Port, Virtual Cell, and Native Cell. |
| Probe Response Threshold | Enter the Probe Response Threshold and the valid range is 0-100. |
| Mesh Service Admin Status | Enable or Disable the Mesh Service Admin Status. |
| Transmit Beamforming Support | Select the Transmit Beamforming Support:
• Disabled • SU-MIMO • MU-MIMO (to support 802.11ac Wave 2 capable clients) Supported in AP122, AP832, OAP832e, AP822, FAP-U421EV, and FAP-U423EV. |
Configure an AP’s Radios with the Web UI
| Field | Description |
| STBC Support | Select the STBC Support:
On Off |
| DFS Fallback Option | Select enable to allow the AP to fallback to a different channel when a radar is detected. Supported only in AP1xx, AP433, AP 8xx, AP1xxx, AP332, FAP-U421EV,and FAPU423EV.
If the DFS fallback option is enabled: • DFS fallback channel 52 is selected • DFS Channel Revertive is set to 45 min • When radar detected, it checks the fallback channel 52 for 60 sec. and if no radar is found it switches to the channel 52 • After 45 min, it reverts back to original operating channel if the channel is available (Channel avail test runs successfully) If the DFS fallback option is disabled: • If radar is detected the system performs its own fallback channel selection. • It will revert back to the original channel after 30 minutes if it passes the channel availability test (monitors the channel for 60 seconds). |
| DFS Fallback Channel | Select the fallback channel. |
| DFS Channel Revertive (minutes) | Select the time AP will take to revert back to its original channel. |
AP1000 radios always have Virtual Cell enabled, but there is a way to use AP1000 in non-Virtual Cell mode. See Adding an ESS with the CLI.
The FAP U42xEV and FAP U32xEV Access Points can support up to 256 clients per radio interface. The 256 client support per radio is only for a native cell environment. In a virtual cell environment, the maximum clients supported per interface are 170.
Configure an AP’s Radios with the Web UI