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Difficulty: MediumWired and Wireless Network Issues

Users carrying handheld wireless devices in a warehouse report that their connection drops or becomes extremely slow when walking from the main inventory floor to the loading dock area. A technician observes that the device remains connected to the main floor access point with a very weak signal rather than switching to the closer loading dock access point. Both access points broadcast the same SSID and use non-overlapping channels. Which of the following actions should the technician take to resolve this roaming issue?

  1. Reduce the transmit power level on the main inventory floor access point.Answer
  2. B
    Change the loading dock access point to operate on the same channel as the main floor access point.
  3. C
    Replace the loading dock access point with an unmanaged switch to manage roaming traffic.
  4. D
    Reconfigure the network DHCP server to assign static hostnames to the wireless handheld devices.

Answer

Reduce the transmit power level on the main inventory floor access point.
Reducing the transmit power level of an access point reduces its effective RF coverage area (cell size). In wireless networks, 'sticky clients' occur when an access point broadcasts at high power, causing client devices to hold onto the connection even when closer access points are available. Shrinking the cell size forces the client device's Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) to drop below its internal threshold as it moves away, triggering a clean handover to the nearer access point.

Step-by-Step Solution

1
Analyze the reported symptom and physical environment
Identified a 'sticky client' scenario where a handheld device retains connection to a distant access point with high transmit power.
When an access point transmits at maximum power, client devices hear its beacon strongly even at a distance and refuse to initiate roaming.
2
Evaluate cell sizing and wireless roaming coverage boundaries
Determined that shrinking the coverage cell of the distant access point forces the client device's RSSI to drop below its roaming threshold.
Proper cell overlap (typically 15-20%) requires balanced transmit power so roaming triggers naturally when moving between coverage zones.
3
Select the appropriate access point configuration change
Decreasing the transmit power on the main floor access point resolves the sticky client behavior without causing channel interference.
Lowering transmit power aligns the downlink signal strength with the client device's weaker uplink capability, promoting seamless roaming.

Key Concept

Wireless Roaming and Cell Size Adjustment (Sticky Clients)
Estimated Time:1m 15s
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Topics

Wired and Wireless Network Issues

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