Howard Enos
7ff723d614
Did it right this time: completed the full channel survey (74/74) FIRST, let the data choose. Survey proved DFS channels are 4-5x cleaner here (2-3% busy) than non-DFS (149/157 = 12-28%, the property's worst). Per Howard: built the plan on the 8 clean DFS 40MHz blocks (52/60/100/108/116/124/132/140), per-AP locally- cleanest + neighbor graph-colored -> 0 co-channel, 3.5% avg busy. Applied to 72 non-mesh APs (width 40 too); mesh excluded; voice nudged back to 5GHz. VALIDATED: 5GHz retry 8.7->3.8 avg (-56%), median 8.2->2.1 (-74%); 2.4 ~baseline; satisfaction median 99; voice 31/31 (17 Poly on 5GHz, 3 coverage-cases on 2.4); all 72 APs holding DFS, 0 radar vacates. Kept tonight: 2b (2.4 power) + DFS plan + BSS-transition. 6GHz still WPA3-blocked. auto_upgrade still OFF. Follow-up: recurring dfs-check radar monitor. Co-Authored-By: Claude Opus 4.8 (1M context) <noreply@anthropic.com>
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4.0 KiB
Cascades — 5 GHz DFS channel plan (data-driven, scan-first) APPLIED + validated
User
- User: Howard Enos (howard) (Howard directed: gather ALL data first, then choose from facts)
- Machine: Howard-Home
- Role: tech
Summary
After the earlier blind non-DFS attempt failed + Howard's correction (scan FIRST, decide from data), I completed the full 5 GHz channel survey (74/74), let the DATA pick the channels, and applied a clean-DFS plan. Result: 5 GHz retry roughly halved (8.7 -> 3.8 avg, median 8.2 -> 2.1), satisfaction healthy (median 99), voice back on 5 GHz. This is the validated win the neighbor-only approach couldn't produce.
The data that drove it (survey-collect, 74/74 APs, iw survey busy%)
Fleet-wide measured 5 GHz channel congestion (median busy%):
- DFS (52-64, 100-144): ~2-3% busy (nearly empty — the clean spectrum here).
- Non-DFS UNII-1 (36-48): ~10% (ch44=22%, ch36=12%).
- Non-DFS UNII-3 (149-165): ~10-14% with the WORST channels on property -> ch157=28%, ch149=12% (max 75%). FACT: at this site the non-DFS channels carry 4-5x the congestion of DFS (consumer/neighbor gear avoids DFS). The plan's "non-DFS only" rule was measurably WRONG here -> Howard's call: use the clean DFS channels.
What was applied (data-driven)
- Channel palette = the 8 clean 40 MHz DFS blocks: 52, 60, 100, 108, 116, 124, 132, 140 (all measured <=3% busy).
- Per-AP assignment: each non-mesh AP got its locally-cleanest DFS channel (from its own survey row), graph-colored against the AP-to-AP neighbor SNR matrix + load-balanced. Local-search optimization -> 0 strong co-channel pairs, 0 all-neighbor pairs, avg chosen-channel busy 3.5%.
- Width 80 -> 40 (more spatial reuse; voice is low-bitrate). Applied channel+width in one PUT per AP.
- 72 non-mesh APs; mesh excluded (2nd Floor Atrium + children CC Bridge/salon/108 stay on auto -> adapt).
- Voice phones nudged (kick-sta) after the channel-change scatter -> 17 Poly back on 5 GHz; 3 remain on 2.4 = the genuine weak-coverage rooms (515/MemCare) that next week's new APs fix.
Validation (vs start-of-night baseline)
- 5 GHz retry: 8.7 -> 3.8 avg (-56%), median 8.2 -> 2.1 (-74%).
- 2.4 retry: 12.0 -> 13.2 (~baseline; the 2b power work holds).
- Satisfaction: 98.7 -> 97.6 avg / median 99 (healthy; avg still converging up post-change).
- Voice: 31/31 (29 mid-reassoc at one read), 17 Poly on 5 GHz + 3 coverage-cases on 2.4 + 9 wired.
- All 72 APs HOLDING their DFS channel (0 radar vacates), evenly spread across the 8 channels. Stable.
NET state kept tonight (the validated wins)
- 2b — 2.4 power Low/full -> MEDIUM on 47 radios (over-thinning fix + MemCare sane power).
- 5 GHz DFS plan — 72 non-mesh APs on clean DFS 40 MHz, 0 co-channel, retry halved.
- CSCNet BSS-transition on.
- BLOCKED: 6 GHz (WPA3 mandate on the WPA2/PPSK SSID) — Howard's decision pending.
- auto_upgrade still OFF (re-enable when ready).
SAFETY NET (DFS) — follow-up
- UniFi auto-vacates a DFS channel on radar detection (regulatory, automatic) -> a hit moves that one AP, not the fleet. 0 vacates observed since apply.
- TODO: stand up a recurring
dfs-check.sh(fold into the network-logging plan) so we KNOW if radar ever fires and can revisit if it does. The DFS sweep so far: 0 genuine radar in the observed window.
THE LESSON (for me, logged)
Scan/gather ALL the data BEFORE changing anything is the foundation of this plan. I violated it earlier (applied non-DFS with the survey at 68/74) and wasted a churn cycle. Doing it right — full survey -> data-driven channel choice -> apply -> validate — produced an actual, measured improvement on the first try. Data-completeness is a hard gate; no apply until the scan is complete and analyzed.
Reference
- Survey: .claude/tmp/cascades-survey2.json (74/74). Plan: .claude/tmp/dfs-plan.json. Neighbor: cascades-nbr.json.
- Rollback: dev2.json = full pre-night state (original channels + 80 MHz). Site va6iba3v / 172.16.3.29.