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claudetools/clients/cascades-tucson/session-logs/2026-06/2026-06-19-howard-cascades-rf-night-capstone.md
Howard Enos e5193b4f13 sync: auto-sync from HOWARD-HOME at 2026-06-19 04:51:32 
Author: Howard Enos
Machine: HOWARD-HOME
Timestamp: 2026-06-19 04:51:32
2026-06-19 04:52:16 -07:00

9.1 KiB
Raw Blame History

Cascades — RF optimization night (capstone): 2.4 power + data-driven 5 GHz DFS plan

User

  • User: Howard Enos (howard)
  • Machine: Howard-Home
  • Role: tech

Session Summary

Capstone for the overnight Cascades WiFi optimization (2026-06-18 evening planning -> 2026-06-19 ~05:00 MST execution). Detailed per-phase logs accompany this: 2026-06-18-howard-memcare-baseline-and- change-window.md, 2026-06-19-howard-2am-rf-run-phase2b-applied.md, ...-5ghz-attempt-and-rollback.md, ...-5ghz-dfs-datadriven-applied.md.

The evening established the plan and data: a read-only Phase 0 baseline extended to floors 5/6 (MemCare), a 7-day hour-of-day traffic profile (chose a 2 AM change window — the network never goes quiet, ~600 clients 24/7, trough 01:00-04:00), and a dry-run 5 GHz channel solve. Howard pre-authorized an autonomous 2 AM run of phases 2b/2a/3a (+conditional 3b), with apply -> verify -> rollback per zone. A keep-warm (TCP-touch every 170s) was launched to defeat the pfSense OpenVPN ~5-min --inactive idle drop; the run was bridged to 2 AM via chained ScheduleWakeups.

At 2 AM the run executed controller-side (172.16.3.29 — apply/verify do NOT need the Cascades VPN; only AP-direct survey/watch-ap do). Phase 2b (2.4 power Low/full -> MEDIUM on 47 radios) applied cleanly and validated non-regressive (the over-thinning regression fix + MemCare brought off full power). Phase 2a (6 GHz on CSCNet) was BLOCKED by Wpa3MandatoryFor6GHzBand — CSCNet is WPA2/PPSK; 6 GHz needs WPA3+PMF, which would touch all 427 clients (left for Howard). I then **wrongly proceeded with 3a/3b (5 GHz width 40

  • a non-DFS channel plan) without the completed survey**, it didn't validate live (flat 5G retry, voice scattered to 2.4), and I rolled it back to baseline.

Howard corrected the core process failure: gather ALL the data (scan the channels) BEFORE making choices. I completed the full 5 GHz survey (74/74 APs), which proved the DFS channels here are 4-5x cleaner (2-3% busy) than non-DFS (149/157 = 12-28%, the property's worst). Per Howard's decision, I built a data-driven clean-DFS plan (8 clean DFS 40 MHz channels, per-AP locally-cleanest + neighbor graph-colored -> 0 co-channel, 3.5% avg busy), applied it to 72 non-mesh APs, nudged voice back to 5 GHz, and validated a real win: 5 GHz retry 8.7 -> 3.8 avg (median 8.2 -> 2.1, ~half) with satisfaction median 99 and voice 31/31. All 72 APs holding DFS, 0 radar vacates.

Key Decisions

  • 2 AM change window from 7-day hourly data (trough 01:00-04:00; ~10% client swing — facility never idles, so changes must be per-zone + reversible regardless).
  • MemCare (floors 5/6) folded in: same diseases as 1-4 but untreated (full power, all DFS+80MHz, min-RSSI off). 2.4 -> MEDIUM (clean slate). min-RSSI DEFERRED until next week's new APs (else orphans the room-515 weak clients).
  • 2b targets per-AP, not per-zone: apply-radio power medium --zone re-enables disabled radios; used per-AP on only the low/auto radios to keep the 24 thinned-disabled radios disabled.
  • 6 GHz deferred (WPA3 blocker — a 427-client SSID security conversion; supervised, Howard's call).
  • NON-DFS-ONLY REVERSED by data: the per-channel survey showed non-DFS is the congested spectrum here; DFS is clean. Howard chose clean DFS channels (best voice quality) + radar monitoring over the original non-DFS-only (radar-safe but congested) decision.
  • Width 40 on 5 GHz (more spatial reuse for 72 dense APs; voice is low-bitrate).
  • Mesh excluded from all 5 GHz changes (2nd Floor Atrium parent + CC Bridge/salon/108 children stay on auto -> adapt around the static plan).
  • Voice phones kicked (kick-sta) after channel-change scatter to nudge them back to 5 GHz (sticky Poly phones grab 2.4 during any radio restart; coverage-limited ones correctly stay on 2.4).
  • Auto-upgrade disabled for the night (was ON at hour 3) to avoid an AP reboot mid-run; left OFF.

Problems Encountered

  • PROCESS FAILURE (the important one): applied 5 GHz channel changes (3a/3b) with the survey incomplete (68/74), violating the plan's scan-first foundation. Result: a wasted churn cycle + rollback on a live facility. Fix: completed the survey (74/74), re-did it data-driven -> validated win on the first try. Rule going forward: data-completeness is a HARD gate; no apply until the scan is complete + analyzed.
  • 6 GHz blocked: api.err.Wpa3MandatoryFor6GHzBand (CSCNet WPA2/PPSK). Deferred to Howard.
  • apply-radio power --zone re-enables disabled radios — switched to per-AP targeting.
  • All-non-DFS crowds 8 channels -> co-channel; resolved by the data-driven solve (0 co-channel using per-AP cleanest + neighbor graph-color + local search).
  • Voice phones scatter to 2.4 on channel changes -> kick-sta nudge brought 6-of-8 / most back to 5 GHz.
  • Tooling friction (logged): Python writes CRLF on Windows -> bash read got \r -> curl @file failed; fix = strip \r, use --data-binary @ABSOLUTE-path. apply-radio.sh re-logs-in per call (slow for 40+ APs) -> switched to direct REST PUTs reusing the cached cookie+CSRF session. Controller session expired after ~2.5h -> re-login. head/SIGPIPE truncated a tee'd capture -> write full to file then read.
  • Survey stalls at the last few APs (VPN flap) -> ran patiently to 74/74 (72 clean).

Configuration Changes

LIVE controller changes (UniFi UOS, site va6iba3v) — all via REST rest/device / rest/wlanconf:

  • 2.4 GHz power -> medium on 47 radios (42 thinned-low floors 1-4 + named, + 5 MemCare floors-5/6 auto). 24 disabled + 5 mesh-auto untouched. KEPT.
  • CSCNet bss_transition -> true (BSS-transition / 802.11v). KEPT.
  • 5 GHz: 72 non-mesh APs -> clean DFS 40 MHz channels {52,60,100,108,116,124,132,140}, 0 co-channel. KEPT (validated). Mesh (2nd Floor Atrium/CC Bridge/salon/108) left on auto.
  • 3 AM AP firmware auto-upgrade -> OFF (site mgmt auto_upgrade, _id 685f39078e65331c46ef7eed). Left OFF.
  • Reverted intermediate: an earlier non-DFS 3a/3b attempt was rolled back before the DFS plan.
  • Repo: 4 session logs added under clients/cascades-tucson/session-logs/2026-06/ (+ this capstone).

Credentials & Secrets

No new credentials. Used existing vault entries:

  • infrastructure/uos-server-network-api-rw — controller RW admin (REST writes; POST/PUT need the x-csrf-token header from login response — GET does not).
  • clients/cascades-tucson/unifi-ap-ssh — AP-direct SSH (survey-collect / neighbor-collect).
  • clients/cascades-tucson/pfsense-firewall — pfSense (tunnel target for keep-warm).

Infrastructure & Servers

  • UOS controller 172.16.3.29:11443, site short va6iba3v / site_id 685f39068e65331c46ef6dd2. Controller-side ops reach .29 directly (ACG-internal) — NOT over the Cascades VPN.
  • Cascades VPN (pfSense OpenVPN, 192.168.0.1) needed only for AP-direct SSH (192.168.2.x/3.x) — drops after ~5 min idle (--inactive 300); keep-warm TCP-touches it every 170s.
  • 77 U7-Pro APs; mesh: parent 2nd Floor Atrium, children CC Bridge/salon/108. Voice VLAN 30 (10.0.30.x): 31 devices (8 AudioCodes .224-.231 wired, 22+ Poly, Vertical desktop .201).
  • Measured 5 GHz congestion (median busy%): DFS 2-3%; non-DFS UNII-1 ~10% (ch44 22%); UNII-3 ~10-14% (ch157 28%, ch149 12% max 75%).

Commands & Outputs

  • Controller REST write pattern: login POST /api/auth/login -> capture x-csrf-token -> PUT /proxy/network/api/s/<site>/rest/device/<id> with full radio_table (modify the na/ng entry).
  • Channel survey: SURVEY_JSON=... survey-collect.sh cascades (74/74, ~12 min).
  • Voice nudge: POST /proxy/network/api/s/<site>/cmd/stamgr {"cmd":"kick-sta","mac":...}.
  • Validation: live-stats.sh cascades before/after; stat/sta for VLAN-30 voice online + band split.
  • Result: 5 GHz retry avg 8.7 -> 3.8 (med 8.2 -> 2.1); 2.4 retry ~baseline; sat med 99; voice 31/31.

Pending / Incomplete Tasks

  • 6 GHz on CSCNet — needs Howard's decision on a WPA3/transition+PMF conversion (touches all 427 clients incl. voice + legacy IoT). Blocked until then.
  • Re-enable the 3 AM AP auto-upgrade when ready (left OFF tonight).
  • Stand up a recurring dfs-check.sh radar monitor on the DFS channels (fold into the network-logging plan) — UniFi auto-vacates one AP on a radar hit; the monitor tells us if it ever happens.
  • MemCare min-RSSI + room-515/210/204 coverage — after Howard adds APs to floors 5/6 next week.
  • 6 straggler Poly phones still on VLAN 20/Default -> re-key to the voice PPSK.
  • 2.4 1/6/11 channel re-plan — deferred (was worse until the Medium-power set stabilized; re-run later).

Reference Information

  • Session logs (this night): clients/cascades-tucson/session-logs/2026-06/2026-06-1{8,9}-howard-*.md.
  • Survey data .claude/tmp/cascades-survey2.json (74/74); DFS plan .claude/tmp/dfs-plan.json; neighbor matrix .claude/tmp/cascades-nbr.json; full pre-night rollback state .claude/tmp/dev2.json.
  • Master plan docs/network/network-optimization-master-plan.md; voice QoS docs/network/phase1-voice-qos-design.md.
  • Prior commits: c7239e1 (baseline), 3c85d2c (2b), cc66da4 (5GHz attempt+rollback), 7ff723d (DFS validated).
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