Airtime Decongestion

Airtime Decongestion enhances Wi-Fi management traffic by minimizing the amount of airtime consumed by management traffic, thus freeing up more time for actual data traffic.
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Feature Overview

Airtime Decongestion is designed to reduce congestion and improve overall network performance by minimizing the amount of management traffic. In a WLAN, only one data packet can be transmitted at a time, and it consumes a certain amount of the available airtime. Hence, by reducing the volume of management traffic, more airtime is available for actual data transmission, resulting in a more efficient and reliable network. Airtime Decongestion is best enabled in high-density environments where the volume of management traffic can significantly impact network performance. The following techniques are employed to manage and reduce the competition among multiple devices for the same wireless channel, leading to improved network performance:

  • Null Probe Requests: Special probe requests that do not contain any SSID information. Airtime Decongestion ignores null probe requests, which are often unnecessary and can contribute to network congestion.
  • RSSI Threshold: The feature disregards probe requests from stations with very low Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI), ensuring that only devices with a sufficiently strong signal are considered for connection.
  • Retry Reduction: The feature reduces the number of retries when waiting for a wireless client to connect after a probe response has been sent. This minimizes the time and resources spent attempting to connect to devices that may not respond promptly.

Following are the benefits:

  • Better user experience: Minimizes delays and interruptions, providing smoother and more reliable connectivity for users.
  • Improved network efficiency and performance: Ensures that all devices get a fair share of airtime, reducing bottlenecks and maximizing throughput, leading to faster and stable connections.

Requirements

This feature has no special hardware or software requirements for feature enablement or usage.

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This feature has no special hardware or software requirements for feature enablement or usage.

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  • What releases support the feature?
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Considerations

  • Enabling Airtime Decongestion disables the Join RSSI Threshold configuration.
  • You can access the Airtime Decongestion setting in the RUCKUS One web interface from the Wi-Fi > Wi-Fi Networks > Wi-Fi Network List > Create/Edit Wi-Fi Network > Show more settings > Networking sub-tab.
This section is required. Including this section, even when there is no impact, lets SMEs and customers know that the associated information was not forgotten.

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This feature has no special considerations or limitations pertaining to feature enablement or usage.

If there are considerations, include the applicable below points (depending on product line).

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  • Does the feature replace an existing feature?
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Best Practices

Following are the best practices:

  • Optimize placement of APs to ensure even coverage and reduce interference.
  • Regularly monitor network performance and adjust configurations as needed.
This section is required. Including this section, even when there is no impact, lets SMEs and customers know that the associated information was not forgotten.

If there are no best practices (recommendations), use the following default wording:

This feature has no special recommendations for feature enablement or usage.

If there are considerations, include the applicable below points (depending on product line).

  • Brief list of RUCKUS recommendations on product use to optimize performance.

Prerequisites

Before enabling Airtime Decongestion, ensure that Background Scan is enabled. This is necessary for the feature to function correctly and optimize the network effectively.

This section is required. Including this section, even when there is no impact, lets SMEs and customers know that the associated information was not forgotten.

If there are no prerequisites, use the following default wording:

This feature has no prerequisites to feature enablement or usage.

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Note: This section is sometimes part of a general overview and sometimes part of a configuration overview.
  • What are the task prerequisites that the user must ensure are met,for configuration? (For example, must you be running certain protocols, or must you configure other features first?)

Note: Airtime Decongestion Overview. This video provides a brief overview of Airtime Decongestion.

Click to play video in full screen mode.

Related information:

Video: Airtime Decongestion Overview
Parent topic: Configuring Additional Settings for a Wi-Fi Network