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Cisco Meraki Documentation

Troubleshooting Poor Wireless Performance

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Overview

Poor wireless issues can be difficult to diagnose. This guide explains how the Cisco Meraki dashboard can help speed up the troubleshooting process and provide valuable information about the wireless environment.

Troubleshooting performance degradation

Poor wireless performance can affect one or more clients, access points (APs), or SSIDs. Before addressing a wireless issue, gather the following information to build a clear picture of the end-user experience and identify the root cause:

  • Size and scope of clients experiencing the symptom
  • Device type (iOS, Windows), hardware model (MacBook Air, Lenovo X220), and drivers
  • Specific APs or SSIDs linked to the symptom
  • Environmental factors such as physical obstructions, weather, tree growth, or newly built walls

Review AP throughput limitations before concluding that a perceived throughput issue is performance-related.

Troubleshooting steps

Use the following steps to investigate poor wireless performance using the Meraki dashboard.

Using the Live Tools and event log, network administrators can track a specific device, its movements, and its 802.11 state.

Step 1: Review the connectivity graph

  • All Cisco Meraki products include a connectivity graph that spans hours, days, and weeks. Use the connectivity graph to quickly identify outages or changes in device status

Dashboard connectivity graph

Step 2: Check the event log

All Enterprise and higher organizations have access to an event log. Review the event log for the following:

  • Associations, disassociations, and deauthentications
  • Timestamps to build a timeline of events
  • RSSI values indicating client signal strength
  • The AP and SSID on which events occurred

Step 3: Determine client signal strength

Get Signal strength from the event log by reviewing RSSI values. If a client is associated to the wireless network, you can also check signal strength by navigating to my.meraki.com and selecting Client survey tools.

Step 4: Identify whether APs are gateways or repeaters

You can determine whether an AP is a gateways or repeaters by reviewing the icon displayed on the Monitor > Access Points page:

  • A solid or hollow green circle indicates the AP is operating as a gateway.
  • A faded green circle indicates the AP is operating as a repeater.

Identifying repeater APs is useful when troubleshooting wireless throughput issues.

Step 5: Review RF spectrum via Live Tools

The Live Tools section provides real-time wireless data. Use the RF Spectrum page to identify channel utilization issues. If utilization exceeds 75%+, review other non-overlapping channels to determine whether a channel change would improve performance.

Step 6: Review the channel utilization historical graph

The channel utilization historical graph functions similarly to the connectivity graph. Use the channel utilization historical graph to identify temporary spikes or consistent channel saturation over time.

Wireless channel utilization - live graph

 

Step 7: Check radio settings for co-channel interference

If the channel utilization graph shows extended periods of high utilization driven primarily by 802.11 traffic, navigate to Configure > Radio Settings. The Radio Settings page displays:

  • The number of Cisco Meraki and non-Meraki APs operating on the same channels
  • The maximum interfering signal strength

  • If the channel utilization graph shows extended high utilization and the Configure > Radio Settings page shows multiple APs on the same channel with high signal strength, consider switching to a less congested channel.

Step 8: Review Air Marshal

Meraki Air Marshal collects detailed wireless security information even when an AP is not operating as a dedicated Air Marshal AP. Use Air Marshal to detect packet floods and spoofed SSIDs.