RF Interference Sources Monitor for Devices

The RF Interference Sources monitor for wireless devices consists of a summary pie chart that reflects all wireless traffic experienced by the object selected in the View pane. You can select any one of the objects listed in Table 1 in the view pane:

Table 1: Wireless Objects With Interference Tracking

Icon	Object
	Entire Wireless Network in any view.
	Wireless Mobility Domain in any view.
	Controller Cluster in any view. Note: You cannot see interference for a single controller.
	Individual access point in any view.
	Individual radio in any view.
	Selecting a floor in logical view displays all access points on that floor.
	Selecting a building in logical view displays all access points in that building.
	Selecting a site from the logical view displays all access points in that building.
	Wiring closet—to create a wiring closet.

Connectivity Services Director tracks and monitors interference from these sources:

• Microwave ovens—Most domestic microwave ovens use 2.45 GHz, and can interfere with Wi-Fi channels from 8 to 10 (or even 7 to 11). Interference varies depending on the model of the oven—for example, commercial restaurant microwave ovens sweep over a wider spectrum and have a higher duty cycle.

• Continuous wave devices continuously transmit at a particular frequency without attempting to share the radio frequency medium with other devices. Devices that use continuous wave technology in the same frequency bands as wireless LAN networks will interfere with wireless communications, reducing performance or totally preventing communication. Several examples of devices that may use continuous wave transmission that interferes with Wi-Fi are video surveillance cameras and baby monitors.

• Bluetooth devices

• Phone FHSS from cordless phones

• Unknown devices

To track these devices, Connectivity Services Director polls the controllers at the standard interval. The categories with the largest sections of the pie chart cause the most interference.

You can perform the following actions on the pie chart:

• Change the time period over which to display interference by selecting a time period from the list in the upper right corner.

• Display a numeric value for interference occurrences by mousing over a section of the chart.

• Click the monitor’s title to see a list of interfering objects along with the information listed in Table 2.

  Table 2: Information on RF Interference Sources for a Radio

  Information	Description
  Last Seen	Date and time the interference was last detected.
  Transmitter ID	If the interference is caused by an object with a MAC address, the MAC address is displayed. If the object has no MAC address, MSS calculates a MAC address, using the characteristics of the object. This way, you can correlate interference events over time.
  Listener MAC	MAC address of the access point that detected the interference.
  AP	Name of the access point that detected the interference.
  Controller	Name of the controller that reported the interference.
  Channel	Channel the interference affected.
  RSSI	Received signal strength indication (RSSI), in decibels referred to 1 milliwatt (dBm). A higher value indicates a stronger signal.
  Duty Cycle	Reported fraction of time that the source is emitting RF.
  Source Type	Possible sources of interference include Bluetooth, Continuous Wave, Microwave Oven, Unknown, and Phone FHSS.
  CIM (%)	Estimated severity of interference on this channel caused by the source.

Interference is frequently not a problem on wireless networks with light traffic, but as traffic becomes heavier, throughput and capacity decrease and other problems become apparent. RF interference can cause packet retransmission. Interference is also a security concern because jamming can bring down the network .

Ideally, interference retransmission does not cause more than 10% of the total number of packets sent. If your retransmission percentage is higher, you can try to lower it by:

• Locating and eliminating offending devices. If the item cannot be removed, you can add electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding such as grounded mesh, foils, insulating foams, or insulating paint. This will limit the interference to a small area.

• Moving clients to channels with less interference. Keep in mind, however, that Bluetooth devices, cordless phones, 802.11FH devices, and jamming emissions are broadband, so it's not possible to change channels away from them—they are everywhere in the band.