SCENARIO : Increasing & Decreasing Tx Power Levels 

CATEGORY : RF Tuning 

PURPOSE / USE CASE : Adjust coverage or reduce interference 

STEPS TO TEST : Increase/decrease power, check RSSI 

 

RF tuning (Radio Frequency tuning) refers to the process of optimizing your wireless network’s radio settings to ensure the best possible performance, coverage, and stability. It involves adjusting channel selection, transmit power, channel width, and other RF parameters to minimize interference and maximize efficiency. 

RSSI is a measure of the strength of a wireless signal that a device receives from an access point (AP). It plays a critical role in Wi-Fi performance, roaming, and troubleshooting. 

HOW IT WORKS: 

Step 1: 

Onboard RAY Access Point in RAY cloud controller. 

Step 2: 

Configure Desired Network Interface and WLAN (SSID). 

Step 3: 

To Adjust coverage, we can create RADIO PROFILE and can adjust Transmission power and channel width according to user requirement.  

 

 

 

TYPICAL RSSI RANGES (in dBm): 

RSSI (dBm) 

Signal Quality 

What It Means 

–30 to –50 

Excellent 

Very strong signal (near the AP) 

–51 to –60 

Very Good 

Ideal for high-bandwidth apps (video, gaming) 

–61 to –70 

Good 

Usable for most tasks; may affect real-time apps 

–71 to –80 

Fair 

Low speeds, increased latency 

–81 to –90 

Poor 

Likely to drop or disconnect 

< –90 

Unusable 

Basically no usable connection 

Note: RSSI is negative in dBm. Closer to zero is stronger (e.g., –45 dBm is better than –75 dBm). 

 

 

KEY RF TUNING PARAMETERS: 

Parameter 

What It Does 

Best Practice 

Channel Selection 

Determines which frequency the AP uses 

Use non-overlapping channels (2.4 GHz: 1, 6, 11) 

Channel Width 

Controls how much spectrum the AP uses (20/40/80/160 MHz) 

Use 20 MHz in 2.4 GHz, 40 or 80 MHz in 5 GHz (depending on density) 

Transmit Power 

Controls how far the signal reaches 

Match power to environment; avoid overpowering 

Band Steering 

Pushes dual-band clients to 5 GHz 

Enable in most modern networks 

Airtime Fairness 

Prioritizes faster clients 

Enable if supported 

Minimum RSSI / Client Threshold 

Forces clients to roam if signal drops below a threshold 

Helps improve roaming behavior 

Load Balancing 

Distributes clients between APs 

Helps avoid overcrowded APs