Distributed Automatic Radio Resource Provisioning (DARRP)

When DARRP is enabled, FortiAPs continuously monitor the RF environment for interference, noise and signals from neighboring APs or other devices operating in the same frequency range. Interference on the configured channel can affect the WiFi experience for your network user. DARRP determines the optimal RF power levels to automatically and periodically select the optimal channel for wireless communication. This is done by measuring utilization and interference on the available channels, mainly by canning the neighbor APs, signal strength, and channel width of the radio. This feature is especially useful in large-scale deployments where multiple access points have overlapping radio ranges. DARRP selects the optimal channel without manual intervention and facilitates an optimized wireless infrastructure to deliver maximum performance.

Also, the FortiAP automatically adjusts the TX power levels, when the FortiAP detects any other wireless signal stronger that -70 dBm, it reduces its transmission power until it reaches the minimum configured TX power limit and when any wireless client signal weaker than -70 dBm is detected, it reduces its transmission power until it reaches the maximum configured TX power limit.

• Configuring Basic DARRP

• Configuring Advanced DARRP

Configuring Basic DARRP

Basic DARRP configuration is enabled by default.

1. On the FortiLAN Cloud Home page, select the network that you want to edit.
2. In the Menu bar, navigate to Configuration > Operation Profiles > DARRP Profile.
3. Enable DARRP optimization for your network. Configure the following parameters.
   • Optimize Timer - Configures the timer interval for DARRP optimization. The default is 10 minutes and the valid range is 10 - 1440 minutes.
   • Optimize Schedule - Configures One Time or Recurring schedules. One time schedule initiates DARRP optimization only once on a particular day and time. Recurring schedule initiates and repeats DARRP optimization on specific days and time of the week. A maximum of 4 schedules can be created for both types.
   • Optimize Now - Manually initiates DARRP optimization. This operation occurs irrespective of the configured timer or schedule.

Configuring Advanced DARRP

Advanced DARRP configuration uses various additional parameters to perform DARRP optimization and accurate channel planning. It integrates data from channel utilization and takes into consideration the neighbour AP channel configuration and non-WiFi interference sources. The DARRP profile must be applied per radio in the Platform profile.

Notes:

• Supported on FortiAP version 6.4.2 or higher.
• Spectrum analysis and channel utilization features are used. FortiLAN Cloud uses spectrum analysis in the scan only mode and restores it's original configuration when DARRP is disabled.
• FortiAP Advanced Management License is required for this feature.

1. On the FortiLAN Cloud Home page, select the network that you want to edit.
2. In the Menu bar, click Configure.
3. In the Navigation pane, click DARRP Profile.
4. Click Add Profile and configure the following parameters.

Profile Name	A unique DARRP Profile name. Valid range is 1 - 36 characters.
Description	Any remarks/notes specific to the profile. The valid range is 0 – 255 characters.
Selection Period	The time period to measure average channel load, noise floor, spectral RSSI. The valid range is 0 to 65535 seconds and the default is 3600 seconds.
Monitor Period	The time period to measure average transmit retries and receive errors. The valid range is 0 to 65535 seconds and the default is 300 seconds.
Managed AP Weight	The weight in DARRP channel score calculation for managed APs. The valid range is 0 to 2000 and the default is 50.
Rogue AP Weight	The weight in DARRP channel score calculation for rogue APs. The valid range is 0 to 2000 and the default is 10.
Noise Floor Weight	The weight in DARRP channel score calculation for noise floor. The valid range is 0 to 2000 and the default is 40.
Channel Load Weight	The weight in DARRP channel score calculation for channel load. The valid range is 0 to 65535 and the default is 20.
Spectral RSSI Weight	The weight in DARRP channel score calculation for spectral RSSI. The valid range is 0 to 2000 and the default is 40.
Weather Channel Weight	The weight in DARRP channel score calculation for weather channels. The valid range is 0 to 2000 and the default is 1000.
DFS Channel Weight	The weight in DARRP channel score calculation for DFS channels. The valid range is 0 to 2000 and the default is 500.
AP Threshold	Threshold to reject channel in DARRP channel selection phase 1 due to surrounding APs. Integer value from 1 to 500 (default = 250)
Noise Floor Threshold	Threshold in dBm to reject channel in DARRP channel selection phase 1 due to noise floor. dBm (-95 to -20, default = -85)
Channel Load Threshold	The threshold to reject a channel in DARRP channel selection phase 1 due to channel load. The valid range is 0 to 100% and the default is 60%.
Spectral RSSI Threshold	The threshold to reject a channel in DARRP channel selection phase 1 due to spectral RSSI. The valid range is -95 dBm to -20dBm and the default is -65 dBm.
Tx Retries Threshold	The threshold for transmit retries to trigger channel reselection in DARRP monitor stage. The valid ranges is 0 to 1000% and the default is 300%.
Rx Errors Threshold	The threshold for receive errors to trigger channel reselection in DARRP monitor stage. The valid range is 0 to 100% and the default is 50%.
Include Weather Channel	To enable or disable the use of weather channels in DARRP channel selection. This is disabled by default.
Include DFS Channel	To enable or disable the use of DFS channels in DARRP channel selection. This is disabled by default.