So, this morning, I came into work expecting it to be like any other Friday: slow, dull, and annoyingly quiet. By 10AM, the day seemed to be progressing in this very way. Then the phone rang....
PT: My wireless keeps dropping on both my phone and my computer. It'll go away, and come back
Me: Alright, is anyone else in your area experiencing the same thing?
PT: Let me check.... Yep, four others within 20 feet of me.
Me: Alright, let me check a few things. I'll call you back, or stop by.
Pull up my wireless controllers, and all AP's are showing online and active. Uptimes indicate they're not rebooting.
*phone rings*
DR: My wireless keeps dropping... blah blah blah
Me: Anyone else around... blah blah blah
DR: Yep all the staff on this unit
Me: Ok, I'll look into it and let you know
PT's department, and DR's department (PT = Physical Therapist; DR = Doctor) are on different floors, on opposite ends of the building. Their AP's report to separate controllers. Alright... Now I'm starting to really scratch my head. Grab my heat mapping tool and laptop, go over by PT's area. Stand there for a while, and watch the 2.4GHz band just vanish. 5GHz is still strong, but 2.4 is just gone. A few seconds later, it comes back.
Go up to DR's area. Same thing. Exact same behavior. Start actively monitoring the Tx power levels on the AP's from the controller. Refresh, refresh, refresh. Boom there it is on Controller A: AP's in that area on 2.4GHz, Tx power drops to minimum, then comes back up. look at Controller B: Same thing, seemingly at random. Look at other areas on the facility. Seeing random activity of the same nature scattered across both controllers, but not in any traceable pattern. Look around, and the only common thread is it appears to primarily affect AP's closest to the perimeter of the building. However, it's not happening to the AP's on the same side of the building, on separate floors, simultaneously.
Headscratching continues.... Kept monitoring for about 3-4 hours. Suddenly, it just stops happening. Haven't had a Tx fluctuation in over 30 minutes. I'm at a loss. We're in close proximity to a military base. "Would you like to play a game?"
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