Common WLAN Settings

Universal WLAN settings and best practices that apply to all WLAN vendor equipment are listed in this topic.

The following table displays the required common WLAN settings.

Setting	Recommended Value
Authentication Timeouts	Add session timeout of at least 1 full shift
AP Transmit Power	Max 17 dBm (50 mW) Min 12 dBm (16 mW)
Band	5GHz
Band Steering	Disable
Basic Data Rate	Data Rates Determine the rate as needed for each site
Beacon Interval	100 (Required)
Channel Plan	2.4 GHz—1, 6, 11
Channel Plan	5 GHz—Any Note: Vocera does not recommend using channels 120-128. B3000n does not support channel 144. If utilizing DFS channels, do not hide the SSID to speed up roaming.
Channel Width	For optimal channel separation and to minimize co-channel interference Vocera recommends 20 MHz wide channels. B3000n Badge: 2.4GHz—20 MHz 5 GHz—20Mhz or 40MHz V5000 Smartbadge 5 GHz—20MHz, 40MHz, or 80MHz C1000 Minibadge 5 GHz—20MHz, 40MHz, or 80MHz
Client Exclusions	Disable
Coverage	-65dBm Minimum (Recommended: 2 Access Points with -65dBm) Vocera Badges require a sensitivity level of -65dBm, as measured from a mobile VoIP client. You should apply the recommended mobile VoIP offsets from a survey vendor of your choice. For instance, consider applying the RSSI offset from Ekahau. Stryker's internal testing has identified the following signal offsets when using the Ekahau Sidekick for data capture with Vocera devices. -8 dB for 5 GHz -5 dB for 2.4 GHz Stryker provides specific offsets for Stryker devices only. For device offsets for non-Stryker devices, refer to the respective device manufacturer's wireless specifications.
DTIM	1 (Required)
Load Balancing	Disable
Max Number of SSIDs	5
Minimum SNR	+ 25 dB
Neighbor Reports (802.11k)	Enable
Priority Queue	Highest—Voice (Required)
Roaming Policy	B3000n—2 V5000—3 C1000—3
Voice Grade Site Survey	Recommended
WMM	Recommended

The following table displays the multicast recommendations.

Setting	Recommended Value
Multicast Configuration	PIM (Sparse Mode or Sparse Dense Mode) must be applied to all Vocera VLANs and the WLC management VLAN. Enable IGMP Snooping on APs and all L2 devices in the multicast audio path. Block all unnecessary multicast traffic.

The following table displays the association delays caused by authentication.

Authentication Type	Association Delay	Comments
EAP-FAST	200 ms	Frequent session timeouts can result in additional delays. Note: For EAP-FAST, use CCKM (only for B3000n), OKC, or 802.11r to cache credentials and optimize roaming times.
PEAP EAP-TLS	Varies	The association delay caused by authentication varies based on the cipher strength (1024 bit or 2048 bit) and the depth of certificate chains. Note: For EAP-TLS and PEAP, use CCKM (only for B3000n), OKC, or 802.11r to cache credentials and optimize roaming times.
PSK	< 100 ms	PSK often provides the optimal trade-off between security and performance.
Encryption	NA	AES-CCMP. Vocera badges do not support WEP, TKIP or SAE.