Legacy Open Mesh: Maximum Access Point Performance Settings

Topic

This article explains the maximum performance settings for Datto access points.

Environment

  • Datto access points

Description

If your main concern is to maximize bandwidth speeds on your access points, you may wish to turn off certain features which can cause additional load on the access point.

Keep in mind that if you are using a single-band 2.4GHz-only access point, your speeds will likely be limited due to the 2.4GHz band having limited available bandwidth and often being congested. Additionally, if you are using wireless repeaters, performance will be reduced further and depend heavily on the quality of the mesh connection the repeater has with its wired gateway.

For maximum performance, use the following SSID settings with an 802.11ac capable access point:

  • SSID[x] -> Band -> 5GHz
  • SSID[x] -> Bandwidth Throttling -> Off
  • SSID[x] -> DNS Intercept -> Off
  • SSID[x] -> Bridge to LAN -> On
  • Configure -> Advanced -> Application Reporting (DPI) -> Off

The reasons for this are:

  • 5GHz is typically always more performance than 2.4GHz, and is required for 802.11ac. Setting the SSID to 5GHz-only ensures clients are connecting to 5GHz and not 2.4GHz.
  • Bandwidth Throttling limits bandwidth and uses more processor time.
  • DNS Intercept requires more processor time.
  • Application Reporting (DPI) requires more processor time.
  • Bridging is faster than routing, as it uses less processor time for each packet.

Keep in mind these settings do turn off many of the advanced features of the access point. If you need to use these advanced features, experiment with turning them on one by one to determine which of them causes the biggest performance hit for your environment.