R&S®LANCOM Active Radio Control (ARC)

The intelligent WLAN optimization concept xml:lang="en"behind R&S®LANCOM Active Radio Control (ARC) helps you to sustainably optimize your radio field and proactively avoid sources of interference on the WLAN. Active Radio Control consists of numerous complementary functions in the R&S®NC operating system LCOS, which combine to significantly improve the performance of your WLAN. All of the features in Active Radio Control are included for free in the operating system LCOS and they are easy to operate with the appropriate management tools.

RF optimization: Automatic selection of optimum WLAN channels: WLAN clients benefit from improved throughput thanks to reduced channel overlap. In controller-based WLAN installations, the optimal channels are selected automatically for managed access points. For more information about RF optimization, see the relevant section RF optimization.
Airtime Fairness: Improved utilization of WLAN bandwidth: Especially in WLAN scenarios with a high density of end devices, clients compete for the available bandwidth. Active clients are given transmission opportunities by the access point in turn – without considering the required transmission time. As a result, slower (legacy) clients slow down faster clients during the transmission of data packets, even though the faster clients could complete their data transmission in a very short time. The Airtime Fairness feature ensures that the available bandwidth is utilized efficiently. To achieve this, WLAN transmission times ("airtime") are distributed fairly among the active clients. The result: Because all clients have the same airtime available, faster clients can achieve correspondingly higher data throughput in the same amount of time.; Further information can be found in the section Airtime Fairness.
Band steering: Make optimal use of your WLAN's bandwidth: Automatically controlled by the access point, clients steered to the 5-GHz frequency band can effectively double the WLAN performance because only here are sufficient channels available for channel bundling. For more information about band steering, see the relevant section WLAN band steering.
Client Steering: More performance for WLAN clients thanks to intelligent management: Active management of WLAN clients to the most suitable access point for them significantly increases WLAN performance in controller-based networks. Client Steering is ideal for optimal load distribution, especially in WLAN scenarios with a high number of end devices. Depending on predefined scenarios or individually defined parameters such as signal strength, frequency band, or number of connected clients, the end devices are connected to the best access point for them and can therefore utilize the full bandwidth potential. And best of all: everything happens fully automatically without requiring settings to be configured on the clients.; Further information can be found in the section Client steering by WLC.
Client Management: Client Management ensures that WLAN clients are always directed to the ideal access point and the best frequency band for them. This feature therefore improves the quality of wireless networks of any size - whether in stand-alone operation or orchestrated via the R&S®LANCOM Management Cloud. The popular but previously separate functions Band Steering and Client Steering are combined here and are also provided without operation using a WLAN controller.; Compared to the previous WLC-supported Client Steering, Client Management operates autonomously and without a WLC. The access points communicate with each other using the IAPP protocol.; Further information can be found in the section Client Management.
Adaptive noise immunity: Better WLAN throughput thanks to immunity to interfering signals: WLAN clients benefit from significantly improved data throughput thanks to interference-free signal coverage. Enabling the adaptive noice immunity allows an access point to block out interfering signals and to focus exclusively on WLAN clients with sufficient signal strength. For more information about adaptive noise immunity, see the relevant section Adaptive noise immunity for reducing interference on the WLAN.
Spectral scan: Check your WLAN radio spectrum for sources of interference: With Spectral Scan, you have a professional tool for efficient WLAN troubleshooting. A scan of the entire radio spectrum identifies sources of interference from outside the WLAN and allows a graphical representation. For more information about spectral scanning, see the relevant section Spectral scan.