MeshLinx MWI-5000 User Guide
MESHLINX CONFIDENTIAL
8
7.1.8 Sensitivity
The receive sensitivity parameter determines how sensitive a wireless interface radio is to
low-energy signals. A low-energy signal could be a distant station that is legitimately
trying to associate with the MWI-5000 AP or it could be cross-interface interference from
another wireless interface on the same MWI-5000 mini-PCI board.
The sensitivity parameter is set to “high” by default, to ensure that distant stations are
“heard” by the MWI-5000. If it is known that all stations needing network access through
the MWI-5000 are relatively close the receive sensitivity can be set to “medium” or
“low”.
The only reason to set sensitivity to anything but “high” is to avoid cross-interface
interference between wireless interfaces on the same MWI-5000 mini-PCI board. This
might occur if you are running two or three interfaces in the same mode (e.g. 11G) and
on adjacent channels.
Sensitivity is an advanced tuning parameter that normally does not need to be changed
from its default “high” setting. Avoid changing it unless you suspect cross-interface
interference between two or more interfaces on your MWI-5000 board.
7.1.9 Maximum Data Rate
The maximum data rate parameter limits the data rate used on a MWI-5000 interface. It
defaults to the maximum rate allowed for an operating mode (e.g. 54 Mbps for 11A and
11G, 11 Mbps for 11B). The maximum data rate is used in the MWI-5000 software’s
auto-rate-adjusting algorithm and is the maximum rate that the software will adjust to
when up-rating.
There is typically no need to modify the maximum data rate, except for a situation where
high transmit power levels are required to reach distant stations. In this case, a data rate
of 54 Mbps might not be achievable at a high power level like 20 dBm (due to distortion)
and the maximum data rate should be set to something lower like 48 Mbps or 36 Mbps.
Note that the MWI-5000 software’s auto-rate-adjusting algorithm will work around a
problem with high transmit power by retransmitting at a lower data rate when a higher
data rate fails. Although this works, it is not as efficient as avoiding the failing data rate
altogether. In cases where the transmit power needs to be set higher than normal to reach
distant stations, it may be necessary and will be more efficient to reduce the maximum
date rate to account for the potential distortion at the default maximum data rate.
See the discussion of transmit power for more information.