User's Manual

Wireless Array
Installing the Wireless Array 39
Channel Bonding
Channel bonding increases data rates by combining two adjacent 20 MHz
channels into one 40 MHz channel. This increases the data rate to slightly more
than double.
A bonded 40 MHz channel is specified in terms of the Primary channel and the
adjacent channel to Bond. The Bond channel is represented by +1 to use the
channel above the Primary channel, or -1 to use the channel below. In the example
shown, Channel 40 is the Primary channel and it is bonded to Channel 36, the
channel below it, by specifying -1. Be aware that Channel Bonding can make
channel planning more difficult, since you are using two channels for an IAP. We
recommend the use of the 5 GHz band, since it has many more channels than the
2.4 GHz band, and thus more channels are available for bonding.
The Array provides an Automatic Channel Bonding setting that will
automatically select the best channel for bonding on each IAP. If you enable this
option, you may select whether bonding will be dynamic (the bonded channel
changes in response to environmental conditions) or static (the bonded channel
will not be changed. See “Global Settings .11n” on page 304. To configure channel
bonding manually, on a per-IAP basis, see “IAP Settings” on page 274.
Figure 19. Channel Bonding
Ch# Ch#
40
20 MHz 20 MHz
36
40 MHz
(40, -1)
Standard 802.11 channels are
effectively 20MHz wide.
Channel bonding combines
two adjacent 20MHz channels
into a single 40MHz channel
providing increased throughput.