Important DBS Performance Considerations

Important DBS Performance Considerations

Stable network connectivity and streaming traffic during roaming are important to time-sensitive applications such as voice. The availability of DBS on the devices results in better performance concerning the following parameters:
  • DBS devices do not spend much time on off-channel scanning compared to non-DBS devices. Packet loss typically happens when devices are performing off-channel scanning. Therefore, the ongoing traffic between the DBS devices and the APs has lower packet loss. This reduces the jitter and delays of the traffic.
    • The off-channel scanning time depends on the distributions or layouts of deployments and the WLAN configurations such as 11k. On average, DBS devices spend about half the time non-DBS do on off-channel scanning.
  • DBS devices complete scanning cycles in a shorter time than the non-DBS to search for the best AP. DBS devices scan and connect to the next stronger AP before the current AP connection deteriorates and impacts the traffic or disconnects during roaming. By doing this quicker than non-DBS, the connectivity is less likely to be interrupted, and the data transmission traffic keeps going in an expected stable quality without packet retries. In addition to that, when DBS devices move from a poor network coverage area which is not covered at all or spotty to a better one, the devices can connect to the new network quicker than the non-DBS.
    • The switching speed from one AP to another by DBS devices depends on the distributions or layouts of deployments and the WLAN configuration such as 11k. On average, DBS devices are 50% faster than non-DBS.