Monitoring for a city clinic WLAN shows client MCS distributions skewed low even though RSSI histograms look healthy. Retries are elevated. What should the expert investigate first?
Select an answer to reveal the explanation.
Short Explanation
Strong signal strength with weak data rates is like yelling across a noisy cafeteria—you’re loud, but nobody understands you. Low MCS with OK RSSI usually means interference, collisions, or a cranky client. Chase the noise and retries, not the captive-portal wallpaper.
Full Explanation
RSSI measures received power, not error-free capacity. Interference, OBSS, multipath, hidden nodes, or client firmware/driver problems can force rate fallback and retries while RSSI remains acceptable. MCS distribution plus retry stats guide that investigation. Captive-portal size, NTP stratum aesthetics, and PoE label language are not first-line explanations for skewed MCS.