ZyXEL Communications NWA-3163 & NWA-3166 User Manual

Chapter 22 Dynamic Channel Selection

NWA-3160 Series User’s Guide

In this example, if the NWA attempts to broadcast on channels 1, 6, or 11 it is 
met with cross-channel interference from the other AP that shares the channel. 
This can result in noticeably slower data transfer rates, the dropping of the 
connection altogether, or even lost data packets.

However, if the NWA broadcasts on the otherwise empty channel 4 then there 
will be minimal interference and a clearer connection to the network.

To alleviate this problem of having to manually change channels every time 
interference crops up, you would normally need to scan the area quite often to see 
which channels are currently unused then set your device to use one of them. But 
with Dynamic Channel Selection, the NWA does this automatically.

Use this screen to configure your Dynamic Channel Selection options . Click DCS 
in the navigation menu. The following screen appears.

Figure 167   DCS

The following table describes the labels in this screen 

Table 82   DCS

Dynamic Channel 
Selection

Select this to either Enable or Disable dynamic channel 
selection.

DCS Time Interval

Enter a number of minutes. This regulates how often the NWA 
surveys the other APs within its broadcast radius. If the 
channel on which it is currently broadcasting suddenly comes 
into use by another AP, the NWA will then dynamically select 
the next available empty channel or a channel with markedly 
lower interference.
This is set to 720 minutes by default.