# Channel Planning

Hamina includes an automatic channel planner, which runs whenever any adjustments are made to the predictive model, such as adding walls or moving access points.

The channel planner attempts to minimize or remove co-channel interference, using any available channels allowed in the Channel Settings window.

## Opening the Channel Settings

1. Click on any access point on the map.
2. In the Edit Access Point pane, click **show more**.<br>

   <figure><img src="/files/ALEfbruskLCdNwfc0Pyf" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>
3. Click the link to open the **Channel Settings** window.<br>

   <figure><img src="/files/gpnAe5VGHrnlSOuHLolO" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

### Removing Channels

In 2.4, 5, and 6 GHz, it is possible to remove channels from the channel plan. It is very common to remove channels from the 5 GHz channel plan, due to factors such as:

* Neighboring networks already using channels
* Lack of client device support on certain channels (for example, some clients do not support channel 144)
* Lack of access point support on certain channels
* Non-Wi-Fi technologies operating in the same frequency space as some Wi-Fi channels

You can use the Channel Settings window to remove channels from the channel plan but unchecking them, and clicking **Save**.

## Automatic Frequency Coordination (AFC)

Hamina Network Planner Plus integrates with the Wi-Fi Alliance AFC database, so you can query the database during the design phase to see which channels and transmit powers you can use.

### Pre-requisites

* You must have a **Hamina Network Planner Plus** subscription.
* The project country must be set to **United States**.
* The location must contain at least two valid GPS Coordinate markers, located in the United States.
* In the **Channel & Network Settings**, the Automatic Frequency Coordination (AFC) setting must be enabled.
* An SP (Standard Power) access point must be placed on the map.

### Setting up Automatic Frequency Coordination (AFC)

1. Set the project country to **United States**.
2. Using Google Maps, find a precise landmark or location on the map that you can use as a reference point.
3. Right-click the precise landmark or location, and click on the latitude and longitude in the menu tor copy it to your clipboard.
4. In Hamina Network Planner Plus, select the **Coordinates** tool (which is grouped together with the Scale tool) in the toolbar.
5. Precisely place the Coordinate marker in Hamina in the same location as the reference point on the map.
6. With either `Ctrl + V` or `Command + V`, paste the coordinates from Google Maps into the Coordinate marker.
7. Repeat the process a second time in another location on the map.
8. Place a standard power access point on the map.
9. The **AFC** button will appear new the view controls in the upper right.

## Surveyed AP Channel Assignment

Hamina Network Planner can run an automatic channel plan on a surveyed network. This can be used to evaluate the performance of your wireless vendor's radio resource management system, or to generate a channel plan for wireless systems that don't support automatic channel planning.

{% hint style="success" %}
Enabling **Surveyed AP auto-channel assignment** is a reversible, non-destructive change. You'll still be able to see what channels surveyed access point radios were using at the time of the survey, and you can revert by disabling **Surveyed AP auto-channel assignment** at any time.
{% endhint %}

{% stepper %}
{% step %}

### Evaluate Interference

1. Click the **Expand** button in the Legend, and enable the **Interference** heatmap.<br>

   <div align="left"><figure><img src="/files/AkxreYkBlZLgS0V1UpCj" alt="" width="563"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

2. Select your SSID (or SSIDs, if you have multiple) in the SSID list.

3. Optionally, visit the **Global settings** and choose between **My network** and **All networks:**
   1. **My network** - Shows interference between your access points, ignoring everything else. This is useful to see how optimized your network is internally.
   2. **All networks** - Shows interference between your access points, and access points that belong to neighboring networks. This is useful to see how much interference your access points will receive in total.\
      \
      \&#xNAN;*<mark style="color:blue;background-color:blue;">Note: The choice between</mark> <mark style="color:blue;background-color:blue;"></mark><mark style="color:blue;background-color:blue;">**My network**</mark> <mark style="color:blue;background-color:blue;"></mark><mark style="color:blue;background-color:blue;">and</mark> <mark style="color:blue;background-color:blue;"></mark><mark style="color:blue;background-color:blue;">**All networks**</mark> <mark style="color:blue;background-color:blue;"></mark><mark style="color:blue;background-color:blue;">has no effect on the automatic channel plan.</mark>*
      {% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Enabled Surveyed AP Channel Assignment

1. Click on the **Channel & Network Settings** button in the top right.<br>

   <div align="left"><figure><img src="/files/k2cP1xDBr2kp02Ts8bvA" alt="" width="373"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

2. Enable **Surveyed AP auto-channel assignment**.<br>

   <figure><img src="/files/gssQmvAlCrK4uyB0WJde" alt=""><figcaption></figcaption></figure>

3. Click the **Save** button at the bottom of the **Channel & Network Settings** window.

4. View the results in the **Interference** heatmap.
   {% endstep %}

{% step %}

### View AP Radio Details

1. Activate the **Edit** tool, and select an access point.
2. In the **Edit Access Point** pane, you can see what channel the AP had during the survey, and what channel was assigned by the channel planner.<br>

   <div align="left"><figure><img src="/files/QRpS0MvGEH6COvm9ZUGR" alt="" width="375"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

{% endstep %}

{% step %}

### Export the Channel Plan

If your Wi-Fi infrastructure does not support automatic channel planning, it's possible to export the channel plan as a .CSV for processing and implementation in your infrastructure.

1. Click the **Reporting** menu in the upper right, and select **Create a new report**.

2. Under **Type**, select **Survey**. Name the report and click the **Create** button.

3. In the **Report Editor**, select the **AP List** page.

4. Click the **Copy to Clipboard** button.<br>

   <div align="left"><figure><img src="/files/YGnM68ZNBmRUKgmIlJ3B" alt="" width="375"><figcaption></figcaption></figure></div>

5. Paste the clipboard into a text editor or spreadsheet application.

6. The original channels will be in parenthesis, and the new channels will not. From here, you can save the file as a .CSV, and take it to a Large Language Model (LLM) such as Claude or ChatGPT, and get assistance in translating the .CSV format into something that your Wi-Fi infrastructure can import as a channel plan.
   {% endstep %}
   {% endstepper %}


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