In wireless networking, Adjacent Channel Interference (ACI) occurs when two or more access points transmit on partially overlapping RF channels, causing their signals to interfere with one another. In the context of Juniper Networks Mist AI Wireless, ACI is a critical RF condition that negatively impacts client performance and service-level expectations (SLEs).
ACI is most commonly observed in the 2.4 GHz band, where only three non-overlapping channels (1, 6, and 11) are available. When access points are configured on channels such as 1 and 3, or 6 and 8, their frequency spectra overlap. This overlap results in corrupted frames, increased retransmissions, higher latency, and reduced throughput for connected clients. Unlike co-channel interference, ACI introduces uncoordinated interference, which is more damaging to overall network efficiency.
Mist AI Wireless continuously analyzes RF telemetry collected from access points and clients to identify ACI conditions. Using machine learning and RF intelligence, Mist can detect excessive retries, PHY errors, and degraded airtime efficiency associated with overlapping channels. These findings are surfaced through Marvis AI insights and RF-related SLE degradation indicators, allowing operators to quickly identify misconfigurations.
The incorrect options can be explained as follows:
Option A describes a properly designed RF environment with non-overlapping channels, which does not cause ACI.
Option C refers to co-channel interference (CCI), where access points share the same channel and rely on contention-based access mechanisms.
Option D is too broad; simply operating in the 2.4 GHz band does not inherently cause ACI unless overlapping channels are used.
To mitigate ACI, Mist best practices recommend using non-overlapping channels, minimizing channel width, and favoring the 5 GHz and 6 GHz bands where more clean spectrum is available. Therefore, the correct description of ACI is two or more access points operating on overlapping channels.
