Broadcast Multicast Optimization

Executive Summary
Broadcast and multicast packets are essential parts of protocols, applications, and network
operations. The nature of broadcast and multicast packets is such that they get forwarded
to every link of a Layer 2 network. That is to say, they go everywhere. When forwarded to
unnecessary or unwanted places on the network, they use valuable resources and can cause
problems.

This application note explains how you can reduce the impact of broadcast and multicast on
your wireless network by using features in Mojo Wireless Manager 8.1 release to block, prune,
and optimize the broadcast/multicast traffic.

Introduction
Broadcast and multicast packets are essential to network communications. Broadcast packets
are commonly used by protocols such as ARP to find other devices or to find network services
like DHCP, when their network address is unknown. Multicast is an efficient way to deliver the
same info to multiple recipients by sending one packet instead of a packet to each recipient on
the network. Broadcast and multicast packets follow many of the same rules on the network. In
fact, broadcast is a special case of multicast.

The recipients of broadcast and multicast packets are unknown, so these packets use special
destination addresses (MAC address: BC=FFFF:FFFF:FFFF, IPv4 MC=0100:5E…, IPv6 MC 33:33…).
When a Layer 2 device (say, a switch or an AP) receives broadcast or multicast packet it quickly
identifies it by its special destination address and it forwards it to all its ports. For example, when
a multicast packet comes in on port 1 of a 48 port switch it will then be forwarded onto ports
2-48. When an Access Point (AP) receives a broadcast/multicast packet from its Ethernet port, it
forwards and transmits the packet to the wireless media.

APs transmit these packets using a Basic data rate so that they can be heard by all clients. Basic
rate are usually the lowest data rates (typically 1, 2, 5.5, 6, or 11 Mbps) supported by the AP. Low
data rates are expensive because the wireless medium is a shared resource and the air time
used by these low data rates could be used much more efficiently by clients transmitting data
at much higher data rates.

Network clients determine if a packet is meant for it by looking at the destination MAC address
of the incoming packet to determine if it matches its own MAC address. If there is no match,
the packet is discarded. This is done quickly, at a very low level so system resources are not
wasted. This mechanism doesn’t work for broadcast/multicast packets because they are not
directed to a specific destination. Since they use special destination MAC address, they require
high-level system resources to determine if the packet is important to the client. For a wireless
client, this means waking up the higher-level system and using valuable power and system
resources.

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So, what is the problem?
Most of the broadcast/multicast traffic on the network is uninteresting to the vast majority of
the clients. For example, when a client sends a broadcast looking for the DHCP server, the only
two parties interested in that packet is the client looking for an IP address and the DHCP server.
As a broadcast packet, the DHCP request floods the entire network with the packet being
forwarded out of every Layer 2 switch and every AP. APs then transmit at a low data rate eating
up valuable airtime. In addition, this request will wake up every wireless client to listen to and
process an unnecessary packet.

Multicast is similar in that the packets are forwarded throughout the Layer 2 domain eventually
being transmitted by APs at low data rates. This impacts all APs and clients that might or might
not be interested in the multicast stream.

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The Solution – Block, Prune, Optimize
All features mentioned in this document are configured per SSID. They are configured in
the SSID profile on the Mojo Wireless Manager UI: Configuration>Device Configuration>SSID
Profiles>Add WiFi Profile>RF Optimizations

Block
Broadcast/Multicast Control

Broadcast/Multicast Control
The best ways to clean up the RF airspace is by preventing unnecessary traffic from being
transmitted. The Broadcast/Multicast Control feature of Mojo Wireless Manager lets you filter
out unnecessary broadcast and multicast traffic.

Enabling Broadcast/Multicast Control blocks broadcast/multicast packets from Ethernet to

wireless. These packets can also be blocked from wireless to Ethernet. This should be used
carefully as many network functions use broadcast packets for basic operations.

If you want to clean up the Wi-Fi by blocking broadcast/multicast packets but find there is
an application that is necessary to be allowed you can create an exemption by providing the
protocol information and adding it to the exemption list.

Bonjour is an Apple protocol designed to make Bonjour-enabled devices and services easy to
use and configure over the network. Bonjour makes heavy use of broadcast and is essential for
using Apple products, therefore, we provide a check box to automatically apply an exemption.

Table 1 – Exemption List

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Feature Description Default

Broadcast / Multicast Control AP blocks all broadcast/ Enabled

multicast packets to wireless.

Wireless -> Wired Blocks packets to the wired Disabled

side..

Allow Bonjour Allows mDNS (UDP 5353) to Disabled

and from wireless.

Exemption List 20 rules max. Requires -

destination MAC and Ether
type.

Prune

IGMP Snooping
Multicast is often used to stream video. As discussed, multicast packets need to flood the
network to reach the recipients. These packets are forwarded to many network segments even
though there are no clients on the segment that is interested in the video stream. A protocol
was developed to cull this unwanted data called Internet Group Membership Protocol (IGMP).
IGMP provides a way for a client to inform the Layer 2 device it is connected to that it wants to
receive a multicast stream. It does this by sending an IGMP Report with the multicast address
of the multicast session it wants to join. Layer 2 devices use IGMP Snooping to look at multicast
packets and match them to a list of multicast addresses that clients have joined. IGMP and
IGMP snooping provide an effective way to allow multicast packets to be pruned so they are
only forwarded to ports on which clients have subscribed (IGMP Report - Join).

Enabling IGMP Snooping blocks multicast traffic from being forwarded from Ethernet to
wireless. For multicast to be forwarded, a client must send an IGMP Report with the address of
the multicast group it wants to join.

The client application is responsible for sending the IGMP Report. If the client application does
not support IGMP (legacy applications), IGMP snooping can still be enabled. Adding an entry
for the multicast address that the application uses to the IGMP Snooping Exception List will
allow the multicast traffic to flow. When an address is added to the exception list, all packets

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are forwarded by all APs using the SSID profile regardless of whether an IGMP Report to join is
sent or not. A maximum of 30 multicast addresses can be added to the exception list.

When a client that is receiving multicast roams to another AP, the snoop table is forwarded. The
client does not need to send a new IGMP Report to join.

Table 2 – IGMP Snoop Table

Feature Description Default Range

IGMP Snooping Enables IGMP Enabled -

Snooping

IGMP Snooping Allow multicast to 30 Max

Exception List be delivered without
client sending an
IGMP Report (Join)

Table 3 – IGMP Snooping Restrictions

Feature Restrictions

IGMP Snooping Enabled by default

Based on client IGMP Report (Join)

Enable – blocks multicast, Disable – forwards

all multicast

Applies to multicast going from Ethernet to

wireless

Independent of multicast/unicast conversion

Snoop table forwarded when client roams

AP does not send IGMP Query

IGMP Snoop Protected Address Max 30 multicast addresses

Internal protected addresses

224.0.0.1/24 – query for all systems

224.0.0.22/24 – IGMP v3 addresses

Not converted to unicast if MC/UC conversion

enabled

All packets forwarded on match even if no

client sends an IGMP Report to join

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Optimize
Proxy ARP / NDP

Proxy ARP / NDP

Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is an IPv4 protocol that is used to resolve a device’s IP
address to its physical MAC address so communication can occur on the Layer 2 segment. A
device sends an ARP broadcast packet to query who on the Layer 2 segment knows which
MAC address is associated to the specified IP address. A client may also send an ARP broadcast
that contains its own IP and MAC address to update Layer 2 device ARP tables.

IPv6 doesn’t use broadcast packets. Instead it uses Neighbor Discovery Protocol (NDP) which
uses multicast to resolve addresses and to find other network resources.

The AP can act as a proxy for the wireless clients associated to it. When Proxy ARP is enabled, it
responds to the ARP and NDP requests instead of forwarding them and transmitting them at a
low, basic data rate.

Downstream Group-Addressed Forwarding (DGAF) blocks all broadcast/multicast traffic from

the wired to wireless. It is only used with Hotspot 2.0.

Multicast to Unicast Conversion

Multicast is an effective way to reduce the number of packets on your network. However, when
it gets to wireless it can be less efficient and less reliable than unicast.

Multicast packets are sent at low, basic rates regardless of the data rate the clients can support.
Unicast is sent at the best link rate that is supported by the client and the environment. For
example, a 2x2 802.11ac client on an 80 MHz channel can support up to 867 Mbps data rate.

One multicast packet sent at 11 Mbps can use significantly more airtime than three unicast
packets sent at 867 Mbps including Acks.

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Another advantage of sending multicast packets as unicast is that multicast packets are not
acknowledged or retried. There is no way to confirm the client received it. Unicast packets are
acknowledged (Ack) and if no Ack is received the packets are retried by the AP.

Although converting multicast packets to unicast can use significantly less airtime and is more
reliable, at some number of clients it is not recommended. It takes more AP resources to
transmit three (or five or ten) packets instead of one. If the AP’s resources are tied up converting
multicast and sending unicast packets, it may not be able to serve other important functions.
Therefore, there is a configurable client threshold at which multicast conversion will stop and
the packets are sent as multicast.

Multicast to unicast conversion is enabled and configured in the SSID profile under RF
Optimizations:

Table 3 – Multicast to Unicast Conversion Features

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Feature Description Default Range

Multicast to Unicast Converts low data Disabled

Conversion rate multicast to high
data rate unicast
packets

Client Count Conversion stops 10 Clients 1-64

Threshold when threshold is hit,
resumes when count
is lowered

Snoop Timeout Removes client from 5 minutes 0–480

multicast group if
no IGMP packets
received

Converted Packet Sets WMM priority SSID default VO, VI, BE, BK
Priority of converted unicast
packets

Multicast, Broadcast Sets the data 0.0 0-54 Mbps

and Management rate rate for multicast
and broadcast
independently from
basic data rate

Table 4 – Multicast to Unicast Conversion Restrictions

Feature Restrictions

Multicast to Unicast Conversion IGMP Snooping must be enabled

Packets forwarded after snoop check

Client Count Threshold Unicast/Multicast must be enabled

Default 10, range 1-64

When client joins and threshold is reached,

conversion stops

Conversion resumes when count goes below

threshold

Per multicast address

Snoop Timeout Unicast/Multicast conversion must be

enabled

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Feature Restrictions
0-480, default 5 minutes
Per client

Per multicast group

If no multicast to group received, group/all

clients removed

If all clients leave, group is removed

Converted Unicast Packet Priority Unicast/Multicast conversion must be

enabled

Default is SSID priority

Disabled if CAC is enabled

WMM priorities – Voice, Video, Best Effort,

Background

Multicast, Broadcast and Management Rate

Multicast transmissions can be optimized by increasing the data rate at which the packets are
sent by changing the basic rate of the AP. This is done by adjusting the Multicast, Broadcast and
Management Rate.

The setting can be found here in Mojo Wireless Manager:

Configuration>Device Configuration>SSID Profiles>Add WiFi Profile>Traffic Shaping & QoS

This parameter sets the Basic or Mandatory rate of the AP. This not only controls the data rate
at which broadcast/multicast are sent but also sets the data rate at which Beacons are sent.
Increasing the basic rate of the AP reduces its effective coverage area which can affect client
behavior. It will also optimize the airtime when transmitted, but can cause problems on the
client if the APs coverage is not adequate for that data rate. For example, real-time streaming
of audio and video are the applications that commonly use multicast for delivery. If the clients
have problems receiving the multicast packets because the AP coverage is not good enough

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to support the higher data rate, they will experience choppy audio or pixilation and screen
freezing.

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Conclusions
Broadcast and multicast packets are essential for network and application operations but they
can cause problems, especially on the wireless side of the network. Mojo Wireless Manager
release 8.1 has many features that can help you clean up your wireless network by blocking,
pruning, and optimize broadcast/multicast packets.

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Recommendations
The table below summarizes the broadcast/multicast settings and the recommendations for
best performance. These settings should be tested before widespread implementation as they
will affect multicast application and AP behavior.

Feature Recommended Setting Caveats

Broadcast / Multicast Control Enabled

Wireless -> Wired Disabled

Allow Bonjour Enable If using Apple devices or

configuration services

Exemption List - Add as needed

IGMP Snooping Enable

IGMP Snooping Exception List - Add as needed

Multicast, Broadcast and 24 Affects the coverage area of

Management Rate AP

Multicast to Unicast Enable

Conversion

Client Count Threshold 10

Snoop Timeout 5

Converted Unicast Packet VO or VI Set for application type Voice

Priority or Video

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