Originally Posted By: DWallach
Originally Posted By: gbeer
Are your access points locked into using a single channel? Or are they allowed to hop around the spectrum?

What I wonder is, if the need to chase a hopping signal lets the client recognize, more easily, the existence of that nearby AP.


In a nutshell, I have 2.4GHz reception across the whole house, but only just and it's flakey if I'm in the far corner. If I want 5GHz reception, where all the 802.11ac high speed modes live, then I need the second AP. 5GHz doesn't penetrate at all.

As to channel locking and whatnot, I'm letting the Airport Extreme's figure it out themselves. Supposedly they're smart enough to deal with this on their own. Scanning with my phone seems to indicate that they're not colliding with one another.


I use a pair of APs in my house (I put drops in a couple strategic closets and run 'em POI). I have rock solid coverage everywhere, and only the occasional bumpy handoff when watching live video; streaming audio or canned video is rarely a problem. They're N, using 4 different 2.4 and 5 MHz channels but all the same SSID and credentials. 5 MHz penetrates the entire house and the close-in yard. Also, I live in a not-too-dense area - inSSIDer only reports about 20 nearby APs.

Our AV rig and printers are all hard-wired to reduce wifi traffic, and I set all our computers (that can) to prioritize 5 MHz. We never have issues with wifi - outside that occasional hiccup with live video. Friends visiting love it. During a major renovation, I rented a house for several months and used only a single AP. It worked okay, but most of the master bedroom had no signal; in a small sliver there was a rock solid signal. There were two bathrooms, several flues/ducts, and a kitchen in the way. It was really annoying - but only 7 months...

I've managed to train all my neighbors to stick to 1,6, and 11 on 2.4 (except the one who's into bondage - channel, that is). That helps. On the other hand, I worked with a small office in Bethesda, MD: there were scores of APs around, on all sorts of channels stomping on everyone. It was ugly. We selected the least congested channels and tried to push to 5 MHz. We improved things a lot, but throughput was still pretty bad. (I have no idea how they set up APs in an NFL stadium! 80K users and hundreds of APs - yeesh! Mobile is usually better than wifi in the much smaller basketball arenas I've visited.)

-jk