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Best throughput not strength: how to automatically connect?

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ascanio1

Regular Contributor
How do I make my PC/Laptop WiFi adapter connect to the network with the best throughput regardless of signal strength? All answers I found on this forum pertain strength, not throughput.

For example:
Case 1)
5GHz 802.11a/c @ -50dB (5 bars) will have greater output than 2.4GHz 802.11n @ -45dB (5 bars).
Laptop should connect automatically to 5GHz 802.11a/c network.
Case 2)
5GHz 802.11a/c @ -88dB (2 bars) will have lesser output than 2.4GHz 802.11n @ -71dB (4 bars).
Laptop should connect automatically to 2.4GHz 802.11n network.

I tried to set SSID A preferred network to ON, but then the adapter stays with it even in case B.
I tried to set SSID A preferred network to OFF, but then the adapter stays with SSID B even in case A.

Setup:
1)
PC Win7 Adapter set to:
> Preferred band: 5GHz
> Roaming efficacy: Maximum
> All 3 networks: connect automatically when in range ON
> All 3 networks: connect to a more preferred network if available OFF (tested different option)

2)
Router/AP Asus RT-AC66: 2 networks (SSID A and B)
A=5.0 802.11a/c+n (Ch48)
B=2.4 802.11n (Ch11)

3)
AP Buffalo Airstation Nifty (ethernet LAN to LAN to Router): 1 network (SSID C) DHCP server: OFF; DHCP forwarder ON
C=2.4 802.11g (Ch1)

Please advise!

Tommaso
 
The only universal way is to get the client device (user) to choose.
I use different SSIDs named with location implied in the SSID naming, like myInitialsFR for family room.

A few client devices will do the right thing on power up but not the right thing about roaming as you move about with a handheld.
And some do the reverse.

Pro systems manage this roaming/AP selection via proprietary methods - as there's nothing viable in the IEEE or WiFi standards.
 
I'll be the counter to Steve's post above... it really does depend on the client in SOHO networks, but with most newer clients, they'll make the right decision in a common SSID/common channel environment...

Sometimes they don't, but generally what I've found is that most clients are biased towards 2.4GHz in a dual-band environment, and opportunistic in 5GHz if they find it...

At the end of the day, it really comes down to one's user experience, the amount of time needed to manage multiple SSID configs on the clients, and what that level of tolerance is...

There's no absolute right or wrong way to do things...

@ stevech - I banged you a bit on this subject, but in some cases, your approach is correct, it's just more work to manage... my approach is perhaps more dependent on client implementation, but also works... sometimes I find buggy clients that just refuse to get along... but I've got the standards on my side, and I do reach out to vendors for the gear I own, and sometimes, we see fixes..
 
I absolutely have no problems with clients connecting to my 5GHz wireless network in 40MHz mode through out my home. I do not offer 2.4GHz as an alternative so maybe it has an effect on the out come. I do not have any clients dropping wireless connections. I have both Apple and Microsoft Windows clients both old and new. Transferring Facetime from WAP321 to WAP321 while roaming will transfer with a very small delay but no dropped calls. This makes for a very good home setup without getting crazy expensive.

If anybody is interested in my setup, all 3 of my Cisco WAP321 wireless APs offer the same 2 SSIDs; LAN and guess. My LAN has the same passwords for the LAN SSID and different channels for each AP. My guess also has the same password for the guess SSID on all 3 APs with each AP using a different channel. So each WAP321 is setup on a different channel with the same 2SSIDs with the same passwords for each SSID.
 
Thanks to everyone...

@ sfx2000: do you mean that modern adapters use throughput rather than signal as a prioritizing parameter? It would be really nice! Unfortunately my Vaio SZ VPCSA adapter does not. If I understood correctly your post I might consider upgrading my hardware. Do you have any experience with any specific laptop adapters which prioritize throughput?
 
Thanks to everyone...

@ sfx2000: do you mean that modern adapters use throughput rather than signal as a prioritizing parameter? It would be really nice! Unfortunately my Vaio SZ VPCSA adapter does not. If I understood correctly your post I might consider upgrading my hardware. Do you have any experience with any specific laptop adapters which prioritize throughput?

I've seen some platforms that do a bit of "scoring" and weighing of connections, but this is the exception rather than the rule...

Stevech has said this before, and I'll repeat it, there is nothing clearly defined in 802.11 handover/BSS selection, so it's really down to implementation...
 
@ stevech - I banged you a bit on this subject, but in some cases, your approach is correct, it's just more work to manage... my approach is perhaps more dependent on client implementation, but also works... sometimes I find buggy clients that just refuse to get along... but I've got the standards on my side, and I do reach out to vendors for the gear I own, and sometimes, we see fixes..
Well, my household's mobile WiFi clients
Apple iPhone 5
Apple iPad
Acer Android Tablet
HTC Andriod smart phone

If I force one to use 5GHz, and with some mobility (not much), they all go to 2.4GHz within a few hours.
 
Networks are like snowflakes, each is a little bit differrent - my iDevices tend to favor 5GHz, but will hand down (back patio), but once idle and back inside, they'll find their way back to 5GHz - my android (Samsung GS4), while being dual-band (and 11ac to boot), absolutely wants to camp on 2.4 - go figure, but hands off well from AP1 to AP2...

Common SSID/Channels for both AP's...
 
Networks are like snowflakes, each is a little bit differrent - my iDevices tend to favor 5GHz, but will hand down (back patio), but once idle and back inside, they'll find their way back to 5GHz - my android (Samsung GS4), while being dual-band (and 11ac to boot), absolutely wants to camp on 2.4 - go figure, but hands off well from AP1 to AP2...

Common SSID/Channels for both AP's...

That is who mine work. They'll hand down to 2.4GHz if the 5GHz signal strength drops "too low", though generally they'll just roam to another 5GHz AP because that is sufficiently stronger than the currently connected one, rather than hand down to 2.4GHz. Outdoors it is a little different and they'll generally hand down to 2.4GHz once I move off my back deck a few dozen feet. They'll generally hand up to 5GHz once I get back on my back deck or inside within a couple of minutes (much faster going inside usually, because it'll roam to the indoor AP, which means it'll generally connect straight back to 5GHz, but occasionally it'll connect 2.4GHz and then move up to 5GHz after transfering on 2.4GHz and then waiting a minute or two).

That is my iDevices only. My Asus T100 seems to prefer 2.4GHz over 5GHz a little bit (even if it is 2.4GHz 20MHz vs 5GHz 40MHz). If signal strength drops low enough, it'll switch bands, but roaming between APs it almost always stays on the same band.The two times it'll sometimes switch is if it was asleep, it'll sometimes reassociate on a new band, same thing with switching the wifi adapter off and back on.

On my laptop with an Intel 7260ac, if I set no preference, the laptop seems to go 5GHz about 60% of the time. If I set it to prefer 5GHz, it goes 5GHz 100% of the time indoors and outdoors it'll occasionally go 2.4GHz if I am really far from my outdoor access point. Seems to take the 5GHz signal strength having to drop down to about -75dBm before it'll consider 2.4GHz.

Honestly in a lot of ways, I almost shouldn't be running a 2.4GHz network as few of my devices use it and 5GHz is faster in almost all of my house than 2.4GHz is, with the exception of a couple of parts of a few rooms).

Exception is my T100 which CAN use 2.4GHz 40MHz (and my kid's android tablets, which can also use 2.4GHz 40MHz and also seem to prefer 2.4GHz over 5GHz). In that case, because my main AP is running 2.4GHz 40MHz, for my few 11n only devices that can use 2.4GHz 40MHz, 2.4GHz IS faster over about 30% of my house inside than 5GHz 40MHz is. For my basement AP and outdoors, because those are 2.4GHz 20MHz, 5GHz 40MHz is faster for almost all of my devices with the exception of fairly far from the APs (opposite side of the basement through a couple of walls or outside at least 80ft from the AP), then 2.4GHz 20MHz starts becoming faster. It is also those locations where my iDevices seem to hand down to 2.4GHz, it is about 100Ft away or so on the outdoor AP before my laptop hands down to 2.4GHz.

Honestly once all of my stuff is 11ac, I am thinking I might just disable my indoor 2.4GHz network (leaving outdoor 2.4GHz network though). On 11ac 80MHz, performance is better over my entire house on 5GHz 80GHz compared to 2.4GHz 20MHz and all but a tiny part compared to 2.4GHz 40MHz. I can't test outdoors as my AP out there is an N600 AP. I'll have to test it, if I see no adverse roaming/performance with 2.4GHz on, I may keep it indoors, but I just don't know that it is doing much. Since there isn't a way to set a few devices to 2.4GHz only, without using different SSIDs (which I am probably not going to do because I don't want things to have issues going outside that were using 5GHz exclusively indoors and then getting far from the outdoor AP), I may just turn it off indoors.
 
Thanks to all for helping.

So, just to summarize, the best way to get best throughput is manually selecting. Next best way is to use the same SSID and password for all the 3 networks, making sure that they are on different channels:
5GHz 802.11a/c
2.4GHz 802.11n (CH1)
2.4GHz 802.11 g (CH11)

Correct?
 
How do I make my PC/Laptop WiFi adapter connect to the network with the best throughput regardless of signal strength? All answers I found on this forum pertain strength, not throughput.

For example:
Case 1)
5GHz 802.11a/c @ -50dB (5 bars) will have greater output than 2.4GHz 802.11n @ -45dB (5 bars).
Laptop should connect automatically to 5GHz 802.11a/c network.
Case 2)
5GHz 802.11a/c @ -88dB (2 bars) will have lesser output than 2.4GHz 802.11n @ -71dB (4 bars).
Laptop should connect automatically to 2.4GHz 802.11n network.

I tried to set SSID A preferred network to ON, but then the adapter stays with it even in case B.
I tried to set SSID A preferred network to OFF, but then the adapter stays with SSID B even in case A.

Setup:
1)
PC Win7 Adapter set to:
> Preferred band: 5GHz
> Roaming efficacy: Maximum
> All 3 networks: connect automatically when in range ON
> All 3 networks: connect to a more preferred network if available OFF (tested different option)

2)
Router/AP Asus RT-AC66: 2 networks (SSID A and B)
A=5.0 802.11a/c+n (Ch48)
B=2.4 802.11n (Ch11)

3)
AP Buffalo Airstation Nifty (ethernet LAN to LAN to Router): 1 network (SSID C) DHCP server: OFF; DHCP forwarder ON
C=2.4 802.11g (Ch1)

Please advise!

Tommaso
The only universal way is to get the client device (user) to choose.
o.png
 
The only universal way is to get the client device (user) to choose.
o.png
Yes, I gathered that. Thank you for helping me with it.
After having understood that point, what is the next best thing that I can do? Is it to unify the SSID and passwords or to leave them separate? Or it makes absolutely no difference whether the SSID/Passwords are the same?
 
It makes a huge difference for roaming. If the SSIDs are different, the device will not roam and you'll have to manually select.

If you have some actually 11g clients, and WAPs to service just the 11g clients, then that may make sense to put that on a seperate channel with a different SSID for just those clients. The rest I'd utilize unified SSID for both bands on all WAPs for 2.4GHz and 5GHz personally.
 
I know that this thread is 2 years old but I have an update.

I installed 3 Asus RT-AC66U and my new MS surface (2nd version, w/ extra battery), my new huawei mate 9 and my wife's iPhone 7 plus, all act diligently and roam prioritizing throughout and now signal strength. Basically, most of the time on 5GHz unless I move too far away and only then they switch to 2.4GHz.

My wife's Mac book pro (5 years old), my Samsung note 3 and my old Sony Vaio SZ all still go for signal strength over throughput.

I am not sure if I can draw any collusion here but there seems to be an indication that newer hardware acts better.

I am now starting to consider coxhaus layout (switch off 5GHz) and add a few APs to cover rooms with poor signal. After all 5GHz has more bands and therefore less interference.

Any comments regarding coxhaus' layout?

Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk
 
asus smart connect is able to direct users based on throughput too and signal. However the main problem is that some clients are stubborn or refuse to switch and switch back instead.

5Ghz has more bands, but not more space actually. Range is lower which is what helps. If you use a spectrum analyser like an app on android, you can see the amount of space wifi takes up. 5Ghz has more channels but each one takes 2x more space too for 80Mhz.
 
Hmmmm... I never consisted the bandwidth.

Can you offer me very basic, rule of thumb, bandwidth separation and spacing recommendations?

Sent from my MHA-L29 using Tapatalk
 

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