Advantage of a dualband SSID

[jochen]

I have one access point in my appartment (Zyxel NWA1123). Since the ap has 2 radios, I'm wondering about the best configuration.

• What would be the advantage of having the same SSD on 2.4 and 5 GHz?
• Or, as an alternative, would it be better to have to separated SSIDs per frequency band?

Thanks!

Jochen

 

[JPElectron]

Depends on device

If your devices (laptop, phone, tablet, etc.) have a 5Ghz radio in them (meaning they are also dual-band), then connecting via 5Ghz may be better (in terms of speed, or in terms of less interference) than connecting via 2.4Ghz.

Devices *should* prefer the 5Ghz radio over the 2.4Ghz radio, if both SSID's were set the same -but having that actually work out varies greatly by device. However, if you were to name the 5Ghz radio with a unique SSID then you'll have the advantage of picking that one explicitly on your devices (they will only "see" that SSID if they have a 5Ghz radio)

 

[jochen]

Thanks for your reply!

I am aware that 5 GHz band is prefereable. What I want to know is, would it better to have ONE SSID spanning over both bands, or to have a dedicated SSID per band (e.g. Network24 and Network5).

 

[Nerre]

What I want to know is, would it better to have ONE SSID spanning over both bands, or to have a dedicated SSID per band (e.g. Network24 and Network5).

And the answer was: It depends on how your devices handle it.

 

[sm00thpapa]

I would say have 2 different SSID's. Mine are Asus and Asus_5G no confusion and you connect to which one you want.

 

[stevech]

Don't use the default SSID.
Use something rather unique to you, such as your initials or last name or some word that you can remember.

Not a security issue. Just makes it easier to see your SSID amidst others'.

Be sure to enable encryption. Essential.

 

[sfx2000]

Don't use default SSID's if you can help it - some clients attach by the SSID, and not by the AP MAC address - so you can find yourself either on someone else's network or no service at all.

dual-band and common SSID - depends on the clients - some work great, some have issues... see what works and experiment.

sfx

 

[Grievous Angel]

I think the real question is--is there ANY upside to having the two bands share the same SSID?

I don't think there is. I like to know explicitly which band I'm connecting to.

 

[sfx2000]

I think the real question is--is there ANY upside to having the two bands share the same SSID?

I don't think there is. I like to know explicitly which band I'm connecting to.

No real impact one way or the other - depends really on what your user experience is...

Keep in mind that SSID represents a wireless LAN - not a single Access Point or Radio - once you get beyond a single AP/single Radio configuration, you should keep the SSID for all AP's across the bands if you want seamless transitions - consider streaming media or VOIP application for example.

Older dual band AP's, esp in the consumer space - they had some early issues, but mostly resolved these days - better drivers and network stacks. Same goes with the client drivers, esp in Win7/8 and OS X 10.6 and later.

Real world example - I've got a two AP dual band solution here at the house using Ethernet to backhaul to the roaming AP - all common SSID, and my dual band handsets and tablets usually pic the best radio whether I'm in my home office, out in the family room, or in the backyard - typically they'll pic 5Ghz if the signal strength is good, and they'll hand down cleanly as I move away - get closer to the AP, they'll typically wait a bit before rescanning and pick up the 5Ghz band.

The challenge with having different SSID's - usually you'll have to lose one connection before reconnecting - if you don't move around much, this isn't a big deal, but if you do, you run the risk of dropping any connected applications.

at the risk of repeating myself - the SSID represents the WLAN, not the AP or radio in use.

 

[stevech]

Since WiFi clients do NOT automatically choose "best" SSID or access point, many of us recommend the following.

Give each access point a unique SSID. This permits the human user to choose best-AP when the signal quality declines due to mobility.

 

[Soylent]

I thought some devices can use both bands simultaneously? How else can you get the "double 450mbps" speeds that dual-band routers advertises?

 

[Fraoch]

I thought some devices can use both bands simultaneously? How else can you get the "double 450mbps" speeds that dual-band routers advertises?

Yes, most dual-band devices now use both bands simultaneously, and this is how they achieve N600, N750 or N900 class ratings.

 

[PrivateJoker]

It would be the max throughput of the router if multi-stream clients were connected to both the 2.4 & 5ghz bands at the same time using the fastest protocol that router supports on that band (ie 802.11n/802.11AC).

IIRC your wifi client radio has one MAC address and can only connect to one MAC address at a time (the 2.4ghz & 5ghz radios have separate MAC addresses in the router). So most "devices" do not use both bands simultaneously, but most APs do (but not all, like the Linksys e2000 has either/or radio, but not both). I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm off base.