Wireless channels?

[psykix]

I've just replaced my AC66U with an AC68U in the living room.

I've put the AC66U connect with an ethernet cable on the other side of the house and set it to AP mode.

At the moment, both routers are set to auto with regards the channels.

I use the same SSID for both frequencies on both routers.

If I manually choose uncongested channels for the 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz on the AC68U, then do I choose the same channels for the AC66U or do I need to select different channels to the AC68U?

It's all very baffling and I looked around for a nice tutorial with regards to wifi channels but didn't come up trumps!

Cheers

 

[CaptainSTX]

Normally for most people the best setup is to use different non over lapping channels on each AP and a different SSID.

For Example

Router 2.4 Ghz Channel 1 SSID MAIN24
5.8 gHZ Channel 36 SSID MAIN58

AP 2.4 Ghz Channel 11 SSID AP24
5.8 gHZ Channel 64 SSID AP58

To make life easier for device users you can use the same encryption on some or all of the radios.

Some people will swear that you can also use the same SSID and that devices will seamlessly switch, but normally that isn't the case and and you will end up swearing at the WiFi radios instead.

Download inSSIDer and check for what appear to be the least congested channels in your area. Depending on what you find you may not be able to use channels 1,6 or 11 and it may not be possible to use non over lapping channels. You will have to test and see what works best.

 

[psykix]

Thanks for the reply

I am using INSSIDER, so I can see what is used. The reason I used the same SSID was so that the kids iPads/iPhones etc all just switched ok.

Do you mean I should use 2 different SSID's on the two routers, or do you mean use 4 x SSID's? i.e. 1 for each band on each router?

Everything does seem to be functional at the moment, I'm just looking at eeking out the best performance, since there are 5 of us in the house, and we have 18 devices connected!

Cheers

EDIT : Whoops just read your post again!! Duh! Ignore my stupid question!

 

[psykix]

Thinking about it, I may be able to not bother with 2.4Ghz?

All my devices are fairly recent and support N.

 

[geops]

Thanks for the reply

I am using INSSIDER, so I can see what is used. The reason I used the same SSID was so that the kids iPads/iPhones etc all just switched ok.

Do you mean I should use 2 different SSID's on the two routers, or do you mean use 4 x SSID's? i.e. 1 for each band on each router?

Everything does seem to be functional at the moment, I'm just looking at eeking out the best performance, since there are 5 of us in the house, and we have 18 devices connected!

Cheers

EDIT : Whoops just read your post again!! Duh! Ignore my stupid question!

Just test it for a while. If everything works with the same ssid, then keep it like that. If you have issues and when moving from one to the other location your device doesn't switch, then use different ssids. Also, you can take advantage of an option in the wifi config that makes the AP disconnect you when your signal gets low, which will pretty much force the device to reconnect and it will pick the strongest channel by default. Just play around with it and report back the results.

 

[Pierino]

Thinking about it, I may be able to not bother with 2.4Ghz?

All my devices are fairly recent and support N.

2.4ghz radio supports N speed. Don't get 2.4ghz and 5ghz confused.

 

[canuckle]

2.4ghz radio supports N speed. Don't get 2.4ghz and 5ghz confused.

And also, the further the distance from the router, 2.4 has better range than 5.

 

[sijuthomas98]

Set channels far apart from each other. 2.4Ghz set to 11 or 1 set 5ghz to 44 and 157
Set roaming settings on wireless professional page for both to use best network on mobile devices.