802.11n 2.4 + 5Ghz ?

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fran1942

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#142986 31-Mar-2014 09:51

Hello, if I am setting up a WAP that has two radios and I only want to configure it to offer 802.11n with one SSID, should I configure the same SSID on both radios i.e one instance of it to run 802.11n 2.4Ghz on one radio andthe other instance to run 802.11n 5Ghz on the second radio ?
Or should I just use one frequency range for my SSID i.e either 2.4 or 5Ghz ?

I guess it would not hurt to offer my SSID on the 2.4 and 5Ghz ranges, seeing as I have two radios to play with ?

Thanks for any advice.

Dynamic

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#1015833 31-Mar-2014 09:57

Are you sure you only want to use one SSID? The reason I ask is that it is not usually obvious that you are connecting to a 2.4 or a 5 ghz network. Where possible for less interference I prefer to use a 5GHz network. For this reason I add '5G' onto the end of the SSID for little 5GHz networks and set devices to connect to this as the preferred option.

There is nothing stopping you using the same SSID for both frequency ranges.

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fran1942

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#1015849 31-Mar-2014 10:14

thanks for that.
If I did configure the same SSID on both 2.4 and 5ghz would a users NIC automatically choose the 5Ghz link over the 2.4Ghz ?

Or would that completely be down to how the individual NIC operates ?

Thanks kindly.

charsleysa

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#1015851 31-Mar-2014 10:17

The problem when having the same SSID is that devices like to jump to the AP with the highest signal strength which is usually 2.4ghz so you'll find that you'll be connecting to that more often than not.

Also you should be offering 802.11n on both radios in mixed mode as that will be backwards compatible with a, b, and g devices.

If you want to have both radios on the same SSID then that's fine but my experience has shown me that it will hardly ever connect to the 5ghz radio.

Regards
Stefan Andres Charsley

sbiddle

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#1015890 31-Mar-2014 11:11

fran1942: thanks for that.
If I did configure the same SSID on both 2.4 and 5ghz would a users NIC automatically choose the 5Ghz link over the 2.4Ghz ?

Or would that completely be down to how the individual NIC operates ?

Thanks kindly.

It depends entirely on the hardware you're using. Many access points support band steering, it's not something determined by the end users device.

corksta

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#1015896 31-Mar-2014 11:17

I have the one SSID for both bands and in general don't have an issue with devices that are 5G capable connecting only to the 2.4G signal.