Using multiple wireless access points?

SiD the Turtle · 9 Aug 2010 at 13:28

Hi chaps,

We have a wireless access point in our office on the ground floor. This gives us a strong signal on the ground floor, but it's very weak once it goes through the ceiling on to the first floor.

I do have a spare wireless access point I could plug in upstairs and give it the same network name.

The question is, will they conflict with each other or will it be okay?

MissChief · 9 Aug 2010 at 14:23

If you give it the same network name then it'll cause problems. Give it another name and it should be fine.

Duke · 9 Aug 2010 at 15:28

It is best to keep to the same SSID and security type/key so you can 'roam' between them, i.e your laptop or phone will always connect to one of them. To stop interference it would be a good idea to have them on different channel ranges though - ideally 1, 6 and 11 first.

Westyfield2 · 9 Aug 2010 at 19:12

MissChief said:
If you give it the same network name then it'll cause problems. Give it another name and it should be fine.

Wrong.

At OP: Use the same SSID and the same encryption type and password on each access point. You must use a different channel however. If you're using 2.4GHz 1, 6 & 11 are the first three to use (as they're non overlapping). I can't remember which to use if you're using 5GHz, sorry.

EDIT: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels

SiD the Turtle · 9 Aug 2010 at 19:31

Cheers chaps. I'll give it a go in the morning.

matthab · 9 Aug 2010 at 19:34

Same SSID same network key and channel and it will roam between the 2.

MissChief · 9 Aug 2010 at 20:41

Surely if the laptop can pick up both signals, albeit weakly then having the same SSID will cause a problem? Especially if you move between the two?

Westyfield2 · 9 Aug 2010 at 23:08

MissChief said:
Surely if the laptop can pick up both signals, albeit weakly then having the same SSID will cause a problem? Especially if you move between the two?

Nope!

vsmora · 10 Aug 2010 at 18:31

MissChief said:
Surely if the laptop can pick up both signals, albeit weakly then having the same SSID will cause a problem? Especially if you move between the two?

The wifi card will still see that they are two different WAPs and roam according to the best signal. On most cards you can even tweak how "sticky" the roaming is. The tech was designed exactly with this in mind; imagine a large campus site with say 30 WAPs where it would be a nightmare to provide seamless connectivity if you had to program 30 wifi profiles per machine. Using the same SSID will not affect performance in the slightest and simply makes it easier to program the client devices. The only reason to use different SSIDs is if you want to monitor and/or force which WAP the card uses.