Wifi Advice (Channels / Network Names etc)

[fetster]

I have a wired network set up in my house which networks a few computers and media players together.

I also use Wifi for phones / tablets / Nest cameras / wireless printer etc.

From a wireless point of view I have set up a few devices to create a network with the same network Name.
Devices I have:
Draytek 2820 Router (with Wireless Name 1 Network, channel number set to auto)
Draytek AP 800 (with WirelessName1 Network, channel number set to auto)
Apple Airport (with WirelessName1 Network, channel number set to auto)
Apple Airport Time capsules x 2 (with WirelessName1 Network, channel number set to auto).

Phones (4), tablets (4), nest (3) cameras, laptops (2) and wireless printers (2) are all set to connect to WirelessName1 Network.

I then have a draytek AP 910c in my loft set up with a different network name so a nest camera I have in garage can connect to it, again it has Auto channel set up.

I've recently noticed that there is an issue with my network and connections to WirelessName1 are dropping.

Firstly, am I right setting up all / most of the network devices to broadcast the same network name (WirelessName1) - I just assumed that phones / tablets etc would auto connect to strongest AP as we are moving around the house - not sure if this is true?

Secondly, could there be interference with the auto channels / would I be better separating the 2 networks with different channels on opposite ends of the scale?

Thirdly, if I've done anything that is not efficient could you please let me know a better way of doing all this?

Thanks for taking time to read.

 

[bremen1874]

Without any idea of the size of the building or its construction it's difficult to say, but I'd guess that you could loose half of those access points and still have decent coverage.

You've only got three channels to play with on 2.4GHz. Unless you've been very careful with the placement and power levels you're going to be causing yourself problems.

Get an wireless scanning application installed onto one of your portable devices and then workout what the effective coverage of each access point is.