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Which wireless network to connect to?

  • 3 March 2018
  • 7 replies
  • 188 views
T
Hi,

I've set up two access points exposing the same WiFi network (ssid and password) to cover the entire flat. Phones and tablets switch to the AP with the strongest signal when moving around. The three play:1 being in a region where both signals overlap sometimes connect to the weak signal which results in drop outs and stutter. Is there a way to influence to which AP those will connect?
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Best answer by ratty 3 March 2018, 12:23

Is there a way to influence to which AP those will connect?
Not directly.

Your APs are possibly using different channels, and maybe the Sonos players are seeing lower interference from one or other. Note that where there are multiple APs and you use Sonos groups, wireless performance will be suboptimal unless the APs share the same channel.
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7 replies

B
Userlevel 1
When using the same channel you will end up with lower performance as the airtime has to be shared between the two
... which is actually what I said.

In terms of Sonos performance, however, Standard/WiFi mode using APs on different channels could lead to a suboptimal situation. Grouped/bonded players attached to multiple APs are unable to exploit direct peer-to-peer connections if the channels differ.

Point taken.. I just never had that issue with 11 wireless player and 3 access points running different channels all 3...

But it kind of defeats the normal practice running a wireless network if you are to run access points on the same channel... Any controller based wireless network will do a RF survey and pick the best channels for each individual access point and for sure not choose the same...some systems (like Cisco WLC) also run Event Driven Radio Resource Management, which changes channels of the controlled access points based on the current RF enviroment where the access point are situated...

Best regards
Bo
ratty
When using the same channel you will end up with lower performance as the airtime has to be shared between the two
... which is actually what I said.

In terms of Sonos performance, however, Standard/WiFi mode using APs on different channels could lead to a suboptimal situation. Grouped/bonded players attached to multiple APs are unable to exploit direct peer-to-peer connections if the channels differ.
B
Userlevel 1
APs which share the exact same channel don't interfere as such. They simply contend for the same chunk of spectrum.

As an aside, if your two APs were originally on channels which differed by less than 5 (or were using 40MHz bandwidth) they could most certainly have been fighting one another.

I disagree with you on this one... Two access point that are placed within RF range of each other SHOULD NOT use the same channel. They should be using channels with enought spacing between them so they dont interfere.

When using the same channel you will end up with lower performance as the airtime has to be shared between the two, where as if they use different channels they can use all the airtime each to service clients connected to themmm
T
It seems indeed to have solved my issues. Thanks!
ratty
APs which share the exact same channel don't interfere as such. They simply contend for the same chunk of spectrum.

As an aside, if your two APs were originally on channels which differed by less than 5 (or were using 40MHz bandwidth) they could most certainly have been fighting one another.
T
Thanks for the info. I've intentionally configured the 2.4 and 5GHz WLAN on different channels to avoid interference. I've now set them to the same. Lets see if it changes anything.
ratty
Is there a way to influence to which AP those will connect?
Not directly.

Your APs are possibly using different channels, and maybe the Sonos players are seeing lower interference from one or other. Note that where there are multiple APs and you use Sonos groups, wireless performance will be suboptimal unless the APs share the same channel.

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