Re: Better at a Distance
- From: Cal Vanize <dont.even.spam.me@xxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 10 Nov 2007 15:15:59 -0600
Jeff Liebermann wrote:
On Fri, 09 Nov 2007 21:45:44 -0600, Cal Vanize
<dont.even.spam.me@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
It might also be beneficial to have a look at what channels are being used within close range of your system. It might be better to select a channel that isn't being used and set it in your router. See how that works. (No need to change the SSID.)
Yep. Channels are important. However, the latest generation of
wireless access points arrive by default with a channel selection of
"auto". The idea is for the access point to automagically select an
empty channel. In theory, you don't have to set your channel or find
an empty channel.
At boot / reset. But maybe not dynamically.
It sorta works, but I have my doubts. For example, I'm not convinced
that it can detect networks that don't broadcast their SSID. What
I've also found at one customer with DI-624 wireless router and one
DI-624 acting as an access point, is that they both radios ended up
near one channel after about a week. I would have expected them to
end up at opposite ends of the band, but that wasn't what happened. I
have no idea what went wrong, so I just disarmed this feature and
manually set the channels.
On both our Gateway 7001a/b/g and Cisco 1121g, the clearest channels are selected at reboot or power cycle as default. Both settle in on what is good, but only at boot time. Boot time might not reflect average conditions throughout the day.
My suggestion is to try fixed channels to see which one(s) work the best most of the time. Select that channel in the A/P. that will help overcome
I've also received calls from customers complaining that "it was
working just fine, but now I seem to be getting interference". At
first, I was blaming new wireless network arriving in their area. Upon
further tinkering, I found that they had automagic channel selection
enabled and it had landed on a rather bad choice of channel. When I
disarmed the feature, sniffed a bit, set the channel manually,
everything was back to normal.
Yep. But beyond that, performance needs to be checked throughout the day as well as periodically. It could very well be that at times during the day several wireless devices (A/Ps, routers, PC, whatever) are in use on a channel that would otherwise be OK the rest of the time.
While I'm ranting on the subject, I also found that it was very
difficult to get a wireless router in auto mode to change channels. I
tried every trick and source of interference I could find and never
got it to reliably switch channels. However, it would sometimes
switch without the slightest provocation. I have no idea what
algorithm is being used, or exactly how it's suppose to work. My
current guess is that it only switches when there's no traffic, making
it useless for selecting the channel with an active connection.
.
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