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Channel Interference 1+5 etc...
Hi All,
Wondering if someone can clarify how the dual channel feature works with Netgear Access points, I am currently controlling my AP's through a Wireless Prosafe controller. Now ive noticed that when i select a max throughput on the AP it chooses two channels i.e 11+7, 1+5 - My concern with this is whether or not this is affecting my other AP's and causing adjacent channel congestion.
All my AP's have been selected to use channel 1,6,11 to avoid any congestion by overlapping channels, however i sometimes will see my channel move to a (1+5) and i am wondering if this then causes congestion. I am monitoring my channels through inssider.
Any explanation/clarification to how this works would be great, as i just want to know if it is an advantage or disadvantage to my particular enviroment.
Thanks
D
Hi dmoh009,
You're welcome! Now for the "load balancing wireless" thing, when you're doing the mode where it splits the channel so it can send data faster, it is simultaneously listening and transmitting on both channels. There are APs that are 2x2 which has 2 antennas to do multi-channel to send and recieve, 3x3 - 3 channels and 4x4 - 4 channels. The client needs to also be 2x2 so it can send and recieve data on both channels. I believe what you are seeing on the analyzer is the client is locked to channel 1 but is also trying to use channel 5, probably a 2x2 client. I can't really explain much further on how these things happens since there are a lot of factors to be considered. Below are some links for examples on how the channels overlap:
Thanks,
9 Replies
Hello dmoh009,
Welcome to the community!
Dual band APs two separate WiFI networks simutaneously using both 2.4 and 5 GHZ frequency bands. It doubles the available bandwidth and allows for a more reliable dedicated WiFi for devices that uses 5GHz. The two channels does not interfere with each other since they are running on different frequencies (2.4 and 5GHz). Click on the following links below for tips and troubleshooting if you are having some issues:
Troubleshooting Wireless Networks
I hope that the information I have provided can help you, if you have more questions we'll be happy to help.
Thanks,
Hi,
Thanks for the response. I think i didnt explain myself correctly. I am aware of the different channel frequencies, so 2.4 and 5Ghz wont interfere with one another, i am specifically talking about the device when it uses 2 channels in the same frequency to increase speed. See this extract below:
Note:Up to 270Mbps mode uses two channels, but in this mode only the first channel is listed in the channel pulldown menu. The associated channels in this mode are: 1+5, 2+6, 3+7, 4+8, 5+9, 6+10, and 7+11. When you select another wireless network mode, the channel pulldown displays all available channels: 1 through 13. However, available wireless channels depend on the selected wireless region.So my fear, and i can see this on a channel analyser is that when a select channel 1 for an AP but the speed is up-to 270Mbps mode, i will sometimes see the channel frequency expand, does this cause an interference problem. Again any help would be great
(i did try posting an image of the channel analyser but had a few problems).
Thanks
Daniel
Hello dmoh009,
Yes, was quite confused on what you have asked but I believe I get what you are asking now. The APs communicate and listen to both channels per band, this is like load balancing between the channels and that is how you get the performance. You'd generally use channels 1,6 and 11 (US region) or 1,5,7 and 11 or depending on how much is the size of the environment you are working with. Each radio does a request to send on the channel before it sends packet, so if other APs are playing nicely, it will know it. If there is some interference it really shouln't be noticeable unless you are in a really crowded environment.
Thanks,
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