Multiple BSSID on Orbi network?

[Johan_A_M]

Hi,

I’m trying to get the best possible setup and positioning for the Orbi in my house (three floors, some with a lot of concrete walls) and am using the scan from MacOS Wireless Diagnostics. Please bear with me that I absolutely s*ck at network.

I have an RBK50 system with an additional RBS50 so in total 3 units. I’m trying to understand why I can see so many BSSIDs. I get 4-5 and with only one having the MAC of my router, the others having MACs I can’t find in the settings under attached devices. 

Please let me know if any additional information would help.

very best

J

[RobbieCrash · Accepted solution]

Each device has its own BSSID, this is how wifi works. One BSSID for each radio on each device means you should see six of them: One for the user facing radio and one for the backhaul radio, or perhaps one for the 2.4 and one for the 5Ghz bands. I'm not entirely sure about how the Orbi handles this on that level. You generally do not need to pay attention to them. Here's a mostly user-friendly rundown of the difference, with additional technical details as well.

The administrator focus is probably not something you need to deal with as the Orbi should handle most of the tuning that requires dealing with BSSIDs. If you're just worried about placement, the way that those signal strengths look to me is that you're sitting at one of the far end APs and the setup looks about right given what you've described about your environment. Two with relatively strong signals, and one weak. If you were in the middle, you should see one with good strength, and two with medium. 

[RobbieCrash]

Do you see all the SSIDs withn you're trying to connect to a network, or only while you're scanning with diagnostics?

[Johan_A_M]

Sorry, not sure I'm following you. I see only one SSID, but multiple BSSIDs. Right now for example, 6 of them (see attached img).

[RobbieCrash · Accepted solution]

Each device has its own BSSID, this is how wifi works. One BSSID for each radio on each device means you should see six of them: One for the user facing radio and one for the backhaul radio, or perhaps one for the 2.4 and one for the 5Ghz bands. I'm not entirely sure about how the Orbi handles this on that level. You generally do not need to pay attention to them. Here's a mostly user-friendly rundown of the difference, with additional technical details as well.

The administrator focus is probably not something you need to deal with as the Orbi should handle most of the tuning that requires dealing with BSSIDs. If you're just worried about placement, the way that those signal strengths look to me is that you're sitting at one of the far end APs and the setup looks about right given what you've described about your environment. Two with relatively strong signals, and one weak. If you were in the middle, you should see one with good strength, and two with medium. 

[Johan_A_M]

@RobbieCrash Thank you for the explanation and for the informative link, much appreciated! When I first checked this, I was on the top floor, close to one of the satellites. Then it makes sense that the other two, especially the one in the basement, fluctuated in reception, giving me 4-6 BSSIDs, right? I also probably got tricked by what I thought was completely different MACs but I see now that only the last 1-2 letters differ between every pair.

[RobbieCrash]

Yep. All sounds reasonable to me. 

There's a technical explanation on the Wikipedia page describing how BSSIDs are actually created if you're curious. From an extremely high level, and not 100% technically accurate description, they take the actual MAC and then throw some nonsene into it.

[Johan_A_M]

Good, I'm happy about that then. Thanks again for taking your time!