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      08-17-2015, 02:10 AM   #7
zx10guy
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I agree with Daftasabrush. Using SOHO routers as APs is only a bandaid measure and won't provide proper wireless performance. The suggestion by Daftasabrush to look into something like Ubiquiti is spot on. Other products out there are Meraki, Meru, Ruckus, Aerohive, and Aruba Networks.

Here's more detail as to why using multiple SOHO routers isn't a good idea. First each of these SOHO routers will not work as a single wireless network. There is no intelligence between them. So to properly set a system like this up, you have to configure all of them to have the same SSID but each of them needs to be on a different channel. So for instance, 2.4 GHz has 3 non overlapping channels (1, 6, and 11). These are the preferential channels as 1 will not overlap into 6 and so on. As eluded to by Daft, if you have a client connected to on SOHO router on channel 1 and then roam to an area covered by the other router on channel 6, the algorithm in the client's wireless adapter most probably will maintain "stickiness" to the first router even though the signal on the second router is stronger. Roaming in these setups is dubious at best. Also as stated by Daft, these routers will also transmit at their normal power output. If this so happens to stomp over the adjacent router you set up...oh well. So this will also add to the confusion of which AP to associate with by the wireless client. Another feature which is missing with SOHO wireless products is the ability to monitor the RF space around it and then being able to auto select an operating channel continuously to avoid interference.

P1et, to your question about range/wireless extenders....DON'T. Most equipment out there is just pure junk. They operate on the same wireless frequency as the ones your wireless clients are using. The better systems are business class devices which typically use 5 GHz as the data back haul between wireless APs and then dedicate 2.4 solely for wireless clients. One thing you have to remember, wireless is a half duplex technology. This means only one wireless device can talk on the air space at any given time...this means wireless clients and APs. When you use extenders, the extenders have to transmit the data back to the main network. If the extender happens to use the same frequency as the wireless clients, that means everything has to wait till the extender finishes playing "telephone". Also for every hop introduced on the wireless communication path, the extender counts as one hop, you divide any wireless speed achieved in half. No imagine how fast contention can build up when you have multiple wireless clients connected to this extender.

I've been playing around with wireless technologies for a couple of years now as part of my job. I have a bunch of wireless networks running in my home. I have products from Aruba Networks/Dell PowerConnect W (both controller and controller less), SonicWall, and Aerohive. In addition to the heat glow and power vacuum I create, I have tons of RF radiation emminating from my house to probably cause an FCC investigation.
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