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  • #2194128

    Wireless AP set-up

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    by gsinclair ·

    I have put together a wireless network for appro. 300 students on my campus so students can access the internet. I have each AP using a unique SSID and the same channel (11). Unfortunatley ever so often 1 or 2 may lose connection to the internet for various reasons. The problem I face is trying to find which 1 may still have intenet access, as you will still connect to the APs and get an IP ADD however you will not browse the net. IT proves quite frustrating at times as we sometimes have to move through 4 APs before picking up 1 that still has intenet. My ? is should I use the same SSID for all and change the channels. Will this help? Can someone please assist me with this problem.
    Thanks

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    • #3155996

      Reply To: Wireless AP set-up

      by rkuhn040172 ·

      In reply to Wireless AP set-up

      Not sure that changing the SSID has anything to do with this.

      Changing channels will only help if there is interfence.

      Best to spend your time on why the AP’s lose connectivity to begin with.

      We need more info…

    • #3157410

      Reply To: Wireless AP set-up

      by greybeard770 ·

      In reply to Wireless AP set-up

      I recommend using the same SSID on all APs so the clients can use the same profile. Being in proximity to multiple APs with the same channel is going go be a problem. You need a site survey to determine the coverage of each AP. Also, you should only use channels 1, 6, and 11 because of bleed over. Properly spaced APs on different channels should allow a user to move between APs with minimal disruption depending on their application.

      You can pay somebody LOTS of money for a site survey or you can walk around with a wireless enabled laptop that shows signal strength to help determine optimal placement of your APs. Too many APs tends to be a bad thing.

      You also should add encryption to your WLAN once you get it stable. You probably have more clients than you would want to deal with from a MAC filtering perspective. Any encryption (40 or 64 bit WEP with shared key) is better than no encryption. Making the WEP key the same on all APs will simplify your job too.

    • #3113450

      Reply To: Wireless AP set-up

      by jj2000 ·

      In reply to Wireless AP set-up

      Hi there,
      I definitely 100% agree with Greybeard down there… he’s right on the money. You want the same SSID and NOT overlapping channels. If you’re using 11, then (as he said) split with 1, 6, 11.

      As for the security, I’m not a huge fan of WEP. You have to dish out some type of shared key to all those students.

      Do you have any type of authentication in place – with RADIUS for example? If so, an 802.1x solution may be the way to go and can be very easily implemented with the built-in supplicant on Win XP.

      -jj

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