Can anybody explain these basic concept to me?

[teru-lei]

Hello All,

I am not clear about some question:

1. If I replace 2 802.11b access point running the same channel (suppose channel 6) close together, will they have interference to each other? I think they will, but in the real world, for example, an exhibition, many access points place very close in an area with default setting, but the wireless cards in the PCs still can use any one of them, why?

2. 802.11b has 3 non-overlab channel, Can cisco access-point use the 3 channels together to transmit data (1 non-overlap channel to 1 user). Can when I plan a large wireless network with more than 1 cells, must I use a different channel from the adjancy cells?

Thank You!

Best Regards

Teru Lei

[kmarrero · Accepted solution]

If you place two APs close together it is recommended to set the channels to either non-overlapping channels or to any different channels. The first is the best method. Since these devices are using radio waves, they will transmit traffic on the same wave if they are set to the same channel. Think of channels as being streets and the traffic as being cars on the street. If you have all the traffic on the same street you are more likely to have wrecks or "collisions". So it is best to have the different APs using their own street instead of one street. As far as the wireless client cards, they listen on all channels until an AP responds to the card. It then will only use that one channel until it loses connection to the AP.

Cisco access points cannot use multiple channels at one time. You will have to have the adjacent cells using different channels to optimize your throughput.