Do you mix voice & data clients in 5ghz ?

[brian.kachel]

I understand most of the reasons for deploying your voice wlan in the 5ghz range, more channels, less congestion, allows for dense deployment etc.

But - does that mean I should restrict my data wlans exclusively to 2.4ghz, or can I still run my data clients in 2.4 AND 5 at the same time while sharing voice in 5ghz?

Ideally I could see why you'd say keep all data clients out of 5ghz so the voice traffic has the best experience possible - but is that really practical? 
If you had a very dense installation, assume you would have to manually shut some of the 2.4ghz radios to avoid co-chan interference - and I'm just wondering if this seriously degrades the data client experience or not - and it also means you won't be able to offer the fastest 802.11n speeds if you restrict data clients to 2.4ghz (no bonded channels).

So whats the ideal consensus?  Mix data and voice in 5 or restrict data to 2.4 and give them a less than best experience?

[Leo Laohoo]

I can't speak for you or anyone.  I have a Cisco wireless network with Cisco VoWLAN (7921/7925).  I use both radios and we don't see any problems.

How you deploy your voice will depend entirely on your voice equipments.

As you know, the downside of 802.11b is the three non-interferring channel you should stick to.  It's got pretty good range and since it's a lower frequency it has a good penetration to thin walls.  The downside of 802.11b is the speed too.

[mubeeshalivm]

by mixing i guess you are still visualising different ssid's for data and voice ? If yes that should be good with appropriate QOS configured for each.

[George Stefanick]

Leo, do you use auto on the phone so the phone can use both 2.4 and 5? Im looking to test this myself in a few weeks.

[Leo Laohoo]

do you use auto on the phone so the phone can use both 2.4 and 5

Hey George,

Yes.  The 7921/7925 are on auto and enabled Band Selection in the WLC. 

[George Stefanick]

You cowboy ... Band select with Voice really? Are you having any issues...

[Leo Laohoo]

No issues with Band Selection.  But the normal issue where the 7921/7925 would suddenly loose the connection to the CUCM.  I mean the link to the LWAP is fine but suddenly in the morning I would see the handhelds trying to register to the CUCM.  I see this issue always on the 7925 and very rarely on the 7921.

As for being the cowboy, I'm very lucky because the team where I work with are very open-minded about technology that it's just scary.  Upgrade switch IOS?  No problem.  You have no reason or business case other than I-want-to-upgrade?  Why didn't you start upgrading yesterday?

So I've put my hand up to do video conference with Tandberg and they don't mind.  Now we're trying to get our hands on the 9970/9971 phones to "test".  *wink*, *wink*

He he he ...