Question 5ghz wifi channel

[gizbug]

All things being equal (no interference on any of the channels), if I have 2 Access Points (Unifi) I know that both should be on a different 5ghz channel. My question is, should 1 be on the Channels 36, 40, 44, and 48 range and 1 be on the 149, 153, 157, 161, and 165 range? Or does it not matter.

Does it make a difference if I run VHT160, VHT80, or VHT40? I guess the goal is for channels NOT to overlap so i can go between AP's with devices easily.

 

[Muadib]

You should use the channel with the less traffic. You can do a scan on the 5Ghz or 2Ghz bands within the UniFi controller and see which channels are good. I only have 1 AP at the moment, an AC pro, and it works well. I also have an AC-HD that I'm not using currently. When I did have both connected, I let the controller pick the channel for both, and had no issues.

 

[gizbug]

There isn't any traffic on any of the channels. I didn't know if because I have 2 access points, both with 5g, that I want to avoid overlapping channels.

 

[Ichinisan]

In my tests, setting any specific 5GHz channel severely restricted the throughput in a speed test. Regardless of the brand of chipset, of even n/ac tech. Same thing.

I believe it will use multiple non-contiguous 5GHz channels simultaneously if you leave it set to "automatic."

 

[gizbug]

In my tests, setting any specific 5GHz channel severely restricted the throughput in a speed test. Regardless of the brand of chipset, of even n/ac tech. Same thing.

I believe it will use multiple non-contiguous 5GHz channels simultaneously if you leave it set to "automatic."

Interesting. Always under the believe to never use AUTO anything when it come to this stuff

 

[ch33zw1z]

Interesting. Always under the believe to never use AUTO anything when it come to this stuff

I guess it really depends on the environment you're running the AP's in. If you're not in a heavy wifi area, probably won't matter. If you wanna have a bit of fun with trial and error, run some iperf tests between the wireless and a gigabit wired client. That can tell you how much data youre really able to push over the connection.

You just need to ensure the gigabit wired side is of good quality and is actually providing more speed on the wire than the wireless can. So some testing between wired clients is a good place to start.

For instance, I had an Intel NIC and a realtek NIC to iperf test between. The realtek NIC was having a bit of trouble reaching over 500mbps, but upgrading it's driver got it to test over 500, then also changing out it's cable to a higher quality foil shileded cable got it to almost 700mbps. The Intel NIC did just fine. All the testing performed thru a trendnet green 8port gigabit switch.

Once I was satisfied that either client gave me consistent results, I started testing wifi speeds using a couple laptops. The exact speeds I was getting escape me right now, but they weren't bad on either band. I live in a more rural area, so not much interference around. I have everything set to auto.

Just keep a detailed log of your starting point, like OS level, driver levels, hardware specs, and what your initial speeda are...etc....as detailed as you care to make it.