Two APs connected via ethernet broadcasting identical WiFi

[n_s_simpson]

Hi first of all. This is my first post.

This is something I've not been able to find an answer on so here goes...

I have a router in one corner of our house (no other option) and the WiFi doesn't reach into the extension.

I have ran an ethernet cable through the loft into the extension and connected an AP to the end of it (well there's a hub with an AP connected into it).

This I felt was a better option rather than going for a repeater at the time.

Now my question is...

If both APs are broadcasting the same network connection with the same SSID and security will that work properly and help boost the signals or degrade them?

I have a VOIP WiFi phone and want to walk round the house which is okay but I want to make sure I've set the WiFi up properly. I was hoping that the AP closest would automatically take control since everything is identical as far as the phone is concerned.

Also if this is a good idea what about channel number? Should they be on the same channel/frequency?

Both routers are a different make (one Belkin N1 :) the other a naff linksys and neither support WDS, etc.

Thanks

Nick

[M/Q]

Your approach is what I would have done. The only problem is your seamless roaming requirement. That may or may not work correctly. Also those devices do not support QoS as far as I know.

I would set the devices to the same SSID, but on different channels to avoid interference. If seamless roaming is an important requirement then you need to get business grade equipment that has the ability to pass clients to another device with better parameters.

[n_s_simpson]

Funnily enough I have now set them to different channels to avoid interference. I thought QoS was just to give prioty to certain traffic.

Both devices have that as an option although when using the Belkin N1 as an access point the QoS option says "On" but it's greyed out so not sure what it's doing.

Nick

[M/Q]

That is correct and QoS would typically be needed for VoIP phones as that will suffer from latency.

[n_s_simpson]

Sorry I thought you were saying that QoS was required for seamless roaming.

I originally setup QoS on the router (don't think it applies to the N1 since it's set to an access point and takes commands from the router). Phone worked perfectly.

I reset the router while messing around with the settings and found the VOIP calls were terrible. It wasn't until later on that I remembered resetting the router and hence the QoS settings were lost.

I am going to re-enable QoS tonight so fingers crossed that should sort it.

VOIP Skype is okay but still needs working on I feel. Especially when calling mobiles but it'll get there hopefully.

Nick

[M/Q]

The access point actually should be the one that is important with regards to QoS if the phone is associated with it. The router does not control the wireless traffic management of a different device. It might be that traffic is sufficiently light on the AP so as to not adversely affect the quality.

[n_s_simpson]

The things I set on the router under the QoS settings was to give the port that the Belkin N1 was connected to priory and also I gave the phone's MAC address priory over all other network traffic.

Nick

[M/Q]

That makes sense and it will help. But if the phone is connected to the AP via wireless the AP will also be making those decisions on its own as the AP/router devices are not doing any kind of management handshaking.

[n_s_simpson]

I wonder why the QoS option is set to on but is greyed out. This is definately a feature of this device but I assume the settings can only be altered when it's working as a router. As it's an access point surely it's working like a managed switch. Do some managed switches have QoS features?

[M/Q]

A managed switch is quite different actually. A wireless router and AP function almost identically when referring to the wireless portion of the device. So it may be a vendor feature that is affecting you. In almost every case when you involve multiple vendors in the same network there will be issues. When you are asking consumer grade equipment to accomplish enterprise types of activities issues will happen.

A managed switch is full duplex and it allows multiple traffic paths at any given time. An AP or the wireless portion of a wireless router will control the airspace and only allow one associated device to send traffic at a time. Hence QoS is extremely important when using time sensitive traffic on wireless networks.