As a comparison, we have dual band radios in all locations. We have disabled
802.11b and enabled band preferencing on all APs. I manually manage radio
transmit power settings and as a general rule, the 5G radio is set to operate
3dbm higher than the 2.4G one. As I type, this is how our network breaks down
today:
bgn: 38%
g: 20%
a/n: 22%
a: 2%
unknown: 18% (clients that are no longer active but haven't timed out of our
system yet)
I too am disappointed that dual band is not the standard. However, as we're
really only trying to get a 50-50 split between 2.4 and 5g, I suppose the
optimist in me says we're half way there at 24%. My stats also tell me that 60%
of all our associated users this week had an Apple OUI, which presumably means
dual band capable (iPhone 3gs and up/iPad are dual band as well as recent
MacBook Pros). I think there are more gains to be made in rf design (beefing up
the relative strength of 5g signal strengths), but mostly waiting for the
market to catch up like everyone else.
Regards,
Craig
SFU SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY
Network Services
Craig Simons
Network and Systems Administrator
Phone: 778-782-8036
Cell: 604-649-7977
Email: [email protected]
Twitter: simonscraig
----- Original Message -----
From: "Rich Fulton" <[email protected]>
To: [email protected]
Sent: Monday, 26 September, 2011 08:32:09
Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Disappointing numbers of 5ghz clients
Is anyone using the various band steering methods to nudge clients over to the
5ghz band?
On Mon, Sep 26, 2011 at 10:14 AM, Brian Helman < [email protected] >
wrote:
I think the newer Macs and iOS devices are dual band. The problem is you can’t
tell them which band to use, so they connect to the strongest signal.
Unfortunately, that doesn’t always mean the “better” signal.
-Brian
From: The EDUCAUSE Wireless Issues Constituent Group Listserv [mailto:
[email protected] ] On Behalf Of Coehoorn, Joel
Sent: Sunday, September 25, 2011 10:11 AM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Re: [WIRELESS-LAN] Disappointing numbers of 5ghz clients
There was another thread on this same listserv -a month or two back basically
complaining about the lack of consumer laptops with 5ghz radios. When your
average student or parent goes to buy a laptop for college, pretty much
everything they see is still 2.4Ghz. Even if they're looking for 5Ghz (and few
do), most laptops just advertise for b/g/n and don't otherwise tell you what
spectrum it will use. The result is exactly what you're seeing: the cleaner
5Ghz band is barely used, and students complain about throughput on 2.4Ghz.
Hopefully by next year's buying season we're seeing more 5Ghz laptops in the
market, but even then it will take a while before your upperclassmen have the
technology.
Joel Coehoorn
IT Director
402.363.5603
On Sun, Sep 25, 2011 at 9:05 AM, Jennifer Francis Wilson <
[email protected] > wrote:
Anyone happy with the numbers of 5ghz clients connecting to their networks,
compared to 2.4ghz clients?
I'm only seeing around 25% of clients on 5ghz, despite having a decent density
of dual radio 2.4/5ghz APs with band select switched on.
A reasonable percentage of the 5ghz clients are from laptops we loan out which
we know connect to 5ghz most of the time.
Most clients seem to either not be 5ghz capable or their wireless NICs/drivers
aren't choosing the 5ghz signal.
(we have 802.11n on both 2.4 and 5ghz, with 20mhz channels on 5ghz and use the
same ssids on both bands)
Jen.
**********
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--
/rf
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Constituent Group discussion list can be found at
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**********
Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group
discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
