Forum

Hello,

Someone asked me recently about the performance of adjacent APs on the same channel.

What can one expect from two APs within the same ESSID (if this matters at all) transmitting/receiving on the same channel as far as the DCF is concerned? Will the APs comply with RTS/CTS, thus creating an under-performing "single-cell" collision domain with two radios and all stations within earshot?

Thanks for your input.

Hi Bruce:

Yes. The IEEE 802.11 CSMA/CA does not distinguish between frames from different BSS's or ESS's or administrative domains or overlapping channels.

I hope this helps. Can you add your location to your forum profile? Thanks. /criss

One possible problem with adjacent APs on the same channel that has been brought up to me before is the potential for excessive roaming. If the APs are far enough from each other that they don't engage in CSMA/CA with each other, then stations may roam multiple times when approximately halfway between the APs and lose its connection to upper layer applications.

I really have no idea how often this is the case, but I've run into multiple folks who have seen this problem. Never done a full analysis of it myself.