My WiFi Setup Correct?

[mofish]

Hi,

After looking into my WiFi setup a little, I noticed what appears to be a few different broadcasts of my WiFi on differing channels. I wondered if having all these broadcast like this was normal or if this would be effecting the performance of the WiFi around my home and help explain why the WiFi signal drops out so often.

Would anybody be able to tell me if this is normal?

I have the following bits of kit, and can provide more detailed information on how each are set-up if required.

1 x Airport Extreme
2 x Airport Express

Regards,

MoFish

Apple Icon > About This Mac > System Report > Network > WiFi

  Interfaces:
en0:
  Card Type:    AirPort Extreme  (0x14E4, 0x152)
  Firmware Version:    Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.15.166.24.3)
  MAC Address:    ac:bc:32:77:62:0g
  Locale:    ETSI
  Country Code:    GB
  Supported PHY Modes:    802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
  Supported Channels:    1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 149, 153, 157, 161
  Wake On Wireless:    Supported
  AirDrop:    Supported
  Status:    Connected
  Current Network Information:
Fyfie:
  PHY Mode:    802.11n
  BSSID:    34:36:3b:bd:b6:1g
  Channel:    108,1
  Country Code:    GB
  Network Type:    Infrastructure
  Security:    WPA2 Personal
  Signal / Noise:    -66 dBm / -95 dBm
  Transmit Rate:    216
  MCS Index:    13
  Other Local Wi-Fi Networks:
Fyfie:
  PHY Mode:    802.11n
  BSSID:    b8:c7:5d:04:e1:7g
  Channel:    116
  Country Code:    GB
  Network Type:    Infrastructure
  Security:    WPA2 Personal
  Signal / Noise:    -82 dBm / 0 dBm
Fyfie:
  PHY Mode:    802.11n
  BSSID:    20:c9:d0:a3:dc:5g
  Channel:    6
  Country Code:    GB
  Network Type:    Infrastructure
  Security:    WPA2 Personal
  Signal / Noise:    -87 dBm / 0 dBm
Fyfie:
  PHY Mode:    802.11n
  BSSID:    34:36:3b:bd:b6:1g
  Channel:    6
  Country Code:    GB
  Network Type:    Infrastructure
  Security:    WPA2 Personal
  Signal / Noise:    -64 dBm / 0 dBm
Fyfie:
  PHY Mode:    802.11n
  BSSID:    b8:c7:5d:04:e1:6g
  Channel:    1
  Country Code:    GB
  Network Type:    Infrastructure
  Security:    WPA2 Personal
  Signal / Noise:    -67 dBm / 0 dBm

 

[satcomer]

For proper N speeds the channels for N speeds should be in the 100s range. The AC ranges need to be in highest 100 ranges in channels.

 

[mofish]

For proper N speeds the channels for N speeds should be in the 100s range. The AC ranges need to be in highest 100 ranges in channels.

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to reply.

Could you elaborate slightly and provide instructions on what I should do to resolve this? Am I correct in saying that I should log into the AirPort Extreme and amend the channels to the highest number possible?

Regards,

 

[rigormortis]

the airport extreme should be configured with two network names one being 2.4 and one being 5hz
you should always connect to the 5ghz one , unless its too far away.
your set up looks like it i connecting to channel 6
the mac is going to want to connect to the 2.4 ghz one simply because the signal is stronger.
5ghz doesn't like walls. its more of an outdoor band, and 2.4 is a better at being inside and reaching outside

wifi channels
the low range channels operating on 5 ghz used to have power restrictions placed on them by the fcc.
this is no longer the case, but i bet a lot of wifi gear hasn't been changed
channels like 36 to 48 are meant to be indoor channels
channels like 149 to 161 were meant to be outdoor channels and have the highest power.

if your using the remotes as network extenders, and the routers are two far away
you can run ethernet to them.
i think this is only possible with the older windows airport utility setup. they made it more simplified in airport utility 6.
the advantage to running ethernet is you can give the roiuters a different name like 'kitchen'
and also you can put them on different wfi channels.
this might be a double nat or tiriple nat situation where the network translation is done 2 times
but i forget.
i think its jut like ' extend my wireless network ' except the option to specify a different channel was left open to be set


i hope this helps

if i reminder correctly. if you want to " extend my wifi network " using ethernet, it required airport utility 5.xx , which is probably only available to windows. and it requires the remote airpot extremes to be factory reset to their default settings. once you configured it to extend via wifi, it was no longer possible to set it to ethernet unless the airport was erased of all its settings

 

[rigormortis]

the airport expresses aren't gong to provide good signal if they are the old ones that are too low to the ground, like where a power socket is. have you ever consider using 3 airport extremes instead?

another idea. use the same latest generation for all the airports. if you use the latest generation on one, then use the latest generation on all the equipment

newer airport equipment were MIMO older ones were not.
the nice thing about 802.11n 5 ghz mimo is each client gets its own speed.
in the 802.11g days if a device connected at a slower speed like 6 mbit, then all devices operated at 6 mbit.

there was a setting called multicast HIGH or LOW that people were using to kick off devices that are too far away.

i have a lot of problems with free xfinity wifi where the signal would look good, but i couldn't connect because i felt that there multicast setting must be set to high, and they wouldn't let me on because i was too far away

 

[mofish]

Hi,

Thanks for taking the time to reply. Here is my current set-up. I hope this can help clarify in some way.

For the downstairs Airport Express I have it hard wired using an Ethernet Power Plug.

The bathroom Airport Express is currently 'Extending a wireless network' through WiFi.

I'm unsure if I should be checking the '5ghz network name' or amending the channels in any way to help? I see you suggested entering a different name for this network. Can this be left the same or should this be named something completely different? I'm also not sure on the signal strength/noise levels i'm receiving. Do these look okay?

Regards,

MoFish

Airport Extreme

Airport Express (Downstairs) Wired Via Power Plug

Airport Express (Bathroom) WiFi

Latest Report

 Interfaces:
en0:
  Card Type:    AirPort Extreme  (0x14E4, 0x152)
  Firmware Version:    Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.15.166.24.3)
  MAC Address:    ac:bc:32:77:62:07
  Locale:    ETSI
  Country Code:    GB
  Supported PHY Modes:    802.11 a/b/g/n/ac
  Supported Channels:    1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 149, 153, 157, 161
  Wake On Wireless:    Supported
  AirDrop:    Supported
  Status:    Connected
  Current Network Information:
Fyfie:
  PHY Mode:    802.11n
  BSSID:    b8:c7:5d:04:e1:6f
  Channel:    1
  Country Code:    GB
  Network Type:    Infrastructure
  Security:    WPA2 Personal
  Signal / Noise:    -72 dBm / -95 dBm
  Transmit Rate:    78
  MCS Index:    19
  Other Local Wi-Fi Networks:
DIRECT-Q7-BRAVIA:
  PHY Mode:    802.11n
  BSSID:    92:48:9a:39:1e:83
  Channel:    6
  Network Type:    Infrastructure
  Security:    WPA2 Personal
  Signal / Noise:    -46 dBm / 0 dBm
Fyfie:
  PHY Mode:    802.11n
  BSSID:    b8:c7:5d:04:e1:70
  Channel:    116
  Country Code:    GB
  Network Type:    Infrastructure
  Security:    WPA2 Personal
  Signal / Noise:    -80 dBm / 0 dBm
Fyfie:
  PHY Mode:    802.11n
  BSSID:    34:36:3b:bd:b6:1f
  Channel:    100,+1
  Country Code:    GB
  Network Type:    Infrastructure
  Security:    WPA2 Personal
  Signal / Noise:    -47 dBm / 0 dBm
Fyfie:
  PHY Mode:    802.11n
  BSSID:    34:36:3b:bd:b6:1e
  Channel:    6
  Country Code:    GB
  Network Type:    Infrastructure
  Security:    WPA2 Personal
  Signal / Noise:    -45 dBm / 0 dBm
TALKTALK755F9A:
  PHY Mode:    802.11n
  BSSID:    58:1f:28:75:5f:a0
  Channel:    1
  Country Code:    GB
  Network Type:    Infrastructure
  Security:    WPA/WPA2 Personal
  Signal / Noise:    -88 dBm / -95 dBm