Can I give two adjacent wifi access points, the same name and password?

On 05/10/2020 08:25, Harry Bloomfield wrote:

Can I give two adjacent wifi access points, the same name and password?

Yes...

In both senses - they can both use the same SSID and wifi password, and
can both have the same admin credentials for access to the configuration
pages.


--
Cheers,

John.

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John Rumm expressed precisely :
Yes...

In both senses - they can both use the same SSID and wifi password, and can
both have the same admin credentials for access to the configuration pages.

Thanks, I think that means I can put an extra AP in my garage, to give
better access for some Smart Plugs out there, which presently have poor
access - with no need to change the SM's configuration.

On 05/10/2020 08:47, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
John Rumm expressed precisely :
Yes...

In both senses - they can both use the same SSID and wifi password,
and can both have the same admin credentials for access to the
configuration pages.

Thanks, I think that means I can put an extra AP in my garage, to give
better access for some Smart Plugs out there, which presently have poor
access - with no need to change the SM's configuration.

Yup... with multiple APs setup with the same SSID and pw, clients can
"roam" between them.

However for devices that don't move they will normally stick to the one
with the stronger signal.

Note you may need disconnect from the current AP before they will
countenance trying the new one! Some clients seem determined to stick to
the AP they are connected to with a crap signal, even when there is a
much better option available.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

John Rumm wrote:
On 05/10/2020 08:47, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
John Rumm expressed precisely :
Yes...

In both senses - they can both use the same SSID and wifi password,
and can both have the same admin credentials for access to the
configuration pages.

Thanks, I think that means I can put an extra AP in my garage, to give
better access for some Smart Plugs out there, which presently have poor
access - with no need to change the SM's configuration.

Yup... with multiple APs setup with the same SSID and pw, clients can
"roam" between them.

However for devices that don't move they will normally stick to the one
with the stronger signal.

Note you may need disconnect from the current AP before they will
countenance trying the new one! Some clients seem determined to stick to
the AP they are connected to with a crap signal, even when there is a
much better option available.


That last point was why we changed to a mesh system. Our mobile devices
would all doggedly stick with the first AP they connected to rather than
roam to the one with the best signal. We were forever manually switching
them to the best AP.

Tim
--
Please don't feed the trolls

On 05/10/2020 09:33, Tim+ wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
On 05/10/2020 08:47, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
John Rumm expressed precisely :
Yes...

In both senses - they can both use the same SSID and wifi password,
and can both have the same admin credentials for access to the
configuration pages.

Thanks, I think that means I can put an extra AP in my garage, to give
better access for some Smart Plugs out there, which presently have poor
access - with no need to change the SM's configuration.

Yup... with multiple APs setup with the same SSID and pw, clients can
"roam" between them.

However for devices that don't move they will normally stick to the one
with the stronger signal.

Note you may need disconnect from the current AP before they will
countenance trying the new one! Some clients seem determined to stick to
the AP they are connected to with a crap signal, even when there is a
much better option available.


That last point was why we changed to a mesh system. Our mobile devices
would all doggedly stick with the first AP they connected to rather than
roam to the one with the best signal. We were forever manually switching
them to the best AP.

Tim

I don't seem to have that problem with a cheap TP-Link range extender,
or with a previous one (different make) that died. That's with about ten
mobile devices (phones, tablets, laptops) of different makes and all the
usual OSs.

On 05/10/2020 09:33, Tim+ wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
On 05/10/2020 08:47, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
John Rumm expressed precisely :
Yes...

In both senses - they can both use the same SSID and wifi password,
and can both have the same admin credentials for access to the
configuration pages.

Thanks, I think that means I can put an extra AP in my garage, to give
better access for some Smart Plugs out there, which presently have poor
access - with no need to change the SM's configuration.

Yup... with multiple APs setup with the same SSID and pw, clients can
"roam" between them.

However for devices that don't move they will normally stick to the one
with the stronger signal.

Note you may need disconnect from the current AP before they will
countenance trying the new one! Some clients seem determined to stick to
the AP they are connected to with a crap signal, even when there is a
much better option available.


That last point was why we changed to a mesh system. Our mobile devices
would all doggedly stick with the first AP they connected to rather than
roam to the one with the best signal. We were forever manually switching
them to the best AP.

Some kit seems to do it better than others.

Also some APs allow you to set minimum signal quality and strength
levels, so that they will actually disassociate clients where the
connection is falling below them (this promoting the client to try to
reconnect - and hopefully to the better AP). To work really well the APs
need to talk to each other over the wired LAN so they can assess when
the client has better options (i.e. no point in kicking a client off, if
it can't get a better signal elsewhere)

For example:

https://www.draytek.co.uk/support/guides/kb-ap-mobility


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

On 05/10/2020 09:33, Tim+ wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
On 05/10/2020 08:47, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
John Rumm expressed precisely :
Yes...

In both senses - they can both use the same SSID and wifi password,
and can both have the same admin credentials for access to the
configuration pages.

Thanks, I think that means I can put an extra AP in my garage, to give
better access for some Smart Plugs out there, which presently have poor
access - with no need to change the SM's configuration.

Yup... with multiple APs setup with the same SSID and pw, clients can
"roam" between them.

However for devices that don't move they will normally stick to the one
with the stronger signal.

Note you may need disconnect from the current AP before they will
countenance trying the new one! Some clients seem determined to stick to
the AP they are connected to with a crap signal, even when there is a
much better option available.


That last point was why we changed to a mesh system. Our mobile devices
would all doggedly stick with the first AP they connected to rather than
roam to the one with the best signal. We were forever manually switching
them to the best AP.

Tim

As switching APs is , I thought, initiated by the Client ( eg phone) how
does a Mesh system change things ?

On Mon, 5 Oct 2020 09:14:10 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

snip

However for devices that don't move they will normally stick to the one
with the stronger signal.

Assuming that AP was available when the client switched on (but you
covered that with your 'normally'). ;-)

Note you may need disconnect from the current AP before they will
countenance trying the new one!

Or that (and what often happens 'normally' when you power cycle /
unplug-move such devices in any case).

Some clients seem determined to stick to
the AP they are connected to with a crap signal, even when there is a
much better option available.

I can only remember seeing the option in the Windows clients where you
can change the connection order of the client to AP's. More handy for
mobile devices that regularly have access to a group of AP's but
generally are closer to one than the other(s) (like here).

I generally push my 'main' AP to the top of the list, other peoples
AP's (that I visit sometimes) further down and remove any that I know
are obsolete or were one-off's.

Cheers, T i m

On 05/10/2020 10:44, T i m wrote:
On Mon, 5 Oct 2020 09:14:10 +0100, John Rumm
wrote:

snip

However for devices that don't move they will normally stick to the one
with the stronger signal.

Assuming that AP was available when the client switched on (but you
covered that with your 'normally'). ;-)

Note you may need disconnect from the current AP before they will
countenance trying the new one!

Or that (and what often happens 'normally' when you power cycle /
unplug-move such devices in any case).

Some clients seem determined to stick to
the AP they are connected to with a crap signal, even when there is a
much better option available.

I can only remember seeing the option in the Windows clients where you
can change the connection order of the client to AP's. More handy for
mobile devices that regularly have access to a group of AP's but
generally are closer to one than the other(s) (like here).

I generally push my 'main' AP to the top of the list, other peoples
AP's (that I visit sometimes) further down and remove any that I know
are obsolete or were one-off's.

That makes sense when prioritising networks rather than individual APs,
since if you have given all the APs the same SSID, then they all look
like the same network.




--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

Yes but I found that certain systems when logged into one of them, sees the
other one as the same name with ext on the end and won't auto connect to it.
If you name them differently then you can make both preferred networks, at
least that has been my experience.
Brian

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"John Rumm" wrote in message
o.uk...
On 05/10/2020 08:25, Harry Bloomfield wrote:

Can I give two adjacent wifi access points, the same name and password?

Yes...

In both senses - they can both use the same SSID and wifi password, and
can both have the same admin credentials for access to the configuration
pages.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

I've never managed it, besides won't they have different addresses? Can you
not just use a Mesh system?
Brian

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Harry Bloomfield; "Esq." wrote in message
...
Can I give two adjacent wifi access points, the same name and password?

On 05/10/2020 08:58, Brian Gaff (Sofa) wrote:

I've never managed it, besides won't they have different addresses?

While wifi access points may well have an ip address for access to their
configuration pages from a web browser, their actual wifi functionality
mostly happens down at layer 2, and so don't operate with IP addresses
at all. They are basically like a bridge or network switch, routing
packets based on mac addresses.

Can you
not just use a Mesh system?

If you have the right hardware, then that is also an option, but a
fairly new one. There are many multiple AP networks out there that are
not meshing.


--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

"Brian Gaff \(Sofa\)" wrote:
I've never managed it, besides won't they have different addresses? Can you
not just use a Mesh system?

It's still mostly down to the client to move from one source to another.

If a WiFi server *forces* a client to disconnect and reconnect then
there is a significant delay, at least that's my understanding of
how it all works.

--
Chris Green
·

On 05/10/2020 09:42, Chris Green wrote:
"Brian Gaff \(Sofa\)" wrote:
I've never managed it, besides won't they have different addresses? Can you
not just use a Mesh system?

It's still mostly down to the client to move from one source to another.

If a WiFi server *forces* a client to disconnect and reconnect then
there is a significant delay, at least that's my understanding of
how it all works.

There are various "fast roaming" capabilities that can help mitigate,
but yup there is a tradeoff, so you don't want to click clients too easily.

(The worst case is when using enterprise style EAP authentication rather
than WPA2 - since authentication not only requires the normal 4 way
handshake, but also a conversation with the RADIUS server as well)



--
Cheers,

John.

/================================================== ===============\
| Internode Ltd - http://www.internode.co.uk |
|-----------------------------------------------------------------|
| John Rumm - john(at)internode(dot)co(dot)uk |
\================================================= ================/

In article ,
Harry Bloomfield wrote:
Can I give two adjacent wifi access points, the same name and password?

Yes - I have that here. Main and range extender.

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