Too many wifi signals

[Drack502]

Hi all,

I have 3 wifi access points in my home, 2 close by each other (ISP supplied modem/router and I higher end Asus router) and another router about 40 feet away. I am having issues staying connected to one signal at a decent speed.

Would having 3 wifi access points in one home cause any issues?

Thanks

[Dieselboy]

To answer your question:

No, that would definitely not cause issues if they were placed and configured correctly.
Though,
Yes that would indeed cause issues if they were not placed or configured correctly.

Simple rules - waves intefere with each other on the same frequency. ie the same wifi channel. So you need the same network name and same authentication (usually a password) but each AP to have a different frequency ie channel.

Depending on what kit you have / what wifi bands you're using also.

You can use an app to show you the wifi signal strengths and channels and then adjust accordingly. The 2.4ghz spectrum only has 3 channels that dont interfere with each other. I have android so I use an app called "wifi analyzer". It does not work until you give it GPS and STORAGE permission, which I think is a bit dodgy so I only install it when I need to use it then it gets removed, and I have not discovered any better app that's as simple and easy as this.

Also, the decision to join (roam) to a different access point is done by the wifi client and is based on a number of factors, signal strength is usually a factor. So ideally you need the lowest signal strength possible that gives you a good signal whilst also stopping wifi devices from continuously roaming. So this means adequate AP spacing, correct channel placement and signal power,

[icecream-guy]

here is what I tell customers I support with remote access (VPN Issues) when they are connected to WIFI

is the AP set for Auto channel configuration?
on 2.5 GHZ, have other wireless channels been tried?  1,6 or 11 are best
On the 5 GHz band, is the channel width set to 40 MHz?  80MHz and 160MHz have lots if issues with interference.


If using 40 MHz channel width, the bandwidth of the following channel is used:
36 - 40
44 - 48
149 - 153
157 - 161

If using 80 MHz channel width, the bandwidth of the following channel is used:
36 - 48
149 - 161

*Channel 165 only supports 20MHz channel width.

Consider Firmware update
Consider WiFi drivers updated
Consider Chipset drivers updated
System performance can have impact on VPN connectivity. Has system been tuned lately, browser cache cleaned up? temporary files deleted? Disk optimization run?

[deanwebb]

This also begs the question if the wifi systems in question are all the same SSID, or if they are different SSIDs on the same channel... also, is the system using extenders or mesh for coverage?