Recommended Beacon Interval for 2.4GHz vs 5GHz dual band networks with single SSID

[Jeremy Ward]

I agree, that within the context of a multi-AP network, controlling
association with just the beacon interval does leave much of the picture
out of the equation, especially when a STA is roaming. As far as coverage
differences between 2.4GHz and 5GHz spectrum,  this is more of a network
design consideration.

However, the application in which we are using hostAPd is a type of mobile
appliance that will never have more than a single integrated AP (well,
technically two APs since it is dual-band); as such, roaming is not a
concern.

Thanks for the feedback.

Jeremy D. Ward, CWNE
(954) 661-4965
On Jan 5, 2015 4:44 PM, "Arend van Spriel" <arend at broadcom.com> wrote:

> On 01/05/15 21:31, Jeremy Ward wrote:
>
>> Greetings,
>>
>> Looking for a reccomendation as to what should be specified for a beacon
>> interval on each wireless interface when using two cards under hostAPd,
>> one operating at 2.4GHz the other at 5GHz, with the same SSID on each.
>>
>> The goal is to increase the likelihood that an STA will see the 5GHz
>> beacon before the 2.4GHz beacon, and thus associate with the 5GHz AP and
>> not the 2.4GHz AP.
>>
>> A number of enterprise-class dual-band APs use exactly this tactic to
>> "entice" a dual-band STA to associate with the 5GHz radio, mostly
>> because out in the wild, 5GHz is less encumbered than 2.4GHz and has
>> close to 10x the amount of available spectrum (regulatory domain
>> dependent, of course)
>>
>
> This statement may be true, but you overlook a number of constraints. It
> is true that 5G is less crowded and will suffer less from interference.
> Howerver, when it comes to range "out in the wild" you are better of with
> 2.4G. If you STA is in good range and stationary 5G is probably the better
> choice. So in my opinion (not a CWNE) these kind of settings are not very
> useful unless you have some kind of algorithm that takes signal strength
> and rate info into account dynamically, which is what roaming algorithms
> would do.
>
> Regards,
> Arend
>
>  My thoughts were the following:
>> 2.4GHz Beacon Interval: 200
>> 5GHz Beacon Interval: 50
>>
> >
>
>> Also, if this is not the right forum in which to post such a question,
>> please let me know.
>>
>> Thanks for your feedback and assistance,
>>
>> Jeremy D. Ward, CWNE
>> (954) 661-4965
>>
>>
>>
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>
>
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