[MLB-WIRELESS] Channel management

[Simon Butcher]

Hi David :)

>   >> untrue, wireless cards can automatically switch between channels
>   >> without much hassle at all
> 
>   Simon> Wireless cards can, yes, with operator intervention. I'm
>   Simon> unaware of any wireless cards which can switch automatically,
>   Simon> and if they exist they're probably going to be running some
>   Simon> proprietary software IMHO.
> 
> if i have a wired network with a bunch of APs on it, spread 
> across an office, i thought the recommended configuration was 
> to use a bunch of channels and to overlap the coverage areas 
> to ensure smooth handover between the APs as you move about?

I didn't think there was anything in the specification for access points
to tell cards "Change to channel X"? That's what I presumed, since all
the AP's which do roaming seem to say that they must be on the same
channel for seamless hand-overs to occur.

I know cards, with software, can scan for a network with a specified
SSID and connect to it, but that's not exactly seamless if the
connection gets dropped?

If you weren't doing roaming, then the recommended practice would
definitely be to separate the channel usage. To obtain seamless
handovers for roaming, however, I'm not so sure. Actually I'm not sure
either way anymore..

> the proprietary software involved is the protocol used 
> between the APs to do the handover.  there is an open 
> protocol currently under standardisation within the IEEE to 
> address this lack ...

Yeah, which is why I mentioned 802.11f :)

Cheers :)

 - Simon


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