The challenge for "FAST" networks is when you don't have 5ghz dense enough to cover everywhere.
What will happen is users will be walking and run into places where they drop from 5Ghz. And they will manually connect to the 2.4Ghz SSID. Without having the ability to tune which network is preferred, you can run into issues where the clients may start artificially preferring 2.4 because of the SSID priority order on their device. Bam, all that work and you may have made the problem worse. And certain devices don't let you explicitly set the priority order. iOS takes the last network used into account, security level, etc into account. I don't know if it still prefers the highest alphabetically or not. Appending "FAST" moves a network down in alphabetical order, which is the opposite of what you want. Now that a user has both SSIDs, as they walk along campus and they hit a 5ghz dead spot they will connect to the 2.4Ghz network which will remain preferred because "It was the last network joined." For a device that already prefers 5ghz over 2.4ghz, that's not a great way to go. https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202831 Thanks Jake Snyder Sent from my iPhone > On Aug 12, 2015, at 6:07 AM, Tevlin, Dave <dtev...@visi.org> wrote: > > Paul, > > Similar to the concept that Jason mentioned earlier, I heard of a wireless > setup at an Educause conference a while back with separate SSIDs for 2.4 and > 5. What helped them, unfortunately can't remember who it was, was adding > 'FAST' to the 5Ghz SSID name to help steer users to the 5Ghz band. Once they > did that the uptick of devices on the 5Ghz band increased greatly. > > They had two separate SSIDs before with 2.4 and 5Ghz but it was only after > they changed the SSID name to include FAST that they saw that improvement. I > also agree that the 2.4 and 5 should not show up in the SSID name. > > Dave Tevlin > Network/ Systems Administrator > Georgetown Visitation Prep School > > > > > >> On Wed, Aug 12, 2015 at 7:35 AM, Osborne, Bruce W (Network Services) >> <bosbo...@liberty.edu> wrote: >> Why not just deploy the 2.4 GHz with the same SSID on a few of the APs? >> With our Aruba APs, that is the recommended solution in a dense situation. >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> Bruce Osborne >> >> Wireless Engineer >> >> IT Infrastructure & Media Solutions >> >> >> >> (434) 592-4229 >> >> >> >> LIBERTY UNIVERSITY >> >> Training Champions for Christ since 1971 >> >> >> >> From: Paul Sedy [mailto:rps...@masters.edu] >> Sent: Tuesday, August 11, 2015 4:23 PM >> Subject: Exclusive 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz SSIDs >> >> >> >> Hello everyone, >> >> >> >> We are a Cisco shop and have, up until now, employed a single SSID for >> students, supporting both 2.4 Ghz and 5Ghz connections. During this summer, >> we have been working to develop sufficient AP density to ensure good 5Ghz >> cells throughout our dorms. In the past, we have seen numerous instances of >> poorer performance on the 2.4 Ghz spectrum, but up to this point, have >> relied on the client to make the decision between these two options. >> >> >> >> We are thinking of deploying two separate SSIDs, a 5Ghz network and a 2.4 >> Ghz network, that are exclusive in order to promote a better experience for >> the students with devices capable of 5Ghz connectivity. We would probably >> use the original SSID name with an appended (5 Ghz) or (2.4 Ghz). >> >> >> >> Are any of you currently employing this type of configuration and how well >> has it worked for you? >> >> >> >> We would appreciate any insights that anyone might have. >> >> >> >> Paul Sedy >> >> The Master’s College >> >> Director of IT Operations >> >> 21726 Placerita Canyon Rd, Santa Clarita, CA 91321 >> >> 661.362.2340 | rps...@masters.edu >> >> ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE >> Constituent Group discussion list can be found at >> http://www.educause.edu/groups/. >> >> ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE >> Constituent Group discussion list can be found at >> http://www.educause.edu/groups/. > > ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE > Constituent Group discussion list can be found at > http://www.educause.edu/groups/. ********** Participation and subscription information for this EDUCAUSE Constituent Group discussion list can be found at http://www.educause.edu/groups/.
