Plan How Multi-channel and Blanket Networks are Mixed

Quick Tour > Configure Channel Blanket (AWC-CB) > Plan How Multi-channel and Blanket Networks are Mixed

AWC Plug-in lets you operate two types of wireless network simultaneously and leverage the strength of each type. The two types are a Multi-channel network where each AP uses different channels, and a Blanket network where multiple APs use the same channel.
Separate Virtual Access Point (VAP) should be created for each type.

It's necessary to plan which type (multi-channel or blanket) of VAP to use for each wireless network.

The following table shows the differences between multi-channel and blanket wireless networks.

Table 1: Comparison between Multi-channel and Blanket Wireless Networks
	Multi-channel (Conventional)	Blanket
Roaming Delay	POOR... Depending on clients	GOOD Zero Time
Easy Deployment	NOT GOOD... Complex channel planning is required	GOOD Because of using a single channel, channel planning is not required
Throughput	OKAY By limiting the number of clients per cell high throughput can be achieved.	NOT GOOD... Because of using a single channel, throughput decreases with more clients

Generally speaking, a low-throughput CB VAP with seamless roaming is more suited to mobile devices, because those devices frequently move around but they are rarely used simultaneously.
On the other hand, a multi-channel VAP is more suited for PCs which are used constantly and simultaneously, because this type of VAP can achieve high throughput by limiting the number of clients per AP, although client roaming can cause delay.

It is possible to use both multi-channel and CB VAPs on a single radio band (Radio 1 or 2).
However, because APs belonging to a channel blanket use a common single channel, if you configure a multi-channel VAP on the same radio as the CB VAP, radio wave interference occurs between neighboring APs. You have to perform thorough testing if you use this configuration.
Here we are going to configure a multi-channel VAP on Radio 2 which has the wider 5GHz band and CB VAPs on Radio 1 at 2.4GHz.
We will use a CB VAP for the guest network so that guest traffic does not affect number of employee PCs per AP.

Table 2: Planned Wireless Networks
	Radio	TQ5403-xF-1	TQ5403-xF-2	TQ5403-xF-3	Description
2F	Radio 2	ForStaff-PC	ForStaff-PC	ForStaff-PC	Multi-channel VAP for employees' PCs
2F	Radio 1	ForStaff-Mobile			AWC-CB VAP for employees' mobile devices
1F	Radio 2	ForStaff-PC	ForStaff-PC	ForStaff-PC	Multi-channel VAP for employees' PCs
	Radio 1	ForStaff-Mobile			AWC-CB VAP for employees' mobile devices
	Radio 1	ForGuest			AWC-CB VAP for guests

C613-04110-00 Rev B

09 Sep 2021 17:37