solomani

Q: How does Automatic Channel Selection Work?

Hi all,

 

I was wondering how the AUTO feature works on an Airport Extreme/TimeCapsule 2.4/5 GHZ channel selector?  Does it select a channel only on boot up or is it constantly checking for best channel and switching as needed?

 

Screen Shot 2016-09-27 at 19.46.58.jpg

 

Thanks.

iMac (27-inch, Late 2012), OS X El Capitan (10.11.6)

Posted on Sep 27, 2016 3:06 AM

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Q: How does Automatic Channel Selection Work?

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  • by anonyme4321,

    anonyme4321 anonyme4321 Sep 27, 2016 3:22 AM in response to solomani
    Level 2 (480 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 27, 2016 3:22 AM in response to solomani

    Hi solomani,

     

    On boot.

  • by LaPastenague,Helpful

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Sep 27, 2016 4:51 AM in response to anonyme4321
    Level 9 (52,675 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 27, 2016 4:51 AM in response to anonyme4321

    If I dig into the console of the Airport I believe it does checks more often .. but I am not sure of the actual interval.

     

    For example.

     

    SKIPPED false Type 1 Radar Detection. min_pw=7 pw_delta=0 pri=35166 fm_min=0 fm_max=0 nconsecq_pulses=3. Time from last detection = 14439, = 240min 39sec. Detected pulse index: 0


    Occurs regularly.

  • by solomani,

    solomani solomani Sep 27, 2016 4:52 AM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (32 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 27, 2016 4:52 AM in response to LaPastenague

    IInteresting.  Two different answers.  Nothing official from Apple?

  • by LaPastenague,Helpful

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Sep 27, 2016 5:50 PM in response to solomani
    Level 9 (52,675 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 27, 2016 5:50 PM in response to solomani

    Apple believe in designed by Geniuses for small idiots. All knowledge is on a need to know basis. Think NSA.

     

    Due to the way FCC rules work.. it must do some checking for radar use and locate channels accordingly. So at least the 5ghz must be checked.. the interval shown at 240min shows it is not that freq but is certainly not set and forget at boot time.

    Even if you don't live in the US (I don't) and my TC is set for Australia.. the FCC rules still dominate.

     

    I did not dig deeper than dmesg but normally I would see on a console that about once an hour the wireless driver does a scan of available freq and can hop to a better channel if needed. I did not find that in the output here.. but then Apple rewrote linux drivers to NetBSD which does who know what???

  • by solomani,

    solomani solomani Sep 27, 2016 5:52 PM in response to LaPastenague
    Level 1 (32 points)
    Mac OS X
    Sep 27, 2016 5:52 PM in response to LaPastenague

    Thanks, LaPastenague.  I guess you could check it using the Wireless Diagnostic tool?  As this shows the current channel being used by the Airport and check it off and on/daily to see if it does change.

     

    In fact, I think I will do that.

  • by LaPastenague,

    LaPastenague LaPastenague Sep 27, 2016 9:42 PM in response to solomani
    Level 9 (52,675 points)
    Wireless
    Sep 27, 2016 9:42 PM in response to solomani

    Stick another router next to it using same channel as the Airport.. I think you have to make it work.. otherwise it will probably be content to stay as is.