What is AC/N mixed mode - in respect of dd-wrt on the 5 gig band?
I'm configuring an ASUS AC1900 router with dd-wrt. When configuring "Wireless Physical Interface wl1 [5 GHz/802.11ac]" interface, there is a dropdown for Wireless mode, which lists, among other options AC/N Mixed.
I understood that N mode was confined to 2.4 ghz while AC mode is confined to 5gig band. Is my understanding incorrect, and what is AC/N Mixed mode?
I suspect relatedly, is it practical to have just a single SSID for both the 2.4 and 5 gig band?
1 Answer
The IEEE 802.11n spec has provisions for both 2.4 and 5 GHz operation, as does 802.11ax. All the other major flavors of 802.11 are just one band or the other.
The most common, practical, default mode for a 5GHz AC-capable radio is to allow all three 5GHz 802.11 flavors it supports: AC, N, and A. I imagine that's what DD-WRT was getting at with its poorly-named "AC/N Mixed mode" setting, but I don't know why it doesn't also mention A.
Using the same SSID for both bands is ideal, as it lets your clients choose for themselves which band is better under current conditions. However, some clients do a poor job of this so some people have to resort to separate SSIDs to work around their clients' bugs.
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