Quick Tips

Access point data rate settings

By default, access points have their data rate set to "auto" so that they will rate shift as needed to maintain associations with users. Most access points also allow the data rate to be set to specific values, such as 1Mbps. Keep in mind, however, that the setting in the access point only applies to the data rate that the access point uses, not the wireless clients. For example, setting the access point to 1 Mbps causes the access point to transmit all frames at 1 Mbps. In this situation, wireless clients set to "auto" still continue to use higher data rates if possible. In order to extend range by forcing lower data rates, you generally need to set both access points and user radio cards to the lower data rate configurations.