Will two wireless networks with same SSID/password be treated as one (technically)?

If I set up two different access points, but use the same SSID and password - will the connecting device be able to differenciate between them, like know which one it's currently connected to - or will the device think that this is just one single network?

Does it matter if security type is different, or is the SSID the only important thing?

I currently have two different wifi networks, and my (old, stupid) phone doesn't automatically switch to the one with best coverage. Could this still be a problem even if I change the SSID?

JamesB

Posted 2016-09-22T20:38:18.280

Reputation: 13

They will not be treated as one. – Ramhound – 2016-09-22T20:40:30.437

Answers

They will be separate networks, and your client devices will know they are different. Unfortunately most clients will not differentiate between them in the user interface and instead show two networks with the same name.

It sounds like you want a network that supports roaming - a process where clients can hop from one access point to another inside the same wireless LAN (WLAN) without disconnecting and reconnecting. This is a feature usually only available for professional access points coordinated through a WLAN controller.

I would recommend referring to your current equipment's documentation to see if any roaming features are supported. A software defined WLAN controller is sometimes an option (example: UniFi devices).

Quincy Otter

Posted 2016-09-22T20:38:18.280

Reputation: 71

Thanks for your reply. In other words, making them use exactly the same SSID/password does not have ANY advantage for the phone (more seamlessly switching for instance). The only advantage at all is that new clients don't need to enter passwords for two networks? – JamesB – 2016-09-23T07:56:59.933

That depends on the client behavior for remembering pre-shared keys (PSK). If the client associates the saved PSK with the SSID then it will attempt to authenticate with any network (even one that isn't yours) that happens to use the exact same SSID. If the client associates the PSK with the basic service set identifier (BSSID) which is the MAC address of the AP then you will need to enter and save the PSK for each AP. I would recommend testing your clients to see which behavior they exhibit. – Quincy Otter – 2016-09-23T22:30:52.933

Yes they will be two separate networks. You will also most likely experience several different kinds of problems ranging from packet collisions, dropped packets, to total connection loss when your devices decide to switch AP's all of a sudden favoring one for the other.

archae0pteryx

Posted 2016-09-22T20:38:18.280

Reputation: 136