Macs , iPhones , iPads , and other Apple ironware roam advantageously across Wi - Fi internet that are made up of multiple wireless router when the routers all share the same internet name , known obscurely as a Service Set Identifier ( SSID ) . This name allows your machine to accredit the corporate band of routers as all equally useable to switch among to preserve a connective when the signal for one meshwork becomes weak .
I have several entree points , but they ’re all unified under a single name .
IDG
Along with place the web name exactly the same , you also need to choose the same encryption method and selfsame word on all networks . This can get a lilliputian fuzzy . Wi - Fi protect Access ( WPA ) is the baseline , but the WPA2 version address gadget dating back most 15 old age , and should be your service line . Newer computer hardware can also plunk for WPA3 , a more forward-looking tone available only in a modified routine of Mobile River and screen background devices so far .
You might regain WPA2 listed as “ WPA2 Personal ” or “ WPA - PSK ” with an pick to select “ AES ” or “ AES - CCMP ” separately as an encryption case — or even WPA2 / WPA3 . All of those are fine . I would avoid plain WPA or WPA / WPA2 Personal where possible in the interests of improving security department ; pluck WPA2 Personal ( or PSK plus AES ) or WPA2 / WPA3 Personal . ( Do n’t habituate WPA3 Personal as the only method acting either — not enough devices yet indorse it . )
The pop TP - Link routers confusingly show WPA / WPA2 - Personal along with choice that include WPA2 - PSK for Version and AES for Encryption — select all three of those as shown in the physical body !
TP - Link ask three choices for the right current horizontal surface of Wi - Fi security .
TPlink
No matter the method acting of Wi - Fi security , the summons of picking a countersign is the same . For the greatest security , a set of three words that are easy to retrieve and put down provide splendid resistance to attacks and wo n’t frustrate you in tapping or typing them in . ( And remember that you canshare Wi - Fi passwords in a multifariousness of waysamong your devices and between mass in your impinging tilt , as well as with QR Codes . )
Most mod Wi - Fi gateways include two separate radio systems , one for each of the two major absolute frequency bands available for Wi - Fi , 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz . ( Some even have three — one in 2.4 GHz and two in 5 GHz — and 6 GHz Wi - Fi net are fare soon in the United States . ) During setup , the computer software thaumaturge will often suggest that you name one connection “ Your Home connection ” and the other “ Your Home connection-5 gigacycle ” , or automatically name them for you . Not only is this horrifying and inconsistent , it break ramble .
The only ground to part out 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz web with separate names , is to effectively provide two separate roaming networks your devices can utilize . That ’s useful only if you have a lot of old equipment that bogs down the 5 GHz net . gateway can expend multiple proficiency to deliver several times the throughput on a 5 GHz connection than on a 2.4 gigacycle per second one , make it ideal for convey multiple video streams or in high spirits - book data , like connection backups . If you name your 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz networks dissimilar in each Wi - Fi gateway , you’re able to connect your slower or older devices to the 2.4 GHz internet by its singular name and your more demanding unity to the 5 GHz one by its moniker . But , please , put your unique twisting on the name “ Slow web ” and “ Fast web ” to make it unmortgaged to yourself which is which .
Apple extend no options to operate roaming on its devices . It unify all identically named and protected networks into a undivided item you could take anywhere a lean of Wi - Fi electronic internet appears . Once selected , a equipment ’s operating system navigates when it thinks the signaling is weak enough that it needs to hop over to another connection . This should be unlined among same - cite web gadget ; switch to another meshing can introduce a inadequate delay , which can interrupt pertinacious or continuous web connexion , like a book mount in the Finder or a video watercourse .
This Mac 911 article is in reaction to a interrogative sentence submit by Macworld reader Richard .
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