I've read everywhere that wireless access points interfere with each other and should be put on distant channels. This even applies to access points on the same wired network with the same SSID from what I've read.
Doesn't that imply that wireless clients, especially higher-powered ones, will also interfere with each other on nearby channels – or the same channel? Even when they are connecting to the same access point?
If this client-to-client interference exists, are there any rules of thumb for when it becomes a problem?
Best Answer
You may be somewhat misinterpreting what you've read. Most (recent) wifi radios are good at rejecting adjacent channel interference, so your concern shouldn't be with radios on different channels. An AP on channel 1 will not cause much interference with another on ch 6, for example. The same goes for clients.
Edit:
When two workstations are associated with the same AP, the AP coordinates their transmissions using CSMA/CA. So they don't interfere so much as they compete for available time slots. The more clients you have, the more competition there is for airtime and throughput decreases.
Co-channel interference can occur when there are two nearby APs on the same channel. In this case, the APs are not in sync, so clients associated with AP1 are not in sync with clients associated to AP2. The clients will interfere with each other and the other AP, causing deferred transmissions, retransmissions, etc, all taking a big bite out of your throughput.
Using nonstandard frequencies (like channel 7) is just wrong and will cause everyone problems.
Also, +1 to everything @RickyBeam said.