Specifications

Crestron Best Practices RF Products

Reference Guide – DOC. 6689E Best Practices – RF Products

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Devices using the same RF band can interfere with one another’s communication.

As shown in the table on page 2, most of the current Crestron product offerings

transmit using the 2.4 GHz wireless communication band. Even though products on

different wireless networks cannot communicate with each other, they can create

interference that degrades performance or eliminates connectivity.

Most wireless networks use the 2.4 GHz band, and consequently most connectivity

issues are concentrated in that band. The 2.4 GHz band is therefore the focus of this

document.

RF Channels

Each RF network type divides the communication band into separate communication

channels. Crestron 2.4 GHz products use two different methods to divide the band:

1. infiNET™, infiNET EX

, and Extended Range use 802.15.4 channel

mapping, which provides 16 channels numbered 11–26. Each channel is

non-overlapping, which ensures that a device communicating on one

channel cannot affect devices communicating on any other channels.

NOTE: When 802.15.4 channels are referred to in this document, the

reference relates to infiNET, infiNET EX, and Extended Range

technologies.

2. 802.11b and 802.11g and 802.11n use the same Wi-Fi channel map. Eleven

channels, numbered 1–11, can be used in the U.S., and more channels can

be used in other countries. Each channel overlaps three channels on each

side; for example, a device communicating on channel 6 causes interference

to any devices communicating on channels 3, 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9. As a result,

in this example, there are only three available non-overlapping Wi-Fi

channels: 1, 6, and 11.

NOTE: 802.11a uses the 5.8 GHz band and has a different RF channel

mapping than that of 802.11b, 802.11g, and 802.11n. While 802.11a does

not have a line-of-sight transmission distance as good as that of 802.11g or

802.11n, 802.11a often has much less interference. In a poor RF

environment, 802.11a can provide a more robust solution than 802.11g or

802.11n.

The following illustration shows the division of the 2.4 GHz band as it relates to

802.15.4 and 802.11 channels.