WLAN channels... all diff or all same?

Thought I'd ask for some suggestions as I need a fresh viewpoint on the wireless system at a school.

I had a tech from a different company in for a whiteboard installation and somehow they managed to wangle a new wlan AP install for the school in the process (whole other story). But in the process of unravelling the issue there was some discussion about the channels used so I thought I'd double check my own logic on this.

Am I right in thinking that it's generally better to have all the Access points on distinct channels (4 apart) even though they are part of the same RADIUS supported SSID?

The other tech believed that you should keep them all on the same channel and SSID to stop the laptops from disconnecting and reconnecting all the time.

Thoughts, opinions, facts please...

I think both is correct.

Having them all on the 1 channel is when they are part of a wireless distribution system, but just having access points to allow roaming and stop interference, should be set to non-overlapping channels.

You should give them all the same SSID, but APs that overlap occupy 5 channels each (ie if you have an AP on channel 5, it occupies channels 3-7; your next should therefore be 9).

Using 802.11b or g, you should only use channels 1, 6 and 11 normally. Here in the UK you could optionally try 1, 7 and 13 but I think it best to stick to the first set as these are the options you will normally see selected on other, interfering, access points.

@tonyd: it doesn't matter what you use, as long as the spacing is correct. 1,6,11 are the most common though, because this is the only combination that allows three overlapping APs.

Right... so the general consensus, so far, is that non-overlapping channels is the better option which is what I'd assumed from previous reading on the subject.

Thanks for the input folks..

A belated thanks for the info on this...

Just to add a small note I hit a problem with channel 13 thanks to a couple of Toshiba Sat Pro L10's being set with US channel limitations. Took a couple of hours to realise why I couldn't get one AP visible.

Thanks again.