Using multiple Wi-Fi radios at different frequency bands to maintain full-rate through a leaf node

A Wi-Fi network having multiple Wi-Fi components arranged according to a current topology and configured to communicate with each other over a backhaul link, each Wi-Fi component configured to communicate with one or more clients over one or more fronthaul links, each Wi-Fi component comprising:

• a first radio operating in a first Wi-Fi band;
• a second radio operating in a second Wi-Fi band, the second Wi-Fi band being different from the first Wi-Fi band;
• and
• a control circuit configured to perform the steps of:
• detecting when a client device connects to the Wi-Fi component over a new fronthaul link,
• determining Wi-Fi communication capabilities of the client device,
• based on the Wi-Fi communication capabilities, determining which one of the current topology of the Wi-Fi network and a new topology of the Wi-Fi network would result in greater throughput of packets through the Wi-Fi network, and
• when it is determined that the new topology would result in greater throughput, adjusting the topology by:
• designating one of the first radio and second radio for communication over the backhaul link and designating the other of the first radio and second radio for communication over the new fronthaul link, wherein the backhaul link and fronthaul link are configured to operate in different Wi-Fi bands so as to enable simultaneous packet reception over one of the first or second Wi-Fi bands and packet transmission over the other of the first or second Wi-Fi bands without queuing packets on a same channel.

A method executed in a Wi-Fi network having a current topology, the method comprising the steps of:

• detecting when a client device connects to a first Wi-Fi component over a new fronthaul link;
• determining Wi-Fi communication capabilities of the client device;
• based on the Wi-Fi communication capabilities, determining which one of the current topology of the Wi-Fi network and a new topology of the Wi-Fi network would result in greater throughput of packets through the Wi-Fi network;
• and
• when it is determined that the new topology would result in greater throughput, adjusting the topology by:
• designating one of a first radio and a second radio of the first Wi-Fi component for communication over a backhaul link with one or more other Wi-Fi components and designating the other of the first radio and second radio for communication over the new fronthaul link, wherein the backhaul link and fronthaul link are configured to operate in different Wi-Fi bands so as to enable simultaneous packet reception over Wi-Fi band of the first radio or second radio and packet transmission over another Wi-Fi band of the other of the first or second radio without queuing packets on a same channel.