diff --git a/examples/wireless/mixed-wired-wireless.cc b/examples/wireless/mixed-wired-wireless.cc
index ab07c87ca..eb4cdab9a 100644
--- a/examples/wireless/mixed-wired-wireless.cc
+++ b/examples/wireless/mixed-wired-wireless.cc
@@ -301,8 +301,7 @@ main (int argc, char *argv[])
       NetDeviceContainer staDevices = wifiInfra.Install (wifiPhy, macInfra, stas);
       // setup ap.
       macInfra.SetType ("ns3::ApWifiMac",
-                        "Ssid", SsidValue (ssid),
-                        "BeaconInterval", TimeValue (Seconds (2.5)));
+                        "Ssid", SsidValue (ssid));
       NetDeviceContainer apDevices = wifiInfra.Install (wifiPhy, macInfra, backbone.Get (i));
       // Collect all of these new devices
       NetDeviceContainer infraDevices (apDevices, staDevices);
diff --git a/src/wifi/model/ap-wifi-mac.cc b/src/wifi/model/ap-wifi-mac.cc
index 8a4c89df3..64fc0d243 100644
--- a/src/wifi/model/ap-wifi-mac.cc
+++ b/src/wifi/model/ap-wifi-mac.cc
@@ -199,7 +199,11 @@ ApWifiMac::SetBeaconInterval (Time interval)
   NS_LOG_FUNCTION (this << interval);
   if ((interval.GetMicroSeconds () % 1024) != 0)
     {
-      NS_LOG_WARN ("beacon interval should be multiple of 1024us (802.11 time unit), see IEEE Std. 802.11-2012");
+      NS_FATAL_ERROR ("beacon interval should be multiple of 1024us (802.11 time unit), see IEEE Std. 802.11-2012");
+    }
+  if (interval.GetMicroSeconds () > (1024 * 65535))
+    {
+      NS_FATAL_ERROR ("beacon interval should be smaller then or equal to 65535 * 1024us (802.11 time unit)");
     }
   m_low->SetBeaconInterval (interval);
 }