Fast Roaming is not working

[ptselios]

Hello,
I have setup 2 OpenWRT routers (one as a router and one as dumb AP) woth 4 SSIDs, 2 for the main network (5 & 2.4Ghz) and 2 for the Guest Network (5 & 2.4Ghz) each pair with the same SSID.

For the 5GHz, the channels are set to auto and for the 2.4Ghz I have manually configured the channels.

For all the SSIDs I have enabled 802.11r and I have setup both of them with FT over DS since the routers are connected with a cable, Generate PMK locally and 2 Mobility domains, one for the Main SSIDs and one for Guest SSIDs.

But it doesn't work. When I move from one AP to another, I lose the connection and I have to wait until the client (typically Android phones/tablets) find the other AP in order to continue with whatever I do.

Any ideas?

[egc]

See this answer by @psherman which provides some valuable insight (I hope):

The never-ending story of WPA 3 and (fast) roaming

I recommend turning off 802.11r (and k and v if you're using those) and focusing on optimizing the radio configuration for optimal routing without the supplemental standards. Some devices just don't work well with those standards, but any enhancements must be done on top of properly tuned APs -- it is essential to have a good foundation. I like this video as an explainer on how to do this properly... [BEST WiFi Optimization Settings!]

[ptselios]

I had exactly this setup with my previous devices that where completely different (a TP-Link router and a D-Link Access Point). It was working just fine.

Anyway, I will open a new thread because it seems that I have more serious issues than this.

[McGiverGim]

If you are using wpa3 (sae) or sae-mixed there has been some recent commits that fixed roaming for them. If you are on snapshot try to update to latest master.

[ptselios]

No, just WPS2 for now.
I managed to make the transition from AP to the other by disabling 802.11r.

I will revisit the topic later, because it's still too early for me in the OpenWRT world.

[psherman]

@ptselios

I managed to make the transition from AP to the other by disabling 802.11r.

It is possible that there were other issues in your config, but this does reinforce my general sentiment that 802.11r should be disabled until roaming is proven to work reasonably well without it (i.e. radios placed and tuned properly), and then it can be enabled if there is a need to attempt to further improve the roaming speed -- and this should be done with the clear understanding that some devices don't work with with this standard and can end up with worse performance than classical roaming.

[ptselios]

Yeap.
I mean I am pretty sure that the previous setup didn't have any issues with "roaming" and definitely it didn't have any (visible) option for 802.11r. But I will try to solve the radio frequency/channels issues first before I try it again.

Many thanks for the suggestion! I don't mark it as "solved" because a lot of other people are happy with .11r so it could easily be a hardware limitation.