oneplus 5 (android)
I can not tell you if it is compatible with roaming and also how to realize it.
fow what i have read android phones are compatibles
Me too, but I think it depends on the manufacturer and version of Android.
it has android 9 but i really would like to accomplish this, but idk how
I think that you may have still misconceptions about how 802.11 association works. It is a client decision, not an AP decision. Whether "mesh" or "normal" association, the client decides which AP to try to associate with of the options it has. The client decides if and when it leaves an existing association to move to another association. In general, clients are "sticky" and won't leave an existing association, even if a "much stronger" one exists. It is not at all surprising that your test client kept its existing association. As associations are break-before-make, there is no guarantee, from the client's perspective, that it can complete the transition, even with 802.11r enabled on the APs and a client that supports it.
It might be possible to create some "hack" that tried to measure the signal strength of all the potential clients across all the APs, share that information to a central controller, and forcefully deassociate the client from all but the AP that this complex process determined. The APs can't accurately measure the signal strength of the client due to clients using power control and that the client is only associated with one AP at a time. Even with that, the client could try to re-associate with the ones that keep disconnecting it as the client believes that they are the "best" option, from its perspective. If this were a significant problem that needed to be resolved, I would think that there would be commercial products and changes to the 802.11 protocols developed in the twenty years of 802.11 deployment. To date, I have seen nothing that manages the associations of non-cooperating clients across APs that seems in line with your goals.
3 Likes
Several of the commercial products employ quite aggressive band-steering and forced handovers between APs through their central wireless controller, but this is all quite non-standard, involves a lot of proprietary black magic and the results are still mixed (good on average, with terrible results for individual clients).
2 Likes
forget about it being cheap, can this be done aither using comsumer or Enterprise grade equipment ? are u saying this simply can't be done?. believe in my college they use something like that but im not sure, and then there google wifi and others but i haven't tried it. im playing with asus imesh at the moment as well. im not trying to be rude and im sorry for my ingnorance but lm just a noob on this. thank you for your reply
(same questions for you) forget about it being cheap, can this be done aither using comsumer or Enterprise grade equipment ? are u saying this simply can't be done?. believe in my college they use something like that but im not sure, and then there google wifi and others but i haven't tried it. im playing with asus imesh at the moment as well. im not trying to be rude and im sorry for my ingnorance but lm just a noob on this. thank you for your reply
If both APs are the same SSID with the same security method and password, and on different channels then this is compatible with roaming. Adding 802.11r only makes the roam happen faster for clients that support it.
There is no standard method to force a client to roam. You can reduce AP output power so that there is less signal overlap. That helps. Beyond that requires proprietary controller schemes that are.... Proprietary
this is how i have it, yet i cant get my phone to roam, so i guess if i want true roaming i need something like Google wifi, etc ?
You still don't have FULL wpad version - configuration screen stripped.
So, install it first, instead of _mesh one.
The page should look like this:
And, as i say, READ MANUAL first. For example, zero NASid is not an option!
You will have exactly the same "problem" with the Google product. The bottom line is that the "problem" you perceive, at least as I understand it, isn't a problem as long as your devices have connectivity. There is no such thing as "true roaming" as it seems you define it -- again, it is up to the client to determine which station it associates with.
1 Like
As Jeff says, it's your phone that is the "problem". I suggest you try reducing the power on all your APs. Use wifi analyzer, stand next to one AP, and look at signal strength of other APs. Then go to the other APs and cut their output power until your phone just barely detects them. Do this for all your APs. You will find that the Android device now roams more effectively because it can't just stick.
There is a hostapd patch to have the AP drop a client based on received signal strength, but I don't think it's been pulled into standard hostapd and then incorporated into openwrt yet.
@jeff The big problem with sticky Android devices is they accept highly reduced speeds and dropped packets rather than switching to something faster and better.
ok, thank you all for providing all the info as the takeaway is this clearly is not possible and can't be done, therefore i will move on in live. just one router, and use Ethernet cable or power line adapters whenever needed.
You can get better roaming, do as I say in reducing your AP output signal strength. You will get better roaming. Mesh, Ethernet, and powerline are all reasonable "backhaul" but clients don't directly participate in the mesh at least these days. I like Ethernet, then powerline, then mesh as order of preference. Unless the APs are going to be mobile. Then mesh comes first
ok i could try, i will get back to you after i test that
wpad full is installed and where do i find the manual ?
where do i reduce the output signal strength? and just to be clear if i do it the way you are describing will the phone transition from one ap to the other seamlessly ?
In the "Edit" button of the mesh network. Network> Wireless> radio0, radio1, etc> Edit> Transmit Power.