TLDR:
Any ideas how to properly setup WiFi roaming between two different WiFi routers in a single floor flat/apartment?
Also anyone know if just configuring Mobility Domains in each router would help? or is mobility domain specific to 802.11r[oaming?] (which does not seem to be implemented even on advanced-customer products eg. non-big-enterprise).
EDIT: 802.11r == Roaming == Fast Transition - and has to be enabled manually, not all clients seem to deal with FastTrans. well though
Currently I have Turris Omnia (which has customized OpenWRT) as the primary router (DHCP, firewall, etc) and basic TP-Link Archer C6 (stock TP-Link, but the plan is to replace whole box with something more capable), both dual-band.
Archer acts as a simple AP/routing box and is directly connected as client by ethernet to the Omnia.
Direct line both are rather close to each other but with walls between them. TP-Link is in the furthest/farthest? room, Turris basically a bit off the center of the space, so there is some overlap of signals and I’ve hoped that the devices would sort it out, but with the below “common” setup it seemed to happen too late - especially androids tried to really hold onto the basically dead station for too long.
With this setup I’ve tried the basic “roaming” configuration:
- Same SSID
- Same encryption and PSK
- Different channels (for each band, per router)
- Even tried tweaking the signal powers for each so that there is less overlap (reducing power of Archer so that it mostly covers only the farthest room)
But, either tp-link does something extra under the hood which breaks this or the routers are just too close to each other and it does not trigger switching in the client devices (androids, iphones, macbooks, thinkpads).
Also with both routers on the same SSID, it was hard to forcefully tell the devices to connect to the other WiFi thats like almost next to you instead of staying on the previous dying one.
I could replace the cheap basic Archer C6 with capable Mikrotik to get more control and try setup the Mobility Domain but I have no idea how it works and if it even helps with roaming.
One earlier web search hinted that for the usual “roaming”, all wifi networks have to be in the same 802.11 mode (N vs AC) for devices to even consider roaming (as in, they like to stick with AC even if there is N network with better signal).
Need some clarification here:
So you have the Omnia as the primary routing device, and the tp-link in AP mode connected via Ethernet to the Omnia, correct?
Are both running OpenWRT then?
Yeah didn’t add that bit before, edited in. Archer is here as just dumb AP/routing box for the furthest room, connected to Omnia by ethernet (so yes, Archer acts as client device @ .1.20 and forwards everything to Omnia).
EDIT: Sadly I don’t have OpenWRT on the TP-Link, but the plan was to replace it with more capable Mikrotik so that I could setup the more advanced bits (Mobility Domain, “roaming”)
Both running OpenWRT, or the Archer still runs stock firmware?
Tp-link is stock sadly, but could replace with more capable one (Mikrotik L009 probably, I don’t care about single-band in this case because it literally covers a single, open space room)
Well what you’re probably looking to setup is 802.11r, but I think you’re still going to run into issues because of the proximity of where your routers are.
The issue you’re seeing is related to band shaping and signal-to-noise ratio. Your wifi client is actually the thing that is supposed to be more smoothly handling the transition between access points with your current setup, but it may not work as expected without the signal for one or the other being drastically worse. 802.11r helps with that. Results are hit or miss though, so don’t go buying new equipment just to try it out.
If you had two OpenWRT devices though, I would just make a mesh and skip the above.
Thanks, especially for that openwrt mesh bit, that might end up as the the best solution.