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Mesh WIFI not working - at all, 912c & 903

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20 Oct 2020 04:41 #97470 by hornbyp
Replied by hornbyp on topic Re: Mesh WIFI not working - at all, 912c & 903

Piste Basher wrote:
The garage AP just sat disconnected from the network until the lounge AP was up again, whereupon it re-connected to it, despite the kitchen AP being available.



Could there be some minimum time that has to elapse, before it gives up on the 'parent' it is currently connected to :?:

There again, the AP903 manual says:

in the manual, they wrote: For the mesh network system adopts the mesh topology, each node in the network not only
has a single connection but also interweaves to other nodes like a net. Because of such
characteristics, the mesh network can set up stronger network architecture



which makes it sound like it should have already worked out in advance, all the other possible paths.

Different topic:

I found Cisco's definition of 802.1r (and 802.1k & 802.1v). There's no mention of it being only for 802.1x authentication in there!

they wrote: 802.11r FT feature does not support Mesh APs.


(I don't know if that is Cisco choosing not to support it, or an underlying 'fact'...)

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20 Oct 2020 09:19 #97473 by piste basher
Replied by piste basher on topic Re: Mesh WIFI not working - at all, 912c & 903
From an online review I read whilst pondering the purchase of the 903s I gathered that the failure of any node should result in an essentially "instantaneous" transfer of clients to another node - mine certainly doesn't appear to be working like that :roll:

Regarding 801.11r, I'd read some of the Cisco stuff and, as with much else, I find it tends to add to my confusion since no-one appears to be willing to provide a definitive guide as to how these things should be set up :lol:

If there is indeed a fundamental incompatibility between FT roaming and mesh it would seem odd that Draytek decided to add this "feature" to their first mesh products....

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24 Oct 2020 15:37 #97527 by piste basher
Replied by piste basher on topic Re: Mesh WIFI not working - at all, 912c & 903
I've disabled all "AP Assisted Roaming" features on everything now apart from band steering. Doesn't appear to have made any difference to how my phone and iPads roam....

If the original poster is still reading this, I noticed on the 912C simulator that you can set the 2.4GHz band as the uplink on that model - is there any chance that you have inadvertently done that?

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26 Oct 2020 18:13 #97538 by piste basher
Replied by piste basher on topic Re: Mesh WIFI not working - at all, 912c & 903
Found this https://support.apple.com/en-gb/HT203068 which is interesting re iOS devices.

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27 Oct 2020 01:31 #97539 by hornbyp
Replied by hornbyp on topic Re: Mesh WIFI not working - at all, 912c & 903

they wrote:
iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch monitor and maintain the Basic Service Set Identifier (BSSID)’s connection until the Received Signal Strength Indicator (RSSI) exceeds -70 dBm. Then, the device scans for roam candidate BSSIDs for the new Extended Service Set Identifier (ESSID).



Draytek's Default AP-assisted Client Roaming Parameter, of -73 (Strictly minimum) , will not do anything for an Apple device, but the -66 (but with a 5dBm improvement) (Minimum RSSI), should come into play before the device tries to roam of its own accord. The Apple device looks for an improvement of at least 8dBm. (In practice, one mechanism is seeking an adjacent AP @ -61dBm, the other @ -62dBm - but measuring it at different ends of the link. Plenty of scope for conflict :!: )

and then wrote: The roam scan runs more quickly if you turn on 802.11k on your control plane. This helps because iPhone, iPad, and iPod touch use the first six entries in the neighbour report and reviews them to prioritise its scans. If you don’t turn on 802.11k, iOS has to scan more methodically. This can add several seconds to the discovery process.

Perhaps the absence of 802.11k is significant, after all...

Finally, they wrote: If you use 802.1X-based authentication, the client must complete the EAP key exchange before it deauthenticates from the BSSID. This can take several seconds, depending on the environment’s authentication infrastructure. When this happens, the user experiences an interruption of service.

If you use 802.11r-based authentication, the client can preauthenticate against potential access points. This reduces the authentication time to milliseconds, and the user is unlikely to experience an interruption of service.



Another vote for 802.11r being purely for 802.1x :wink:

I like Huawei's stance:

For Wi-Fi device vendors, focusing on every detail to improve user experience should not only be considered a desirable attitude but as a responsibility.


(They also seem to think 802.1k or 802.1v is the answer )

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27 Oct 2020 09:51 #97540 by piste basher
Replied by piste basher on topic Re: Mesh WIFI not working - at all, 912c & 903
It's not 42 then? I like their optimism - "the last few problems with wi-fi roaming" :lol:

Time to play a bit more...

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