Thread: wifi question
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John Rumm John Rumm is offline
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Default wifi question

On 05/10/2020 09:33, Tim+ wrote:
John Rumm wrote:
On 05/10/2020 08:47, Harry Bloomfield wrote:
John Rumm expressed precisely :
Yes...

In both senses - they can both use the same SSID and wifi password,
and can both have the same admin credentials for access to the
configuration pages.

Thanks, I think that means I can put an extra AP in my garage, to give
better access for some Smart Plugs out there, which presently have poor
access - with no need to change the SM's configuration.


Yup... with multiple APs setup with the same SSID and pw, clients can
"roam" between them.

However for devices that don't move they will normally stick to the one
with the stronger signal.

Note you may need disconnect from the current AP before they will
countenance trying the new one! Some clients seem determined to stick to
the AP they are connected to with a crap signal, even when there is a
much better option available.


That last point was why we changed to a mesh system. Our mobile devices
would all doggedly stick with the first AP they connected to rather than
roam to the one with the best signal. We were forever manually switching
them to the best AP.


Some kit seems to do it better than others.

Also some APs allow you to set minimum signal quality and strength
levels, so that they will actually disassociate clients where the
connection is falling below them (this promoting the client to try to
reconnect - and hopefully to the better AP). To work really well the APs
need to talk to each other over the wired LAN so they can assess when
the client has better options (i.e. no point in kicking a client off, if
it can't get a better signal elsewhere)

For example:

https://www.draytek.co.uk/support/guides/kb-ap-mobility


--
Cheers,

John.

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