Question iPhone 16 and 'stuck like glue' to particular router...

[johnnycanuck]

Here is a basic description of my home networking. My main router (call it MainRouter) is connected to my cable modem on the first floor of my 2 story house. On the second floor, in my office, I have a second router set to bridge mode (call it OfficeRouter). The OfficeRouter is connected to the MainRouter via cat 6 ethernet. The MainRouter is acting as the DHCP server.

So, in effect, the OfficeRouter is acting as an access point, extending my home network to the second floor. I use both 2.4 anf 5 GHz wireless frequencies. I broadcast on different channels between the two routers, to minimize overlap (e.g., channel 1 on MainRouter, channel 11 on Office router). Both MainRouter and OfficeRouter have the same SSID (say, myhouse2 for 2.4, and myhouse 5 for 5).

Now, of the 12 different devices I've tested -- 11 either Windows or Android, + 1 iPhone (my sons, home from college for the summer -- iPhone 16), 11/11 of the Win or Anddroid devices will absolutely connect to the router with the greatest strength when I turn off and then on wireless. But, no matter what I've tried, I cannot for the life of me get the iPhone to connect to the OfficeRouter (as far as I can tell - figuring out what the access point is on the iPhone is something I can't quite figure out as easily as I can on my Android or Win devices. I've sat there, <2 feet from OfficeRouter, turned off the wireless on the iPhone, and even told it to forget the network and start over, but no matter what I've tried, the thing still keeps trying to connect to the MainRouter, even though its ~80-90 feet away. My son was the one who got me to look into this, because he noticed that when I switched to bridge mode in the OfficeRouter, his phone was dropping signal occasionally, and generally had a weaker signal even when it was connected. [His room is right next to the office, so in theory, he should be connecting to OfficeRouter.]

The 'switching to bridge mode' is a likely key part of this, because my temporary solution is to simply take OfficeRouter out of bridge, put it back into 'normal mode', but turn off DHCP (ignoring possible NAT collisions), and giving it different SSID: myhouse2.4_office, myhouse5_office). Once I did this, his iPhone absolutely connects to whatever router its nearest (if he turns off the networking, and then turns it back on). But, maintaining what is in effect two different wireless networks in the house is a PITA, and I'm hoping someone can explain to me (i) why this is only an issue for the mega-expensive iPhone 16, and (ii) why this seems to be a function f whether or not the OfficeRouter is in bridge mode?

For all I know its related to one of those default settings that the Cupertino folks set out of the box to maximize 'customer experience' (in their view), but I have no idea what said settings would be. The only time I've even touched an iPhone was when my son handed me his earlier today, so I freely admit to not knowing much about how its configured, or how to change things (as opposed to Linux, or Windows, or Android, where I have more than a little background).

Any suggestions welcome.

 

[COLGeek]

What are the makes/models of the routers in question here?

 

[johnnycanuck]

Linksys EA9300 (MainRouter), Linksys EA8300 (OfficeRouter).

 

[COLGeek]

Do you have the EA8300 actually setup as an access point?

Also, are the SSIDs differentiated between the main and office routers?

 

[COLGeek]

These are the types of questions likely to be asked. Details matter.

 

[COLGeek]

If you remove the Ethernet cable between the routers and use in wireless repeater mode, does the behavior change?

 

[bill001g]

Apple likes restrict your ability to do things much more than other platforms so I can't say how you can force it. On some pc you can put in the mac address of the router/AP you want it to connect to. This though is really no less of a pain than just using 2 different SSID.

What you have found is the biggest marketing lie wifi "mesh" manufacture claim. "Seamless" roaming does not really exist. The end device not the network is in full control of where it connect and like your case the end devices many times do not pick the best network. Even on a PC platform where you have much more access to the software there still is little you can do. This function is being done by the WIFI processor chips themselves. The software that runs in them is very locked down because of all the abuse in the past where people modified the transmit power and radio frequency in violation of FCC rules.

There really is no solution to this. The only partial solution is what is called 802.11k,v,r. This is the official roaming standard but it is still very flaky. Some of the very newest apple products support it but almost no other end device does. It is also not supported by all router/AP. A small number of mesh systems support it and AP from companies like ubiquity also support it. From user reports it still doesn't work 100%.

The way the end devices decide when to change is very stupid. It is a simple signal level. It will not even attempt to look for another source until the signal drops below some certain value. On some device you can change this set point. You run the risk that it constantly hops back and forth if you set it too low. I don't know if apple has this option.

It is not strange that it does not change by itself what is more surprising that if you stop and start the wifi it does not then look for the best signal and connect. The general design for this is to reduce the radio power on both the router and the AP so the signals overlap as little as possible but still provide the needed coverage. Very much trial and error since all houses are the same.

I tend to be in the other camp. I set different SSID on each radio band and on the different radio channels so I know exactly where and what I am connecting to. This seems to be unpopular, the default from the factory on many newer routers/mesh is to use a single SSID for all the radio bands and all devices. I guess they figure their "AI" will magially pick the best.