Seamless Handoff Between Two Access Points??

[username77]

As setup, I have a Motorola modem/router as the gateway and router wired to the LAN port of a Netgear WNR1000v3 being used as a wireless access point. They both have the same SSID, password, security type, and channel. When roaming, if I am on my iPhone 6S or any other device using safari, it roams fine..unless I go into the range of the second AP while a page is loading, it will freeze and require me to close out of safari and reopen it. With Snapchat, the snap won't send and I will have to close and reopen Snapchat. Instagram works most of the time however live videos from Instagram freeze for 3-5 seconds when roaming. Is there anyway to decrease the roam time and have more of a seamless roaming experience?

 

[kanewolf]

Home WIFI equipment does not have the necessary hardware to provide seamless roaming between WIFI sources. That is an enterprise function, and requires a specialized controller hard wired to the APs to coordinate that handoff.

I usually don't recommend using the same SSID for multiple WIFI sources since it doesn't assist with roaming and it makes debug more difficult.

 

[username77]

Home WIFI equipment does not have the necessary hardware to provide seamless roaming between WIFI sources. That is an enterprise function, and requires a specialized controller hard wired to the APs to coordinate that handoff.

I usually don't recommend using the same SSID for multiple WIFI sources since it doesn't assist with roaming and it makes debug more difficult.

Thanks for the quick reply. I've been searching and found that the Google Wifi system can be wired together and used as wired mesh access points. Would this solve my problem or just recreate the same setup I have now?

 

[bill001g]

There is new equipment coming to market all the time but I suspect it can not solve this problem. Companies like cisco sell controllers for more than the cost of most cars so I would not think google could have a technology they could give away free that would work as well.

The main problem is the end device is in control not the AP. The end device to ensure stability will only check for a better connection when the current connection gets to the point it is unusable. The difficulty is that the radio chip can not scan or look for other device while it is connected. It must disconnect from the current AP to scan and if there isn't a better one then you pretty much took a outage for no reason.

Some of the controller systems ether have the AP force a disconnect when it knows a different AP is better or they load specialized drivers into the PC so that the controller can tell the pc when to switch sorta like a cell tower does with a cell phone.

 

[username77]

There is new equipment coming to market all the time but I suspect it can not solve this problem. Companies like cisco sell controllers for more than the cost of most cars so I would not think google could have a technology they could give away free that would work as well.

The main problem is the end device is in control not the AP. The end device to ensure stability will only check for a better connection when the current connection gets to the point it is unusable. The difficulty is that the radio chip can not scan or look for other device while it is connected. It must disconnect from the current AP to scan and if there isn't a better one then you pretty much took a outage for no reason.

Some of the controller systems ether have the AP force a disconnect when it knows a different AP is better or they load specialized drivers into the PC so that the controller can tell the pc when to switch sorta like a cell tower does with a cell phone.

Would buying the 2 of the same Netgear router to use one as router and one as access point instead of having a Motorola and Netgear atleast decrease roaming time or does the brand mixing really matter?

 

[kanewolf]

Would buying the 2 of the same Netgear router to use one as router and one as access point instead of having a Motorola and Netgear atleast decrease roaming time or does the brand mixing really matter?

Doesn't really matter. The key phrase that @bill001g said is that the phone or tablet (end device) is in charge not the WIFI source.

 

[username77]

I've done some more research and found the Ubiquiti AP AC LR. Would buying 2 of these possibly not have a seamless roam but atleast speed up roaming to the point snapchat and safari will work properly since the access points are made for this? Or is the client device still the limiting factor?

 

[bill001g]

That is your best bet for a somewhat affordable solution. The ubiquiti I think forces a drop but the client is still in charge.

 

[nigelivey]

I wish you luck getting the Unifi equipment to work as intended. It's a stop gap measure and in reality is not that successful. As stated above the only way to do it is with an integrated solution with a controller. You'll pay handsomely for the equipment and then licenses for each AP attached to the controller.

 

[username77]

I changed the access point to a different channel than the Motorola and it has significantly decreased handoff delay. I've learned to deal with the small delay because now stuff will load just takes a few seconds longer when roaming over. Facetime surprisingly doesn't drop, there is just a slight freeze in video but facetime audio has no delay at all and everything else works fine. Thanks again for all the suggestions and help.

 

[username77]

Update: Delay returned and Snapchat, Instagram, and Safari problems with it. Got tired of dealing with laggy handoff so I took a chance and bought the Ubiquiti 2.4ghz only UAP. Zero handoff is disabled and handoff is still completely seamless; live video streaming, safari, snapchat, and all, with no delay. Couldn't be happier!

 

[bmccormack11]

I saw you mentioned the Google WiFi as a solution. While mesh WiFi is new technology, it's much better than using other access points or routers with the same SSID. Google Wifi does this all for you and choosing the 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz band depending on the devices's needs. With Google WiFi I am able to have near full strength WiFi throughout my home. To make it better, I use an Ethernet back haul to connect my nodes so it's full strength WiFi by each node. So far since I've been using it (about 6 months), I no longer have hand off issues and my WiFi has been faster than ever.