UniFi devices transparently sharing a SSID

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kryptonjohn

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Topic # 222999 7-Sep-2017 10:18

Hi, I'm sure I found this info previously on the UniFi support site somewhere but now can't find it...

If you have a couple of UniFi UAP devices in the house, and you setup on the controller app a single WiFi network and add both devices to it, then WiFi clients on the network should transparently hand over between the access points? But I seem to recall there were some gotchas or compatibility issues - so in my case, I currently have one UAP AC LR and if I buy a second AP it has to be from a certain subset of their devices to play nicely and do the handovers transparently?

Or can I use pretty much any one of their access points for the second one and it will just work?

For instance does it matter if the second one is 2.4GHz only?

Thanks

JohnO

[edit] oh, and one other thing: We have Spark VDSL and the Spark supplied Huawei VDSL Modem/Router. I keep hearing people mention issues about VLAN tagging and have no idea what that means - does it matter in the context above?

DarkShadow

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Reply # 1860201 7-Sep-2017 10:52

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Yes, you set VLAN 10 for VDSL. This is handled by your VDSL modem and you don't need to worry about it.

sbiddle

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Reply # 1860214 7-Sep-2017 11:01

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Will roaming hand over transparently? No

Will a device roam between access points? Maybe

The only way to ensure transparent roaming on a WiFi network is to have both WiFi clients and access points that support 802.11krv standards. Most WiFi devices and phones do not support all 3. UniFi currently supports 802.11r (not k or v yet) in a basic implementation.

If you add another UniFi access point then you will see basic 'roaming' between access points. When signal strength gets low on one your device *should* hand over to another access point with stronger signal. For this to work you well you need to be optimising your coverage and TX power to ensure there is some (not but excessive) overlap between the coverage.

Sticky clients that don't move and that stay attached to the original AP is a really common problem. You can attempt to resolve this by using the minrssi setting.

chevrolux

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Reply # 1860232 7-Sep-2017 11:18

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Yea the roaming will really only come down to the overall coverage. Dial the output right down as the LR access points crank out way too much power for most homes.

kryptonjohn

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Reply # 1860255 7-Sep-2017 12:00

At the moment the one LR is at the end of the house downstairs and the Huawei WiFi is near the center upstairs (which is where the 2nd UAP would go and switch off the Huawei WiFi). There's a big signal difference between the two at each end of the house but the signal is fine in the center on either device. So any client is fine with either AP in the center but if you move to the ends it needs to switch to the better one.

michaelmurfy

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Reply # 1860295 7-Sep-2017 13:32

Ubiquiti UniFi devices will automatically scan and adjust power depending on the environment around them - if you've got 2 AP's then roaming works pretty well but it can sometimes take a few moments for your devices to hand over to the closest AP. You should only need to get an AC-Lite for replacing the wireless on your router.

Michael Murphy | https://murfy.nz
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