How to make a quick Wi-Fi roaming in the apartment?

Good afternoon!

Advise how to make automatic switching to the best Wi-Fi signal within the apartment. There is a router at one end of the apartment and a repeater at the other end. When moving around the apartment with a smartphone does not switch to another point (SSID of the router and the repeater are the same).

Do all smartphones have this problem with switching?

Are there any ways to automate this process without third-party programs?

Answer

Good day. This is a good question. But why didn’t you write the model of router, repeater and devices that you connect to Wi-Fi network and on which you observe problems with “inadequate” switching between router and repeater?

I’ll try to clarify. When we have a Wi-Fi router and a Wi-Fi signal amplifier (or another one in the router in amplifier mode) installed in our house or apartment, these are two different access points. They broadcast two Wi-Fi networks. Even if they have the same name and the devices show one network in the settings, they are still two wireless networks. It is as if there are two routers installed. It is common for devices to switch between these two access points very inadequately. They may hang on to a network with a weak signal for a long time, switch at the wrong moment, etc. Moreover, at the moment of switching there is a rather long gap in the Internet connection. The so-called Wi-Fi roaming aggressiveness settings (which tell the device when to switch to another network based on different parameters) are set in the device firmware. On a computer, for example, you can sometimes change the roaming aggressiveness of wireless networks in the properties of the Wi-Fi adapter.

There are three protocols: 802.11r, 802.11k, 802.11v. They allow you to organize fast roaming in a Wi-Fi network (create a seamless Wi-Fi network) from multiple access points. Several routers, routers + repeaters, modules of Wi-Fi Mesh systems. Devices in such a seamless network will very quickly and imperceptibly switch from one access point to another. Unnoticeable for the user.

Fast (seamless) Wi-Fi roaming in the apartment

As you have probably already realized, to make fast roaming in a Wi-Fi network in an apartment, house, office – you need equipment that supports these protocols. If you have an ordinary router and amplifier (without Mesh technology support), you will not be able to do it. Programs, settings will not help here. At the moment there are two types of devices that allow you to organize a Wi-Fi network with fast roaming:

wi-fi Mesh systems. To date, there are already available models. Read the article at the link I left. But even on Mesh systems, fast roaming is usually disabled by default in the settings. The reason for this is that once enabled, there can be various problems with older devices connecting. How it all works, I wrote in the article seamless wi-fi. Fast roaming (802.11r) in Wi-Fi Mesh systems settings.
Routers and amplifiers (repeaters) with support for Mesh technology. With these devices, you can create a seamless Wi-Fi network where devices switch normally between router and repeater. TP-Link, for example, has a line of such devices called OneMesh.

I have a Wi-Fi Mesh system of two modules installed right now. Fast roaming is enabled in the settings. I don’t notice any problems at all. It’s like one network (one router). But with a longer range Wi-Fi network.

Here is an article on the topic: