Help WiFi SSID roaming?

[rgiskard]

Searched the net and forums and see this is an issue.

I have two APs in my house (same SSID using WDS) and the Prime will not switch to the closest/strongest one as I move around.

Any solutions or workarounds for this?

 

[Lostsorrow]

Just a random thought, because I don't have a setup like yours, What happens when you find your signal to be weak then disable and re-enable your wifi? Do you get the same signal strength or does it switch. I know it's a pain in the butt if it works but might be worth a shot.

 

[Oblig]

I use an app called wifi autoconnect - works a treat

 

[rgiskard]

Just a random thought, because I don't have a setup like yours, What happens when you find your signal to be weak then disable and re-enable your wifi? Do you get the same signal strength or does it switch. I know it's a pain in the butt if it works but might be worth a shot.

That works for the most part, but is a PIA.

I found Best Wifi after a few searches, and it appears to work. Though WiFi Analyzer still shows connected to the previous AP when I move, but signal strength appears to indicate it has switched.

 

[Dagr]

Is there a lot of overlap between your two access points? Maybe its not a large enough signal strength difference to cause the switch.

I also have two wireless access points, but chose to keep them on separate ssid's... primarily because I was concerned with the device switching back and forth since one of my primary use areas is right in between the devices and it could go either way. I tend to not roam between the coverage that much either so its not a big deal for me to switch. There are also some Wifi widgets that make switching networks very easy (so you don't have to open the settings menus / etc).

 

[rgiskard]

There is not. My main router/AP is in the room adjacent to our living room. The 2nd AP (use to just be a wireless bridge for my WDLXTV) is in the living room at the TV.

But I don't think that is it. There are areas in my house where one definitely has the stronger signal than the other, and I would still be connected to the other.

I think Best Wifi is working, will really test at work today. It should switch automatically to the strongest, this shouldn't be a function the user has to perform. Most wireless devices work this way. This is a shortcoming of Android...lots of information I have found about this.

 

[rgiskard]

Confirmed working.

Though I was correct, WiFi Analyzer only shows the initially connected to AP.

Tested rebooting directly under one AP at one end of the floor. Locked on, full strength. Walked down length of floor, signal dropping and climbing as I made my way. At some stops signal strength when near another AP returned to full. Walked around corner completely out of any clear path of the original AP, and underneath another AP Prime shows full strength. However, Wifi Analyzer still showed connected to the original AP...but when viewing the graph tab that shows all APs and their strength, that original AP was not even showing.

 

[Dagr]

Confirmed working.

Though I was correct, WiFi Analyzer only shows the initially connected to AP.

Tested rebooting directly under one AP at one end of the floor. Locked on, full strength. Walked down length of floor, signal dropping and climbing as I made my way. At some stops signal strength when near another AP returned to full. Walked around corner completely out of any clear path of the original AP, and underneath another AP Prime shows full strength. However, Wifi Analyzer still showed connected to the original AP...but when viewing the graph tab that shows all APs and their strength, that original AP was not even showing.

Cool, glad its working... I may have to try out a similar setup.

 

[papapatat]

Searched the net and forums and see this is an issue.

I have two APs in my house (same SSID using WDS) and the Prime will not switch to the closest/strongest one as I move around.

Any solutions or workarounds for this?

This is a known [since years] problem where the OS people point to the hardware guys and visa versa. It's a pain. There seem to be working Droid mods/versions that actually behave as expected [as does Windows, OSX, iOS etc] and some people rever to using WiFi polling apps [like Best Wifi from the market].

There is an IEEE 802.11r [Fast Roaming/Fast BSS Transition] standard for it, but somewhere this seems lost or not correctly implemented.

If you have a working [on 'all' Androids] solution for it, I would be more then interested.

Issue 12649 - android - WIFI roaming not working. - Android - An Open Handset Alliance Project - Google Project Hosting

 

[rgiskard]

This is a known [since years] problem where the OS people point to the hardware guys and visa versa. It's a pain. There seem to be working Droid mods/versions that actually behave as expected [as does Windows, OSX, iOS etc] and some people rever to using WiFi polling apps [like Best Wifi from the market].

There is an IEEE 802.11r [Fast Roaming/Fast BSS Transition] standard for it, but somewhere this seems lost or not correctly implemented.

If you have a working [on 'all' Androids] solution for it, I would be more then interested.

Issue 12649 - android - WIFI roaming not working. - Android - An Open Handset Alliance Project - Google Project Hosting

Actually the Best Wifi does not work in WDS environment when SSIDs are same. So I am now looking at configuring my 2nd router with DD-WRT in Repeater Bridge mode...should resolve it.

Yeah...annoying it doesn't work as it should...but oh well.