Wireless AP help please

[coffee]

Iam replacing a failed Access Point in a multi-room business in a tall business building. I talked to the client and they said that when it did work they would have 2 SSID's to pick from depending on which side of the office they were at. So, the client with his iphone, When walking to the other side of the building would have to change connections to get a better signal. Obviously the AP was not setup right.

I dont have tons of experience with wireless AP's. Isnt there a basic way of setting up a AP for roaming so that they dont have to disconnect/reconnect to different access points?

From my reading so far if I understand correctly you configure the AP to have the same SSID, Passphrase as the wireless router but change the channel.

I have to do this today for the client and just want them to be able to walk from one side of the building to the other somewhat seamlessly. Im just foggy on how this all works for roaming I guess.

Any help would be appreciated.

coffee

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

With basic access points....if you want to blanket a large area with multiple access points...yes..the same SSID, same security obviously....but span different channels. Important that it's non-overlapping channels...this means (here in the US) 1, 6, and 11.

What will happen is...you can wander around the whole place with a laptop or tablet or phone...and as you leave the area where it's attached to 1x AP...and it loses that signal...it will drop that connection quickly and latch onto the nearest next AP with the strongest channel. For smart phones and laptops that just do stuff like surf the internet or access files on a server share...this is no biggie. But if they're running an application on the network that is very connection sensitive...it will balk, because technically there is a brief "disconnect" from the network as the wireless NIC lets go of 1x AP and latches onto the next.

For "true seamless roaming"....you need a higher end managed wireless network that has a central controller that manages APs...like some of HPs Procurve series with an MSA controller, or some higher end Cisco stuff. This kind of hardware allows true seamless roaming without disconnects.

 

[coffee]

With basic access points....if you want to blanket a large area with multiple access points...yes..the same SSID, same security obviously....but span different channels. Important that it's non-overlapping channels...this means (here in the US) 1, 6, and 11.

What will happen is...you can wander around the whole place with a laptop or tablet or phone...and as you leave the area where it's attached to 1x AP...and it loses that signal...it will drop that connection quickly and latch onto the nearest next AP with the strongest channel. For smart phones and laptops that just do stuff like surf the internet or access files on a server share...this is no biggie. But if they're running an application on the network that is very connection sensitive...it will balk, because technically there is a brief "disconnect" from the network as the wireless NIC lets go of 1x AP and latches onto the next.

For "true seamless roaming"....you need a higher end managed wireless network that has a central controller that manages APs...like some of HPs Procurve series with an MSA controller, or some higher end Cisco stuff. This kind of hardware allows true seamless roaming without disconnects.

Thank you for your help. So, If I understand correctly - The steps in setup basically are:

Setup the ap with same SSID, Passphrase but different channel of wireless router. Choose either 1,6,11.

Make sure DHCP is off on AP?
Set static ip for AP outside range of wireless router DHCP range.

basically thats it?

 

[rjframe]

You'll also want the AP in bridge mode. You only need one device running DHCP and gateway functions.

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

If it is an AP (access point)...there is no DHCP on it.

If you're running around using a bunch of home grade wireless routers as access points....then yes you'll have to disable DHCP...change the LAN IP so unique ones....uplink using one of the LAN ports. (hopefully you're not taking this approach at a business)

 

[coffee]

Yes, I will get a AP. Its a pretty small business (law office) with about 4 computers. They want the ap for their iphones and ipads. Just want to make sure it roams with the AP.

I appreciate the help. Will be doing this - this afternoon.

coffee

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

How many APs do you think you'll need? Small office of 4 nodes...are they spread across multiple floors in an old building that may require multiple APs? Or a relatively small office that 1x AP could over?

 

[HCHTech]

With basic access points....if you want to blanket a large area with multiple access points...yes..the same SSID, same security obviously....but span different channels. Important that it's non-overlapping channels...this means (here in the US) 1, 6, and 11.

What will happen is...you can wander around the whole place with a laptop or tablet or phone...and as you leave the area where it's attached to 1x AP...and it loses that signal...it will drop that connection quickly and latch onto the nearest next AP with the strongest channel. For smart phones and laptops that just do stuff like surf the internet or access files on a server share...this is no biggie. But if they're running an application on the network that is very connection sensitive...it will balk, because technically there is a brief "disconnect" from the network as the wireless NIC lets go of 1x AP and latches onto the next.

For "true seamless roaming"....you need a higher end managed wireless network that has a central controller that manages APs...like some of HPs Procurve series with an MSA controller, or some higher end Cisco stuff. This kind of hardware allows true seamless roaming without disconnects.

Absolutely this. With regular APs, the device doesn't switch until the signal from the originally-connected AP drops. Especially in a small office, this is unlikely. Your laptop will hang onto that one-bar signal from the AP in the reception area even though you're sitting under the AP in the conference room with 5 bars. This is probably why they had two different SSIDs in the past. It forced people to manually switch to the SSID with the stronger signal.

 

[coffee]

How many APs do you think you'll need? Small office of 4 nodes...are they spread across multiple floors in an old building that may require multiple APs? Or a relatively small office that 1x AP could over?

Hi YOS,

They only needed one on the east side of the building. I replaced a netgear access point with a trendnet and configured it and now they get full strength coverage thru out the floor. They are on the fifth floor of a 6 floor building. Then I had to reterminate a cable running to an office computer and replace the network card in the computer in that room.

However, Now the network is just crawling. Poor performance. I know its probably the main wireless router having the issues and Ill replace that monday morning. This should be the end of the problems.

I have to say, I hate working on off the shelf equipment as it doesnt seem to be of any good quality. They seem to last a few years and die out. Its frustrating as the client doesnt want to go with expensive enterprise grade stuff. Im just upset right now about the whole service call. Just got back to the shop and still have to go back out monday morning to replace the netgear wireless router.

They have a Wireless AP that goes to a switch with 4 other computers on the switch. Located on east side of building. On the west side they have a wireless router with 4 computers connected to it. The modem for at&t is in another room! Its pretty mish/mash setup.

I think this is just a situation of low grade equipment finally giving out. I couldnt even get into the setup of the AP. So, I replaced that. Now I will replace the wireless router too. Its just booging down pretty bad. They are also on a 15m at&t internet connection.

Im sure they are not too happy with the way things are right now. But monday should finish this nightmare up.

Thanks for your help in understanding roaming with access points. You were a big help.

Best Regards,

Coffee

 

[coffee]

Absolutely this. With regular APs, the device doesn't switch until the signal from the originally-connected AP drops. Especially in a small office, this is unlikely. Your laptop will hang onto that one-bar signal from the AP in the reception area even though you're sitting under the AP in the conference room with 5 bars. This is probably why they had two different SSIDs in the past. It forced people to manually switch to the SSID with the stronger signal.

Good to know this. I have read that on some models of wireless routers you can adjust the gain in them to overcome this problem. I can see where this would get tricky to adjust though.

 

[coffee]

First of all thank you for all the replies!

Ended up replacing the wireless router (netgear) with a cisco linksys model. I then reconfigured the AP . I had to do some re-leasing on the computers that the users used and things got going pretty good. Im very grateful for all the advice. Its nice to know Im in a "helping" forum.

Get this: They were evidently impressed with me. They want a written qoute for a network upgrade for the beginning of next month! I havent ran cable in probably 15 years so I think I might get a young buck to do it

Their current internet connection from At&t only did a 5Mbps on speedtest.com -- Geez! So, I talked with them about a business internet connection and they are calling for qoutes today.

Im not very happy the way they have their network setup. Its pretty shotty. Everybody is sharing out folders from their computer to others. I recommended a more centralized approach. Having a file server handle the documents.

Ok, Well thanks everyone,

Best Regards,

Coffee