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maol
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Wireless roaming support

Sat Nov 18, 2023 11:55 am

Hello There,

I've an home setup with an RB750r2 as main router and 3 RBwAPG-5HacD2HnD as access point.
CAPsMAN in in place and all the 3 AP are broadcasting the same SSID.

I'm happy with that setup but when roaming between different ap connection drop for a copule of seconds.

I read that wifiwawe2 is implementing 802.11r/k/v that can solve this problem, but im not sure is the HW i owe is supporting that.

on the manuals only states that i cant replace stock wifi package but i may be able to sideload the new one for using some CAPsMAN features.

Compatibility
Due to storage, RAM, and architecture requirements, only the following products can replace their bundled wireless software package with wifiwave2:

hAP ac³ (non-LTE)
Audience and Audience LTE6 kit
RB4011iGS+5HacQ2HnD*
* The 2.4GHz wireless interface on the RB4011iGS+5HacQ2HnD is not compatible with the wifiwave2 package. It will not be usable with the package installed.

It is also possible to install the WifiWave2 package on other devices to use WifiWave2 CAPsMAN: builds for x86, ppc, mmips and tile architectures contain the configuration utilities needed to centrally manage interfaces (as a CAPsMAN controller). Builds for arm and arm64 also contain interface drivers and firmware.
Fonte: https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/pages/vi ... ckwireless

Can anybody better explain this?

thanks
Lorenzo
 
holvoetn
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Re: Wireless roaming support

Sat Nov 18, 2023 2:14 pm

Until 7.12, wifiwave was not supported on a lot of devices.
With 7.13beta this had changed and your wap devices are supported, if I recall correctly.
This requires replacing stock wireless package with new qcom-ac package.
And then roaming will work.
But... beta. So use at your own risk or wait for stable.
 
maol
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Re: Wireless roaming support

Sat Nov 18, 2023 4:41 pm

Thanks,
yes it seems to be compatible in 7.13beta

Compatibility
The wifi-qcom-ac package includes alternative drivers for IPQ4018/4019 and QCA9984 radios that make them compatible with the WiFi configuration menu.

As a rule of thumb, the package is compatible with 802.11ac producs, which have an ARM CPU. It is NOT copmatible with any of our 802.11ac products which have a MIPS CPU.

Compatible Audience, Audience LTE kit, Chateau (all variants of D53), hAP ac^2, hAP ac^3, cAP ac, cAP XL ac, LDF 5 ac, LHG XL 5 ac, LHG XL 52 ac, NetMetal ac^2, mANTBox 52 15s, wAP ac (RBwAPG-5HacD2HnD), SXTsq 5 ac

Incompatbile RB4011iGS+5HacQ2HnD-IN (no support for the 2.4GHz interface), Cube 60Pro ac (no support for 60GHz interface), wAP ac (RBwAPG-5HacT2HnD) and all other devices with a MIPSBE CPU
but i cant find any information regarding the procedure to uninstall the 'wireless' package, then install 'wifi-qcom-ac', can someone please explain that?

and, shoud i do this also on the routerboard where CAPsMAN is running?

Thanks
 
holvoetn
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Re: Wireless roaming support

Sat Nov 18, 2023 5:10 pm

If your APs are going to run wave2 drivers, obviously the controller will have to do so as well.
And there I am not so sure it can be done on RB750r2 ... it is a rather limited device, resource wise.
Processorwise it will be possible but I'm not sure about storage or RAM.
You'll have to test.

Again: BETA so use at your own risk !!

To replace wireless:
Upgrade devices to 7.13beta (testing channel)
on wap ac go to winbox, system/packages. Select wireless for uninstall.
Reboot
After reboot, move qcom-ac package to Files.
Reboot
Setup wifi interfaces to cap mode

On RB750: if wireless is there, also uninstall and reboot.
Install qcom-ac to Files, reboot
Wifi menu should be there.

Best to try first on 750.

More info:
https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ ... ss'package
 
whatever
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Re: Wireless roaming support

Sat Nov 18, 2023 5:40 pm

I read that wifiwawe2 is implementing 802.11r/k/v that can solve this problem
Please note that 802.11r/k/v does not automatically solve all roaming problems.
  • 802.11r accelerates re-authentication when roaming, i.e. this is mostly helpful when you are using EAP authentication. PSK authentication is already fast without it.
  • 802.11k provides a list of alternative APs to the client, i.e. it accelerated the search for stronger APs once your signal becomes weak.
  • 802.11v enabled the AP to make roaming suggestions to the client, e.g. this allows the AP to tell the client to prefer 5g over 2g. But most modern clients prefer 5g anyway.
While these extensions support roaming, basic roaming is also possible without any of them. The issues you are currently experiencing might be completely unrelated.

If not done already, you should ensure your wifi interfaces are not taking part in spanning tree learning before going into forwarding state on the bridge. So either make sure they are labeled as edge port in your bridge or just disable STP completely if not required.
 
maol
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Re: Wireless roaming support

Sun Nov 19, 2023 11:03 am

Damn, STP might definitely be the issue here!
Disabling it on the datapath bridge seems to be increasing performance!

Will test this on next week and keep you posted. If teams call will survive roaming i'll be satisfied with the setup.

Lorenzo
 
gotsprings
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Re: Wireless roaming support

Sun Nov 19, 2023 8:23 pm

You can jam WAVE2 Drivers on a wAP AC?
 
holvoetn
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Re: Wireless roaming support

Sun Nov 19, 2023 8:28 pm

Yup :lol:

7.13beta
 
gotsprings
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Re: Wireless roaming support

Mon Nov 20, 2023 12:45 am

Guess they need to update the page...
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holvoetn
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Re: Wireless roaming support

Mon Nov 20, 2023 6:31 am

You're looking at the wrong page.
So you did not read the release notes for 7.13beta.

https://help.mikrotik.com/docs/display/ROS/WiFi
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mkx
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Re: Wireless roaming support

Mon Nov 20, 2023 7:12 am

Guess they need to update the page...
Probably they will, when the 7.13 gets released as stable.
 
gotsprings
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Re: Wireless roaming support

Mon Nov 20, 2023 4:16 pm

I don't think I have the patience to jam on the new driver and start testing all over again.