Hi @Longhorn,

Hmmmm, that's a good question.  I misread the following announcement previously:

https://www.tp-link.com/ae/support/faq/2097/

But, I believe all of the newer TP-Link business class EAP's (225V3, 225-OD, 245V3, 265V1, 620, 660, etc.(  support all three k,v,r.  "R" is the most "important" for Fast Roaming / low latency handoffs.

I think document I referenced is worded the way it is, because a controller is necessary to support "R".  That is to say, for Fast Roaming (aka "R") one needs to run the Omada/SDN SW or OC-200/OC-300 24x7 to support this capability.

-Jonathan

Is it just the AC and AX EAPs that you think support 802.11r or does it also extend to the N ones? (with a controller) 

Hmmm,

That's a good question.  Theoretically the Fast BSS Transition spec came out a long time ago.  But (Intel) STA's for example, didn't really start to support it in earnest until 802.11ac.  

No one really talked about it "as a thing" before 802.11ac Wave1 / 2.  I cannot specifically answer your question, but my guess would be no, I don't think it is supported on 802.11n equipment even with a controller.

But, keep in mind, folks have been doing basic roaming just fine for ~15 years or so.  There's a lot of emphasis / interest / buzz about Fast Roaming these days -- but it's rarely actually needed.

Most apps today do a good job at buffering and recovering from brief losses of connectivity.

-Jonathan

"rarely needed" is underestimating future proofing of a network. Most new networking implementations already use Cat 6a cabling for example, which is 10Gbit capable, while most devices supporting those speeds exceed the price most would like to invest. nevertheless cat6a for new cabling has been the standard for some time now in my industry.

anyway, with most newer building and insulating standards, cellphone signals are being blocked more and more. and allot of the phone calls indoors will take place over wifi, now try this while walking around, you'll be in for a good laugh when there is no fast roaming support for any ip based calling, lots of hiccups and stutters when roaming from one to the other ap.

802.11r support is getting more important professionally then ever. for home use?? not so much, although highly depends on size and use, with more people working from home, the "home office" should be taken seriously.

To my opinion data sheets should be clear on supported 802.11 standards, and additional hardware required to implement certain 802.11 standards.

One use case for Fast Roaming is definitely WiFi Calling (VoWiFi) on mobile phones, especially when no strong cell signal is available. It does benefit from Fast Roaming and I see less dropped calls as a result of it.

And that use case I see in pretty much any scenario you'd use a WiFi deployment in, home or commercial.