EAP config / SSID etc.
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Hi all,
now network with EAP225 is up and running.
Topologie in the house:
Cellar: Fritz Cable Box (Router) / Wireless installed and working.
Basement covered by a Fritz WLAN Repeater, works well
1. Floor: nothing
2. Floor: EAP 225 installed. Got the same SSID and password as the Router.
Interesting was, that when moving with a wireless device (smart phone) from basement to 2nd floor it takes for the first time to provide SSID and network password to the EAP to access, despite of configuration as an AP in the same network.
After that when moving between basement and 2nd floor it takes a lot of time, even a manual SSID selection on the wireless dev (smart phone).
How can this come?
Any hints are welcome!
@forrest, if the WPA key is saved in the client device, roaming between EAPs and other APs works indeed as defined in 802.11 very early (it's not fast roaming, but it's roaming anyway).
APs use the ESSID (the WLAN name, usually just called SSID) and a BSSID (device ID, its MAC address) to connect to an AP. If the ESSID and credentials/WPA key of all APs are the same, those APs form an Extended Service Set:
Thus, roaming between the APs in the same Extended Service Set works, even among APs of different vendors (but not so if using portal functions of Omada Controller; portal authentication works only among EAPs in an ESS).
@MichaelS: it's always the client device which decides to which AP it connects to (except if you use fast/seamless roaming of Omada Controller and force disconnects, but that's another story). You choose just an ESSID, but the client device looks up the ESSID and chooses the BSS of the AP with the best signal level.
So, if your client device still gets a good signal while on the basement, it won't change the AP at all. This means that the EAP has an excellent coverage. To force your client device to change the AP you have to either manually change the SSID or to move to a place where the signal of the EAP is much weaker than that of the FritzBOX's built-in AP. Likewise, the same occurs if moving from the basement to the 2nd floor. However, the WiFi signal has to fall under a certain signal threshold leevel to cause the client to change the AP automatically.
Since the client device needs to perform a wireless scan when changing the BSS automatically (that's the same if you change it manually by selecting the AP's SSID), you will note a short drop of the connection. If you want to avoid such connection drops, you can use fast roaming such as 802.11k/v which is supported by EAPs, but probably not by the FritzBOX's built-in AP.