transco
Level 1 (10 points)

Q: Roaming with Multiple AE's connected to router.

I can't find info on  my particular wireless layout.  I have three Airport Extremes connected to the LAN.  Each AE has a unique static IP LAN address.  NAT and DHCP is handled by the router.  What I am trying to do is set up a roaming wireless network.  I saw a thread on doing this with one AE connected to the WAN and the other AE's connected to it (http://support.apple.com/kb/HT4260), but this would be difficult to implement here.  I seem to remember reading that what I am trying to do can be done by setting each AE to 'Create a Wireless Network', and giving each the same Wireless Network Name, and password, which is what I am doing now.  This works, but is extremely slow.  Is there a better way to implement roaming, using my current AE wiring scheme; i.e. with each AE connect to the router?

Posted on Feb 5, 2012 6:17 PM

by Gino Cerullo,Solvedanswer
Gino Cerullo Gino Cerullo
Level 4 (1,456 points)
A:

I found some addtional info that clears up some concepts. There is stuff in there that even I wasn't aware of. For example the difference between the capabilities of the old 'WDS' networks and the new wirelessly 'Extended' networks. They are not the same and do not have the same capabilities. I was under the impression that when 'Extending' a network with the new 802.11n capable routers it was forming a WDS as I understood it with the old 802.11g routers. That is not exactly true; there is a difference.

 

The old WDS networks had the capabilities of a main, relay and remote router. The new Extended networks only have the capabilities of a main and a remote. Of course all of this is moot if your are joining the routers together with ethernet, not something everyone can do, and you also benefit using ethernet because there is no perfromance hit on the wireless connections.

 

Wi-Fi base stations: Extending the range of your wireless network by adding additional Wi-Fi base stations

 

Wi-Fi base stations: Setting up and configuring an extended wireless network (802.11n)

Posted on Feb 7, 2012 11:29 AM

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Q: Roaming with Multiple AE's connected to router.

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  • by Gino Cerullo,

    Gino Cerullo Gino Cerullo Feb 6, 2012 4:57 PM in response to transco
    Level 4 (1,456 points)
    Feb 6, 2012 4:57 PM in response to transco

    Yes, that PDF is a little on the old side but I don't think you need to revert to an old version of the firmware or Utility to make use of it. The concepts are the same even if the screens are a little different. I presume you are using the newer v5.6 of the AirPort Utility and not the v6.0 that is missing a few things right now.

  • by Gino Cerullo,Solvedanswer

    Gino Cerullo Gino Cerullo Feb 7, 2012 11:29 AM in response to transco
    Level 4 (1,456 points)
    Feb 7, 2012 11:29 AM in response to transco

    I found some addtional info that clears up some concepts. There is stuff in there that even I wasn't aware of. For example the difference between the capabilities of the old 'WDS' networks and the new wirelessly 'Extended' networks. They are not the same and do not have the same capabilities. I was under the impression that when 'Extending' a network with the new 802.11n capable routers it was forming a WDS as I understood it with the old 802.11g routers. That is not exactly true; there is a difference.

     

    The old WDS networks had the capabilities of a main, relay and remote router. The new Extended networks only have the capabilities of a main and a remote. Of course all of this is moot if your are joining the routers together with ethernet, not something everyone can do, and you also benefit using ethernet because there is no perfromance hit on the wireless connections.

     

    Wi-Fi base stations: Extending the range of your wireless network by adding additional Wi-Fi base stations

     

    Wi-Fi base stations: Setting up and configuring an extended wireless network (802.11n)

  • by transco,

    transco transco Feb 7, 2012 6:59 PM in response to Gino Cerullo
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Feb 7, 2012 6:59 PM in response to Gino Cerullo

    Thanks for the update.  I realize this goes against the documentation (the old stuff, I haven't read over the new links you provided), but I greatly improved the switchover time betweens AP's by setting all three to the same fixed channel.  I tested this by having my wife walk around the house while I monitored the client count for each AP.  For one thing, it no longer is necessary for the signal to drop to zero to switch AP's.  If the current AP signaI drops one 'bar' (3 to 2) and a nearby AP comes in at 3 bars, it will switch AP's.   don't have any numbers yet, but I'm in the process of  setting up my MacBook with a 'Prism 2' USB WiFi adapter and an app called 'KisMAC' which should give me a lot more info.

     

    My current configuration is the 'main' AP's WAN port connects to the LAN.  The other two AP's connect to it.  All three are setup using DHCP and all are configured to 'Create a wireless network' and 'Bridge Mode'.

  • by Gino Cerullo,

    Gino Cerullo Gino Cerullo Feb 7, 2012 7:14 PM in response to transco
    Level 4 (1,456 points)
    Feb 7, 2012 7:14 PM in response to transco

    Hmmm. fixed channels. Hadn't considered that. Nice!

  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Feb 7, 2012 7:21 PM in response to transco
    Level 10 (105,448 points)
    Wireless
    Feb 7, 2012 7:21 PM in response to transco

    Fixed same channels goes against all the traditional rules of using Automatic or separating each access point manually by 3-4 channels to prevent interference, but I guess if it works....it works.

     

    I just tried manually using the same channels here and it was a disaster. The network throughput dropped like a rock. Jumped back up as soon as I switched back to Auto for Channels.

  • by transco,

    transco transco Feb 8, 2012 6:39 AM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Feb 8, 2012 6:39 AM in response to Bob Timmons

    Hmmm... I wonder why we are getting different results.  After reading your post I ran a little test.  I simultaneously streamed video to two iPhones and an iPad (HBO, Showtime, Netflix), and each played perfectly. 

     

    FYI, I moved the WAN port of the 'main' AP back to the LAN and used my existing router simply so I  could keep the wired network up and running while I played with various Wi-Fi configurations.  As mentioned earlier, I did try connecting the AP to the WAN and using it as the network router (channel selection set to 'auto'), but it just wasn't switching fast enough for seamless roaming.  Skype calls would become choppy or drop out completely as my wife walked around the house.  She says that now it's as though she was walking around with a corded phone with a very long cord.  I'll concede the fact that it's not a true WDS, but it gets the job done.  I ran  the Airport Utility wizard to see how it would handle a LAN side roaming network.  The only change it made was setting channel selection to auto.

  • by Bob Timmons,

    Bob Timmons Bob Timmons Feb 8, 2012 6:52 AM in response to transco
    Level 10 (105,448 points)
    Wireless
    Feb 8, 2012 6:52 AM in response to transco

    Are you sure that all the access points are in Bridge Mode?  This setting can slip back to "Share a public IP address" easily if you start making changes in the setup of the devices....and you won't know it unless you check.

  • by transco,

    transco transco Feb 8, 2012 8:24 AM in response to Bob Timmons
    Level 1 (10 points)
    Feb 8, 2012 8:24 AM in response to Bob Timmons

    Yes, all three show:

     

    Connect Using: Ethernet

    Connection Sharing: Off (Bridge Mode)

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