AP/AiMesh Roaming RT-AX58U

[zackattack784]

I know this topic has been fairly well beat to death but I was hoping someone smarter than me could confirm my suspicions with the behavior I've been experiencing. I have an AX88U as my main router and an AX58U as my wired node/AP. I say node/AP because I've tried it as an Aimesh node and as an AP and the behavior is the same either way.

If I'm on a facetime/wifi call and roam from the main router (AX88U) to the AP (AX58U) it's a smooth transition without any interruption. If I go the other way, I usually get a fairly significant pause in audio and the video cuts out as my phone transitions back to the main router. My phone is an iPhone XS if that matters. I've tried this more times than I can count and it's repeatable basically 100% of the time.

Looking at WinFi I've noticed the AX58U does not support 802.11k while the AX88U does. Could this be the cause of the sloppy handoffs only in one direction? Both do support 802.11v and I have wifi agile multiband enabled on both the router and AP. Really what I want to know is if changing my AP to one that supports 802.11k would help reduce/eliminate this issue.

Thanks

 

[L&LD]

So many variables, and Apple products mixed in too.

Test your theory in your last sentence and let us also know.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I know this topic has been fairly well beat to death but I was hoping someone smarter than me could confirm my suspicions with the behavior I've been experiencing. I have an AX88U as my main router and an AX58U as my wired node/AP. I say node/AP because I've tried it as an Aimesh node and as an AP and the behavior is the same either way.

If I'm on a facetime/wifi call and roam from the main router (AX88U) to the AP (AX58U) it's a smooth transition without any interruption. If I go the other way, I usually get a fairly significant pause in audio and the video cuts out as my phone transitions back to the main router. My phone is an iPhone XS if that matters. I've tried this more times than I can count and it's repeatable basically 100% of the time.

Looking at WinFi I've noticed the AX58U does not support 802.11k while the AX88U does. Could this be the cause of the sloppy handoffs only in one direction? Both do support 802.11v and I have wifi agile multiband enabled on both the router and AP. Really what I want to know is if changing my AP to one that supports 802.11k would help reduce/eliminate this issue.

Thanks

Maybe you could swap the router roles to see if the roaming issue also reverses. A hassle but might help to decide if changing the AP might help.

OE

 

[L&LD]

That's a lot of work @OzarkEdge! But for the sake of science and the community, well worth it.

 

[OzarkEdge]

That's a lot of work @OzarkEdge! But for the sake of science and the community, well worth it.

Yeah, I figure he'll see that and just order another router!

His post suggest AX firmware is now supporting more roaming protocols... maybe these will make it into AC firmware.

OE

 

[zackattack784]

I just tried it with my laptop that has an Intel AC9560 adapter and work laptop (Intel AX200) on some zoom calls and the handoffs were much smoother. The video didn't cut out and there was just a slight stutter in the audio. This seemed to happen with handoffs in either direction. My parents need a new router so I could gift them the RX58U and add a second AX88U but that is a little overkill (and overpriced) for my needs. Hopefully they add 802.11k to the AX58U in a future firmware update like they did with the AX88U.

That's a good suggestion Ozark but like L&LD said, that's a lot of work! At this point it's more perfectionism than true need. The AX58U is really only covering 1 room so the times this would actually be an issue is fairly small.

 

[zackattack784]

I won't be home for a week to test on my own AP but it looks like a recent firmware update added 802.11k to the AX58U. Below is from my parents who have an AX58U running the latest stock firmware.
Edit: For anyone that is curious, the latest Merlin (384.18) does not have 802.11k on the AX58U.