Is Roaming Assistant a Myth???

[Asad Ali]

I've never been able to make Roaming Assistant work no matter what settings I try. Now I've tried even with an unusual number and the result is still the same.

Look here its set to force disconnect any clients with RSSI lower than -40 dBm.

My iPhone here is still connecting to it even with an RSSI as low as -66 dBm.

What sorcery is this lol?

 

[spanjap]

I've never been able to make Roaming Assistant work no matter what settings I try. Now I've tried even with an unusual number and the result is still the same.

Look here its set to force disconnect any clients with RSSI lower than -40 dBm.

My iPhone here is still connecting to it even with an RSSI as low as -66 dBm.

What sorcery is this lol?

Correct me if I'm wrong!
This is only for AiMesh and helps to disconnect from 1 node and connecting to another node if it drops below the threshold.

 

[Asad Ali]

Correct me if I'm wrong!
This is only for AiMesh and helps to disconnect from 1 node and connecting to another node if it drops below the threshold.

No that feature is here before AiMesh was even included in Merlin. The feature you're talking about is "Roaming Block List" and that's a different page

 

[JDB]

Correct me if I'm wrong!
This is only for AiMesh and helps to disconnect from 1 node and connecting to another node if it drops below the threshold.

It is used regardless of AiMesh. Basically if the router detects a client with a signal lower than the threshold it suggests it should look elsewhere.
With AiMesh the suggestion is accompanied with the suggested new node as well.

Key point is in both cases it is only a suggestion and it’s up to the client to actually disconnect and move to a new AP (of the same SSID or otherwise).
Some clients take more notice than others!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[spanjap]

I think if you are using more AP's with the same SSID it wil disconnect below the threshold so your device will connect to another AP.

 

[hervon]

What does this have to do with Merlin firmware ? Wrong sub forum.

 

[Asad Ali]

What does this have to do with Merlin firmware ? Wrong sub forum.

Its included in Merlin firmware and if it's a bug somewhere in opensource code Eric can fix it.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Key point is in both cases it is only a suggestion and it’s up to the client to actually disconnect and move to a new AP (of the same SSID or otherwise).

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but how can this be "only a suggestion"? Surely the only way the router can "suggest" the client looks for a stronger AP is by disconnecting it. The option even says "Disconnect clients with RSSI lower than...".

P.S. I'm ignoring things like 802.11k, 802.11r, and 802.11v.

 

[RMerlin]

My iPhone here is still connecting to it even with an RSSI as low as -66 dBm.

What sorcery is this lol?

The phone shows a connection time of only 14 seconds. Does it actually stay connected, or is it constantly being disconnected and reconnected ever few minutes? Because the router can disconnect a client, but it won't prevent it from reconnecting if the phone decides to reconnect to the same SSID. All it can do then is kick it out again later on.

The goal of the roaming assistant is not to prevent connections, it's to kick a connected client, forcing it to look for a potentially better AP to connect to. With no better SSID to connect to, most clients would then reconnect to the same SSID. And be kicked again after a while.

 

[JDB]

Apologies if this is a stupid question, but how can this be "only a suggestion"? Surely the only way the router can "suggest" the client looks for a stronger AP is by disconnecting it. The option even says "Disconnect clients with RSSI lower than...".

P.S. I'm ignoring things like 802.11k, 802.11r, and 802.11v.

When I tested/traced it a couple of years ago it definitely wasn’t fully disconnecting the client. From memory it was a subset of 802.11k it was using.
That’s not to say there aren’t cases when it does just deauth the client, but then it wouldn’t be assisting in roaming it would be forcing a drop in connection and new connection (I.e. not a roam).


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[miroco]

I have the same scenario with Roaming Assist set to -60 dBm, my iPhone shows -68 dBm and connection time is 1:42:33.

Maybe the bouncer is out of town

 

[RMerlin]

<shrug> Roaming assistant (like all things wireless) is outside of my control.

 

[Asad Ali]

The phone shows a connection time of only 14 seconds. Does it actually stay connected, or is it constantly being disconnected and reconnected

I will test that part and update again.

 

[Asad Ali]

<shrug> Roaming assistant (like all things wireless) is outside of my control.

Ahh okay that's unfortunate then and further discussion on this issue here is sort of off topic.

 

[Dolcevita]

it worked for me on Official Build - on Merlin never worked ...

 

[Asad Ali]

it worked for me on Official Build - on Merlin never worked ...

@RMerlin Can this be possible? Aren't Asuswrt-Merlin using the exact same code Base as Asuswrt?

P.S BTW I'll need to shift to official firmware to test that part myself, maybe some other time.

 

[RMerlin]

@RMerlin Can this be possible? Aren't Asuswrt-Merlin using the exact same code Base as Asuswrt?

Exact same code, since it's closed-source anyway, meaning I can't even change it. It's precisely one single file that gets copied from Asus's code into mine.

One has to compare identical code bases however. If it was broken in a previous Asus release but fixed later on, you have to compare a version of my firmware based on that same fixed version.

 

[Asad Ali]

Exact same code, since it's closed-source anyway, meaning I can't even change it. It's precisely one single file that gets copied from Asus's code into mine.

One has to compare identical code bases however. If it was broken in a previous Asus release but fixed later on, you have to compare a version of my firmware based on that same fixed version.

Understood, thank you.

 

[xulian]

@RMerlin Can this be possible? Aren't Asuswrt-Merlin using the exact same code Base as Asuswrt?

hello, I have a setup built of 3 merlin routers, main one being RT-AX88U, and 2 APs: RT-AC86U and RT-AC68U, all of them having roaming assistant on with -70 value for disconnection and sharing the same SSID. It works perfectly, and disconnections are shown by this reason in the main system log, might be there are stations with lower values at some time but sooner or later they are kicked out.

 

[a-seus-am-i]

I have this problem too. 86u as main and 2 68u's as APs. I set it to -50 even and my device will hardly ever jump off to the other AP. It'll go down to -80 and still not jump to the AP which is at -50. Only if I disconnect/reconnect will it jump to the proper AP.