Roaming assistant question

[OzarkEdge]

The WiFi professional configuration page clearly says Disconnect clients with RSSI lower than x dBm on this option so people who enable it should know what to expect.

When it works it does what it says on the tin and yes it would disconnect a client even if it had no other AP to connect to. The user may have an Asus router and a different brand AP and expect Roaming Assistant to still work. With a single AP it should never be enabled.

1. Expecting people to know is not reasonable support.

2. So why does Asus ship every single standalone router/AP with RA enabled by default if it should never be enabled until paired with another node/AP?

OE

 

[grifo]

1. Expecting people to know is not reasonable support.

Expecting users to understand what an option does when it's written clearly and in their own language is reasonable. Users configure their own routers after all, it's not like Asus ships them already configured or sends their representatives to do it.

2. So why does Asus ship every single standalone router/AP with RA enabled by default if it should never be enabled until paired with another node/AP?

OE

I don't know, maybe it's because it doesn't work anyway? Jokes aside, it's probably because they configure a very low default RSSI at which point the device has no network access either way. Still I'd turn it off if I had a single AP.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Still I'd turn it off if I had a single AP.

What if your AP supports Smart Connect... getting kicked of 5.0 would force the client to reconnect... hopefully Smart Connect would 'encourage' it to reconnect to 2.4. But I don't think RA does anything when there is only one AP... which is why you can leave it enabled by default... and why I asked the OP if there actually is a second AP.

OE

 

[grifo]

What if your AP supports Smart Connect... getting kicked of 5.0 would force the client to reconnect... hopefully Smart Connect would 'encourage' it to reconnect to 2.4. But I don't think RA does anything when there is only one AP... which is why you can leave it enabled by default... and why I asked the OP if there actually is a second AP.

OE

I've never used Smart Connect as my boxes don't support it but for Roaming Assistant I'm sure it'll disconnect a client regardless of any fallback AP.

It used to work on my RT-AC87U, I tested it when I first got the router and played with all the WiFi settings, back then I didn't have my RT-AC68U yet and I only used my RT-AC87U for WiFi and RA did disconnect a client below the RSSI threshold as advertised.

 

[GHammer]

I have two ASUS routers, one in router mode, one AP.
I have set this on each of them according the relative levels of the connected clients.
I got an immediate result of clients moving to the best device (router or AP) for the signal strength.

I did this in steps, not just whack in a large level change, but gradually 5 dBm at a time on each router.
I think if you understand this a bit and take time to know what levels you need to set it should work fine.
Defaults or guessing a number? Not so much.

 

[grifo]

I have two ASUS routers, one in router mode, one AP.
I have set this on each of them according the relative levels of the connected clients.
I got an immediate result of clients moving to the best device (router or AP) for the signal strength.

I did this in steps, not just whack in a large level change, but gradually 5 dBm at a time on each router.
I think if you understand this a bit and take time to know what levels you need to set it should work fine.
Defaults or guessing a number? Not so much.

It isn't a matter of understanding since, as you can see on the images posted above, clients well below the configured RSSI threshold aren't being disconnected like Roaming Assistant should do.

See the below logs from this post showing Roaming Assistant at work, none of this is ever showing on my router or AP with Roaming Assistant turned on on the 5 GHz radios, regardless of the RSSI threshold configured (-65 dBm in my case).

Aug 21 16:12:13 roamast: eth6: disconnect weak signal strength station [2c:78:0e:c3:d9:8a]
Aug 21 16:12:13 roamast: eth6: remove client [2c:78:0e:c3:d9:8a] from monitor list
Aug 21 16:19:42 roamast: determine candidate node [A8:5E:45:89:C9:80](rssi: -38dbm) for client [34:CE:00:EA:12:9A](rssi: -61dbm) to roam
Aug 21 16:19:42 roamast: eth5: disconnect weak signal strength station [34:ce:00:ea:12:9a]
Aug 21 16:19:42 roamast: eth5: remove client [34:ce:00:ea:12:9a] from monitor list
Aug 21 16:19:42 wlceventd: WLCEVENTD wlceventd_proc_event(466): eth5: Deauth_ind 34:CE:00:EA:12:9A, status: 0, reason: Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3)

You have much newer models, perhaps it has been fixed on those. BTW I wouldn't assume other people don't understand something just because it works for me, especially as we're talking about vastly different router models.

 

[GHammer]

It isn't a matter of understanding since, as you can see on the images posted above, clients well below the configured RSSI threshold aren't being disconnected like Roaming Assistant should do.

See the below logs from this post showing Roaming Assistant at work, none of this is ever showing on my router or AP with Roaming Assistant turned on on the 5 GHz radios, regardless of the RSSI threshold configured (-65 dBm in my case).

Aug 21 16:12:13 roamast: eth6: disconnect weak signal strength station [2c:78:0e:c3:d9:8a]
Aug 21 16:12:13 roamast: eth6: remove client [2c:78:0e:c3:d9:8a] from monitor list
Aug 21 16:19:42 roamast: determine candidate node [A8:5E:45:89:C9:80](rssi: -38dbm) for client [34:CE:00:EA:12:9A](rssi: -61dbm) to roam
Aug 21 16:19:42 roamast: eth5: disconnect weak signal strength station [34:ce:00:ea:12:9a]
Aug 21 16:19:42 roamast: eth5: remove client [34:ce:00:ea:12:9a] from monitor list
Aug 21 16:19:42 wlceventd: WLCEVENTD wlceventd_proc_event(466): eth5: Deauth_ind 34:CE:00:EA:12:9A, status: 0, reason: Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3)

You have much newer models, perhaps it has been fixed on those. BTW I wouldn't assume other people don't understand something just because it works for me, especially as we're talking about vastly different router models.

Roaming assistant doesn't work for me either, not only on my RT-AC87U router but also on my RT-AC68U AP running 384.19, so it's not model or firmware specific

Likewise, deciding that it is not model or firmware specific assumes much.
Works fine for me on two different models after observing the environment I have to deal with.
And yes, it is a matter of understanding. For example, I have no idea what you're on about with the logs. RA at work and doesn't show on your equipment? No idea whatever.

At any rate, I contend that if someone wants RA to operate, observing and testing are needed before enabling.
If, as you say, your equipment doesn't support the function, I'd either get equipment that does or open a ticket with ASUS support so perhaps they can fix it in the future.

 

[grifo]

Likewise, deciding that it is not model or firmware specific assumes much.
Works fine for me on two different models after observing the environment I have to deal with.

I'm not assuming anything, I have 2 models on which RA doesn't work (at least on the 5 GHz radios which is where I want it, I only use the 2.4 GHz on my main router for IOT and guest devices), you have 2 models on which it works, so by logic it's model or firmware specific (Asus closed source code not Merlin) like I stated on previous posts.

And yes, it is a matter of understanding. For example, I have no idea what you're on about with the logs. RA at work and doesn't show on your equipment? No idea whatever.

The logs I posted aren't from my devices, I copied them from a linked post to show what RA does when it works. My point was that they don't show on my devices, on which RA doesn't work.

At any rate, I contend that if someone wants RA to operate, observing and testing are needed before enabling.

I agree with you that RA needs to be tuned with time and dedication but it has to work in the first place otherwise it's a non starter.

If, as you say, your equipment doesn't support the function, I'd either get equipment that does or open a ticket with ASUS support so perhaps they can fix it in the future.

Our models do support it, it's in the WiFi configuration page, it's only that it doesn't work, that's two different things. If when we have a problem we should just replace our devices or open a ticket with Asus there would be no point in having a forum. For me it isn't a critical enough issue to justify replacing my two devices, I posted on this thread to help a fellow poster who was seeking information about this issue and it isn't critical for him either.