@Blade2946 

 

Hey

 

What you have described is not unexpected in that setup, basically you have 3x APs and a Router all working individually.   In this setup there is no central management and therefore roaming wont happen, roaming is controlled by 3x standards called 802.11 K V R 

 

When you dont have "roaming" via a controller its up to the device to choose when to move, they are awful at this and will hold onto the current AP until death, at which time they will then disconnect and scan for a new AP to connect too.  That is why your calls / teams are dropping, what you need to do is take the roaming decision out of the clients hand by use of a controller and the K V R standard.   This will allow the device to roam quickly and seamlessly without having to drop-out

 

However... My concern for you is the mix of home grade and business grade hardware.    The EAP245 will support seamless roaming as part of the business solution, however the   Archer Router wont, that is ultimately going to be your problem.

 

The best controller for you would be the OC200 running SDN v4.2.11, its around £50 / $75 (US).     I would also recommend you get a POE switch as the OC200 uses POE Power and you can run the APs of it also (no need for the injectors) .    A basic 5 Port POE+ switch would work for you, or if you want a managed switch look at the TL-SG2008P as it will work with the controller seamlessly.. however its a lot more expensive

 

If you adopt the APs on the controller and enable the following, it will allow devices to roam without dropping connection.   Let the controller do the work for you!   I have this setup and it works flawlessly..

 

 

However.... that will mean you cant use your WiFi in your router as it wont "roam" with the EAPs.   You will likely have to not use the Archer WiFi for clients sticking only to the EAP245s, or disable it completely if not using.

 

 

 

In answer to some of your questions..

 

I assume I need to install a wireless access controller to resolve this, as I don't know of any other configurations that will resolve this. 

Making changes to the lease or beacon intervals won't aid or resolve this? 

 

Simple answer.. no it wont, lease and beacon is not going to help you with this - set this back to default for yourself if you have changed it

 

 

Each Access point mode will then be changed from access point mode to repeater mode. 

 

Dont be doing this, the only way to get seamless roaming is by adopting these onto a controller (OC200) and connecting them by a LAN Cables or Wireless Mesh back to the controller.  

 

 

I did some high level checking and seems the TP-LINK AC500 Wireless Controller is a popular model, will this work with the EAP 245 Access Points?

 

The OC200 is a better option for you

 

@Philbert 

Hello Philbert,

Trust all is well.

Thank you Kindly for the reply makes sense. 
 

I need to do some more reading to fully understand what to implement and how to do correctly. 
 

When I disable Wifi om the router how would I then setup up Wifi does the wifi controller then adopt this function? 
 

If so I then proceed to implement and configure the mentioned model of controller followed by changing the eap's to repeater mode? 
 

Thank you kindly in advance for the assistance 

@Philbert 

 

Hello Just a quick thank you, for taking the time to break down the required items.

100% clear and now I see how easy it is, thank you so much. 

 

Awesome to see assistance of this caliber is still around, even previous post were answered in the same manner. A++

 

Thank you

@Philbert 

 

Thank you again for the assistance.

I see the OC 200 seems to be a full cloud controller? 

 

I don't mind using the POE Injectors, as currently the installation is using the mentioned router and a basic 8 port desktop switch. 

So all that I will do is add the OC200 to the desktop switch adopt and manage the AP via the OC200. 

 

Will this still work, as the current installation is actually at a friends place. 

 

I still need to replace all my own AP, as I am running 4 AP's in total but two different makes. 

So for me I assume I would need to replace all my AP's to a single model and also buy the OC200. 

 

I am looking at around $1100 to replace all my kit. 

 

Thank you kindly in advance for the assistance. 

@Blade2946 

 

Hey Mate, no worries some answers below for you

 

I see the OC 200 seems to be a full cloud controller? 

 

Yeah.. and no..  its fundamentally a local controller but does allow you to connect to the cloud for remote stuff, you don't require the cloud to be setup if you would prefer not too, however it is handy and allows you to view multiple sites from one portal.   I would recommend you do cloud enable it unless you have some specific reason not too

 

 

I don't mind using the POE Injectors, as currently the installation is using the mentioned router and a basic 8 port desktop switch. 

 

Injectors work fine, there is no hassle using them   :) 

 

 

So all that I will do is add the OC200 to the desktop switch adopt and manage the AP via the OC200.

Will this still work, as the current installation is actually at a friends place. 

 

Yeah cant see a problem with that setup.   Likely you have it setup this way but just incase..    Switch Port 1 OC200      Port 2,3,4,5   APs      Port 8 Router/Internet   -  Basically try not to use the ports in your router for anything except the one connection to the switch.  Most times I set this up the Router/ISP Device is on port 8, that way only traffic going to the router is WAN traffic.   You don't have to do it that way, just neater to have everything off the one switch, its fundamentally its job :)

 

If you cloud enable it, you can monitor / admin it remotely!

 

 

I still need to replace all my own AP, as I am running 4 AP's in total but two different makes. 

So for me I assume I would need to replace all my AP's to a single model and also buy the OC200. 

 

The setup you mentioned in first post (4x 245s) is not yours but your friends?     What APs do you have currently?

 

Controllers only work on a specific vendor, in this case the OC200 will support the EAP225 / 245 / 265  / 620  and 660.   If you are looking to buy stuff consider the 225 v3   Its basically the same as the 245 but has one less antenna, therefore the max speed you can get WiFi is 866mbps vs 1300mbps..  However to get 1300mbps you need a 2x2 wifi card, 90% of devices are 2x2 wifi cards.    I have 2x EAP 245s in my house and out of 40 odd WiFi devices, the only one that has a 3x3 card is my Macbook Pro, even then it only connects at 980mbps vs the others at 866mbps so really not a big difference (more bandwidth, more interference).     The 225 cheaper and likely just as good for you, its just over half the price of the 245

 

You don't however need to have the same model all round, you happily mix 225s and 245s etc no hassle, long as they are the same vendor as the controller and still supported.   I work with Meru and Maraki stuff daily, they only work on their hardware too, there are generic controllers out there (software controllers) but they are feature limited and not as good overall. 

 

 

I am looking at around $1100 to replace all my kit. 

 

I live in Ireland so prices are likely different, however I dont see it being $1100 odds..   perhaps im wrong! :)  

 

Quick price up here,   EAP225  €90 x4    OC200  €80    total  €440 / $516 US     Add on a R605 router and 2008P Switch another €200     you could likely do the lot for around 800 US based on EAP225 v3   

 

 

 

 

 

@Philbert 

 

Hello Phill,

Trust all is well. 

 

I finally managed to order the new kit for myself.

I ordered 4x TP Link EAP 265HD access points and 1x OC200 hardware controller. 

 

I remember you saying that I need to disable WIFI on my router. 

I assume I will then create and setup the WIFI on the actual OC200 controller. 

 

From there I simply adopt each of the access points and it will then function and controll each of the Access Points.

I dont need to change anything on each of the access points? 

 

Once I have adopted each access point I can simply connect my devices to the wifi network and it will then automaticaly roam to the AP with the best signal.

 

Appolgies if I am repeating some of the questions, just making sure I am correct in my thinking methord. 

 

My main area is not networking but enterprize storage so figured cant hurt to ask. 

 

Thank you kindly in advance for your assistance. 

 

Kind Regards 

 

 

@Blade2946 

 

Hey. Apologies in advance if this is short, on mobile replying!

 

Yes. Disable the WiFi in the router as it's not part of the Omada and will just cause you issues roaming, signal etc.  

 

Setup the controller first, ensuring it running SDN v4x, once in the controller setup the WiFi as you need with SSID, security etc.

 

Once ready power on the APs, no need to do anything with them.  They will appear in controller under devices, just click adopt and few mins later you should have WiFi.. repeat for each AP.

 

To enable roaming you need to turn it on in settings, apologies I can't remember exactly offhand.  It's called fast roaming, there is also dual report that you should enable, both are beside eachother..update.. it's under advanced features, see earlier screenshot.  I tick all 4 boxes I'm my controller

 

Hopefully that will get you started. 👍

 

Just ensure you have firmware on Controller updated once u start.. v4.  Then you may find the APs want updated once adopted

 

 

 

 

@Blade2946 

 

hey

 

Thats me back in the land of the living, was away for a few days with only Mobile Access on a tablet.. hate typing to a tablet :)

 

Anyways hope you are getting on ok, any questions do feel free to just ask on here and I will get back to you

 

In terms of the Roaming, if you are using firmware 1.8 (SDN v4.3.5) or later, it has a new AI Roaming feature that seems to work reasonably well.   It looks at your network over a few days and records how it used, appears to proactively move clients as it feels best... so far had no issues with it.      Again like the other roaming settings its in SETTINGS> SITE> ADVANCED OPTIONS

 

This is my setup below.

 

Fast Roaming is just ... well fast seamless roaming

AI Roaming - New feature, seems like smarter roaming and balancing.. so far no issues

Dual Band 11k allows the device to see roaming to 2.4 and 5ghz bands.   If not enabled it will only roam 2.4 to 2.4  or 5 to 5

Force Dissassation - only really used it a device wont roam (old device that doesnt support), it will therefore disconnect the device and force it to reconnect to the other AP and in effect roam it.   Rarely if ever seen this triggered

Band Steering - Recommend you enable this as makes life easier.   Basically if you enable 2.4 and 5ghz radios on your SSID the device will nearly always go 2.4 first, this setting will move it up and down between 2.4 and 5ghz to increase speed, range etc.   generally it perferes 5 for speed, will drop you to 2.4 however if range is a requirement (low snr)

 

 

Hope you are getting on ok so far

Phil

 

P.S.  Like yourself I am actually a storage engineer by certification, but like most things jack of all trades!