this is probably due to the EAP660's Beamforming, uap ac pro does not have this feature

I seee. So the EAP's beamforming is buggy? I see there's no option to disable on the controller. Hopefully TPlink can update their product. Its been a few months since the EAP was released.

Yeap thats the main difference. However, the issue i'm facing is the dropped of signal strength from 3 bar to 2 bars. The devices i'm using are iOS. Didn't had that problem when i'm using Unifi AC Pro. So i guess the firmware of the EAP 660 HD is buggy? Could you share when would the next firmware update come? You guys could mount a serious challenge on Unifi products if there are timely firmware updates for the Omada products.

@MrNetworkM21 

 

from 3 bar to 2 bars. The devices i'm using are iOS

 

As the poor sod that has to support just over 6k IOS devices daily, I wouldnt be taking IOS signal bars to mean anything!   They are about as accurate as a hatchet on a dartboard!

 

Honestly, you really shouldnt make any decisions based on that metric.  Ideally you should be checking the RSSI or Dbm from the device, however Apple being Apple kindly removed your ability to do that a few OS versions back..

 

If you have an android or windows device, get the RSSI or Db and see whats really going on. 

 

As its the signal at device side, it could be the IPhone is power saving the device by turning down the WiFi card.   See this all the time, it trys to maintain a balance of power use vs signal and it manifests as spikes around the mid strength area (50/60db), my guess this is what you are seeing.

 

It usually a sign of a strong AP signal ironically, the device realises its getting a good signal and therefore drops power to save battery, signal drop to ~55db.   It then fluxuates around 50 / 60 by incrementing the power up and down slightly as the need arises.  Therefore overall it reads as unclean and fluxuating.  Pump a lot of high quality / high data rate video over the WiFi you will see the signal increase as it sends more juice to the WiFi card.

 

Weaker APs do the opposite, its sticks the card at full power (wastes battery) in an attempt to get as much weak signal as possible

 

 

Thanks for the explanation! It is just irritating to see it drop from 3 to 2 then back to 3. Cause I never had this occurrence when I had the AC Pro. I check the controller and the signal is around 50 to 65dbm. Which I think is okay. I just feel that the product still have room for improvement and hope there would be regular firmware fixes. Or is there like a workaround this issue?

@MrNetworkM21 

 

Hey

 

I think you might be mis-interpretting the problem here.    The controller is reading  50 to 60 db then that is an excellent signal strength, -30 is as low as it goes and -80 is dead.  But remember that is what your AP is reading coming from the device (upstream), not what the device is reading coming from the AP (downstream)

 

You can almost rest assured that the AP will be broadcasting stronger than the iPhone can, therefore its likely to be more 45 / 55 recieving on the device (downstream), in which case its an excellent signal.   From 8 years doing WiFi install, imho its not the AP firmware.  Firmwares wont increase signal strength, that is a physical limitation.

 

Ill say it again, dont rely on Apple device to tell you an honest answer, they are massively inaccurate.    Below is a screenshot of my P40 phone with -57 at around 4meters through a stud wall.   Similiar db signal to you, reading FULL 5 bars on Android.    The only way to really tell signal strength is db, bars mean nothing and are subject to power changes.. especially in mobile devices which are designed to save power in every way

 

Dont trust Apple products for this.. seen so many people waste money trying to fix this and it aint broken..  sorry in advance, just being honest!

 

Try turning off "Unscheduled Automatic Power Save Delivery:" if it is on. It is under device>config>advanced. Mine is turned on and doesn't seem to cause any problems with clients.

@1207 

 

Tried turning it off. It is still the same. :( :( ..... Hopefully there could be fix or something soon, Its been quite long since TP-Link released any firmware updates for this device.