Quick AP Config Question

[MichaelScott]

Hi, I have a 2 story home and am encountering poor wireless performance and dropouts on the first floor. I have an ASUS RT-AC66R on the second floor connected to the cable modem in router mode. I've purchased a new ASUS RT-AC56U to put on the first floor. I have Ethernet cabling throughout the home. I'm using Merlin 380.62_1 in both devices.

I think the best course of action is to put the downstairs device in AP mode and connect it via Ethernet to the upstairs device. Will that allow me to use the same SSIDs and passwords in both areas? Will wireless devices bind to whichever router/AP provides the strongest signal automatically? I'm trying to create a seamless environment for the family and guests.

For the AC56U that will the AP, I connect ethernet from the AC66R's LAN port to the LAN port on the AC56U? Then give the 56U a static IP?

Any tips or pointers to articles on this kind of configuration?

Thanks in advance for the help!

 

[L&LD]

The main site here has the exact article you want (search is your friend).

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basi...w-to-add-an-access-point-to-a-wireless-router


Your assumptions about a single ssid don't depend on the router(s) and AP's to 'seamless' to happen. It depends on the devices.

I would recommend unique ssid's so the devices can connect to the best devices (without guessing) depending on the area you're in.

 

[lighting]

Seems like having the same SSIDs might require you to turn the device's wifi off and on to get the stronger signal as you wander, but that's no more hassle than switching to a different AP if you have different SSIDs.

I have an AP with the same SSID as my main router (both are Asus RT-AC68x running latest Merlin), and it works pretty well on my Apple laptops and IOS devices through a three story house. I do worry about the "sticky" weak signals keeping me from switching to a stronger signal if I wander through the house, but in practice it seems to work ok.

There is a "Roaming assistant" option in the Wireless>>Professional menu that instructs the router to drop the client if the signal strength gets low. If you are only going between the areas covered well by the two routers this might work fine, but you might find it does you a disservice if you're out in the garage or something where neither covers well. Kinda brute force. I've played with it but don't currently use it.