Roaming Assistant enable or disable?

[Pergola Fabio]

Hi, i have several RT-AC86U as nodes configured, but i was told to disable the roaming assistant

Now, if i reboot a node, the device connects to another node far away, it has a bad connection then, like 1 max 2 bars, once the node is online again, it doesnt reconnect
is that was the roaming assistant suppose todo? why is best practice to disable it?

or how can i make sure a device always takes the best node nearby ?

thnx

 

[Tech9]

why is best practice to disable it?

There is no such universal best practice. When you read advice online you have to take into account your own setup specifics and not just copy what someone else did. Own research and some level of understanding what different settings do may help.

 

[Pergola Fabio]

ok, bit to make devices connect to the best node, the only option visible on the settings is the "roming assistant", right?
is the roaming assistant working together with aimesh? or is it a useless option when aimesh is enabled?

 

[OzarkEdge]

ok, bit to make devices connect to the best node, the only option visible on the settings is the "roming assistant", right?
is the roaming assistant working together with aimesh? or is it a useless option when aimesh is enabled?

Smart Connect is band steering.

Roaming Assistant is node steering.

Try using them with your network and see how your clients behave.

Use the default settings until you learn/know otherwise to tweak them... and then go slow to allow yourself to observe how your clients respond.

OE

 

[Pergola Fabio]

ok, gonna turn the roaming assistant on later ... is there a place where i can see the dBm for each wireless connected device?
seems if i browse to System Log - Wireless Log , here are only a few clients listed, not all

thnx

 

[OzarkEdge]

ok, gonna turn the roaming assistant on later ... is there a place where i can see the dBm for each wireless connected device?
seems if i browse to System Log - Wireless Log , here are only a few clients listed, not all

thnx

The Wireless Log seems to not list node clients. Some may hack into the node for more data, but I don't bother and have ignored such efforts.

The Client List seems to only list link rate, which can be a good indication of signal strength.

Note that the Wireless Log does list a wireless backhaul connection detail... look for the relevant router MAC entry and/or an NSS of 3 or more... the number of antennas supporting the backhaul. I've never had a daisy-chained node.

Tip: If you are using a wired backhaul with Ethernet Backhaul Mode disabled and the wireless backhaul is ON in the log and won't shut OFF, try toggle the EBM setting ON/OFF... that clears it for me. I have not seen this lately with my current network.

OE

 

[Tech9]

bit to make devices connect to the best node

The clients decide which one is the best AP to connect to. So called "sticky clients" are common with AiMesh since it has no individual node power control and many folks tend to run more nodes than needed wrongly assuming stronger Wi-Fi signal is always better.