4 ms·

Do people _really_ need wifi roaming in their homes? I have multiple cheap APs setup in my house using the same SSID and it's fine. As long as I'm not holding

Do people _really_ need wifi roaming in their homes? I have multiple cheap APs setup in my house using the same SSID and it's fine. As long as I'm not holding a realtime conversation and moving around between APs I never have any problems. And since I almost never hold a Skype call while walking through my house I almost never have any issues.

waheoo 6y ago
It's not about walking and talking, it's about sticky associations.
cheschire 6y ago
If you've ever lived in a country where the houses are made primarily of stone, you'd definitely understand the need for it.
- robotmay 6y ago
  Yeah I have a 2' thick stone wall in the centre of my house (old exterior wall). I have an AP on either side of it as they penetrate the ceilings/floors above fine, but nothing is getting through that wall and maintaing good signal.
- kalleboo 6y ago
  Or earthquake-proof reinforced concrete.
  - regularfry 6y ago
    Just brick that's old enough will do it. Mine's something like 150 years old, and it's absolute murder to drill into, just incredibly hard, and it's either dense enough to act like stone, or it's absorbed enough moisture over the years to look like a faraday cage to wifi.
- wcfields 6y ago
  A 1920's stucco bungalow with chicken-wire in the walls pretty much acts like a faraday cage in every single room.
Arnt 6y ago
You don't have stone walls. And you haven't spent the last year working in a study that's located between two APs, where clients flip now and again and Zoom would tear down the connection. Of course you could say: Does the house have to be designed that way? Do the APs have to be located where they are, is it really necessary to have that stone wall, is it necessary to put the study in the place where it is, is it necessary to have that noise insulation around the elevator? None of that is necessary, but some Mikrotik hardware was much cheaper than getting rid of a stone wall and more pleasant than having to hear it when the neighbours use the elevators.
martyvis 6y ago
Also as long as you don't have big bags of attenuating water (people) moving between you and your AP you also funny need roaming.
theshrike79 6y ago
Yep, stupid L-shaped house where the inner curve is a damn Faraday Cage. NOTHING goes through. If I'm in the living room and need to move to the other end of the house to get away from family-related noise, the device needs to roam between two APs. Unifi handles this without any issues.
oceanplexian 6y ago
Even if you don't "need" roaming having more coverage lets you dial down the power on all of your APs, so you can get much closer to the theoretical maximum throughput.
regularfry 6y ago
4 floors, 150-year-old brick, random steel girders in annoying places, and a broadband line that comes into the building at almost the least convenient place possible. Yeah, I need roaming.

waheoo 6y ago

It's not about walking and talking, it's about sticky associations.

cheschire 6y ago

If you've ever lived in a country where the houses are made primarily of stone, you'd definitely understand the need for it.

robotmay 6y ago
Yeah I have a 2' thick stone wall in the centre of my house (old exterior wall). I have an AP on either side of it as they penetrate the ceilings/floors above fine, but nothing is getting through that wall and maintaing good signal.
kalleboo 6y ago
Or earthquake-proof reinforced concrete.
- regularfry 6y ago
  Just brick that's old enough will do it. Mine's something like 150 years old, and it's absolute murder to drill into, just incredibly hard, and it's either dense enough to act like stone, or it's absorbed enough moisture over the years to look like a faraday cage to wifi.
wcfields 6y ago
A 1920's stucco bungalow with chicken-wire in the walls pretty much acts like a faraday cage in every single room.

Arnt 6y ago

You don't have stone walls. And you haven't spent the last year working in a study that's located between two APs, where clients flip now and again and Zoom would tear down the connection. Of course you could say: Does the house have to be designed that way? Do the APs have to be located where they are, is it really necessary to have that stone wall, is it necessary to put the study in the place where it is, is it necessary to have that noise insulation around the elevator? None of that is necessary, but some Mikrotik hardware was much cheaper than getting rid of a stone wall and more pleasant than having to hear it when the neighbours use the elevators.

martyvis 6y ago

Also as long as you don't have big bags of attenuating water (people) moving between you and your AP you also funny need roaming.

theshrike79 6y ago

Yep, stupid L-shaped house where the inner curve is a damn Faraday Cage. NOTHING goes through. If I'm in the living room and need to move to the other end of the house to get away from family-related noise, the device needs to roam between two APs. Unifi handles this without any issues.

oceanplexian 6y ago

Even if you don't "need" roaming having more coverage lets you dial down the power on all of your APs, so you can get much closer to the theoretical maximum throughput.

regularfry 6y ago

4 floors, 150-year-old brick, random steel girders in annoying places, and a broadband line that comes into the building at almost the least convenient place possible. Yeah, I need roaming.