Mesh Roaming Issues

[christo_greeff]

We got a small'ish mesh running on 7762-s outdoor APs and a 1100 ZD. The roaming between APs takes about 30-40 seconds on average. This can't be normal, and I can't seem to correct it. Any advice/help please?

[primoz_marinsek]

Are there a lot of other networks around the area? Maybe there are so many that the channel is busy and access to the medium takes to long. Are you experiencing this with all clients or just some?

Also explain please what you mean by "From the root APs there are CAT6 cables going to a PTP CPE that is connecting 500m away to a Sectorised Antennae". I'm not getting the last part of this sentence.

Maybe some "Airtime stats", "PHY Error Stats" and some info on stuck beacons on APs that the client roams from and roams to would probably be helpful.

Best way to get those would be via ZD WEB GUI under Monitor :: APs where you would click on the "System info" icon next to the APs in question. Maybe you can paste the "Airtime stats", "PHY Error Stats" and info on stuck beacons for "radio 0" here so we can look if it's something obvious, otherwise you will probably need to open a case, but don't do it just yet.

[christo_greeff]

Hi Keith

I think that is one way of doing it for sure and makes sense. However, by reducing power, we might lose a bit of coverage. The area is filled with small steele houses (about 50 of them) and so penetration is obviously an issue.

And then to answer Primoz.....hi....

No, it is in a newly developed area that is rural so no other network interference. We manage the network fully. To explain my sentence...

There is a centralized basestation. From the two root APs there is an additional CPE that connects via Cat6 to the Ruckus Root AP and wirelessly to the basestation.

There are no PHY error stats - zero currently.

[christo_greeff]

Hi Keith/Primoz,

But I reckon that it might be the devices themselves.....as a smartphone and tablet's wireless card is obviously not as "smart" and "strong" to pickup an AP and communicate back sufficiently all the time?

[primoz_marinsek]

Yes, it's the clients choice to which AP (BSSID) it will connect, however Ruckus has a SmartRoam feature you can set to help with roaming. Read about how to set it up here https://support.ruckuswireless.com/an...

Keith suggested you use a higher minimum rate, not lower the transmit power. By doing that you hopefully make the client think of searching for a new AP faster so it doesn't hold on for deal life at speeds of 1Mbps, but rather at 5,5Mbps or even higher. It's available from FW 9.6 if I'm not mistaken.

Tell us FW version please? Are you tunnelling traffic to the ZD maybe? What kind of authentication are you using? What are you using on for wireless connection from CPE to the base station (WiFi, WiMax, 3G, Microlink,...)?

[christo_greeff]

Hi Primoz

Thanks for feedback once again. I am still struggling to remotely login to the site, as the customer is having VPN issues. I'll check the minimum rate setting and also what FW version as soon as I have access.

Authentication on all wireless is WPA2-AES. From CPE to basestation we are using a wireless PTP (WiFi) link.