Wireless Access Point Questions

[megamanfre]

I have a Netgear WNDR3700 connected to my FiOS G1100 to get better wifi connection on my second floor as the G1100 is in the basement, and upstairs the connection was spotty at best.

I have it set up as an Access Point, with the same SSID and same WPA2 settings as my G1100. So my devices didnt have to jump to a new network. The problem Im having is devices automatically jumping to the stronger signal.

On my LG G4 I have to manually turn off, then turn on my wifi, in order for it to pick up the stronger signal upstairs when wandering from the basement, and vice versa.

Is there a way for it to just reconnect to the stronger signal? Purhaps a setting on the G1100 or the WNDR3700?

I just want my devices to regognize the stronger signal, and automatically switch to it. Or maybe reduce the wifi power in the G1100, so that it is basically completely lost when I go upstairs, so that my devices will connect to the stronger signal.

 

[nk215]

The short answer is no. You can't do that with typical setup. You need managed Access points and load balancing capability of commercial equipment (basically, AP1 silently hands the signal to AP2 - end user doesn't even get disconnected at all).

 

[imagoon]

I have a Netgear WNDR3700 connected to my FiOS G1100 to get better wifi connection on my second floor as the G1100 is in the basement, and upstairs the connection was spotty at best.

I have it set up as an Access Point, with the same SSID and same WPA2 settings as my G1100. So my devices didnt have to jump to a new network. The problem Im having is devices automatically jumping to the stronger signal.

On my LG G4 I have to manually turn off, then turn on my wifi, in order for it to pick up the stronger signal upstairs when wandering from the basement, and vice versa.

Is there a way for it to just reconnect to the stronger signal? Purhaps a setting on the G1100 or the WNDR3700?

I just want my devices to regognize the stronger signal, and automatically switch to it. Or maybe reduce the wifi power in the G1100, so that it is basically completely lost when I go upstairs, so that my devices will connect to the stronger signal.

Wireless jumping is entirely dependent on the device. The only thing you can do is "promote" a jump by disabling the slower speed bands which may potentially break other devices, IE disable 1,2,5.5mbps on both aps so when the devices try to slow down to that level (to avoid jumping) the AP disconnects them. Most home systems don't support this consistently.

 

[azazel1024]

Client dependent. Some clients suck at it, others are good.

I've generally found that Android clients aren't great about it (but some are good. Some). iOS clients are very good about this. Windows clients also tend to be very good about this if you turn up roaming aggressiveness in driver settings (can't speak to Windows handsets though).

You can reduce the radio power on the access points to promote roaming. You can also use higher gain antennas, as that'll flatten the radiation pattern. Makes it stronger perpendicular to the antenna, but weaker parallel to the antenna. So it'll increase coverage on the floor it is on, but reduce it above.