AP Hand off between AP and BR2 Max Pro

Product Discussion Pepwave AP & Surf
1

Hi all

I have an all metal motorhome, so signal penetration form inside to out is terrible

I have a BR2 max pro connected to a great Pyrenees 11 in 1 antenna. My BR2 router is connected to this for decent reception when using WiFi as WAN.

Problem with the internal antennas is that inside the vehicle the signal is terrible.

So I added an AP One AX Lite wireless access point inside and all is peachy. The AP is connected via Ethernet to the BR1

The problem I have is that if I want to work outside (about 6-10 feet from the vehicle), the devices (iPhone and PC) hang on to the very weak signal from the indoor access point, instead of switching to the much stronger signal from the external antenna.

I can’t find any setting at all that allows me to change the signal strength where a handoff should occur. I have my access point set to config sync. and I’ve looked through every single settings page and I don’t find anything.

I would also like to increase the range of the external access so it will work over 100 feet away with clear line of sight so I was thinking about investing in the external access point and antenna kit. I was also hoping this would help me when working outside, but if I can’t tell it when to drop the signal from the internal access point, I’m not sure how that’s going to help.

Anyone have any ideas how I can configure the signal transfer for handoff?

Thanks

Mark

2

With WIFI, that decision is actually made by the client device.

The key ways you have to influence it to make sure you have fast roaming enabled, tweaking the output power levels of each device and sometimes also tweaking what MCS indexs are supported, and in the last resort you can set the cutoff threshold where the AP will disconnect the client and force it to move (but this is disruptive).

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3

i was in the process of writing exactly what @bryn.loftus was writing! :slight_smile: the only real way to do this consistently is to set the minimum client signal strength threshold, but as Bryn mentioned, this is disruptive and may cause a hard handoff and interrupt comms.

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4

Thanks. Of course Apple dumbs everything down so I don’t think I have any options on the client.

Where would I find those settings? I’ve seen people mention them on balance devices but I can’t find anywhere on the BR2 or the AX one lite

5

You generally don’t have any options to adjust that on the client side either, regardless of vendor. The decision is made by the client but not generally controllable.

If you jump into the APs local interface, AP tab, then you can enable advanced settings and tweak some things.

6

Hi…
There is a solution used for underground communication…

Maybe. You can install those " antenna cables " inside of your motorhome and the same cable will outside.

Question… It works? Yes… cables (A/B), because the device have two sma connectors, must be side by side, distance around 10cm one of each other.