Cannot roam between WiFi Router & WiFi Access Point on same network

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I have a seemingly simple desire: to achieve acceptable wifi coverage of my entire house and the ability to use my wireless devices in multiple locations within that house. To achieve this aim I have tried a variety of hardware combinations over the last two months but am now at the point where I’m almost ready to abandon the project.

In my current setup I have:

[*]Downstairs: A new & working Wireless Router (TP-Link TD-W8961ND) from which I can connect to (1) the internet, and (2) the internal network devices (NAS, printer, and network shares).
[*]Upstairs: A new & working Access Point (TP-Link TL-WA801ND). The AP is connected by a physical cable to the downstairs router. The AP is in “Access Point Mode” with a different SSID and the channels are far apart. From the AP I can also connect to (1) the internet, and (2) the internal network devices (NAS, printer, and network shares).

Clearly therefore, parts of my setup are correct and complete. However, I cannot roam between these two devices. Once a device is connected to one of these devices it cannot connect to the other. When downstairs, if I connect any device (iPad, iPhone, Win7 ThinkPad, WinXP Netbook) to the router’s Wifi network, it connects to the router as expected and is fine. When upstairs, it connects to the second router but cannot get to the internet. It seems to get an IP address but simply cannot establish a useful connection with the world outside the house. The same is true if I take a machine that is successfully connected to the upstairs network and move downstairs.

I’ve read many “How To” articles on the web about how best to configure what is in essence two wireless networks on the same LAN but despite my best efforts at following multiple contradictory paths (some argue that the SSIDs must be identical, while others insist that’s a direct path to hell), I’m no better off.

Have you successfully setup a wifi network with a TP-Link router and a TP-Link Access Point so that roaming works? If so, what’s the secret?!

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Why use different SSIDs? It’s the same network, I would definitely use the same SSID. Without the same SSID you won’t be able to roam, as they will be seen as two different networks.

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doriel

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The manual for the AP instructed me to use a “unique SSID”.
In addition, as I said, many of the online how-tos advised the same. I’ll try again with the identical wireless settings on both.

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You should use different channels, but same SSID.

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I’ve now setup both with an identical SSID and it seems to have resolved the problems. My WinXP Samsung Netbook still isn’t seamlessly switching between the two but otherwise things are good. Thanks,

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Glad to know the situation is solved. Regarding the netbook, make sure it can access all the channels that may be in use by the wireless router and AP.

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I spoke too soon. The situation is not resolved.

First it was the netbook but other devices followed. Once again I’m in the position where, if a device is connected to either the AP or the Router it will not be able to establish a connection to the other.

The situation is effectively the same: I have two appliances (the AP and the router) both transmitting usable wifi networks for full coverage in my house and multiple devices connecting to the internet through each. The only thing missing is the ability to roam between them. When I do so, the DNS is clearly failing and I am unable to get a usable IP address to continue using the internet.

Today I had someone from the locally respected tech troubleshooting company spend almost 2hrs looking at the problem. Made no progress.

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See if this information helps in any way, especially regarding the channels used: http://www.velocityreviews.com/forums/t3972-ssid-for-multiple-access-points.html

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Thanks, but it’s nothing I’m not already doing:

[*]Modem Router broadcasting on channel 1
[*]AP broadcasting same SSID on channel 11

When I’m connected to the internet through either, if I move to the other one I establish a connection with it but don’t get “through it” to the internet.

In other words, if I’m on my Thinkpad and connected to the internet via the router and then I move to the area covered by the AP, I’ll see a “Strong” connection with the AP but will get an IP address beginning “169.” and have no access to the internet. Meanwhile, other devices will be connected via the AP and be working. If I then restart the router, I’ll get a valid IP address and can continue using the web until I need to move back to the area covered by the router (when I’ll need to restart it again).

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It seems weird that you’d need to restart the router. What happens if you disable and re-enable the wireless adapter, instead?

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It seems weird that you’d need to restart the router. What happens if you disable and re-enable the wireless adapter, instead?

It’s ALL weird! This should be so simple but it’s just not working out that way.
Disabling and then enabling the wireless adaptor usually is insufficient. I’ve got quite slick with my iPad now at getting online when I’m on a 169.x address: “forget network”, airport mode on, wait a couple of seconds, airport mode off, find the network, enter the key, success. Or just reboot the router.

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Try switching the AP to bridged mode.

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Try switching the AP to bridged mode.

Firstly, the two devices are connected via a cable so I was under the impression that “Bridge Mode” is inappropriate.
Secondly, on the TL-WA801ND this mode is called “Bridge with AP” and described like this: This operation mode bridges the AP and up to 4 APs also in bridge mode to connect two or more wired LANs. Please input the MAC address of other APs in the field “MAC of AP1” to “MAC of AP4”. AP function will also startup.

Doesn’t sound relevant to me. Do you still think this is appropriate?

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Firstly, the two devices are connected via a cable so I was under the impression that “Bridge Mode” is inappropriate.

Doesn’t matter how the devices are connected.

Bridging a box simply turns it into a passive device where all traffic is passed on to a connected router which will be responsible for DHCP etc.

The fact that you can’t get a valid IP address when roaming (upstairs!) suggests that both boxes are using DHCP where only one should do in the same network.

Another option I noticed was to use the AP as a repeater. Have you tried that?

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The fact that you can’t get a valid IP address when roaming (upstairs!) suggests that both boxes are using DHCP where only one should do in the same network.

This isn’t entirely accurate. If I move between the devices in either direction I don’t get an IP. Also, DHCP is definitely disabled on the AP.Regardless, I’ll try “Bridge with AP” mode.

Another option I noticed was to use the AP as a repeater. Have you tried that?

I thought that Repeater mode also requires that the devices communicate wirelessly. Am I wrong? What about Client mode?

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Have you solved the issue? How?

Thanks.

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The fact that you don’t get an IP assigned is weird, even without the AP, which leads me to thing the issue may be with the router. Just for testing, what if you set an IP lease to expire in a rather short interval (say 5 mins) and you roam near the end of the interval?

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The fact that you don’t get an IP assigned is weird, even without the AP, which leads me to thing the issue may be with the router. Just for testing, what if you set an IP lease to expire in a rather short interval (say 5 mins) and you roam near the end of the interval?

BTW, the router was a replacement for a unit that was dropping connections. It’s brand new and the chances of my having received two lemons from TP-Link in a row are pretty remote (I think!).

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I just went to the Maintenance>Diagnostics tab of the router’s config pages.
There I see 8 tests:

>> Testing Ethernet LAN connection …PASS
>> Testing ADSL Synchronization …PASS
>> Testing ATM OAM segment ping …FAIL
>> Testing ATM OAM end to end ping …FAIL
>> Testing ATM OAM F4 segment ping …FAIL
>> Testing ATM OAM F4 end to end ping …FAIL
>> Ping Primary Domain Name Server …FAIL
>> Ping http://www.yahoo.com …PASS

So I changed the Interface Setup>LAN>”DNS Relay” from “Use Auto Discovered DNS Server Only” to “Use User Discovered DNS Server Only”. Then I set the primary and secondary DNS servers to Google’s public DNS servers (8.8.8.8/8.8.4.4). When I went back to diagnostics, the “Ping Primary Domain Name Server” had changed to a “Pass”.

What’s confusing me now is how I’ve been online this whole time (accessing this forum etc!) if my router couldn’t ping a DNS server!

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No solution. I gave up. Returned the AP and bought two of these for the back of my router:
http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-TL-ANT2408CL-Indoor-Omni-directional-Antenna/dp/B004UBUE2O
Coverage isn’t perfect but it’s better than before.

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I have got some support from TP-LINK but no fix yet.

I currently improved the situation as follows:

Floor-3: W8961ND; connected to Internet, Access Point DISABLED (no Wifi in Floor3), connected to Powerline PA251.

Floor-2: WA701 Access Point connected to Powerline PA251. SSID:2

Floor-1: PA281 SSID:1

All have different SSID’s with AES security. Passwords are same. TPLINK Support person said the SSID’s all must be same. I will try.

Channels all different and I tried to arrange the channels so that they don’t interfere with each other and less interfered with the the neighbours. I used Wifi Analyser on my phone to see the possible neighboring devices.

I can roam between Floor-1 and Floor-2 now. Very good.

But:

If I open the Access Point of W8961ND, and if I was previously connected to Floor-1 or Floor-2; I can NOT connect to W8961. It takes forever ! W8961 has SSID:3 and same password.

I assume the problem is with W8961ND Firmware ! It needs an update or something ! Or something else I still could not figure out.

I have not tried with the same SSID. I will give a try. I had tried previous but failed, but I will make sure a double check again.

You can also set roaming aggressiveness in notebook for better and faster roaming. However there is no option in iPAD for that.

So, except the floor-3 (which W8961 there), I have very good roaming now. Trying to solve the issue of W8961 now. Otherwise I have some signal from floor-3 anyway and I have ethernet connection already.

By the way, connecting these all Access Points over Powerline is great ! In long term, we will see if they survive.

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Firstly I’m new so sorry if I have inadvertently failed to follow any forum protocols but I don’t think I’m hijacking a thread or anything like that.
I’ve just found this thread in September 2013 and would like to know if ferdhat found an answer because I seem to be in the same situation as him/her and melvynm.
I live in the UK and at one end of my house have Virgin Cable Broadband, an old NTL (Now Virgin) modem feeding a Virgin supplied D-Link DIR615 router, from this one output port is connected to a desktop PC and another output port goes to a switch elsewhere in the house via CAT5E cable, there are feeds from this to various rooms including one to a bedroom where there is a second switch of which one port goes to a Smart TV and another to a TP-Link WA801ND Wireless Access Point. I don’t think the switches are significant because I’ve also connected from the Router to the Access Point directly with the same problem. Just as melvynm found, a strong signal in the bedroom and internet for a while then no Internet, but still a strong signal, in a rather unpredictable manner – at times it would disable the internet to the desktop too, requiring a router reset. At present (and I pray it will last) it is working by using different SSIDs for the router and the wireless access point, which makes no sense to me and all the details I’ve read say that this shouldn’t be needed and causes, obviously, a need to change network on mobile phones and the like at different ends of the house. I’d welcome feedback.

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Four years later, but I’m sure people are still reading this thread.

Having very similar problems to those described by ferhatd & SittingRoomSitter. I have the following setup:

Internet—-router—-switch(router in switch mode)&AP1—-AP2

AP1 & AP2 are both setup up with the same SSID, same security, tried same channel and different channels. Devices can connect to either and they appear as one in the access point list and all works fine. When you connect to one and then roam to the other, you lose network connectivity but still shows as connected to network.

Anyone found a solution for this yet?

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We have approx 25 APs, mostly on the same channel (1, 6, 11) and broadcasting the same SSID. Devices switch between APs all the time. But there is controller, which manages these devices.. Its little bit different, but.. My thought is:
I cant find information, if you have set up one AP as “main” (DHCP) or not. If both have DHCP function on, maybe there is incosistency in the communication between these routers.

The “secondary” router should have set ¨static IP and default gateway is the “main” router. Am I right?

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I would always use a different channel for the second AP to help avoid external interference – if one is unhappy the other should be OK.

How do you know you are roaming between the units?
When you lose connectivity can you still connect to local devices? Ping the router or one of the APs.
Are the APs using different IPs outside the DHCP range?
Do the APs have a DHCP server and is it off.

cheers, Paul

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doriel

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I have found one disadvantage in using the same SSID for two access points: Your computer might latch on to the weaker signal (if both signals are available) and stay there (i.e. it won’t move to the stronger signal). I didn’t know if that could be fixed, so I just went with two SSIDs.

Here are two other things I discovered, in case anyone can benefit from the information:
1. If your router is set to auto select the best channel, your access point might lose the connection when the channels are switched. To fix this, set the router to stay on the same channel all the time.
2. If you have a space in the SSID, some devices won’t be able to log on to the router. For example, “football fan” might not work, but “footballfan” should have no problem.

One other thing: Whenever I select an SSID, I pick a non-descript name. For example, “footballfan” is non-descript, whereas “mrjimphelps” would tell anyone looking at the available wireless networks that it is my network. You might have a neighbor who for whatever reason has it out for you. Don’t make his job any easier.

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1. If your router is set to auto select the best channel, your access point might lose the connection when the channels are switched. To fix this, set the router to stay on the same channel all the time.

This is essential for stability, I highly recommend to turn off “automatic channel switching”.

Dell Latitude 3420, Intel Core i7 @ 2.8 GHz, 16GB RAM, W10 22H2 Enterprise

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Short story – in my experience:
1. Setting the router and all additional wireless access points (APs) to use the same SSID and password should work fine.
2. Be aware that iOS devices are quite aggressive in grabbing DHCP-assigned IP addresses quickly so you need to take this into account.
3. If you use wireless printer(s), set it/them to use a static IP and configure the router to use DHCP-assigned addresses above this fixed IP (because of 2 above).
4. If your electrics allow, use ‘Ethernet Over Power’ (EOP) WiFi hotspots for the initial internal hop.
5. The Powerline ‘standard’ turns out to not be a standard at all. Do not expect to be able to mix’n’match Powerline devices from different manufacturers.

Background:
I’ve only had to setup one of these but, following several months of trial and error, I’m pleased that 27 months on it’s still working flawlessly for a family with a dozen wi-fi devices (laptops, iPads, iPhones and an iPod plus a Kindle and a shared wireless colour printer). There are also 2 PCs, 2 shared printers and 2 smart TVs, all connected via wire.

I scanned available wi-fi channels that were in use nearby. All channels were in use so I chose the one with lowest signal strength, i.e. furthest away. (I used Wifi Analyzer running on an Android tablet but any wi-fi signal strength/channel tool will serve.)

I set the family’s router up to use that channel and changed the SSID to an easy-to-see name that didn’t identify the house/family. I also set DHCP on the router to use xxx.xxx.xxx.100 upwards. I set the printers up to use fixed IPs in the xxx.xxx.xxx.30 range. This was because the house is in an area that experiences regular short but annoying power failures. I found iOS devices to be quick to recover and aggressive when it came to grabbing IPs from the router as it powered up again. Previously, when the printers came back to life they inevitably had a different DHCP-assigned IP address depending on how many iPhones or iPads were in use.

It’s a large 2-storey house with very thick walls downstairs. The family had been using Edimax WiFi repeaters but complained constantly about dropped WiFi connections. The final straw was when they bought 2 smart TVs and couldn’t get a reliable electronic program guide on either.

The house’s electrics were in good condition so I decided to use ‘Ethernet Over Power’ (EOP) WiFi hotspots instead of the range extenders. If you’re interested you can read more of the saga here but, basically, I set each of the 4 EOP WiFi hotspots to use the same SSID and password.

I’m pleased that, 27 months on, there have been only 4 breaks in wifi connectivity, each one involving the EOP WiFi hotspot being swamped in the kitchen (where most people congregate at mealtimes, each with an iPhone and usually with an iPad and/or iPod) and each one resolved within minutes by just switching the EOP WiFi hotspot off then on again and waiting a few minutes.

(Disclaimer – Since setting it up, I’ve learned that iOS devices automatically connect to the strongest signal of APs that have previously been connected to. This may be why this iOS-centric family’s WiFi network works so well for them. YMMV)

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doriel

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Short story – in my experience:
1. Setting the router and all additional wireless access points (APs) to use the same SSID and password should work fine.
2. Be aware that iOS devices are quite aggressive in grabbing DHCP-assigned IP addresses quickly so you need to take this into account.
3. If you use wireless printer(s), set it/them to use a static IP and configure the router to use DHCP-assigned addresses above this fixed IP (because of 2 above).
4. If your electrics allow, use ‘Ethernet Over Power’ (EOP) WiFi hotspots for the initial internal hop.
5. The Powerline ‘standard’ turns out to not be a standard at all. Do not expect to be able to mix’n’match Powerline devices from different manufacturers.

Your experience sounds great. By yes, our M did V.
We did #1 and #3.
#4 & #5 are irrelevant to our story because we were using neither EOP nor Powerline devices.
We still had no success. But thank you.

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Just a very quick follow-up. More than 3 years on and the family remains happy with the coverage from the EOP adapters. I started off using a TP-Link router and TP-Link EOP adapters but had to admit defeat due to unreliability, despite loads of support from TP-Link staff. (I also tried Devolo EOPs but they wouldn’t even talk to each other.)

The family changed ISP to fibre broadband so ended up with a new ISP-provided router. I got a refund for the TP-Link kit and bought more expensive BT500 EOPs. After a bit of a fuss updating the firmware on them they have performed flawlessly every since.

The only downside is the kitchen area where the family (and their wifi devices) congregate. It seems like the BT500 units have a relatively small internal memory buffer so the device in the kitchen needs power-cycling once every few weeks. The other identical units throughout the house don’t appear to suffer this ‘buffer overload’ and haven’t been power-cycled for years.

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2023…… And this issue still going on… In Ireland. I have a solution, and it 100% works. Use two or three external access points, and turn off WiFi on the router. Broke my heart for months, but as soon as I turned off the WiFi on router, Heaven

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