basic PoE AP

is there anything specific to look for to guarantee the AP will do handoffs with the router properly?

yes. This AP will just be for the upstairs level. Router already provides excellent coverage for basement and lower levels.

I have done a mixed brand wifi network and it was fine. You can use the same SSID (or different, whatever you like) and password, but different channels, and the mobile devices will just choose which they like. Handoffs aren't "seamless" but you hardly notice. Aside from maybe wifi calls which might hiccup. Protocols are resilient, they expect intermittent connectivity.

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I’ve had them work both well and poorly when using multiple routers in WAP mode. My best results came when I split into 2 SSID and changed (sometimes automatically, sometimes manually) when performance wasn’t great.

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So in order to achieve an *almost* seamless handoff, both the wifi network controller and the client(s) must support one or more of 802.11k/r/v, preferably all three I guess.


The k standard involves the client maintaining a list of available APs and signal strengths so that it can hop to a better one before the signal gets very bad (lots of devices like to hang on to the same AP way too long).

The r standard deals with speeding up the authentication process.

The v standard involves sharing of data related to network topology for load balancing, etc.


My descriptions are probably a bit wrong because honestly I'm a little confused by it all. And I have no idea if each manufacturer's implementations are perfect and compatible with each other, or how that would even work with a controller involved.

I guess what I'm trying to say is that "seamless" handoff is a kind of enterprise-y feature (my unifi controller only has "fast roaming" 802.11r, no mention of k or v), and for a home network I *think* your experience will depend more on how well your client device(s) handle AP switching more than whatever roaming features your wifi might support.



ETA: Also, networking is obviously a two-way street, so sometimes what will happen is a higher powered AP will kind of drown out a lower powered one. This can be a problem because a client device might see the stronger signal from the more distant AP and connect to it, but the client itself may not have the power to talk back to that AP effectively. It would be better to turn the power down so the client would choose the closer AP and have a better overall experience.

It never works as you expect. Your device will stay connected to the original AP until there is almost zero signal.

I help clients all the time at their house that do this exact mistake with multiple APs pushing out the same SSID and password.

Either use different SSIDs and manually switch to the better AP or use mesh/Unifi type setup where the APs talk to each other and do the handoffs.

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Does that require the extender and base access point to be the same manufacturer?

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I believe so, because afaik controller software needs to be involved to coordinate the APs. In a Unifi setup, the controller runs on a standalone device. In a mesh setup, I imagine the main router/unit handles it.

And I'm pretty sure the client device *also* needs to support the roaming standard(s). The client needs to be aware enough to "take the hint" and switch to another AP, in a sense. When it comes down to it, the client device is in charge of its own networking stack.

So your controller doesn't see the AP (after factory reset) as adoptable?