MVP8400 Roaming

troberts

Has anyone used an MVP8400 to roam throughout a building and have it jump from access point to access point? I am having a problem doing this. The 8400 does not look for a new access point until the signal drops to fair....however. The 8400 does not seem to work properly with a signal of good. It is only working at very good.

At a signal strength of good I loose feedback and my panel goes off line. I am using the new firmware in the panel and the new firmware in the WAP200G. Has anyone seen this problem or can anyone help me.

Thanks,
Tim Roberts

Joe Hebert

Hi troberts,

Unfortunately, 802.11x does not work that way. A wireless device will not hop from access point to access point based on signal strength. One a device is associated with an access point it stays associated until the device drops out of range completely. The only way I know of to have your device associate with a closer access point is to reboot it in which case it will grab the first access point it finds which should be the closest one to it at the time.

Regarding the signal strength meters you are watching on the panel I?m not sure how often they are actually updated. I?ve had the same experience of having the meter read as good yet I still have problems transferring files to the MVP-8400 or it works sporadically. Are there any cordless phones in the area? Those can sometimes mess up your connection.

Cheers,
Joe

alexanbo

Make sure you have the latest firmware for the MVP's, Masters and AMX Waps if you're using them. We had problems making the panels roam until the new firmware and now it works great. I've also found performance is better if SSID broadcast is turned on.

troberts

Thanks for the input so far.
I do have the latest firmware in all my devices, but the biggest problem is, is that the panel goes offline even though the signal strength displays as good. There are no cordless phones and I am operating on channel 11. Anyone else care to help?

alexanbo

I also setup the WAP's on separate channels. To prevent overlapping I only use channels 1,6 and 11.

I haven't tried using the WAP's in repeater mode so I can't comment on that.

DHawthorne

I've noticed this problem too, and the latest firmware does in fact address it very nicely; they are far more robust in connecting and maintaining connections.

As has been said, multiple WAP's need to be on non-overlapping channels (ony 1, 6, and 11 don't overlap if you need more than two). They should, however, have the same SSID. I think, however, that repeater mode may be a better option for roaming panels. If I understand it correctly, the fact that you have switched WAP coonections is entirely transparent then to the panel.

I made the mistake on a project and going cheap by providing WAP's that I picked up at a local computer store, and I regret it to the point that I think I am going to rip them all out and put in the AMX WAP at no cost. A non-enterprise WAP simply is not as fast nor robust as the AMX WAP, and in the end will save you in hair-tearing and site time for the extra cost.

Joe Hebert

Originally posted by DHawthorne
I think, however, that repeater mode may be a better option for roaming panels. If I understand it correctly, the fact that you have switched WAP coonections is entirely transparent then to the panel.

Hi Dave,

Why would repeater mode be a better option? My understanding is that repeater mode is used for areas where you can?t get a Cat5 connection to the WAP. I think you?re always better off plugging a WAP directly into the network vs. repeating to another WAP wirelessly.

As I mentioned before I also don?t think you can hop from WAP to WAP without going offline from the currently connected WAP first. For example, if I?m associated (connected) to WAP A and I walk over and stand right next to WAP B, which is 50? away from WAP A, my wireless device will still be connected to WAP A. Once I get out of range from WAP A then my device can associate to a closer WAP but not without going offline first. It is indeed transparent however the panel is still going offline. At least that?s the way I understand the technology. If I?m wrong I hope someone will set me straight.

Cheers,
Joe

alexanbo

Joe,

That's certainly the way the panels behaved originally but I believe in the new firmware they've tweaked it so it doesn't have to loose the signal completely before switching. I think if the signal drops below a certain point it goes through it's routine to find the strongest signal. In any case it works tonnes better then it used to.

Charles Law

WLAN Roaming

WLAN AP from time to time will broadcast beacon which provide information of the AP itself like SSID. Client devices have the capability to listen to all these beacons. Smarter devices can compare radio signal from all related beacons (apprently AP with the same SSID) and select to associate with the AP with the strongest radio signal.

In order not to switch too frequently between APs, wireless device may set a signal threshold (this level must be higher that the level that the client will drop the connection) to switch to an AP with better signal during roaming.

Cheers,

Charles

DHawthorne

Originally posted by Joe Hebert
Hi Dave,

Why would repeater mode be a better option? My understanding is that repeater mode is used for areas where you can?t get a Cat5 connection to the WAP. I think you?re always better off plugging a WAP directly into the network vs. repeating to another WAP wirelessly.

It may be my understanding is a little off, but I thought that when in repeater mode, the fact that there are multiple WAPs is transparent to the connecting device. The WAPs themselves manage collisions and duplicate packets to the main network. As far as your device is concerned, it is connecting to a single WAP, and the repeater WAPs are only relaying the signal to that WAP, and it disregards them if it is able to catch them directly. This isn't something you would prefer on a really busy network, because that processing has to add some overhead. At least, this is my understanding of the difference between repeater mode and multiple points.

troberts

Side question: Any news of a signal meter being able to be displayed on the touchpanel for signal strength?

I set up a test in my office and had an 8400 jump from access point to access point using different channels and same SSID without a problem, but the panel did go offline from an NI3000 occassionally. It would also jump from no signal to good signal occassionally...without physically moving the panel. Does anyone know exactly how, when, and how quickly the 8400 will look for and/or link to a better signalled AMX access point?

Spire_Jeff

Originally posted by troberts
. It would also jump from no signal to good signal occassionally...without physically moving the panel. Does anyone know exactly how, when, and how quickly the 8400 will look for and/or link to a better signalled AMX access point?

Just a thought on the no signal to good signal jump.... are there any cordless phones in the vicinity? or have you checked for any other sources of interferance? Possibly someone else running a wireless network on the same channels? At our office, we had similar problems and as soon as we got rid of our Panasonic wireless phone system, everything cleared up. Ohh, also.... some of the cheaper access points on the market (Linksys for sure) have problems when there is more than 1 AP on the network and within range of each other.

Jeff

troberts

Still a problem

Current config:
4 MVP8400s, 3 WEP200G, NI 3000 all with the most up to date firmware, all same WEP key, all same SSID, all different channels, all different static IP addresses. No other wireless devices (phones other access points or routers) on site. Did a set ethernet mode 10 half to NetLinx master.

Here is the problem
While connected to access point "A" at a level of "good" the panel goes offline from the master and even though there is better and closer access point "B" the 8400 does not connect to that access point until it drops to a fair or poor level on the panel. Basically the range of good is not good.
If the panel would jump to a better signal at a level of good my problems would be gone.

Any other ideas or similar problems or am I the only one?

brooklyn79

OK. Same problem appeared with MVP-8400 on some project. System config - 3 MVPs, 5 APs (house, 3 stories). What works after all - new firmware for MVPs and master, MVPs are set to "listen mode", all APs have static IP, as well as everything in the system (including MVPs). All APs have same SSID with broadcast enabled, all are on the same channel (used channel 6). It works - when you move from one AP to another one panel picks up signal from one that closer and switches to it.

troberts

I have now heard AMX is aware and is admitting this problem and will be releasing another version of firmware to address the problem.

According to AMX if you put an access point into repeater mode this problem goes away. Keep in mind you cannot have a repeater jumping off of another repeater.