@rhester72 wrote:
There is no 'seamless handoff' with any consumer wifi, regardless of marketing hype. In fact, true seamless handoff requires implementation of two protocols that are so new that there's only one chipset in the world that currently supports them (and it isn't in the Orbi).
What protocols are you referring to? I'm guessing 802.11r/k/v. And which chipset?
It's handled a bit more elequently by Ubiquiti Unifi, because it uses a dedicated (and separate) management controller that constantly monitors all clients and forces handoff basically by kicking them off the network and allowing them to reconnect.
I wouldn't consider being kicked off elegant.
Client handoff with current implementations require intelligence on the part of the client to understand there's a stronger signal that is part of its approved BSSID list. Some clients/phones handle this better than others.
For example, iOS supports 802.11r/k/v (source).
If yours isn't one of them, unfortunately, there isn't much you can do about it besides toying with the transmit power on the Orbi to see if you can "widen the gap" enough for the device to see an -obvious- variance in signal strength and bounce its own connection accordingly.
It can still be a challenge to widen the gap enough. iOS won't begin the roaming search until the RSSI drops to -70 dBm and it won't switch unless it finds a signal that is stronger by 8 or 12 dB, depending on whether the device is active or inactive (source). Some vendors, like Ubiquiti and Asus, have a setting that will kick a device if the RSSI drops below a threshold. Netgear could consider adding this to Orbi. Or they could implement 802.11r/k/v.
(Lots of people think more power is better. When it comes to wireless, particularly when roaming, that is most definitely not the case. Someone recently posted a link here to a brilliant arstechnica article that goes into considerable depth on the subject and the reasoning behind it.)
Perhaps you are thinking of this article.
