Roaming in Orbi and Roaming Enhancement Standards

A very good study about Roaming standards in Orbi and general information about roaming enhancement standards, that can help in understanding the behavior of the different devices during moving between Orbi base stations (Router & Satellites):

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-features/33195-wi-fi-roaming-secrets-revealed

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-features/33196-wi-fi-roaming-secrets-revealed-part-2

 

Basic takings are:

- Orbi supports 802.11k, v and r to enhance wifi roaming

- Orbi uses band-steering and AP-steering (part of 802.11v) to force the device to move to the band in the Router/Satellite that the device receives better or to another Router/Satellite if that AP has better coverage for the specific device.

 - Roaming decision is always taken by the device not the AP. The AP can just help and suggest to the device to roam but can't take the decision to roam.

- Devices that do not support roaming enhancement standards and "Sticky devices" can cause bad user experience.

- Old devices that use long scanning time can cause wifi drops while roaming.

- For wifi calling (Voice over Wifi), a roam must be completed in max 50 - 100 ms to avoid call interruption. 802.11k and 802.11r improve the roaming time if supported by the device.