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Mesh with VigorAP bundle (1 x 903 + 3 x 802) issues

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22 Aug 2020 10:11 #1 by bennyhest
Mesh with VigorAP bundle (1 x 903 + 3 x 802) issues was created by bennyhest
Hi all

I've just setup my VigorAP 903 as mesh root and I've added my three VigorAP 802 as mesh nodes. I've only configured the 903 and configuration synchronized to the 802-devices.
I have a couple of issues/questions:

- Network quality, mis-configuration?
Wifi speed is very poor when a device is close to a mesh node (router downlink is 200 Mbps, but I only get around 5-10 Mbps). When I check the Mesh Status of the 903, only the mesh root has clients connected, and the mesh nodes has zero clients, although wifi clients are far closer to the mesh nodes than to the root. Do I need to change something to have clients prefer connecting to the nodes instead?

- Station count + overall stations list?
On my ISP router's LAN overview, I can see a lot more clients than on the VigorAP 903 bands' station lists. Can I find a better, more precise overview of the wifi stations somewhere?

- Web interface of the 802 nodes
I can reach the login page of the 802 nodes, but the login/pwd is different from my 903 root node? How do I login on these?

Best regards, Benny

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22 Aug 2020 17:38 #2 by hornbyp
Replied by hornbyp on topic Re: Mesh with VigorAP bundle (1 x 903 + 3 x 802) issues

BennyHest wrote:
- Network quality, mis-configuration?
When I check the Mesh Status of the 903, only the mesh root has clients connected, and the mesh nodes has zero clients, although wifi clients are far closer to the mesh nodes than to the root. Do I need to change something to have clients prefer connecting to the nodes instead?



Bear in mind, that, in general, most Wifi clients only swap to another AP, if they have to. This can be because of some internal lower limit for signal strength - or because "Assisted Roaming" has come into effect an they have been forcibly disconnected (and prevented from reconnecting).

I strongly advise installing Draytek's Syslog Client (syslogrd) on a PC and pointing all the AP's at it - then you can see the conversation between them, regarding any connected nodes.

Have a read of this thread: http://www.forum.draytek.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23585&sid=b1fdf8829c3921b1d900c0f6a340859a#p96430


- Station count + overall stations list?
On my ISP router's LAN overview, I can see a lot more clients than on the VigorAP 903 bands' station lists. Can I find a better, more precise overview of the wifi stations somewhere?

 That implies they're either wired or connected to the AP802's. You could try using Draytek's "Vigorconnect" for overall management.


- Web interface of the 802 nodes
I can reach the login page of the 802 nodes, but the login/pwd is different from my 903 root node? How do I login on these?



That one's in the Manual :wink: Default Username/Password are both "admin".

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22 Aug 2020 20:07 #3 by bennyhest
Replied by bennyhest on topic Re: Mesh with VigorAP bundle (1 x 903 + 3 x 802) issues
Thanks for the quick reply.
I'll look into the Syslog client and VigorConnect.

Ok, so clients are sticky in regards to mesh node roaming, but this can also be controlled by the mesh nodes with AP-assisted client roaming. What are the recommended settings under Wifi roaming section of the main root mesh? This was default turned off.

I have tried the default user/pwd on my VigorAP 802, and the new credentials for my main VigorAP 903, but neither works. Any ideas?

I don't know if my clients connect to my mesh nodes - according to the 903 mesh status the don't, but there are way more wireless clients on my network than my 903 says. Will I be able to see all wireless stations from my central 903 mesh root?

I really hope for at smooth and out-of-the-box easy setup of my fairly simple demands - to have my house covered with no blind wifi spots, without having to tweak all sorts of stuff to accomplish this?

Regards,
Benny

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23 Aug 2020 01:44 #4 by hornbyp
Replied by hornbyp on topic Re: Mesh with VigorAP bundle (1 x 903 + 3 x 802) issues

BennyHest wrote:
Ok, so clients are sticky in regards to mesh node roaming, but this can also be controlled by the mesh nodes with AP-assisted client roaming.


Yes - in a nutshell, when a client reaches the signal strength limits, the AP's start asking around to see if another node would manage something better. If the answer is "yes", the client is booted off and added to a block list for "a while", to stop them just reconnecting.


What are the recommended settings under Wifi roaming section of the main root mesh? This was default turned off.


See that other thread I linked to, for the settings I ended up with. Also, details of Android Developer option for checking from the client end, that it's working.


I have tried the default user/pwd on my VigorAP 802, and the new credentials for my main VigorAP 903, but neither works. Any ideas?


In that case, remove them from the Mesh, RESET them, then re-add them. When they sync, logon to the GUI and change the password to something you can remember :wink:
(While you're logged on, double-check that all the settings from the 903 that you expect to have propogated, have actually done so - it's not a foregone conclusion that they have!)

If you make any subsequent changes to the Mesh Root, I'm pretty certain you have to manually push them to the Mesh nodes (using "Mesh >> Basic Configuration Sync" and/or "Mesh >> Advanced Configuration Sync")


Will I be able to see all wireless stations from my central 903 mesh root?


AFAIK, there's no detailed view of the clients on the Mesh nodes.(I just logged onto mine to double-check and found out that the 2.4GHz band had disabled itself :roll: )


I really hope for at smooth and out-of-the-box easy setup of my fairly simple demands - to have my house covered with no blind wifi spots, without having to tweak all sorts of stuff to accomplish this?


You know the saying about "taking a horse to water, but not being able to force it to drink"? ... I think it applies to Wifi clients as well :D

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26 Aug 2020 15:51 #5 by piste basher
Replied by piste basher on topic Re: Mesh with VigorAP bundle (1 x 903 + 3 x 802) issues
Bear in mind that, according to Draytek, https://www.draytek.co.uk/support/guides/kb-ap-mobility , AP assisted roaming only works if the APs are connected to the wired network.

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28 Aug 2020 02:17 #6 by hornbyp
Replied by hornbyp on topic Re: Mesh with VigorAP bundle (1 x 903 + 3 x 802) issues

Piste Basher wrote:
Bear in mind that, according to Draytek, https://www.draytek.co.uk/support/guides/kb-ap-mobility , AP assisted roaming only works if the APs are connected to the wired network.



I hadn't noticed that. It is all very peculiar!

As I noted in't other thread , it doesn't appear to work unless the AP's are in Mesh-mode. So they have to be in Mesh-mode, but not using Mesh-ed wireless connections :!: :?: :!:

To confuse further, I was messing with my 2860n's Wifi (which doesn't support any form of Meshing). It does supposedly support AP Assisted Roaming though :-
Code:
Minimum RSSI with Adjacent AP RSSI over X * Disconnect clients with bad signal to encourage roaming only when they can have better signal through another DrayTek AP. * All APs must be DrayTek APs which support this feature. The LANs assigned by the SSID of all APs must be connected by Ethernet and under the same subnet.


But despite commonality of SSID/VLAN & subnet, I could not make it inter-operate with my AP903/AP802 combo. (It hung on way past my selected RSSI parameter and did not disconnect the client - which finally gave up itself). From Syslog, I could see the 2860n was getting concerned at the low signal, but it received no offers from either AP903 or AP802. Their Syslogs contained nothing pertaining to this event at all.

I wonder how "Dog's Dinner" translates in Mandarin? :roll:

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