Hello,
when can we expect a new version CAP AC? Finally equipped with wifi roaming.
Currently, CAP AC(no only) lags behind the competition in this aspect.
Roaming is a client thing. There are some advantages on using 802.11r (the process is faster), but as long as SSID and security is identical (and the radios aren’t interfering) your client will roam seamless.
I am also curious about the date of introduction of (in my case) the wAP ax.
Yes, the client decides to change the AP, but it is the AP that has to properly support it with specific standards so that the change is as little noticeable as possible.
How long do we have to wait for the implementation of this in CAP / wAP devices or the entire Mikrotik wifi assortment?
To have seamless roaming between different APs, those have to cooperate. In MT world, CAPsMAN indirectly enables necessary cooperation between CAPs. And wireless drivers have to include needed functionality. So there are 3 software pieces in MT ecosystem: CAPsMAN, legacy wifi driver and wifiwave2 driver. So far only the later supports the wifi roaming functions (or so we’ve been told), the former is being worked on (or so we’ve been told) and the middle is being neglected (or so it seems).
cAP ax is coming, as is CAPsMAN support for ax. I know this because I asked on the Mikrotik YouTube channel and Mikrotik said the cAP ax are in testing now.
There are other less obvious problems to the roaming side of things, aside of AP/client support, which further complicates the seam-less roaming. For example any network switch (or even a router with a bridge) between individual APs must quickly adjust their FDB table to deliver frames for destination MAC to a correct port. But the switch has no idea that the client decided to roam. It will learn that only on first TX frame from the client which passes through the switch itself. Until that happens, it will keep sending frames to the original port, where previous AP is. It may feel seamless in some cases, but not in others.
Wireless systems, where mobility is integral part of design (and not an add-on cludge) - such as LTE -, include forwarding of buffered data to the new serving base station. But on those systems it's not "roaming", it's "hand-over" (or "hand-off" depending on continent), meaning it's truly seamless, most of times without even with increased jitter of RTT ...