HI,

I have a 700 square meter ambient (can be crowded with up to 200 people sometimes), and 3 x cAP XL proportionally placed in the ceiling.
They are back hauled with Ethernet cable together - radios set to lowest TX (different channels, same SSID), so I hope clients connect to closest AP and won't overload the first AP they face when they enter.
Gigabit internet connection from the provider which I want to give the best of it to my clients, I will use both 2.4 and 5Ghz radios for clients.
My concern is, how should i configure them together so it will give best roaming, and clients balanced proportionally between those cAPs.

1 Should i use CAPsMan, Mesh, or none?
2. Should I make the first cAP a router and DHCP server, and the other two cAPs as bridges, so the roaming scenario would only happen on layer two, ip address will stay the same, no matter what ap is associated?


thanks in advance.

I'm interested too and I hope you will provide feedback how it works...I think you should use capsman...do you have any router or just those AP?

to begin i will suggest to try reducing 2.4ghz radios TX power to increase the chance of client devices prefering 5ghz

be sure each CAP is using different non overlapping channels

you have to measure the signal reception from client device from different locations to see the results of your adjustments

if you see that there is no hard difference between different CAPs signal measured from client perspective you will need to reduce TX power in general to favor a clear differentiation and increase the chance of cliet devices chossing the closest CAP

try to take advantage of scenario to improve this, sometimes using some obstruction or obstacle can help to reduce a CAP coverage to certain area favoring the chance of "correct" roaming

location of each CAP has the strongest influence in results so you can try moving them to improve your results

every time you reduce TX power you must validate that power is enough to properly cover your intended service area

it's a balance game

I'm interested too and I hope you will provide feedback how it works...I think you should use capsman...do you have any router or just those AP?

Actually the only router is the providers one, but i don't want to rely on it if it can handle too many clients dhcp and nat. If one of cAPs will not be able to handle the dhcp and nat/routing i will consider another wired MT router behind those APs.
What benefits will i have if i use cApsMan? Sorry if i'm making stupid question, but i never used it!

to begin i will suggest to try reducing 2.4ghz radios TX power to increase the chance of client devices prefering 5ghz

be sure each CAP is using different non overlapping channels

you have to measure the signal reception from client device from different locations to see the results of your adjustments

if you see that there is no hard difference between different CAPs signal measured from client perspective you will need to reduce TX power in general to favor a clear differentiation and increase the chance of cliet devices chossing the closest CAP

try to take advantage of scenario to improve this, sometimes using some obstruction or obstacle can help to reduce a CAP coverage to certain area favoring the chance of "correct" roaming

location of each CAP has the strongest influence in results so you can try moving them to improve your results

every time you reduce TX power you must validate that power is enough to properly cover your intended service area

it's a balance game

I agree, Lowest TX, and different (non overlaping) channels, i already mentioned in my first post and that is all I can do.

As for tweaking that much by measuring tx in every scenario - tha would be impossible. Would require too much time, and yet will not be sure it will work, different phones have different radios and will not act same as the device that i will use to measure. That is simply not doable, very time consuming, would be cheaper if invest more money in better equipment.
There should be a general rule of thumb method that should be used on crowded places with more APS.
I'v seen other mesh equipment work good on those situations, and I thought there are two new things 'CAPsMan' and 'Mesh" on routerOS, so I hoped those will at least help a bit about roaming and load balancing clients between aps.
Are we still left alone to rely on 802.11 protocol and client side roaming, or is Mikrotik helping?

My humble dumbass two cents:

• If the provider's router is not a Mikrotik and you don't have access to it for configuration changes, I'd suggest you get a Mikrotik router (perhaps either a hEX PoE or a hEX S + a PoE switch if you're a broke cheapo like me) between your internal network currently comprising the three (and possibly more in the future as your network expands) CAP-ACs and the provider's router. That would then be your capsman controller, provide hotspot login capability (how are the +200 wifi clients getting access on that one SSID--one WiFI PSK?), VLAN segregation (do the WiFi clients have access to your internal network / control plane?), internal firewall, perform QoS / traffic shaping (I'd expect that if you have >200 client potentially connecting), etc.
• I'd recommend using CAPsMAN to configure and control the CAPs.CAPSMAN may help with roaming from one AP to the other to some extent with one bridge and the same IP handed out by DHCP from the internal Mikrotik router. If you aren't familiar with CAPSMan, you may find Normis' intro helpful: MikroTips: managing many access points with CAPsMAN. I'd suggest setting 'local forwarding' on the CAPs so you don't have any speed slowdowns on your WiFi. Also 'drop' the WiFi connection on VLANS to the bridge on the Mikrotik internal router.
• Unless I'm missing something, I don't see the need for any 'mesh' if the CAPs are connected by ethernet to the provider's router, currently (through a PoE switch, I suppose). I wouldn't complicate my life with mesh if I were in your shoes.

3 cAP XL AC carrying 200 clients...

I wouldn't even consider that design. Let alone how to make enough excuses for it.

3 cAP XL AC carrying 200 clients...

I wouldn't even consider that design. Let alone how to make enough excuses for it.

I’v done it with one UBNT UAP-AC Pro three years ago. (smaller area, but maybe more crowded)


pS. Its up to 200, not 200+ ( there is huge difference). Up to 200 means it could be 200 in peak hours but most of the time is significantly less.
200+ means 200 and more.
Why people have the urge to rush and try to sound smart, instead of read carefully the post and try to help?

Why people have the urge to rush and try to sound smart, instead of read carefully the post and try to help?

Not trying to sound smart at all, only tryng to help by sharing what has worked in my case. My apologies if it came accros that way. I'd be happy to retract the post, if that would help.

200 people... Is 600 devices.
Phone, watch, tablet, laptop, smart device, fitness tracker...

I have watched a customer jump on the wifi at a site. As soon as they enter the info to their phone... It syncs with the watch, tablet, and laptop and they all try to share that password. Which is 4 devices for one person.

And you left out all the other crap that will "be on all the time".

And as for sounding intelligent...
60+ clients per AP. On wifi AC without MU-MIMO???

UniF--k was a better radio than the cAP AC. And the caps are well known for not being able to handle a lot of clients on one radio.

And before you ticked me off... I was going to point out that almost any RouterBoard can be the caps controller. I have run it on the switch and had it work about as well as it does on the router. Router died due to lightning. Moded caps-man setting to the switch. Wifi came right back up.

Why people have the urge to rush and try to sound smart, instead of read carefully the post and try to help?

Not trying to sound smart at all, only tryng to help by sharing what has worked in my case. My apologies if it came accros that way. I'd be happy to retract the post, if that would help.

Sorry man, your post was very informative and helping, and that was not ment for you.

200 people... Is 600 devices.
Phone, watch, tablet, laptop, smart device, fitness tracker...

I have watched a customer jump on the wifi at a site. As soon as they enter the info to their phone... It syncs with the watch, tablet, and laptop and they all try to share that password. Which is 4 devices for one person.

And you left out all the other crap that will "be on all the time".

Really dude? Thanks for your smart input.
Can we get back on subject now?