Seamless WiFi roaming - what is it and why is it needed?! One WiFi network over a large area (seamless WiFi) Checking the operation of seamless wifi roaming.

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Introduction

As I already said, I have a topic on setting up capsman in mikrotik. Nowadays, due to the speed of development of information technology, information becomes outdated very quickly. And although the article is still relevant, it is regularly read and used, now there is something to add to it.

A new version of the Controlled Access Point system Manager (CAPsMAN) v2 technology has been released. I'll tell you a little about her. In my work I will rely on the experience of the previous article and on the official Manual:CAPsMAN from the website of the Mikrotik manufacturer.

I will have 2 RB951G-2HnD routers at my disposal, which are in accordance with my recommendations on this topic. Just in case, I recommend that you familiarize yourself with them so that you have a general idea of the basic settings of routers. On one of these routers I will configure an access point controller, and connect the other to this controller. Both points form a single seamless wifi network with automatic switching of clients to the nearest point.

An example of two access points will be enough for a general idea of how the technology works. Then this setting is linearly scaled to the required number of access points.

What is capsman v2

First, I’ll tell you what capsman v2 is and how it differs from the first version. It’s worth saying right away that there is no compatibility between the two versions. If you have a v2 controller, then only access points with the same version can connect to it. And vice versa - if you have v2 points, you will not be able to connect to the controller of the first version.

CAPsMAN v2 has a different package name in the system - wireless-cm2. It appeared in the system starting with version RouterOS v6.22rc7. The previous version had a name - wireless-fp, it appeared in version v6.11. If you don't have a new package, until the latest one.

List of innovations in capsman v2:

Ability to automatically update managed access points.
The protocol for exchanging information between the controller and access points has been improved.
Added “Name Format” and “Name Prefix” fields in the Provision rules settings.
Improved logging of the client switching process from point to point.
Added L2 Path MTU discovery.

If you already have capsman configured on your network, then the developers offer the following way to update your entire network to v2:

Set up a temporary capsman v2 controller on the source network.
You begin to gradually update managed access points to install the wireless-cm2 package in them. All updated access points will connect to the temporary controller.
After all managed access points have been updated to the latest version, update the main capsman controller. After this happens, turn off the temporary controller.

There is an easier way if a downtime network for a while is not critical for you. Simultaneously run the update on all routers - both on the controller and on the points. As soon as they update, everything will work on the new version.

I’ll warn you right away if any questions arise on this topic. I personally did not check the update to version v2, there was no need for it.

Setting up a wifi network controller

Let's move from theory to practice. First of all, let's configure the capsman controller before connecting access points to it. As I already said, we update the system before this. We must have the package installed and activated wireless-cm2.

To activate the wireless network controller function, go to the section CAPsMAN, click on Manager and check the Enabled box.

Before continuing with the setup, I’ll tell you a little about how the system works. An access point management controller is being configured on the network. Individual wifi points connect to it and receive settings from it. Each connected access point forms a virtual wifi interface on the controller. This allows you to manage traffic on the controller using standard means.

Sets of settings on the controller can be combined into named configurations. This allows you to flexibly manage and assign different configurations to different points. For example, you can create a group with global settings for all access points, but individual points can be given additional settings that will overwrite the global ones.

After the managed point connects to the network master, all local wireless settings on the client are no longer valid. They are replaced by capsman v2 settings.

Let's continue setting up the controller. Let's create a new radio channel and specify its parameters. Let's go to the tab Channels, click on the plus sign and specify the parameters.

There is no drop-down list in the settings and this is inconvenient. You can view the settings in the current Wifi settings if it is already configured.

We continue the settings on the tab Datapaths. Click the plus sign and set the parameters.

I’ll dwell on the parameter a little local-forwarding. If it is activated, then all access point client traffic is controlled by the access point itself. And most of the datapath settings are not used, since the controller does not manage traffic. If this parameter is not set, then all traffic from clients goes to the network controller and is managed there depending on the settings. If you need traffic between clients, then specify the Client To Client Forwarding parameter.

Let's move on to security settings. Open the tab Security Cfg. and press the plus sign.

It's time to combine the previously created settings into a single configuration. There can be several such configurations with different settings. One is enough as an example. Let's go to the tab Configurations and press the plus sign.

On the first Wireless tab, indicate the configuration name, ap mode and SSID name of the future seamless wifi network. On the remaining tabs, simply select the previously created settings.

The basic settings of the mikrotik controller capsman v2 are completed. Now we need to create rules for distributing these settings. As I wrote earlier, different configurations can be given to different points. The controller can identify access points using the following parameters:

If certificates are used, then using the Common name field of the certificate.
In other cases, MAC addresses of points are used in the format XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

Since in my case I do not use certificates, we will create a rule for distributing settings based on the MAC address. And since I have a single configuration for all points, the distribution rule will be the simplest. Let's do it. Go to the tab Provisioning and press the plus sign.

Description of Provisioning settings

Radio Mac	Access point MAC address
Hw. Supported Modes	I don’t understand what this is for, the documentation is empty
Identity Regexp	There's nothing in the documentation either
Commom Name Regexp	and there's no talk about that
IP Address Ranges	and about this too
Action	selecting an action with the radio interface after connection
Master Configuration	selection of the main configuration that will be applied to the created radio interface
Slave Configuration	minor configuration, you can connect another config to clients
Name Format	defines the naming syntax for interfaces created by CAP
Name Prefix	prefix for names of interfaces created by CAP

This completes the configuration of the capsman v2 controller; you can connect wifi access points to it.

Connecting access points

My story involves two access points with addresses 192.168.1.1 (Mikrotik) And 192.168.1.3 (CAP-1), connected to each other via an ethernet cable. The first one is a controller, the second one is a simple point. Both points see each other on the local network. The Wifi interface of the controller, just like a regular point, connects to capsman and takes settings from it. That is, the controller is both a controller and an ordinary access point. Even a combination of two points organizes a full-fledged seamless wifi network over the entire area covered by their radio modules.

Connecting CAP access points to the CAPsMAN controller is possible using two different protocols - Layer 2 or Layer 3. In the first case, the access points must be physically located in the same network segment (physical or virtual, if it is an L2 tunnel). It is not necessary to configure IP addressing in them; they will find the controller by MAC address.

In the second case, the connection will be via IP (UDP). You need to configure IP addressing and organize the availability of access points and the controller by IP addresses.

First, let's connect a separate wifi point. We connect to it via winbox and go to the section Wireless. There we click on CAP and specify the settings.

In my case, I specified a specific IP controller, since IP addressing is configured. If you want to connect points to the controller via l2, then leave the field with the capsman address empty, and in Discovery Interfaces select the interface that is connected to the controller. If they are on the same physical network segment, then the point will automatically find the master.

Save the settings and check. If the access point connects correctly to the controller, then the following picture will appear on the access point itself:

And on the controller in the list Interfaces The newly created radio interface of the connected access point will appear:

If your access point stubbornly does not connect to the controller and you cannot understand what the problem is, then first of all check that wireless-cm2 packages are activated on all devices. It turned out that after the update, the wireless-fp package was enabled on one of the points, instead of the required one. The access point did not want to connect to the controller, no matter what I tried. I made it a controller too, the other one didn’t want to connect to it. I reset all settings, but that didn't help either. When I was completely desperate to solve the problem, I checked the package version and found that it was wrong.

Let's now do the same on the mikrotik controller itself - connect its wifi interface to capsman v2. This is done in exactly the same way as just done on a separate wifi point. After connecting, look at the picture on the controller. It should be something like this:

That's it, the basic settings are completed. Now this configuration can be expanded further to new access points and cover a larger area with a single seamless wifi network. All connected clients will be displayed on the tab Registration Table indicating the point to which they are connected.

Checking the operation of seamless wifi roaming

Now you can take an Android phone and install the program on it Wifi Analyzer and walk around the entire territory covered by wifi, test the signal strength, switching from point to point. Switching does not occur immediately, as soon as the signal of the new point is stronger than the previous one. If the difference is not very big, then switching to a new one will not happen. But as soon as the difference begins to be significant, the client jumps over. This information can be observed on the controller.

After analyzing the coverage area, you can adjust the power of the access points. Sometimes it can be useful to set different power levels at different points, depending on the room layout. But in general, even in the basic setting, everything works quite stably and efficiently. These Mikrotik models (RB951G-2HnD) can be connected and worked comfortably by 10-15 people. There may be further nuances depending on the load. I gave these numbers from my examples of real work.

2 networks in capsman using guest wifi as an example

Let's take an example of one common situation that can be implemented using capsman technology. We have set up a seamless wifi network with password authentication. We need to add another guest network to the same access points for open access. In single mikrotik this is done using Virtual AP. Let's do the same in capsman.

To do this, you need to add a new security setting. Let's go to Security Cfg. and create a setting for access without a password. Let's call it open.

We create another configuration in which we leave all other settings the same, just change the SSID and security settings.

Let's go to the tab Provisioning, open the previously created configuration and add it there in the parameter Slave Configuration our second configuration that we just made.

Save the changes. Here I waited a few seconds, the new setting did not apply to the points. I didn’t wait, I went to each point and reconnected it to the controller. Perhaps this should not have been done, but should have waited. I don't know, I did it as is. The new setting spread and a new network like Virtual AP with an open wifi network.

I checked the work just in case - everything is in order. Connects clients to both networks simultaneously and allows them to work.

For an example of how Virtual AP works in capsman, I looked at the current situation. Here, clients of the guest network are connected to the same bridge and address space as users of the closed network. As a matter of fact, you need to make additional settings:

Create a separate bridge on the controller for an open network, assign it your own subnet and address in it, add a second wlan interface to this bridge, which will appear after connecting to capsman with two configurations.
Set up a separate dhcp server in this subnet that distributes addresses only from this subnet.
In the capsman settings in the datapath, create a separate configuration for the open network. In it, specify a new bridge and do not select the local forwarding option.
In the configuration for an open network, select a new datapath.

After this, everyone connected to the open wifi network will be sent to a separate bridge, which will have its own dhcp server and address space, different from the main network. Do not forget to check the settings of the gateway and DNS server that you will transfer to clients in dhcp.

capsman settings video

Conclusion

Let's summarize the work done. Using two Mikrotik RB951G-2HnD access points as an example, we set up seamless wifi roaming over the area covered by these points. This area can easily be expanded with additional wifi points of any Mikrotik model. They do not have to be the same, as is, for example, implemented in some Zyxell configurations that I have configured.

In this example, I looked at almost the simplest configuration, but at the same time I described all the settings and the principle of operation. Based on this data, it is easy to create more complex configurations. There is no fundamental complication here. If you understand how it works, then you can continue to work and make your own configurations.

Traffic from access points can be managed in the same way as from regular interfaces. All the basic functionality of the system works - firewall, routing, nat, etc. You can make bridges, divide the address space and much more. But it is worth considering that in this case all traffic will go through the controller. You need to understand this and correctly calculate network performance and bandwidth.

Let me remind you that this article is part of a single series of articles about.

Useful reviews about the work of capsman

Some useful information from reviews of the article from real users of capsman technology:

Vladimir, good article! Lots of useful letters! :) When setting up capsman at the enterprise, I referred to your article - I learned a lot, but changed it a little. The changes affected the “Channels” tab - I removed the Frequency position because I would not recommend using one frequency at all points, because nearby points begin to “choke” and, accordingly, connection breaks occur... My users complained about the low signal level when they were near an access point (but in fact they were connected to a point with a poor level signal)… in order for users to “jump” from point to point that has a better signal, I decided to limit the signal level threshold by making an entry in the AccessList tab. I entered the values into SignalRange => -71..120 Interface=> all Action => accept, this ensured that when the signal reaches below -71 the subscriber “leave” the point :) The value -71 was not taken by chance (the minimum signal level at a speed of 54Mbit ) Also in the Provisioning tab I changed the NameFormat value, instead of cap I set identity (when connected to the controller, it shows the name of the point that is registered in the system->identity of the device), those who have an implementation in home devices may not need this, but those who have points scattered over a large area and there are a lot of them - it will be useful :) In general, thank you very much and sorry for the many letters :)

And one more review:

The article is very good, but I would add/remake it in terms of the guest wifi network:
1) divided 2 wifi networks into different radio channels.
2) For security, I would separate the guest network from the main one. Considering that you have a guest network without a password, every student with a smartphone will want to break you. A bridge is created (bridge_open), an IP address from another network is assigned to the bridge (192.168.200.1/24), a dhcp-pool is created (192.168.200.10-192.168.200.100), a dhcp server is raised on the created bridge, we create another Datapaths (Datapaths_open) in in which we indicate the created bridge (bridge_open), to configure the guest network cfg2 we use Datapaths_open. Next, we configure NAT and firewall so that access to the Internet is available from the guest network (192.168.200.0/24), but access to the local working network is blocked (drop forward from 192.168.200.0/24 to the local network).

Online courses on Mikrotik

If you have a desire to learn how to work with Mikrotik routers and become a specialist in this field, I recommend taking courses according to the program based on information from the official course MikroTik Certified Network Associate. In addition to the official program, the courses will include laboratory work in which you will be able to test and consolidate your acquired knowledge in practice. All details are on the website. The cost of training is very affordable, a good opportunity to gain new knowledge in a subject area that is relevant today. Course Features:

Practice-oriented knowledge;
Real situations and tasks;
The best of international programs.

How to use Mikrotik.
Simple and fast.
Setting up on a separate server.
to reserve an Internet channel.

These questions are often asked by customers who need complex organization of corporate networks over a large enterprise area.

Based on Wifi, a technology has been proposed for providing access to a corporate computer network in warehouses, offices and production facilities.

As you know, Wifi is a wireless communication standard on unlicensed frequencies. The disadvantages of this standard include the limited range of individual access points; this problem is solved by combining individual networks into one multinetwork.

Seamless roaming Users are connected to local, zonal multinetworks from multiple providers. This approach is currently being implemented for heterogeneous networks, for example, to combine WiMAX, Wi-Fi, GSM, CDMA, GPRS, UMTS services.

In case of WiFi seamless roaming there is a combination of different access points and ensuring the subscriber’s transition between Wi-Fi networks is imperceptible to the user.

In general, seamless wifi roaming ensures uninterrupted connection of subscribers when crossing network boundaries.

Seamless access technology has already been proposed by a number of companies. For example, Cisco has developed “seamless roaming” for heterogeneous Wi-Fi networks; Motorola, Microtik and Aruba are actively involved in seamless Wi-Fi roaming in corporate format. These are perhaps the most striking offers on the market today, so we will try to compare them on two application tasks, deploying seamless wifi in a warehouse and wifi for hotels.

Basic elements of seamless wifi technology

The development of “seamless” technologies and networks is the main trend of modern technological development.

In modern networks, manufacturers are trying to combine the computing power of the network into both homogeneous (of the same type) and heterogeneous (of different types) infrastructures. This approach is dictated by a wide variety of network standards, including both packet and circuit switched.

For zone networks, such solutions are usually called multiservice networks. For local corporate networks, there are a number of network applications between which it is necessary to ensure coordination and unconditional access without the user noticing.

The technology is implemented using special software that stores the client’s IP address in a local or zone network, which simultaneously allows for guaranteed data delivery and uninterrupted traffic when moving between networks.

Thus, uninterrupted operation of applications is also implied.

Currently, the paradigm of “seamless WiFi access” is developing, which is implemented within the framework of virtual local networks VLAN - Virtual LAN.

Seamless wifi roaming Motorola, Microtik, Aruba

If we talk about the proposed technological solutions, then it makes sense to pay attention to three companies operating in this segment - Motorola, Microtik, Unifi, these companies actively compete with each other. The technology features and the idea are borrowed from mobile networks, in which a similar seamless roaming function is known as the “handover function.”

As a result of the implementation of seamless roaming, access to the network is provided without a single break when moving between networks. The technology is implemented using special network equipment.

Seamless wifi roaming Motorola, Microtik, Aruba offers similar basic functions: default operation in Bridge/Router modes, DHCP recovery function and the presence of DHCP Relay Option 82.

If you need to deploy wifi for hotels, it still makes sense to choose Motorola wifi, which implements:

access via HTTP / HTTPS, SSHv2, Telnet, SNMP (v2c, v3)
Captive Portal feature that manages user accounts and encrypts traffic.

If you use Microtik seamless wifi roaming, there are also quite wide possibilities, especially for network equipment available on the market; user authentication is then implemented based on third-party software.

Seamless wifi roaming Unifi is in many ways a cheap and unstable replica that actively offers its equipment for deploying complex Wi-Fi networks. We do not recommend this equipment.

At the same time, I would still like to highlight the functions of Motorola’s seamless wifi, which, using “native” software and a radius server, routes traffic in wireless multinetworks, supports built-in subscriber billing with high-quality authentication and packet encryption (WEP, WPA, WPA2).

This option is especially recommended for corporate networks when it is necessary to provide network access throughout the company, including when you need to install wifi in a warehouse, production or office in a protected mode with reduced risks of traffic interception.

For full-featured multi-service wifi networks, Motorola, using SMART RF, implements the ability to select channels and power levels on a port in Motorola WiFi routers, which allows you to configure and optimize traffic.

Thus, VLAN (virtual local network) allows you to solve a maximum of corporate problems and implement them on the basis of a wireless network.

Seamless roaming wifi mikrotik allows you to organize inexpensive wireless networks, but is still significantly inferior to Motorola, despite technologically similar offers.

All companies offer a complete set of hardware equipment that allows you to deploy “large” wifi networks, combining individual access points into one network and providing efficient routing.

At the same time, the optimal amount of functions required in modern corporate networks is implemented only in Motorola wifi; of course, this largely concerns network security and access blocking.

At the same time, for example, motorola wifi seamless roaming can be recommended as an inexpensive solution with a full range of functions for organizing wifi for hotels. Again, this is relevant both for hotel packages and for small hotels that are not particularly concerned about the security of intercepting customer traffic on the internal network.

It can be said about the technologies offered by the above companies that they continue to develop, updates and new hardware firmware are released every six months. Moreover, all solutions are offered so that users can constantly update their networks, including using legacy equipment that does not interfere with the implementation of new functions.

If we still consider a wireless local network based on the equipment of the proposed companies, then Motorola has offered a much more developed version - Motorola wifi is recommended by our company by default.

802.11R. Fastswitching between points (handover)

Many Wi-Fi manufacturers promise seamless switching between access points using their “brilliant” proprietary protocol.

Despite the beautiful promises, in practice, delays during switching (handover) can be significantly longer than the stated 50-100 ms (switching can take up to 10 seconds when using the WPA2-Enterprise protocol). The fact is that the decision to switch to another access point is always made by the client equipment. Those. Your smartphone, laptop or tablet decides when to switch and how to do it.

Often the proprietary protocols of well-known Wi-Fi manufacturers are based on forced de-authentication of the device when the signal quality deteriorates. Sometimes in the settings of a Wi-Fi point you can set “roaming aggressiveness” - the minimum signal value at which the device will be “thrown out” of the network. Often client equipment does not react correctly to such a “kick in the ass.” The TCP session is terminated and file downloading stops. The connection to the mail server or virtual machine is lost. Connecting to the SIP server requires re-authentication.

Quite often, the client device, instead of connecting to a nearby point with a better signal ( pushes him to this decisionWiFicontroller) tries to re-establish the connection with the previous point to no avail. It’s even worse if the device tries to connect to another network from the list of saved ones (for example, a guest network).

But even if the switching process goes according to plan, repeated key exchange (EAP) and authorization on the Radius server (WPA-2 Enterprise) take up significant time.

To solve these problems, the Wi-Fi Association developed the 802.11R protocol. Currently, most mobile devices support it (Apple starting from iPhone 4S, Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, BlackBerry Passport Silver Edition,...)

The essence of 802.11R is that the mobile device knows its own and foreign points by the mobile domain membership signal (MDIE). This signal is added to the SSID beacon signal.

If your iPhone sees a point from its mobile domain with the best signal/noise level, before starting the switching procedure along the existing “thread” it carries out a preliminary authorization with another point in the mobile domain.

Secondly, authorization takes place according to a simplified scenario - instead of lengthy authorization on the Radius server, the client device exchanges the PMK-R1 key with the Wi-Fi controller. (The initial key PMK-R0 is transmitted only during primary authentication and is stored in the memory of the Wi-Fi controller).

At the moment when another point has “retrospectively” authorized the device, the actual handover occurs. Reconfiguring the frequency and channel in a smartphone takes no more than 50 milliseconds. In most cases, it goes completely unnoticed for the user.

When choosing a solution for an office Wi-Fi network, pay attention to whether the selected equipment supports the open 802.11R roaming protocol, which is understandable for client devices. For example, Edimax Pro equipment fully supports this protocol, so in most cases there are no problems with roaming. However, if your device is old and does not understand the 802.11R protocol, it is possible to adjust the aggressiveness of roaming based on the signal dropping below a threshold - as other Wi-Fi manufacturers do, touting it as an "innovative solution".

802.11 K.Load Balancing in a Wireless Network

In addition to roaming problems, corporate users often have to deal with congestion at one access point. In a classic Wi-Fi implementation, all devices try to connect to the access point with the best signal. Sometimes, as a result of an incorrect location of the point (radio planning error), all the “office inhabitants” are registered at one point, while the rest are “resting”.

Due to the uneven load, the speed of the local network drops significantly, since the radio broadcast is one large “hub” where devices “speak in turn.”

To smooth out unevenness and optimally distribute users between points operating on different radio channels, the 802.11K protocol was developed.

802.11K works in conjunction with 802.11R (as a rule, devices that support the “R” standard also support the “K” standard).

If a mobile device “sees” a beacon signal from other points in the same mobile domain, the device sends a broadcast request “Radio Measurement Request frame”, which requests information about the current state of other access points within the visibility range:

number of registered users

average channel speed (number of packets transmitted)

how many bytes were transferred in a certain time interval

In the extended specification of the standard, the client's smartphone can query the channel status of other mobile devices connected to a potentially interesting access point that support the 802.11K standard. Devices respond not only with real statistics, but also with signal/noise status.

Thus, if your smartphone sees 2 or more points within one mobile domain, it will choose not the point with the best signal, but the point that will provide higher connection speed to the local network (less congested).

Reception conditions, the number of users and the load at the point can change dynamically, but using the 802.11K and 802.11R protocols, devices will switch seamlessly and the network load will always be distributed evenly.

Many manufacturers using proprietary protocols implement something similar to 802.11K, where an “overloaded” point forcibly disconnects clients with worse reception conditions or limits the maximum number of simultaneously registered devices and disables registration if the number of clients exceeds acceptable limits. These proprietary protocols are not as effective, but still prevent the Wi-Fi network from collapsing completely.

How to save on radio planning thanks to802.11K

The use of equipment that supports the 802.11R and 802.11K protocols partially corrects errors made during radio planning. Dynamic protocols with roaming support make it possible to prevent overloads of individual points and distribute the load between points evenly throughout the network.

The WiFi-solutions team recommends that you always do radio planning, but sometimes in small networks, you can arrange the points chaotically. Dynamic protocols will improve Wi-Fi quality and load distribution between channels of neighboring points.

The use of dynamic protocols for seamless roaming reduces overlap areas. Thus, high-quality coverage can be ensured with a smaller number of points. Savings on equipment - up to 25%.

I need some advice. Contact me.

Seamless wifi roaming is the effective integration of several access points to a wireless Internet network into a continuous system under the control of their broadcasting by one central controller device. Properly installed and configured equipment allows you to use the global network in any area on an ongoing basis without partial or complete loss of the signal. Depending on your goals, the UmkaPro company is always ready to design, purchase the necessary technical equipment, install and configure seamless Wi-Fi at any facility in Moscow.

The working principle of seamless WIFI

To cover a large area with access to a wireless Internet network, you can install a large number of autonomous points. However, in this option you will have to constantly switch while moving around the territory. This is not at all practical and inconvenient. It is to create a single network in which the signal is not lost when switching between access points, and seamless wifi roaming was developed.

The essence of its work is the simultaneous functioning of several access points. At the same time, their broadcasting is controlled by one controller, which:

monitors the load on each access point;
adjusts the signal and bandwidth, depending on the number of users;
guarantees high-speed roaming, through which you can freely move around the territory without interruption of data transmission. The controller constantly sends the signal from those access points that are closest to the specific device.

What is seamless wifi based on?

Years of work in this direction allow us to highlight the following types of equipment, which are the most successful modern option for equipping private homes, offices, shopping malls and other types of objects:

Seamless wifi roaming Mikrotik CAPsMAN is a very reliable and relatively inexpensive equipment option that can cope with almost any task.
Seamless wifi roaming Ubiquiti UniFi is the most universal, uninterrupted solution that provides a constant level of communication in any area.
Seamless wifi roaming Zyxel is a more expensive version of the equipment, which, in addition to the standard controller, is also represented by special access points with controller functions.

Regardless of the size of the facility being equipped, our company’s specialists are always ready to qualitatively design and install Ubiquiti, Zyxel or Mikrotik wifi roaming. Years of work in this direction allow us to guarantee impeccable quality and efficiency of the installed system.

Nowadays, various wireless devices for which high-speed network access is possible only via WiFi are gaining popularity. These are Ipad/Iphone, and other mobile gadgets. When you want to organize WiFi access in an area of 30 sq. m., then installing a regular Dlink for 1200 rubles will solve all your problems, but if you have an area >500 sq. m. m. and this is only for one floor, this solution will not work. If you use regular access points or routers, then each router will have its own network name (unique SSID) or the routers will need to be spaced far apart so that coverage areas do not overlap, and this will lead to the appearance of zones with very poor reception quality, or none at all signal. About six months ago, I encountered the same problem, a solution was found quite quickly - UniFi.

Example of installing WiFi UniFi in a car service center with several buildings.

UniFi provides wireless coverage to the Arcadia School District in California (translation).

UniFi provides wireless access to upscale hotels in Peru (translation).

Possibilities of UniFi WiFi points:

One network for all WiFi points.

Attractive design.

Easy to install, PoE.

Displays coverage area and access point locations on the administrator display.

Centralized wireless network management.

Guest networks, without access to the local network.

Create temporary passwords for guest users.

Automatic software updates on access points.

High scalability: up to 100 or more points.

Multiple wireless networks with differentiated access rights.

Separation of network user traffic by VLAN.

Fast intranet roaming when switching between access points.

Monitoring user traffic, identifying sources of increased network load.

Large coverage area.

Possibility of generating one-time temporary passwords (relevant for public places: hotels, cafes, etc.)

Connecting points in repeater mode.

An overview of the capabilities of the UniFi Controller is here.

Implementation of WiFi from Ubiquity in hotels in Peru here (translation).

Hardware controller for Ubiquiti UniFi. UniFi Cloud Key.

What it looks like in practice:

A software controller is installed on one of the network computers, on which all wireless network settings are made.

All settings of points and network parameters are subsequently made through this controller. Below are a couple of screenshots of the settings and appearance.

This is a building plan showing the locations of the points.

Setting up a guest network without access to corporate resources.

Monitoring active clients.

Access point monitoring.

View from above.

The installation and configuration process is extremely simple:

1. Place the points and connect them to the local network; UniFi supports PoE so that you only need an ethernet socket to connect them.

2. Install the software controller on any computer on the network, configure the parameters of WiFi networks, initialize the points, after initialization, the settings from the controller will be applied to the point, and the point will be ready for operation. Even when the controller is turned off, the settings on the points are saved.