topic Re: Is it possible manually transfer a wireless client to another Meraki AP? in Wireless

Is it possible manually transfer a wireless client to another Meraki AP?

xilefr — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 09:13:53 GMT

Good day,

Is there a way to transfer a Wireless client connected to AP-A to AP-B if the client is within the range of both AP in Meraki?

Based on my understanding, this should not be possible as it is the client device that is selecting the AP in which it will connect to in a mesh based on the Transmit Power and Signal Strength.

Re: Is it possible manually transfer a wireless client to another Meraki AP?

ww^ — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 09:21:13 GMT

Not how you described it, but you should be able to kick them off the ap https://youtu.be/AARVcol8A-A

Re: Is it possible manually transfer a wireless client to another Meraki AP?

xilefr — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 09:32:16 GMT

Thanks for your reply though you are right that it does not answer the question to the described situation but it help as it is an additional knowledge as I never know that Meraki can provide additional solution for clients with poor signal.

We are asked if it is possible to manually transfer existing wireless clients to another Access point that is within the area.

Re: Is it possible manually transfer a wireless client to another Meraki AP?

Abdulaziz Loonat — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 10:02:41 GMT

I assume you mean roaming, this is based on the client, For Windows laptops you can set roaming settings for the wireless adapter

As an exmaple below for Intel wireless adapters

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005546/wireless/legacy-intel-wireless-products.html

Re: Is it possible manually transfer a wireless client to another Meraki AP?

Rasmus Hoffmann Birkelund — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 10:07:34 GMT

No, it is not possible to manually move a client to another AP.

It's the client that decides when to roam, not the infrastructure.

Re: Is it possible manually transfer a wireless client to another Meraki AP?

xilefr — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 10:33:51 GMT

This is also what I know but in case that there is this feature that Meraki is capable of that I don't know, I asked it here.

Though if I remember correctly a certain brand can do it but through CLI and with a certain device only.

Thanks for your answer

Re: Is it possible manually transfer a wireless client to another Meraki AP?

xilefr — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 10:35:40 GMT

Unfortunately I'm not talking about roaming. And yes I'm weirded out by this question/inquiry also as we already set the roaming and transmission power of the AP to the best we can.

Just in case, that this is possible with Meraki I asked it here as i'm fairly new with Meraki.

Re: Is it possible manually transfer a wireless client to another Meraki AP?

Abdulaziz Loonat — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 10:40:03 GMT

to answer your original question, it is not possible to "force" a client to move to another AP, only "dirty" way is to switch off the AP so the client has to connect to your desired AP

Re: Is it possible manually transfer a wireless client to another Meraki AP?

joey.debra — Wed, 24 Aug 2022 17:36:54 GMT

Transferring clients to other AP's is not possible on any Wi-Fi network from any vendor. The Wi-Fi standard leaves the decision completely up to the client.

The only things you have control over is the following:
- Enable 802.11k which let's an AP provide an AP neighbor list to the client so the client only has to probe a small subnet of channels instead of a full panic scan. This feature is always on in Meraki AP's.
- Enable 802.11v which let's your AP suggest better AP neighbors to the client depending on AP load or client RSSI. This feature is also on on Meraki AP's.
- Downright kick the client off the network so the client immediatly tries to reconnect and hopefully chooses the correct AP. This is a manual action.

- AP load balancing feature. This enables AP's to not accept clients if the AP is too heavy loaded by not allowing association and not responding to probes. This feature is detrimental for fluid roaming for voice but is ok for high density Wi-Fi.