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Roaming on 6GHz

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  • 1.  Roaming on 6GHz

    Posted Apr 22, 2025 10:59 AM

    We have a large public location with ~800 access points which are all AP635 in a controller based network running 8.10.0.15. We have an open SSID public Wi-Fi with enhanced open enabled in transition mode. The SSID broadcasts in all bands. We have found that 6GHz devices can fail to connect and when they do connect, they do not roam at all and will stay connected to the same AP until they lose connectivity completely. They will then not join any other AP. Tested devices so far are Samsung Galaxy S24, S25 and iPhone16. 

    If we disable 6Ghz, clients roam perfectly in Wi-Fi 6. The radio powers and channels are controlled by Airmatch. Are we missing something in the configuration?



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    Stewart Smith
    ACMX, ACDX, ACCP, ACSA
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  • 2.  RE: Roaming on 6GHz

    Posted Apr 23, 2025 09:35 AM

    Are you seeing any authentication errors?



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    Carson Hulcher, ACEX#110
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  • 3.  RE: Roaming on 6GHz

    Posted Apr 23, 2025 03:55 PM

    No. The SSID is open with enhanced open transition mode. 

    We have noticed the 6Ghz devices connect to AP's that are not necessarily even near them. A user can be stood directly under a 6Ghz AP and will be connecting to one 10-20 metres away



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    Stewart Smith
    ACMX, ACDX, ACCP, ACSA
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  • 4.  RE: Roaming on 6GHz

    Posted Apr 23, 2025 01:50 PM

    What about your channel width?   When I enabled 6ghz it defaulted to 80-160 mhz, curious if setting it to match your 5ghz band (or just lowered to just use 80) would help.




  • 5.  RE: Roaming on 6GHz

    Posted Apr 23, 2025 03:57 PM

    The channel width is 40Mhz. 

    We have disabled 6Ghz for the moment and will be setting up a test environment tomorrow. Will update with our findings



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    Stewart Smith
    ACMX, ACDX, ACCP, ACSA
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  • 6.  RE: Roaming on 6GHz

    Posted Apr 23, 2025 04:03 PM

    6 GHz doesn't work correctly with 40 MHz channels at this point, you should let that band operate at 80 MHz to get anything working correctly.

    Proper support for 40 MHz, and non-PSC channel assignment, is in the works.



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    Carson Hulcher, ACEX#110
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  • 7.  RE: Roaming on 6GHz

    Posted Apr 24, 2025 10:17 AM

    Ok. we have carried out some testing today in another location with AP's at 40Mhz and have had no roaming problems at all. We have noticed that all AP's are in PSC channels so maybe this is why. For the main site we disabled 6Ghz because of the problems so will need to re-enable it out of hours to see where the channel assignments end up. For this main site though, AP density is too high to enable 80Mhz because we are in the UK and would only have 6 available channel groupings.



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    Stewart Smith
    ACMX, ACDX, ACCP, ACSA
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  • 8.  RE: Roaming on 6GHz

    Posted Apr 24, 2025 10:23 AM

    Right now that makes zero difference on 6 GHz.  Run 80 MHz or 40 MHz, you're still only getting 6 channels because the radio will not run on non-PSC channels.  Consider options again once we have proper support for operating at 40 MHz on 6 GHz.



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    Carson Hulcher, ACEX#110
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  • 9.  RE: Roaming on 6GHz

    Posted Apr 24, 2025 10:42 AM
    So the roaming issues we saw would not have been caused by channel selection. 
    Is there a timeline for when full support will be available?





  • 10.  RE: Roaming on 6GHz

    Posted Apr 24, 2025 11:09 AM

    Maybe, maybe not.  Some devices have band and channel size preferences and will hang on to a connection well beyond expectation if a suitable equivalent can't be discovered.

    Support for non-PSC channels is coming to AOS 8 soon, check with your account team for more concrete information.

    You mention running Enhanced Open, are you using a captive portal or just allowing any connection without any authentication?



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    Carson Hulcher, ACEX#110
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  • 11.  RE: Roaming on 6GHz

    Posted Apr 24, 2025 01:24 PM
    We have a captive portal hosted by a third party.





  • 12.  RE: Roaming on 6GHz

    Posted Apr 25, 2025 09:00 AM

    Just covering the bases at this point, you've validated that all of the APs are in fact broadcasting on 6 GHz?



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    Carson Hulcher, ACEX#110
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