Indoor Wi-Fi Roaming with OpenWRT
by zdw on 5/26/2026, 4:41:58 PM
https://taoofmac.com/space/blog/2026/05/26/1730
Comments
by: ghrl
I don't quite understand the benefit of the setup. If there are legacy IoT devices that need unique named 2.4G network, just broadcast another SSID for them. So each router broadcasts main 5G (common name, fast roam etc), main 2.4G (same as above) and legacy IoT 2.4G (with a different name for each AP, and possibly worse encryption and maybe even TKIP). That wouldn't hold back the network for legacy devices.
5/28/2026, 3:19:30 PM
by: goodburb
You can stick to 802.11r only by lowering the transmission power and have all the APs on the same channel, in my tests it ended up switching much faster than K/V.<p>On iOS, equal channel with correct ESS will switch liberally. On Android 14+ with Broadcom chip it will start conservative, then switch liberally after the first poor signal switch over event, up until disconnection.<p>Bonus: support for legacy devices and smart TVs.<p>To add, WPA3 with 802.11r is known to have issues on Apple hardware before 2021 on all iOS versions, many Android devices don't support it or are unreliable (protected beacon frame), can be searched in buried report results at OpenWrt forum mega threads and Ubiquity.<p>802.11K/V is more suitable for campus and load balancing.
5/28/2026, 3:14:37 PM
by: ruptwelve
When I move from Europe to the US I realized that roaming is not as prevalent here as it is back home. The (mostly) wooden houses enable me to just use one really powerful AP for most of my needs.
5/28/2026, 3:19:54 PM
by: jonhohle
I need to spend some time on it but I purchased two Omada APs to pair with my OpenWRT router thinking roaming would just work with mostly Apple devices. That didn’t happen. I’m hoping some of this article applies and I can improve the situation a bit.
5/28/2026, 2:59:41 PM
by: jauntywundrkind
I'd used DAWN for band steering/roaming at my last place, which worked ok. uSteer is a little newer & is an official openwrt project. <a href="https://github.com/berlin-open-wireless-lab/DAWN" rel="nofollow">https://github.com/berlin-open-wireless-lab/DAWN</a> <a href="https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/dawn" rel="nofollow">https://openwrt.org/docs/guide-user/network/wifi/dawn</a> DAWN has a wild amount of knobs to tune, which aren't super well described. I haven't been running it since a single AP covers my current place very well. But it would be interesting to go evaluate DAWN & it's config with an LLM, to dice in & see more. uSteer too.<p>Great write up, good information to share. This really is such an important next step for many people's wifi and it's documentation is pretty so-so.
5/28/2026, 3:10:36 PM