Wi-Fi Roaming A while back I picked up a few Aruba APs. While deploying them I looked into the roaming settings, which was a good chance to compare them with my existing UniFi APs. For Wi-Fi roaming, we can refer to Apple’s explanation of the 802.11k, 802.11r and 802.11v protocols. Note: in my own environment every AP location has a physical Ethernet cable run to it, so I don’t consider using wireless to chain multiple APs together. ...
WiFi Access Point is abbreviated as AP below. AP management styles In terms of management style alone, APs can be split into Fat AP / Fit (Thin AP) / Cloud AP. Fat AP: more like a traditional AP with a built-in management page for configuring the AP in various ways. For example, ASUS’s interface lets you switch directly between Router mode and Access Point mode. Fit (Thin AP): needs to be configured with an Access Controller. The AP itself provides almost no convenient management interface and must be managed and configured through the controller. The upside is you can manage many APs at scale — once a new device joins the network it can apply the previous settings — and you can monitor APs through the dashboard the controller provides. This kind of setup is also called AC+AP (access controller + access point). Cloud AP: similar to Fit (Thin AP), except the device connects directly to the cloud for convenient management, without needing to set up a separate controller. A few points I personally weigh when choosing an AP: ...