WiFi specifics, troubleshooting, and status of linked minis

[Greyspace]

I have a wifi setup of 3 WiFi6 AP’s with wired backhaul, which normally provides excellent coverage everywhere. I’m struggling to maintain good connections with two of three minis. I’ve disabled the roaming, tried pinning the mini to the closest AP, moving and adjusting the orientation of the mini, and I still get at least 4 to 5 dBm lower than a phone or tablet in the same location. The weird part is that right after a reload of the mini I might get a decent high 60’s only for it to drop into the mid 70’s with no change to network or obstructions. My 5GHz RF does have lower rates disabled, but I don’t think that’s my problem. I would prefer to keep these off the 2GHz band, but that might be my answer. I’m not sure. But I have a couple questions that maybe someone can answer. Why can’t I see the wifi status of linked minis with the exception of the primary mini? (I see them all still associated on the AP side, so?) Why does each mini show an hotspot SSID? Are linked minis connecting to each other? If anyone has some great insight to getting these to connect better I sure would appreciate it. Thanks!

 

[onlyoneme]

Do they differ from each other with RSSI and SNR at the same location and orientation? You have them grouped together?

I think that Minis show their hotspot SSIDs for setup purposes only. They are not active for sure during a normal work. I do not mention multiroom configuration as I do not know how they communicate to each other in such scenario.

 

[Greyspace]

So, I did some experimenting from your comments, and if I swap any of the Minis to any other Mini’s location the results are the same +/- 1-2 on RSSI and SNR, so I don’t think any particular Mini is functioning much differently. I’m also getting the same behavior that the RSSI will drop a little while after first connecting. I can’t easily move the AP’s around, as they are mounted and PoE connected, but I’m not seeing any issues with other clients on any particular AP, and the AP’s are all using centrally configured RF/channel/power settings. In fact I have some IoT devices further from the AP than one particular Mini and they all have better connections. I’m starting to think the Minis just don’t have stellar wifi components. I have a Pro on order to replace one of them and it will be wired. That leaves me with just one to figure out, which of course is the worst connecting one.

 

[onlyoneme]

Your experience is quite opposite to mine, although I use just one ceiling mounted AP with above standard signal strength. My WiiM operates on 5 GHz with better RSSI that most of my IoT devices close to it and on 2.4 GHz.

 

[kevinek]

Do You have bound option in router managing software?

 

[Exile72]

I'd venture to guess there's an issue with your router settings as opposed to the Wiims. I have two Wiim Minis with the second a good distance from my router and the connection is rock solid. I've never had any connectivity issues. What router are you using? What modem? What ISP speed?