Hi, I don't have much clarity in my mind about this....Regarding eero or Google Wifi, Unifi or similar...How do these systems handle roaming or handoff of wifi signal as the client moves around the home. When testing this, I don't feel too confident that the handoff from one pod to another goes smoothly - like it would in a perfect world.

If it wasn't for these mesh systems, I might be setting up access points with the same SSIDs on different wifi channels. I wonder if devices react the same to mesh systems or are they much better in terms of roaming between antennas?

This article I found may have answered by question. It seems, ultimately, that the device decides when or not to switch to another antenna...

[Link: smallnetbuilder.com]

I instruct clients to turn Wifi of then back on if they have been roaming and things get slow...

And of course tell them it is the phone/tablet that refuses to let go of the distant, weak signal.

And if the phones and tablets are from Apple, any problems with roaming come from Apple crap hanging onto the last antenna long after the signal has become useless. I tell people it's similar to the separation anxiety of a baby when its mother hands it to someone else.

I haven't had any trouble calls for the EERO equipment that I installed but I'll be adding a device for the Google network that doesn't reach the outdoor TV and Roku that was installed by another dealer- the closest Google is about 20' away in an upper cabinet and the signal has to pass through a double sliding glass door, which may or may not have a sunblocking coating that affects RF. I'll test that next time I go there.

This my strategy too.

So the whole idea of a system being able to provide seamless roaming is a bit bogus? I thought some high end systems claimed to do this. I guess one of the advantages wifi systems is faster deployment but I would love to offer a solution that would truly allow a customer to roam seamlessly and quickly between antennas.

You have been on the forums for a long time and engaged in many networking threads. So I know you know that 'real' wifi controllers with true seamless roaming and hand-offs, cost thousands of dollars. (example: Ruckus Zonedirector).
Why would you think any of these systems that only cost a few hundred dollars, would be capable of such things?

Sometime soon I think that the lower end systems will manage roaming, but I’m not convinced that we are there yet. Not so long ago 100Mbps Ethernet was beyond fringe, now 1Gbps is commodity and we will soon be moving to 10Gbps.

Bigger numbers impress people. End of story.

Actually that is going to be awhile before 10Gbps is affordable for anyone.

Companies have already started rolling out the next step and that is 2.5Gbps networking products. This (and maybe 5Gbps products) will be the stepping stone for the next few years, before 10Gbps products become affordable enough for main stream. Until then, 10Gbps is going to be more for enterprise and enthusiast systems, with price tags to match.

I too tell people to shut wifi off and back on.  I have had a few clients that point a finger at me and think I don't know what I am talking about because they never had to do that before.  Yes, and before you had a single 2.4 GH AP covering the entire house, but since you want the entire house to perform at the speeds the cable company tells you that you are getting, you need multiple 5 GHz APs.  I explain the difference, how 5GHz does not have the range and that 2.4 does not have the speed and all that.  Still have some of them say "Fix it".  I have walked away from a few clients over this.  The best is when they say, "the cable guy said..."

I have a customer who needed a visit from Spectrum and when the cable guy saw that the performance wasn't very good, he told the homeowner that EERO isn't very good, that he should get something else. The problem wasn't the EERO, it was the cable feed from the pole. The homeowner replaced the EERO I had installed and was working perfectly with Google, which doesn't perform as well or reach as far (I was seeing WiFi speeds around 85% of the wired speed, but the Google is usually around 40Mbps when I'm close to a wired device). This is the reason I was called to connect his Seura TV and its Roku to the network- the dealer that installed the TV/Roku couldn't get them to connect, partially because they never paired the Roku remote to the Stick (it's a simple concept, really- if the remote doesn't cause the Roku to react, pair the freaking thing!).

I have a business client whose network would crash every day or every other day, depending on how it felt, apparently. The service tech came out and when I was explaining what I had seen and done, he told me "I've seen everything- I have been doing this for fifteen years". His chest-thumping didn't last long and eventually, he said he thinks Spectrum needs to hire people who only troubleshoot network problems because they don't have enough tech who know much about it. Their tech support staff usually reinforce this idea.

Then, there are the jobs where an electrician gets people to believe that he knows about low voltage and uses screw on F connectors, taps into a dead line and leaves it for the next guy to deal with (me).

We have a customer who was talked into buying a 3-pak of Xfi Pods. (without consulting us) He was having coverage and speed issues and the Xfinity store told him the Pod's would fix it. Bottom line: the speed decreased. We installed a wired Ubiquiti Flex HD and gave instructions about how to roam -- problem solved.

I have disconnected those pods in a handful of homes. I wonder if they work anywhere at all?

They work great at making all the signal strength bars on devices light up. To the average consumer, that means they have great signal.