CCNA Wireless 640-722 Official Cert Guide

The Roaming Process

What enables a client to roam in the first place? First, adjacent APs should be configured to use different non-overlapping channels. For example, an AP using channel 1 must not be adjacent to other APs also using channel 1. Instead, a neighboring AP should use channel 6 or higher to avoid any frequency overlap with channel 1. This ensures that clients will be able to receive signals from a nearby AP without interference from other APs. As you learned in Chapter 2, “RF Standards,” the 5-GHz band is much more flexible in this regard because it has many more non-overlapping channels available.

The roaming process is driven entirely by the wireless client driver—not by the AP. Wireless clients decide that it is time to roam ...