So just like the title says, hey, we’re going to see what roaming using on-site RADIUS looks like.

This is our baseline: In our network, we’re going to disable 802.11r, and test using two Access Points on the same channel, because I don’t want to get too technical, and only want to capture on one channel. As only capturing on one channel will make this easier for folks at home. And, my capture device only has one interface anyways. 

We’re going to set up a test SSID; we’ll call it “taco-roam-test”, and we’re going to use 5 GHz, channel 36, and 20 wide. Something easy that you should have at home. 

Now, since we’ll be doing this test using different RADIUS options, this one using an on-site RADIUS. And, the second will be with a Cloud-based RADIUS option. We need to have a constant, and that will be our testing device. 

Our test device will be an iPhone XS Max, running iOS 13.4.1, the reason why I’m using an Apple device, this device is what I have and like. And, my capture device will be a MacBook 2017, space gray if you must know.

Now that we know about the device, we need to understand how Apple does roaming. And, Apple is really good about providing this documentation. Yet, another reason I’m using Apple devices for this “test”. 

So, I ran into a small issue. 

I want to disable 802.11v support. And, that is baked into my Access Point firmware. So apparently this is used for the keywords of “load balancing”. Since 802.11v is used for BSS Transition, and my client supports 802.11v, my client will have some assistance. Which is what I do not want. Time to find a more generic Access Point.