Forum Discussion
Wifi Handoff Issues...
I am experiencing issues with a business application that has been developed for HoloLens. I am running the application over the wifi and the application needs to handoff between access points over a 200,000 sq. ft. area. When the handoff occurs the application isn't handling this correctly and I get an API timeout error when the wifi handoff occurs.
Are there any recommended HoloLens, Network, or Application configuration settings or best practices that should be followed so that this doesn't happen or is handled more gracefully?
Thanks.
1 Reply
I am reasonably proficient in WiFi and might suggest that the API timeout seems to be a programmatical issue where the API should potentially retry a couple times within a period after the timeout.
This is because other programs account for momentary loss of network connectivity by reconnecting after a timeout, (E.G. if you are on a Remote Assist call and the network disappears, the call will say, "Please wait, Reconnecting..." and it will attempt to re-establish the connection for the next 60 seconds unless it cannot find the opposite endpoint, and then it will hang up.)
It sounds like an exception (of no network connectivity) is not being handled by the API connection, and perhaps it could retry.
Aside from the API connection,
Depending on the WiFi deployment, Spefically wifi handoff inherently has a loss of connectivity for about 1-3 seconds while the WPA supplicant chooses to associate with the next AP.
There are roaming enhancements like 802.11r which could be enabled, but ultimately it is up to the client wifi radio capabilities (The wireless radio itself, and specific driver settings) which will decide if/when the client will re-associate with the next AP.
If you want to experiment, (If this is a Windows PC), you can go to the Device Manager > Network Devices > WiFi Card > Advanced Adapter settings > Wi-Fi Roaming Aggressiveness Setting > Highest
Here is more information on how setting Roaming Agressiveness may change the behavior in your scenario: https://www.versatek.com/how-to-improve-your-wi-fi-reception-by-boosting-roaming-aggressiveness/
Hopefully that can produce a better result during roaming?
Otherwise, I would also check that your APs are not broadcasting at 100% tx power, because if the AP cell size is too large then the roaming decision will not take place until the very last second.... AP power must be regulated (auto) by the WLC so that the cell sizes do not overlap too much. This is why a WLC is important in managing the settings which assist clients in roaming.
Please let me know if this helps!
