Mesh Wi-Fi Handoff Delay on Cudy System

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joker08

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I recently switched to a Cudy WR1300 router (got it free from Cool Ideas). The router is set up in the lounge at the front of the house, and I’ve added a Cudy Mesh M1300 in the bedroom on the opposite side.

The issue I’m facing is during Teams calls: when I walk from the bedroom to the lounge, there’s a noticeable lag in the network handoff—around 3–5 seconds. This is my first time using a mesh system, so I’m wondering… is this normal behavior, or is there something I should tweak in the setup?
 
For realtime applications like video calls this is probably not unexpected.

You can see if the router/mesh devices support '"fast roaming" and enable that. This might cause issues with devices that don't fully support this though.
 
Those Cudy routers loaded with OpenWRT support fast roaming, not sure the default firmware supports it though
 
As a side note, the only reason I mentioned OpenWRT is it generally performs better than the original (YMMV)
 
So I don't own this router, but from my limited research it appears that when setting up a mesh network, it enables fast roaming by default. So flashing OpenWRT might not necessarily even solve your problem.

Ran this particular thing through co-pilot for some quick suggestions

Correct the Distance Between Nodes [1]
  • If your Cudy units are spaced too far apart, a "dead zone" forms between them. Your device will drop the first signal entirely before struggling to authenticate with the next one. Conversely, if they are too close together, their signals overlap too heavily, causing the device to stay confusedly locked onto the original node.
Match the Wireless Security Settings [1]
  • Fast roaming protocols will break instantly if the nodes handle security handshakes differently.
Change Device-Side Aggressiveness (Laptops)
  • Windows laptops are notoriously stubborn and prefer to stay connected to their original access point until the signal completely dies.
  • The Fix: You can force your computer to look for the closer Cudy node much sooner:
    1. Open the Windows Device Manager and expand Network adapters.
    2. Right-click your Intel/Realtek Wi-Fi card and select Properties.
    3. Go to the Advanced tab and highlight Roaming Aggressiveness (or Roaming Sensitivity).
    4. Change the value from Medium to Medium-High or Highest. [1]
Separate the Wi-Fi Band Names (If Needed)
  • The WR1300 is a dual-band AC1200 router. If you use "Smart Connect" (which merges 2.4GHz and 5GHz into one name), your moving phone might not be lagging because it's changing routers—it might be lagging because it is trying to switch bands on the same router.
  • The Fix: Disable Band Steering / Smart Connect in the Cudy dashboard. Give the 2.4GHz network and the 5GHz network entirely separate names (SSIDs). Connect your roaming mobile devices exclusively to the 5GHz network, as its natural shorter range makes it much easier for devices to drop a weak node and pick up a closer
Hopefully this helps you figure out what's going wrong in the setup
 
joker08 said:
I recently switched to a Cudy WR1300 router (got it free from Cool Ideas). The router is set up in the lounge at the front of the house, and I’ve added a Cudy Mesh M1300 in the bedroom on the opposite side.

The issue I’m facing is during Teams calls: when I walk from the bedroom to the lounge, there’s a noticeable lag in the network handoff—around 3–5 seconds. This is my first time using a mesh system, so I’m wondering… is this normal behavior, or is there something I should tweak in the setup?
Click to expand...

You using the same SSID and password on all routers/repeaters?
 
joker08 said:
I recently switched to a Cudy WR1300 router (got it free from Cool Ideas). The router is set up in the lounge at the front of the house, and I’ve added a Cudy Mesh M1300 in the bedroom on the opposite side.

The issue I’m facing is during Teams calls: when I walk from the bedroom to the lounge, there’s a noticeable lag in the network handoff—around 3–5 seconds. This is my first time using a mesh system, so I’m wondering… is this normal behavior, or is there something I should tweak in the setup?
Click to expand...
3-5 seconds is good. On a router/firewall the norm for failover is around 3 to 5 minutes.

It would help to see a wireshark from the main router when that happens. Best to work on evidence and not assumption.
 
found out that my wifes phone doesnt work on wifi in the lounge, the lounge is where the wifi router is, TV has no problem, works fine. Sat with my phone in the lounge and facing similar issue.
I have now split the wireless signal into lounge2.4G and 5G, office 2.4G and 5G. I have changed the office mesh Ac1200 mode to a wifi-access point.
I dont know what else to do. any suggestions ?
 
PatchTuesday said:
So I don't own this router, but from my limited research it appears that when setting up a mesh network, it enables fast roaming by default. So flashing OpenWRT might not necessarily even solve your problem.

Ran this particular thing through co-pilot for some quick suggestions

Correct the Distance Between Nodes [1]
  • If your Cudy units are spaced too far apart, a "dead zone" forms between them. Your device will drop the first signal entirely before struggling to authenticate with the next one. Conversely, if they are too close together, their signals overlap too heavily, causing the device to stay confusedly locked onto the original node.
Match the Wireless Security Settings [1]
  • Fast roaming protocols will break instantly if the nodes handle security handshakes differently.
Change Device-Side Aggressiveness (Laptops)
  • Windows laptops are notoriously stubborn and prefer to stay connected to their original access point until the signal completely dies.
  • The Fix: You can force your computer to look for the closer Cudy node much sooner:
    1. Open the Windows Device Manager and expand Network adapters.
    2. Right-click your Intel/Realtek Wi-Fi card and select Properties.
    3. Go to the Advanced tab and highlight Roaming Aggressiveness (or Roaming Sensitivity).
    4. Change the value from Medium to Medium-High or Highest. [1]
Separate the Wi-Fi Band Names (If Needed)
  • The WR1300 is a dual-band AC1200 router. If you use "Smart Connect" (which merges 2.4GHz and 5GHz into one name), your moving phone might not be lagging because it's changing routers—it might be lagging because it is trying to switch bands on the same router.
  • The Fix: Disable Band Steering / Smart Connect in the Cudy dashboard. Give the 2.4GHz network and the 5GHz network entirely separate names (SSIDs). Connect your roaming mobile devices exclusively to the 5GHz network, as its natural shorter range makes it much easier for devices to drop a weak node and pick up a closer
Hopefully this helps you figure out what's going wrong in the setup
Click to expand...

Co-pilot is talking pure kak.

1. The client side settings don’t apply on a mesh system since it’s the mesh doing the handover not the client device. It’s the whole reason for having mesh in the first place instead of just multiple AP’s with the same SSID.

2. Don’t split your WiFi bands and keep band steering on unless you are putting an AP in every room.

If you do what co-pilot says you are walking into multiple handovers and reconnections from the client side making the original problem far worse.

If you have only 2 AP’s in the entire house you want the Mesh to manage it fully end to end and that includes flipping you between 2.4 and 5ghz as signal strength requires it.

5gh only really works in the same room or the one immediately next door.
 
joker08 said:
found out that my wifes phone doesnt work on wifi in the lounge, the lounge is where the wifi router is, TV has no problem, works fine. Sat with my phone in the lounge and facing similar issue.
I have now split the wireless signal into lounge2.4G and 5G, office 2.4G and 5G. I have changed the office mesh Ac1200 mode to a wifi-access point.
I dont know what else to do. any suggestions ?
Click to expand...

So now you have a mesh system but you aren’t using mesh at all? You’ve gone entirely backwards.

If you want to make this all better go back to the way it was but run a cable between the router and the secondary unit and it will solve most of your problems if not all of them.

Only reason a client would be problematic like that is if you used channels 12-13 on the 2.4ghz band because you chose the wrong country of operation and set channels to auto.

Or you enabled pure WPA3 which can also cause problems. Either use WPA2/WPA3 or stick to WPA2.

You should have one single SSID for everything, that is the point of a mesh system and letting it handle the handover. Your 2-3 seconds delay is likely to be far worse now switching networks entirely client side.
 
SauRoNZA said:
So now you have a mesh system but you aren’t using mesh at all? You’ve gone entirely backwards.

If you want to make this all better go back to the way it was but run a cable between the router and the secondary unit and it will solve most of your problems if not all of them.

Only reason a client would be problematic like that is if you used channels 12-13 on the 2.4ghz band because you chose the wrong country of operation and set channels to auto.

Or you enabled pure WPA3 which can also cause problems. Either use WPA2/WPA3 or stick to WPA2.

You should have one single SSID for everything, that is the point of a mesh system and letting it handle the handover. Your 2-3 seconds delay is likely to be far worse now switching networks entirely client side.
Click to expand...
I let go of the 2-3 seconds problem because the bigger issue is my wife's phone not being able to connect to the internet at all, it connects to the WiFi but there is no internet.
I went backwards to try and eliminate the problem one by one. Since the switch I did today morning her phone is fine.
And yes the secondary unit was always directly connected by an ethernet cable.
 
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