Earlier versions of macOS don't support Fast BSS Transition, also known as 802.11r. MacOS supports static PMKID (Pairwise Master Key identifier) caching to help optimize roaming between BSSIDs in the same ESSID. MacOS Monterey supports 802.11r and 802.11v on Mac computers with Apple silicon. You don't have to deploy additional SSIDs to support macOS because macOS interoperates with 802.11r. macOS doesn't support Fast BSS Transition, also known as 802.11r. End users could experience interrupted service in the form of dead air. Depending on the environment’s authentication infrastructure, this might take several seconds. The security and authentication method determines how quickly this can happen.įirst, 802.1X-based authentication requires the client to complete the entire EAP key exchange. Then, it can deauthenticate from the current BSSID. Roaming involves the client authenticating against the new BSSID and deauthenticating from the current BSSID. Roam performance describes how long a client needs to authenticate successfully to a new BSSID.įinding a valid network and AP is only part of the process. The client must complete the roam process quickly and without interruption so the user doesn't experience downtime. This is true even if the macOS client is idle or transmitting/receiving data. MacOS selects a target BSSID whose reported RSSI is 12 dB or greater than the current BSSID’s RSSI. MacOS Monterey supports 802.11k on Mac computers with Apple silicon.Įarlier versions of macOS don't support 802.11k but do interoperate with SSIDs that have 802.11k enabled. 40 MHz channel width is preferred over 20 MHz.80 MHz channel width is preferred over 40 MHz or 20 MHz.If multiple 5 GHz SSIDs receive the same score, macOS chooses a network based on these criteria: Higher score networks offer a better Wi-Fi experience. macOS uses these details along with signal strength measurements (RSSI) to score candidate networks. MacOS considers information shared by networks about channel utilization and quantity of associated clients. MacOS always defaults to the 5 GHz band over the 2.4 GHz band. This happens as long as the RSSI for a 5 GHz network is at least -68 dBm and the load on the network is not excessive.

Rssi range wifi