La roaming aggressiveness It is a very important factor when browsing the Internet, because it helps us maintain a stable and efficient network.
The quality of our connection depends on it, and that is why we are going to see how to activate and deactivate it from a computer that uses Windows as its operating system.
What is roaming aggression?
Roaming aggression or aggressive roaming It is a feature of wireless network cards (WiFi) that determines how quickly and frequently a device is able to search for and connect to a new access point (AP) when the current network signal weakens or is lost.
Put more simply, it is a mechanism that speeds up the WiFi card's ability to find a better connection.
How does aggressive roaming work?
When a computer is connected to a Wi-Fi network, its network card constantly monitors the signal strength. If it falls below a predefined threshold, the card starts searching for other available APs.
Roaming aggressiveness affects how quickly your Wi-Fi card does its job, because the better it does it, the less likely you'll notice any fluctuations in your connection.
The factors that influence its functioning are:
- Device configuration. Most computers allow you to adjust the level of roaming aggressiveness from the network card settings.
- Signal strength. It is the threshold from which the search for a new AP begins.
- Network density. In environments that have many APs, the roaming aggressiveness needs to be higher to ensure a stable connection.
- Type of devices. In the case of mobile phones, these tend to have more aggressive roaming than stationary devices.
- Type of security protocol. These can affect the switching speed between APs.
The good and bad of high roaming aggressiveness
This mechanism has good and not so good things that you should know before activating it.
Benefits
- Improves connection stability.
- Allows navigate at a higher speed.
- Provides better coverage in areas with weak signal.
Drawbacks
- If you activate it from a laptop, you will notice that the battery consumption of the device becomes higher.
- The switching process between APs can cause a slight delay in connection.
- In environments where there are many devices, high roaming aggressiveness can increase interference.
How to enable roaming aggressiveness in Windows?
To activate this system you have to follow these steps:
Access the Device Manager
You can get to it using the keyboard shortcut Windows + S or by typing “Device Manager” into your computer’s search bar.
You can also access from the Control Panel with this route:
- Open the Start menu.
- Search for “Control Panel.”
- Choose “Hardware and Sound” > “Device Manager”.
Locate the WiFi network adapter
Once in the Device Manager window, go to the “Network adapters” section.
Look for the name of your WiFi adapter, which might be something like “Intel Wireless-AC 9560.”
Access advanced properties
Right click on your WiFi adapter and select “Properties” and then in the pop-up window go to “Advanced”.
Find the roaming aggressiveness option
Within the list of advanced properties, look for the one called “Roaming Aggressiveness.” The exact name may vary slightly depending on the manufacturer of your network adapter, but it should be something similar to the names we’ve shown you.
Adjust the value
Click on the “Value” field and select the level of aggressiveness you want:
- Low value. This means that the device will switch networks less frequently. This is most useful in environments with a stable connection.
- High value. This assumes that the device will actively search for new networks, and is useful if you need to improve the connection in environments where the signal is weak or there are multiple networks.
Save the changes
All you have to do is click “OK” to save the changes. Close all open windows and you are done with roaming aggressiveness.
As an extra tip, after making the changes it is interesting restart the network adapter for the changes to take effect.
How to disable roaming aggressiveness in Windows?
The steps are basically the same:
- Access Device Manager.
- Locate your WiFi network adapter.
- Access advanced properties.
- Find the roaming aggressiveness option.
Then you can disable or decrease the valueIf there is a disable option, this will turn off aggressive roaming completely. If you don't have this option available, you can choose the lowest aggressive roaming value.
Click “OK” to save the changes and your new settings are now ready. As in the previous case, you should also restart the network adapter to ensure that the changes take effect.
Disabling roaming aggressiveness may help you If you are experiencing frequent disconnections or high latency, because this helps to stabilize the connection and avoid constant network changes that may be causing these problems.
It is also advisable to do this if you are in an environment where the WiFi signal is strong and stable. This reduces battery consumption (if you are working with a laptop) and improves the overall performance of the device.
Using roaming aggressiveness, we can improve the connection capacity of our networks. However, if we have it too high, it can become a problem in certain situations. Therefore, it is best to evaluate the connection conditions in your environment and make your decisions based on them. Otherwise, you have already seen that activating and deactivating this feature is quick and easy.