Ai Mesh half internet speed on cable.

[alexxfloo]

I have an Ai Mesh setup which is explained in the diagram. The question is why do I have only 500mbps on the nodes through cable connection . I tested all three nodes and all behave the same. I also tested all other cables and outlets and all work fine.

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @alexxfloo.

It would help to describe your setup in the post itself. The attached image is too small to read easily.

 

[degrub]

First off, when you are using the lan ports on the 66Us ( or any router LAN switch port), that is just another switch in the line, so yes it should run at wire speed or close.
So, the bottleneck is the translation from the 66u WAN port to the LAN or Wireless radio port. Try turning off the radios and see if it changes. i don't know exactly what MESH mode is doing, but if it acts like a single radio channel (even though wired) it would be half duplex by definition = 50% of 1Gbit/s wire speed.

Maybe the 66U WAN to LAN is not capable of handling full Gbit/s ?

Why mesh mode anyway ? Just set up the 66Us as APs. i assume this keeps the LAN ports active. If it does not, just place a 5 port Gbit/s switch in front.

 

[Tech9]

This issue with 1/2 LAN speed when using AC68U variants in wired AiMesh was already reported somewhere. Firmware issue or AiMesh limitation. The hardware is good to handle Gigabit in AP mode or wired AiMesh. The routers in question must be RT-AC66U B1 model, RT-AC68U variant.

 

[degrub]

This issue with 1/2 LAN speed when using AC68U variants in wired AiMesh was already reported somewhere. Firmware issue or AiMesh limitation. The hardware is good to handle Gigabit in AP mode or wired AiMesh. The routers in question must be RT-AC66U B1 model, RT-AC68U variant.

best i can see, it looks like a AX56U at the head and AC66u distributed.

 

[bbunge]

Wire your nodes directly to the router. Switches, especially managed switches, can cause havoc with AiMesh systems. Make sure your mesh node WAN ports are connected to the router LAN ports. You can also daisy chain the nodes if needed.

 

[Tech9]

best i can see, it looks like a AX56U at the head and AC66u distributed.

Yes. The only AC66U with AiMesh support is RT-AC66U B1 model.

 

[alexxfloo]

First off, when you are using the lan ports on the 66Us ( or any router LAN switch port), that is just another switch in the line, so yes it should run at wire speed or close.
So, the bottleneck is the translation from the 66u WAN port to the LAN or Wireless radio port. Try turning off the radios and see if it changes. i don't know exactly what MESH mode is doing, but if it acts like a single radio channel (even though wired) it would be half duplex by definition = 50% of 1Gbit/s wire speed.

Maybe the 66U WAN to LAN is not capable of handling full Gbit/s ?

Why mesh mode anyway ? Just set up the 66Us as APs. i assume this keeps the LAN ports active. If it does not, just place a 5 port Gbit/s switch in front.

Ai Mesh has something very useful : it handles roaming, the device is always connected to the router that has the best signal.
The ac66ub1 has gigabit internal switch.

 

[alexxfloo]

Wire your nodes directly to the router. Switches, especially managed switches, can cause havoc with AiMesh systems. Make sure your mesh node WAN ports are connected to the router LAN ports. You can also daisy chain the nodes if needed.

I will try and test this but if this is the case I am pretty much out of luck because I can't wire the main router directly to the nodes.

 

[Tech9]

Ai Mesh has something very useful : it handles roaming, the device is always connected to the router that has the best signal.

It doesn't handle anything. Wired AiMesh or routers in AP Mode - roaming is the same. Tested and confirmed. The client decides where to connect. You perhaps read too many Asus AiMesh advertisements. The same radios - the same roaming capabilities. You can test for yourself.

 

[alexxfloo]

This issue with 1/2 LAN speed when using AC68U variants in wired AiMesh was already reported somewhere. Firmware issue or AiMesh limitation. The hardware is good to handle Gigabit in AP mode or wired AiMesh. The routers in question must be RT-AC66U B1 model, RT-AC68U variant.

I have main router - switch - nodes hard wired.

 

[Tech9]

If you don't need Guest Network to AP's, Router + AP's configuration is better than AiMesh.