AiMesh - 5ghz-2 is now dedicated backhaul after recent firmware? (wired backhaul)

[drabisan]

They do say "If you have already set up 3 different WiFi names for each band, the dedicated backhaul will not automatically establish."
But that implies no Smart Connect. Once you bring up SC, the 2nd radio becomes a wireless backhaul.

 

[Noisrevid]

They do say "If you have already set up 3 different WiFi names for each band, the dedicated backhaul will not automatically establish."
But that implies no Smart Connect. Once you bring up SC, the 2nd radio becomes a wireless backhaul.

Even with the ethernet backhaul already plugged in while adding the AiMesh Node it still set 5ghz-2 as a 'dedicated backhaul' and it still even states that's it dedicated when looking at the settings even though my "trick" seems to undedicate it completely. However, I doubt this "trick" works on all setups and i'm even afraid that future firmware updates might take it away from me :/

 

[markm75]

I just noticed this thread, after having posted one of my own. Got the xen wifi ct8 and backhaul is forced to 5ghz-2 as its own wifi, no triband, says dual mode so there are essentially two ssids showing up. I tried toggling the option in the phone app, but it doesnt give an apply button (to turn off wireless backhaul), i guess technically its off since it shows up with 2 ssids, but i want one single ssids for all 3 bands (triband), no workarounds still? I had just firmware upgraded the router, 1 day after purchasing. Or is the only fix still do some sort of firmware downgrade (which firmware?) and lose all settings, or can you import the newer firmware settings? Any drawbacks?

 

[L&LD]

Yes !

 

[Eclipse00]

To hand set the 2nd 5G SSID
SSH to router
nvram set wl2_ssid="new-name"
nvram commit

Note: wl0 (2.4) wl1(5-1) wl2(5-2)

 

[WhiteDogBe]

To hand set the 2nd 5G SSID
SSH to router
nvram set wl2_ssid="new-name"
nvram commit

Note: wl0 (2.4) wl1(5-1) wl2(5-2)

Thanks for this, I was able to give my 5Ghz-2 onmy Lyra the same name as the other 2 again this way.
I don't have an option for this in theinterface or app sadly.

Getting a 2-pack AX92U next week, hope they fixed this poperly in AiMesh 2.0

 

[herpacin]

Thanks for this, I was able to give my 5Ghz-2 onmy Lyra the same name as the other 2 again this way.
I don't have an option for this in theinterface or app sadly.

Getting a 2-pack AX92U next week, hope they fixed this poperly in AiMesh 2.0

Once I set things up and the backhaul took over 5g-2, I went into the quick internet setup and setup the main unit as an AI Mesh again and low and behold 5g-2 had devices attached. Just dont go back into wireless settings and make further mods otherwise you will have to run the quick setup again.

 

[samzedder]

This seems to be working properly under AiMesh 2.0 using the release candidate of the 386 firmware. You can download it here - FYI this is not my Google Drive use at your own risk.

I got this working in these scenarios

• Both Router and Node are running 386 firmware.
• With the main router on 386 and the node on 384. My node is Netgear R7000 running XWRT-VORTEX 384 firmware.

Lastly, this has been annoying that the Asus interface under 384 wouldn't stop using 5Ghz-2 as the dedicated backhaul. As my node is dual band although it clearly shows it has an ethernet backhaul already.

 

[dbell]

To reclaim the 5Ghz-2 band with hard-wired ethernet, use the latest .386 beta firmware and go to AiMesh | Systems Settings and turn on Ethernet backhaul mode.

 

[samzedder]

To reclaim the 5Ghz-2 band with hard-wired ethernet, use the latest .386 beta firmware and go to AiMesh | Systems Settings and turn on Ethernet backhaul mode.

Thanks that’s how I got it working. breathing new life in my r7000 as a dual band node now.

 

[MarkC1978]

I have the GT-AX11000 as the main router and 2 x RT-AX92U as nodes. All connected wirelessly as I am unable to use ethernet at this moment in time.
My understanding is that due to my set up and the way Ai Mesh works, I will always lose the 5g-2 channel and whilst i would prefer not to, i am happy overall. My question is:
If the above is correct and there is no way to not lose it, is there a way where the unavailable channel can be hidden? It still shows up but always says (when you try to connect) that it is not possible to connect. Ideally i would prefer for it not to show up, knowing that smart connect is uisng either of the 2 available channels.
I hope that makes sense. Any guidance is appreciated.
Thanks

 

[drabisan]

When you say "unavailable channel can be hidden" you mean backhaul SSID?
If so, it used to be a hidden SSID. At least it used to be a hidden SSID.
https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1039646/ says it should be a hidden SSID that you can connect to. If you setup a key that you know.
Try to click the option to hide that SSID. If your AiMesh breaks, roll back.

I can't test it, I have enough wires in the house to run a wired backhaul.

 

[MarkC1978]

That seems to have worked thank you!

 

[majika]

Using AsusWRT on RT-AX89X and x2 XT8's (AX6600) *TRI-BAND* AiMesh mode using Ethernet backhaul to connect the XT8's to the AX89X give a MAJOR Network Security problem!

With the second 5G band enabled whilst using a dedicated Ethernet backhaul, the second band (5G_2) gives <SSID>_dwb channel which is completly wide open!!! Zero encryption, Zero Authentication..

This is a Massive security concern, Even with Hidden SSID's active on all 2.4/5G bands Any joe blogs, pedestrians/passers by devices connect automatically!! When i discovered this gaping security hole I investigated and as yet, cannot find a method to assign my proper, secured WLAN settings to the Mischevious 5G_2_dwb channel as to make it secure, as in, enforce WPA2/WPA3 AES on this redundant wireless backhaul.. The only option available is to completely disable this Second 5Ghz channel, which was part of the selling point and reason to build a Wireless mesh network in the first place! a tri-band network (not dual band)
I though if i cannot properly manage the 5G_2_dwb via the GUIThat maybe applying a MAC filltering allow_list would help, however this did NOT seem to apply across to the 5G_dwb channel only to the 2.4G and 5G_1 channels!!!

This is very serious, as by default its wide-open like described above, also there are no means of controlling this in the GUI only by disabling the complete 2nd 5G band. Even so, this should not default to an open wifi channel.. Im using Asus beta AX89X firmware and latest XT8 ASUS F/w