AiMesh Backhaul Connection Priority is missing WAN option

[Jarp]

I tried to use search but did not find messages about this problem... So I am going mad with AiMesh. It's been working poorly for years so I finally got to improve my network. I got separate wired router for routing, DHCP etc. because I want to make sure my wired clients won't drop out when Asus routers have tantrum. Asus routers are used as APs only. I also installed ethernet cable between two routers in my house, but two routers on separate buildings sadly must use wireless link. So my setup is about like this:

Switch is unmanaged and for me it seems to pass thru required VLAN tags so AiMesh could work. AFAIK this should also be supported use case: https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1044184/. But the problem is that when I set up AiMesh, two routers wired together (via switch) do not want to use ethernet backhaul. According to Asus I should set "Backhaul Connection Priority" setting to "1G WAN FIRST", but there is no such option, there is only Auto and 5G First! So despite ethernet cable my mesh is still fully wireless.

If I first build AiMesh only between wired APs and enable "Ethernet backhaul mode", they are able to use ethernet backhaul no problem. Now comes the kicker. If I now disable Ethernet backhaul mode and then add wireless AiMesh nodes, now everything is ok. Wired nodes are communicating via ethernet and wireless via WiFi and everything works as documented by Asus. Then, reboot nodes and bam, they collapse back to wireless links. Args.

So for me it seems that there are no hardware limitations, everything works just fine, but I lack correct Backhaul Connection Priority option in software. According to documentation and according to other posts in this forum option should be there, but it is not. Any advice?

Ps. I also tried to set up everything without AiMesh, wired nodes in AP mode and wireless nodes in Repeater mode. This too works well, except that seems that ethernet ports do not work on wireless nodes (they do work in AiMesh mode) and this again is a problem.

Edit: All nodes are running Asus official firmware 51255. Also tried latest Merlin-Wrt but the same problem.

 

[bbunge]

Leave backhaul priority on auto.

 

[Jarp]

Leave backhaul priority on auto.

Then it's wireless only, ethernet is not being used. I actually just removed switch and wireless only nodes from equation and connected two rt-ac68us together with direct ethernet cable and factory resetted and re-did AiMesh. When added nodes, ethernet was used and after reboot it went back to wireless

I am starting to suspect that routers do think wireless is faster than ethernet hence it always uses wireless backhaul... But in reality it's not.

Edit: Ah ok my direct connection test was not valid. Was using cat5 cable and link was 10/100 only, so wireless indeed were superior. Replaced cable and it went to ethernet backhaul. But when nodes are routed via switch, this is not problem, it's 1 Gbps ethernet link between nodes (could be 2.5 GbE but nodes don't support it).

 

[bbunge]

Then it's wireless only, ethernet is not being used. I actually just removed switch and wireless only nodes from equation and connected two rt-ac68us together with direct ethernet cable and factory resetted and re-did AiMesh. When added nodes, ethernet was used and after reboot it went back to wireless

I am starting to suspect that routers do think wireless is faster than ethernet hence it always uses wireless backhaul... But in reality it's not.

Edit: Ah ok my direct connection test was not valid. Was using cat5 cable and link was 10/100 only, so wireless indeed were superior. Replaced cable and it went to ethernet backhaul. But when nodes are routed via switch, this is not problem, it's 1 Gbps ethernet link between nodes (could be 2.5 GbE but nodes don't support it).

Time to test your Ethernet cables and/or remake the terminal connections?

 

[Techtype]

Then it's wireless only, ethernet is not being used. I actually just removed switch and wireless only nodes from equation and connected two rt-ac68us together with direct ethernet cable and factory resetted and re-did AiMesh. When added nodes, ethernet was used and after reboot it went back to wireless

I am starting to suspect that routers do think wireless is faster than ethernet hence it always uses wireless backhaul... But in reality it's not.

Edit: Ah ok my direct connection test was not valid. Was using cat5 cable and link was 10/100 only, so wireless indeed were superior. Replaced cable and it went to ethernet backhaul. But when nodes are routed via switch, this is not problem, it's 1 Gbps ethernet link between nodes (could be 2.5 GbE but nodes don't support it).

Switches are cheap, get another brand switch from Amazon and test with that, if it still fails return the switch.

 

[Jarp]

Time to test your Ethernet cables and/or remake the terminal connections?

Valid thinking and I was almost sure after your comment that cabling is indeed bad. But no, both nodes have steady 1 Gbps connection. I tried to disable 5 GHz radios from nodes, hoping that it would go back to ethernet, but no. I also disabled 2.4 GHz radios, but no luck.

Then I again tried to enable ethernet only backhaul mode, re-did AiMesh and again ethernet was used no probem. Rebooted and back to wifi. Then tried to re-enable ethernet backhaul mode and got error message: "The following node(s) are not connected with an Ethernet cable currently."

So, looks like switch is source of the problem (or sloppy AiMesh implementation dunno).

Switches are cheap, get another brand switch from Amazon and test with that, if it still fails return the switch.

Yeah could try that... I've wanted PoE switch long time anyways...

 

[Joseph Gan]

I tried to use search but did not find messages about this problem... So I am going mad with AiMesh. It's been working poorly for years so I finally got to improve my network. I got separate wired router for routing, DHCP etc. because I want to make sure my wired clients won't drop out when Asus routers have tantrum. Asus routers are used as APs only. I also installed ethernet cable between two routers in my house, but two routers on separate buildings sadly must use wireless link. So my setup is about like this:

View attachment 48351

Switch is unmanaged and for me it seems to pass thru required VLAN tags so AiMesh could work. AFAIK this should also be supported use case: https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1044184/. But the problem is that when I set up AiMesh, two routers wired together (via switch) do not want to use ethernet backhaul. According to Asus I should set "Backhaul Connection Priority" setting to "1G WAN FIRST", but there is no such option, there is only Auto and 5G First! So despite ethernet cable my mesh is still fully wireless.

If I first build AiMesh only between wired APs and enable "Ethernet backhaul mode", they are able to use ethernet backhaul no problem. Now comes the kicker. If I now disable Ethernet backhaul mode and then add wireless AiMesh nodes, now everything is ok. Wired nodes are communicating via ethernet and wireless via WiFi and everything works as documented by Asus. Then, reboot nodes and bam, they collapse back to wireless links. Args.

So for me it seems that there are no hardware limitations, everything works just fine, but I lack correct Backhaul Connection Priority option in software. According to documentation and according to other posts in this forum option should be there, but it is not. Any advice?

Ps. I also tried to set up everything without AiMesh, wired nodes in AP mode and wireless nodes in Repeater mode. This too works well, except that seems that ethernet ports do not work on wireless nodes (they do work in AiMesh mode) and this again is a problem.

Edit: All nodes are running Asus official firmware 51255. Also tried latest Merlin-Wrt but the same problem.

"Router" in your diagram must be an AiMesh router, for this to work. Two AiMesh nodes cannot peer with each other through the WAN port.

 

[Jarp]

"Router" in your diagram must be an AiMesh router, for this to work. Two AiMesh nodes cannot peer with each other through the WAN port.

Really? Well I would not be surprised... There are so many other software limitations as well that this is just one more Which is stupid, I really do like Asus routers but when I move to wifi6 I need to consider moving to pro grade equipment.

Anyways, as a workaround, I have now created two wireless AiMesh networks. Wired APs now form their own mesh with wireless nodes. Ethernet ports on nodes do now fully work and since I used the same SSIDs, my clients seems to be able to roam between two meshes just fine. As an added bonus I was able to specify different frequencies to both meshes so less interference. So far I have not found out any negatives (except that I have to maintain manually two meshes but that is non-issue).

It would be of course best to dig a cable between buildings so that everything would be fully wired (garage needs network for my 3D printer, another building is for remote work so I need network for my laptop). I was about to do this until I was warned about lightning striking ground and destroying equipment from both ends. This could be mitigated by using fiber but then I would need even more equipment. I get 300Mbps+ speeds wirelessly so it is more than enough, but it has to be stable...

Anyways, thanks everybody!

 

[Joseph Gan]

Yes, clients can roam between meshes, but their IP address will change and existing connections will drop, as the roaming is not seamless. However, since this is between two buildings, this roaming will not happen frequently and maintaining two separate meshes looks like a feasible setup for your use case.

 

[Jarp]

Yes, clients can roam between meshes, but their IP address will change and existing connections will drop, as the roaming is not seamless. However, since this is between two buildings, this roaming will not happen frequently and maintaining two separate meshes looks like a feasible setup for your use case.

Actually it's even better... Everything seems to work just fine when AiMesh routers are in AP mode ("Access Point(AP) mode / AiMesh Router in AP mode" in GUI) so there are no separate networks nor NAT nor DHCP or anything. Clients pull their IP from my wired router and all devices see each other.

Not sure if existing connections will drop when wireless clients switch from one mesh to another, but that is really non-issue as my wireless devices are for media consumption only and everything important is wired.