AiMesh question

[lilstone87]

Well here's my question/concern. I have a two router setup, one as the main router, second as a mesh node. What I'm curious about, is if my clients will only connect to the router with better signal, when it first connects to wifi? So say one router is located where most devices enter, so they first connect to it(main router). However most devices end up being located closer to the secondary router, while within the home. How is this handled within AiMesh?

Because just a few minutes ago, I was connected to the secondary router with better signal. Yet I ended up moving closer to the main router, so my device dropped a bit of signal. The device was not active for a few minutes between this movement, so I expected when I started actively using it again, it would auto connect to the closer router. However that didn't happen. So to me.. what's the point of AiMesh, if the device is only gonna connect to the closer router, upon first connecting to the wifi?

In that case, my secondary router is able to be connected to the main router wired. So would I be better off running the secondary router in standard AP mode, with different SSID, and such? Because I honestly thought with AiMesh in place, devices would seamlessly switch to the router with better signal, not wait till the device connects/reconnects to wifi, to do so. Is there a minimum signal level I'm not aware of, before the device will try to swap to another node with better signal?

 

[bbunge]

Well here's my question/concern. I have a two router setup, one as the main router, second as a mesh node. What I'm curious about, is if my clients will only connect to the router with better signal, when it first connects to wifi? So say one router is located where most devices enter, so they first connect to it(main router). However most devices end up being located closer to the secondary router, while within the home. How is this handled within AiMesh?

Because just a few minutes ago, I was connected to the secondary router with better signal. Yet I ended up moving closer to the main router, so my device dropped a bit of signal. The device was not active for a few minutes between this movement, so I expected when I started actively using it again, it would auto connect to the closer router. However that didn't happen. So to me.. what's the point of AiMesh, if the device is only gonna connect to the closer router, upon first connecting to the wifi?

In that case, my secondary router is able to be connected to the main router wired. So would I be better off running the secondary router in standard AP mode, with different SSID, and such? Because I honestly thought with AiMesh in place, devices would seamlessly switch to the router with better signal, not wait till the device connects/reconnects to wifi, to do so. Is there a minimum signal level I'm not aware of, before the device will try to swap to another node with better signal?

All depends.
Your signature cites an AX88U but what is the mesh node device?
You say latest Merlin firmware but that could be the alfa version. You need to cite the firmware exactly!
Are you using Roaming Assistant and if so what are the settings?

 

[lilstone87]

AX88U<->AC3100
Running firmware 386.2_4 on both
Roaming Assistant? I don't recall a setting for this. I found it under advanced. Not currently using it, might try it out.

 

[bbunge]

AX88U<->AC3100
Running firmware 386.2_4 on both
Roaming Assistant? I don't recall a setting for this. I found it under advanced. Not currently using it, might try it out.

Since you have an AC router for mesh node:
2.4 GHz at 20 MHz on fixed channel (1, 6 or 11 recommended)
5 GHz at 80 MHz on channel 36 or 149
Disable Airtime Fairness and Universal Beamforming for both bands in professional
Use WPA2
Dual Band Smart Connect should be OK

You may be able to use 160 MHz for the 5 GHz band but I would use channel 36 as this will use four channels in non-DFS which the AC devices will like and four channels in DFS.

 

[lilstone87]

Since you have an AC router for mesh node:
2.4 GHz at 20 MHz on fixed channel (1, 6 or 11 recommended)
5 GHz at 80 MHz on channel 36 or 149
Disable Airtime Fairness and Universal Beamforming for both bands in professional
Use WPA2
Dual Band Smart Connect should be OK

You may be able to use 160 MHz for the 5 GHz band but I would use channel 36 as this will use four channels in non-DFS which the AC devices will like and four channels in DFS.

Already have the 2.4G set that way.
Had the 5G band set that way, just was using channel 48.
Airtime is disabled already, set UB to disabled.
Already use WPA2.
I haven't used Smart Connect, honestly don't think it's a big deal either way.

I rather stay at 80mhz overall on the 5G band. I have plenty of neighbors, and plenty of wifi bands I see from within my home.

Overall I'm considering taking my secondary router out of mesh node mode, and just running it in AP mode. As I tried Roaming Assistant just a little bit ago, and my phone should of dropped off my main router, and connected to my node(secondary) router. However it didn't, it stayed connected to the main router, with a weaker signal. With that, I'm honestly not impressed by AiMesh right now. Plus the router in mesh mode, you can't modify its settings. I guess it just copies any wifi type changes done to the main router.

So at this moment, I'm thinking of keeping secondary router in its current spot, running it in AP mode, with a different SSID, and such. So most of my home devices connect to it. As most of them will be closer to it, at all times. Mainly the reason most devices connect to the main router first, is due to where both routers are setup, so when phones, and such, first connect to the home network. They will see the main router first, even though, they should switch to the secondary router soon after. As signal quality will be better for them, due to location.

 

[Tech9]

As I tried Roaming Assistant just a little bit ago, and my phone should of dropped off my main router, and connected to my node(secondary) router. However it didn't, it stayed connected to the main router, with a weaker signal.

My observations also - Roaming Assistant is not working. When set at -70dBm iPhones stay connected at -82dBm and don't switch APs.

 

[OzarkEdge]

My observations also - Roaming Assistant is not working. When set at -70dBm iPhones stay connected at -82dBm and don't switch APs.

Does it work/roam better if you ignore the actual RSSI setting and just raise it? So, try -55 dBm instead of -70.

OE

 

[Tech9]

No change

Does it work/roam better if you ignore the actual RSSI setting and just raise it?

It didn't work in my experiments. Some clients hold the AP as long as the signal is useable regardless of Roaming Assistant settings. To my surprise I had clients initially connecting to the node 40ft away while physically located 10ft away from the main. AiMesh 2.0 needs more work.

 

[Tech9]

Your setup @OzarkEdge is perhaps the best for AiMesh - routers far apart and the same model. The further the nodes are the better chance for clients to roam. When I mixed different routers the overall stability of AiMesh was lower. I had nodes disappearing and disconnecting.

 

[lilstone87]

AiMesh 2.0 needs more work.

This I can agree with. I love the ideal of what they want it to do. However currently it's useless imho, as it's not a seamless switch between router/nodes, to keep your devices on better wifi signal. Because once they're connected to one, unless they reconnect to the wifi, the device will stay on the original router/node. For me, that can be a bit problematic, when someone within my home expects their signal to stay strong, yet that's not the case. As I have personally tested myself a few times, moving a good bit away from the main router, super close to the node router. Yet I stay connected to the main router with 2-3 bars of wifi, instead of 4. I even tested with my phone off, in a idle state for 10-15 minutes. Thinking maybe it would switch to the close router, once I started using it again. However that wasn't the case.

So my personal opinion right now, if you have it where you can run the secondary router in just AP mode, and know which devices would more often be closer to that router. Just set different SSID's between the two routers, and have them connect to the one they're most likely closer to more often. This seems to be what I will do for now, as AiMesh isn't working to the standard I expected from it. Hell not even Roaming Assistant is working, which I thought could be useful with AiMesh. But it doesn't work, so overall pointless feature within advanced wifi menu.

 

[arlenyan]

I was recently in the same situation as OP.

I initially tried Google Wifi, because they were reasonably priced access points supporting the 802.11k/v standards that assist with roaming. It actually worked well - an iPhone 12 Pro Max roamed as I walked from AP to AP. However, I ended up returning the Google Wifi due to 1.) one of the pucks getting bricked somehow and 2.) it not supporting more than one puck in “bridge” mode (without any puck in “standard” mode) and 3.) the Google Home app for using/configuring the pucks being rather poor and buggy.

Next, based on all the positive feedback from everyone on this forum, I setup two ethernet-backed RT-AX86U with AiMesh. Initially it wasn’t switching AP.

I measured the RSSI from AP to AP using Airport Utility on an iPhone 12 Pro Max. The near AP was about -36dbm and the far AP was about -62dbm.

I noticed Roaming Assistant was set to disconnect the client at -70dbm by default. I changed it to disconnect at -50dbm. After I did this the switching now works. The switch is not immediate but happens within a minute or so on my iPhone 12 Pro Max client.

I am inclined to try two access points that support 802.11k/v/r. Open to suggestions on this!