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AiMesh questions from a newbie

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Damun

Occasional Visitor
Greetings all :)

I have been reading through this great forum for a while and this is my first post here.
I don't have that much experience with networking and very limited knowledge, but i am willing to learn as much as i can.

Backstory:
I have recently receieved a new modem/WiFi router from my ISP as the old one died after 6-7 years of working flawlessly. The new modem/router is of a different brand and should be a step up. Since i've set it up i've been having some problems with WiFi stability and coverage in my home. Unforunately this seems to be a common problem with this particular modem/router. This is especially annoying as both my two children and myself are working from home, using Teams, due to COVID19 restrictions.
We live in an apartment and the WiFi was particularly bad in my daughters room - she would often loose connection to the WiFi on her devices.
So i decided to put the crappy modem/router in bridge mode and get a new WiFi setup. After reading a lot of reviews and being on a budget i decided on Asus: I do have a couple of other Asus devices and quite happy with them and the possibility of AiMesh was appealing.
I found a good deal on 2x Asus AX-58U and bought them. I set AiMesh up using both Asus' guide and some of the excellent guides/install notes found here on the forums.
I have left pretty much everything on default, except AiProtection turned on, and everything seems to work as it is supposed to. I think.
Only thing to do now is to wait and see if the WiFi has improoved in my daughters room.

I do have a couple of questions that i hope you can help me with:

1) Is there a way to test the functionality and speed of the node? How do i know if it's working - apart from seing it in the web GUI on the router?
2) Is there a way to find out which devices are hooked up to the node? (Using the android app i can se that some devices are connected but not what the devices are)
3) Can a device be forced to only connect to the node?
 
Update:
Regarding my question 2: I found out by using the web GUI i could see which devices connect to the node.
 
For question 3, the answer is in the same menu. The little icons to the right of the clients connecting to the node, bottom right of the screen, (2 'chain' pics, linked together loosely) highlight them and they will let you force connect to only that node.
I highly recommend using a computer, move options to see there.
If you have an android phone, get the WifiAnalyzer app from the play store. Use that while the phone is located where exactly you want to test the signal, and wait a few minutes for any changes.
Other than that, the AImesh menu should tell you the signal status from the main menu. Click aimesh menu, then click the node, and connection status is above it. (mine's in green) Great or good is ok. :)

All this is assuming you've got the latest beta flashed.
 
Thank you for the answers and suggestions @SandmanXX :)
I allready have the WiFi Analyzer app and i have used it to test signal strength, channel etc.
Regarding the force connect: I don't see any "chain" pics in the list or menu. I'm guessing that it's because i use the official stock asus firmware, updated to latest.
I appreaciate your suggestion but I don't think that i'm ready to venture into flashing my routers with beta versions, yet :)

For now all 3-4 devices are connected to the node and all seems to be fine. The real test is tomorrow when we all have to be on Zoom and Teams.
 

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