Aimesh vs Router/AP - advice needed

[Mitch]

Hey guys. I've lurked here for years and gleaned tons of valuable info. Thanks for that! I have a 2200sf split-level house with lots of strange walls etc that wifi has to penetrate. The inlet for my cable ISP is in the basement smack in the middle of the house near the HVAC and a bunch of ductwork... not an ideal placement. Here's my situation:

I currently have a Nighthawk x10 R9000 with Voxel firmware. Its been an amazing router for the last year. I tried multiple other routers including the GT-AC5300, RT-AC88U, and Linksys Velop mesh.... nothing worked like the x10 has in terms of wifi speed and wifi signal/whole-house coverage. The trouble is I think my x10 is dieing. The connection keeps going in and out and I've already ruled out the cable modem as its been replaced and the lines have been tested... I have about 30 clients or so give or take.


I bought the x10 from Microcenter, and I was smart enough to buy the 2 year protection plan... therefore if I bring it in I will have about $375 to play with in purchasing a new network system.

I'm not really a fan of the true blue "mesh" systems out there because of their lack of advanced features in the GUI. I have a QNAP Nas that I need some advanced features for, and I also need strong wired performance for my wired devices.

I'm heavily considering trying Aimesh and buying 2x RT-AC86U... my concern is with the inlet being smack in the middle of the house the wifi devices, there will be too much overlap in wifi coverage and my mobile devices won't easily transition to the strongest signal.

It seems like Aimesh has come a long way in terms of being a viable option..... am I missing anything here? Should I try aimesh or should I go with another single router config?

Really wish my x10 wasn't on the outs.... thanks for any advice guys.

 

[sfx2000]

The trouble is I think my x10 is dieing. The connection keeps going in and out and I've already ruled out the cable modem as its been replaced and the lines have been tested.

Classic symptom of an AC adapter going bad - it'll give the voltage, but under load, the the current drops...

I'd suggest replacing the Adapter - it's cheap compared to buying a new router...

 

[OzarkEdge]

If you go the AiMesh route...

Guessing the nature of your split layout, if you can push one 86U toward one end, and the other toward the other end; and the router node can connect your important wired/media clients to unburden your WiFi and wireless backhaul; then I think you might get full coverage inside and out with good 5.0 GHz overlap. Being able to extend the ISP connection (coax or WAN link) may help to optimize a two node layout.

You can set RSSI power thresholds for roaming assistance... the defaults are 2.4 GHz -55dBm and 5.0 GHz -70 dBm.

My 2x86U AiMesh has a 77' wireless backhaul from one end of 1600 sq. ft., through a kitchen and brick breezeway (2 walls) to a 1750 sq. ft. garage. The backhaul signal is barely 4 bars with 2.4 GHz around -57 dBm with Tx/Rx rates around 200 Mbps; and 5.0 GHz around -74 dBm with rates around 580 Mbps. I'd like to wire it or move the garage node closer but I can't and it's adequate. A wireless laptop speed test at the garage node gets full cable ISP speeds of 115/12 Mbps (but not on the latest firmware 3.0.0.4.384.32797; I'm holding on 21140).

For reference, the 5.0 GHz wireless backhaul can hit rates of 2000+ Mbps with nodes side by side.

Coverage outside the brick house is good... I can walk the perimeter of a 2 acre lot watching TV streaming from a network tuner to a tablet... about 200 ft. max from the garage node. Circling around from node to router coverage was seamless (credit the TV app buffering, I suppose).

If your single router setup had coverage issues, two routers will likely help this. If AiMesh fails you, you can drop back to a repeater (wireless) or AP (wired) setup... but you probably won't want to since seamless roaming that works with a single SSID is nice.

That said, AiMesh is a work-in-progress, so you should want to try it. The 86Us have good range; and using two in an AiMesh is convenient when you setup one and then add the other... it doesn't matter which one is which since they are interchangeable.

Two 86Us for $300 now at Micro Center will earn you $75 back!

OE

 

[Mitch]

Classic symptom of an AC adapter going bad - it'll give the voltage, but under load, the the current drops...

I'd suggest replacing the Adapter - it's cheap compared to buying a new router...

Oooo nice I'll see what's up with this first as I have one of those universal adapters.

If you go the AiMesh route...

Guessing the nature of your split layout, if you can push one 86U toward one end, and the other toward the other end; and the router node can connect your important wired/media clients to unburden your WiFi and wireless backhaul; then I think you might get full coverage inside and out with good 5.0 GHz overlap. Being able to extend the ISP connection (coax or WAN link) may help to optimize a two node layout.

You can set RSSI power thresholds for roaming assistance... the defaults are 2.4 GHz -55dBm and 5.0 GHz -70 dBm.

My 2x86U AiMesh has a 77' wireless backhaul from one end of 1600 sq. ft., through a kitchen and brick breezeway (2 walls) to a 1750 sq. ft. garage. The backhaul signal is barely 4 bars with 2.4 GHz around -57 dBm with Tx/Rx rates around 200 Mbps; and 5.0 GHz around -74 dBm with rates around 580 Mbps. I'd like to wire it or move the garage node closer but I can't and it's adequate. A wireless laptop speed test at the garage node gets full cable ISP speeds of 115/12 Mbps (but not on the latest firmware 3.0.0.4.384.32797; I'm holding on 21140).

For reference, the 5.0 GHz wireless backhaul can hit rates of 2000+ Mbps with nodes side by side.

Coverage outside the brick house is good... I can walk the perimeter of a 2 acre lot watching TV streaming from a network tuner to a tablet... about 200 ft. max from the garage node. Circling around from node to router coverage was seamless (credit the TV app buffering, I suppose).

If your single router setup had coverage issues, two routers will likely help this. If AiMesh fails you, you can drop back to a repeater (wireless) or AP (wired) setup... but you probably won't want to since seamless roaming that works with a single SSID is nice.

That said, AiMesh is a work-in-progress, so you should want to try it. The 86Us have good range; and using two in an AiMesh is convenient when you setup one and then add the other... it doesn't matter which one is which since they are interchangeable.

Two 86Us for $300 now at Micro Center will earn you $75 back!

OE

Perfect, if the ac adapter ends up not being the issue I feel comfortable in giving Aimesh a shot. I've always liked Asus routers as their firmware is always been better than Netgear. I really like @RMerlin firmware best, so I wish aimesh could be used with it. Nonetheless Asuswrt is better than Netgear and will suffice. One additional question since your 2nd router is in the garage. Does the flux in temperature from a hot summer to a cool winter negatively impact the router? My garage is finished drywall and insulated garage doors so it helps minimize the extreme temps but obviously there's still temp fluctuation from consistantly hot days in the summer to colder winters. I wanted to put my second node out there for simplicity sake but didn't want to kill it early.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Oooo nice I'll see what's up with this first as I have one of those universal adapters.


Perfect, if the ac adapter ends up not being the issue I feel comfortable in giving Aimesh a shot. I've always liked Asus routers as their firmware is always been better than Netgear. I really like @RMerlin firmware best, so I wish aimesh could be used with it. Nonetheless Asuswrt is better than Netgear and will suffice. One additional question since your 2nd router is in the garage. Does the flux in temperature from a hot summer to a cool winter negatively impact the router? My garage is finished drywall and insulated garage doors so it helps minimize the extreme temps but obviously there's still temp fluctuation from consistantly hot days in the summer to colder winters. I wanted to put my second node out there for simplicity sake but didn't want to kill it early.

I have not noticed a router heat issue in the garage. The large concrete floor with ground contact tends to keep the garage cooler than you would think. We still have temps in the 90s here... I'll check the thermometer and touch the router today.

As for seasonal temperature wear and tear on the router, similar observation... it has to be 11d out for the detached and insulated garage to reach 34d. I don't expect any issues.

OE

 

[Mitch]

Worst case I could still drill a hole through the master bedroom floor/garage ceiling and set it up in the closet. That may be the better option anyways. Although the one in the garage will be the node, and the one in the living room (opposite end of the house) will be the router by the modem. So it will be doing the heavy lifting.

 

[Trip]

Hi Mitch. First off, follow @sfx2000 's idea to test the adapter with a replacement. If that fixes things, all is well.

If you intend on trying to improve the signals even more throughout the house and want to roll out multiple access points, you may want to try and deploy some kind of wired layer 2 connectivity; traditional ethernet if you can, or MoCa (since you have cable, perhaps you also have a few coax drops throughout the house?), or powerline as a last resort. Wired backhaul, even in the form of MoCa or powerline (setup properly), will almost always beat pure wireless for general network quality when building out seamless wifi. But I don't know how far you intend on going here, so take that as you will.

One last idea: if you can wire as per above, you might consider a dedicated wired router at the cable drop, and then locating your APs in the actual places where the broadcasts make the most sense (main floor, perhaps one at either end?). A benefit of segregating roles to discrete components is often time better network performance overall, and also if certain gear fails or you want to upgrade wifi to the next standard, etc., you just replace *that* gear, as opposed to the whole house of cards. But again, might not make sense given your scenario. Just something to think about.

 

[sfx2000]

Oooo nice I'll see what's up with this first as I have one of those universal adapters.

Sure - with your protection plan, one can always swap out everything for a fresh new X10 in the box...

From a CPU/bandwidth perspective, that device is hard to beat right now - and pretty much outclasses the AsusWRT boxes, even the new ones, so it comes down to the Software - and @Voxel has done good work on his builds...