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ASUS AiMesh: Issues with 2.4GHz clients

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nedwoods

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My post relates to an issue with ASUS AiMesh and 2.4GHz clients.

I have configured a Blue Cave as the AiMesh router and 2x RT-AC68U's as AiMesh nodes. The AiMesh nodes connect wirelessly to the router (i.e. they are not connected using a cable).

The problem is when my AiMesh nodes are turned on they will substitute the first 6-digits of the MAC address of 2.4GHz clients and assign a different IP address, resulting in the same device appearing twice on the network with two different MAC addresses (one real, the other one prefixed by ASUS) and two IP addresses.

For example, if a 2.4GHz client has a 'real' MAC address of DC:F5:05:42:10:0C it can (and will) appear on the network with a MAC of 0E:9D:92:42:10:0C or B2:6E:BF:42:10:0C (depending on which of the AiMesh nodes the client has attached to) and be assigned a new IP address!

This means my wi-fi enabled AC's, light bulbs, speakers and solar inverter 'disappear' from their respective apps/web monitoring page. My home automation also breaks because clients don't appear as expected (they're assigned a different IP and MAC).

This problem only exists with the AiMesh nodes running! If the AiMesh nodes are turned off, the 2.4GHz clients will correctly attach to the Blue Cave AiMesh router with its correct MAC address and be assigned an IP address. I recreate the problem simply by powering up one or both of my AiMesh nodes.

I've had a support call open with ASUS for weeks, so far without any suggestion of what is wrong.
I've tried everything I can think of to fix the problem (including factory hard-resets and rebuild of the entire network) but without resolution.

If anyone has any idea what might be causing the problem or have fixed it, please let me know!

In the meantime I'll post updates with any information I receive from ASUS.
 
That's a strange one. I'm using an AC86U router with one AC68U AiMesh node and it's working as expected and not doing anything with the MAC or IP addresses of the devices that connect to the node.
 
My post relates to an issue with ASUS AiMesh and 2.4GHz clients.

I have configured a Blue Cave as the AiMesh router and 2x RT-AC68U's as AiMesh nodes. The AiMesh nodes connect wirelessly to the router (i.e. they are not connected using a cable).

The problem is when my AiMesh nodes are turned on they will substitute the first 6-digits of the MAC address of 2.4GHz clients and assign a different IP address, resulting in the same device appearing twice on the network with two different MAC addresses (one real, the other one prefixed by ASUS) and two IP addresses.

For example, if a 2.4GHz client has a 'real' MAC address of DC:F5:05:42:10:0C it can (and will) appear on the network with a MAC of 0E:9D:92:42:10:0C or B2:6E:BF:42:10:0C (depending on which of the AiMesh nodes the client has attached to) and be assigned a new IP address!

This means my wi-fi enabled AC's, light bulbs, speakers and solar inverter 'disappear' from their respective apps/web monitoring page. My home automation also breaks because clients don't appear as expected (they're assigned a different IP and MAC).

This problem only exists with the AiMesh nodes running! If the AiMesh nodes are turned off, the 2.4GHz clients will correctly attach to the Blue Cave AiMesh router with its correct MAC address and be assigned an IP address. I recreate the problem simply by powering up one or both of my AiMesh nodes.

I've had a support call open with ASUS for weeks, so far without any suggestion of what is wrong.
I've tried everything I can think of to fix the problem (including factory hard-resets and rebuild of the entire network) but without resolution.

If anyone has any idea what might be causing the problem or have fixed it, please let me know!

In the meantime I'll post updates with any information I receive from ASUS.

There's probably a hardware specific explanation for this issue, but given the disruption to your home automation, I suspect you will need to switch to a different router... like a couple of AC86Us.

How does it behave with a wired node? A 100' Ethernet patch cord is handy to have on hand for trying such things.

How does it behave using a 68U as the router/root node?

OE
 
My AiMesh setup works flawlessly. I could not be happier. I have 28 devices on my network.
 
There's probably a hardware specific explanation for this issue, but given the disruption to your home automation, I suspect you will need to switch to a different router... like a couple of AC86Us.

How does it behave with a wired node? A 100' Ethernet patch cord is handy to have on hand for trying such things.

How does it behave using a 68U as the router/root node?

OE

Given others are not experiencing the issue, it may suggest the Blue Cave is the problem. I've been trying to keep the network unchanged at the moment while I'm in a cycle of sending logs to ASUS (I received an email today to say it has been re-escalated after I sent them the latest information) but it'll be an interesting test to see how it goes with just the 68U's. I'll also try the hard-wired node option and report back.
 
My AiMesh setup works flawlessly. I could not be happier. I have 28 devices on my network.

Thanks for the info...do you have 2.4GHz clients on your network as well? I'm only experiencing the problem with the 2.4GHz clients. Also, are you nodes hard-wired to the AiMesh router? My AiMesh nodes are connected to the AiMesh router over wireless and maybe that's contributing to my problems.
 
Thanks for the info...do you have 2.4GHz clients on your network as well? I'm only experiencing the problem with the 2.4GHz clients. Also, are you nodes hard-wired to the AiMesh router? My AiMesh nodes are connected to the AiMesh router over wireless and maybe that's contributing to my problems.

Yes, 11 of those 28 devices are on the 2.4G band. Right now my node is wireless.
 
Hi all...posting a quick update on this problem...


Tested the use of a hard-wired backhaul between the Bluecave AiMesh router and one of the RT-AC68U AiMesh nodes: Result = no problems were experienced, everything worked as expected.

Tested removal of Blue Cave from the setup, i.e. one RT-AC68U configured as an AiMesh router, the other RT-AC68U as an AiMesh node: Result = no problems have been experienced, everything worked as expected. Note, I'm running the 68U's using wireless backhaul.

I've updated the ASUS support case and waiting to hear back. In the meantime, I'll try adding the Blue Cave as a second AiMesh node (with wireless backhaul) to see what happens...I'll post an update after the weekend.
 
Update...I added the Blue Cave as an AiMesh Node (after performing a hard-factory reset of the Blue Cave) and started seeing issues with an existing client joining the network with the first 6 digits of the MAC address prefixed as described in my first post (B2:6E:BF). I've since turned off the Blue Cave and my network has been stable since.
 

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