Asus Zenwifi pro ET12 with an RT-AX92U (node) connection strange behavior.

[connkall]

I've contacted Asus support and was not impressed, their solution was RMA which I don't believe...
I have a brand new Zenwifi pro xt12 (which is working fine by itself) that I'm adding to my existing home network which is a pair of
Asus RT-AX92U's. The XT12 will be the main router and I wanted to use one AX92U as a node. Both AX92U's also work perfect
together (one as router and one as node) I don't believe this is a hardware failure issue at all...

After setting the ET12 up as main router and factory reset of the AX92U's I attempted to add just one as a node which worked fine (shows up as Node) in Aimesh menu. I first noticed it picked up a few clients (about 9) and then dropped them all within a few seconds. I then noticed I was unable to change any of the settings on the node in the management menu, like rename it (Guest room, etc..) or change backhaul connection priority, etc... the changes just don't stick and it goes back to the previous setting within a few seconds... So I did the usual reset and start over and still have the same issue. I didn't change any settings on the ET12, just attempt to set up the node as I would when it was just the two AX92's...

So what am I missing? I've confirmed that these devises should work together with Asus support but I think a setting somewhere is wrong...

Thank you in advance if anyone has a suggestion.

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @connkall.

I would either return the router to the store and exchange it, or take up Asus' offer of the RMA.

Your device is not operating as expected (seems like a hardware issue to me).

To fully test out the theory above, you need to do a full reset of your main router and see if the issues persist.

If they do, only more 'proof' that the new hardware is faulty.

 

[connkall]

Welcome to the forums @connkall.

I would either return the router to the store and exchange it, or take up Asus' offer of the RMA.

Your device is not operating as expected (seems like a hardware issue to me).

To fully test out the theory above, you need to do a full reset of your main router and see if the issues persist.

If they do, only more 'proof' that the new hardware is faulty.

I purchased another et12 and it paired without issue as a node. Been using it for a day, both units are working with no issues.

I didn't suspect a hardware issue, seemed more like a compatibility issue between the et12 & AX92U as I originally thought. Both AX92U's exhibited the same behavior when trying to set up them up as a node and the xt12 functions prefect on its own, the AX92U's function perfect on their own.

So my conclusion is AiMesh is not as perfectly compatible as Asus claims...

 

[L&LD]

I always suggest paired (identical) routers to be used in AiMesh for the best results. Glad this also worked for you.

However, unless you did a full reset of your entire network, your conclusions are just your guesses (I'm not sure by your post if you did do full/proper resets or not).

 

[connkall]

Well, the way Asus advertises it per Asus website: "AiMesh is an innovative new router feature that connects multiple ASUS routers to create a whole-home WiFi network. It’s a powerful and flexible way to solve your WiFi problems that also makes the most of your existing hardware: you can mix different ASUS router models, so when you upgrade there’s no need to throw away your old router" that's kind of one of the main selling points as a customer in my opinion.

My testing was simple: added node to ET12, some clients connected to it and everything is working as expected and has continued to work (61 clients total, 12 on node).

I took the Ax92U's to work and set them up and they are performing as expected without issue.

I'd still like to know why the original setup didn't work, I could have tinkered more but honestly I cant have my home network down long or things get hectic.

 

[L&LD]

I don't put much stock into advertising claims.

What I'm suggesting is what works in the real world for me and my customers.

If we don't take the time to do things properly/right, we can't really test the marketing claims at face value, can we? I have taken that time. And for the small percentage of failures or issues with different hardware units, it is easier to just recommend identical units and be done.

 

[SonicYellow]

Hi, the subjects is saying you are using a XT12 but later you write you have a ET12
So witch one is right ? Mixing 5ghz and 6ghz router/nodes can be a problem if you are using the wireless backhaul.
Than you should use a Ethernet backhaul to stay out of trouble

 

[connkall]

Hi, the subjects is saying you are using a XT12 but later you write you have a ET12
So witch one is right ? Mixing 5ghz and 6ghz router/nodes can be a problem if you are using the wireless backhaul.
Than you should use a Ethernet backhaul to stay out of trouble

You are correct, My typo which I will fix ASAP.

 

[connkall]

You are correct, My typo which I will fix ASAP.

Thank you for pointing that out, cant believe I missed it but I confused my self trying to remember the model numbers...(I was originally going to get the XT12)
Anyway, I assumed it had something to do with it (mixing) but Asus support claims they should still work together... I gave up regardless and will just use the ET12 as my main and repurpose the AX92U's.

 

[connkall]

I say the statement from support is BS...

 

[SonicYellow]

Hi that make things clear,

Yes the 2 will work together but it is really unstable, when you use the Ethernet backhaul than it will work 100% is my experience, it’s logical because the ET12 uses the 6ghz as backhaul and the AX92U's uses the 5ghz backhaul, so the ax92u is trying to connect to the normal band 5ghz of the ET12 because he don’t have the 5ghz backhaul, if than also clients connect to the 5ghz band of the ET 12 than there is not enough bandwidth for the ax92u because this band is only 80mhz and not 160 mhz like a normal 5ghz backhaul.
I have here 3 x ET12 and 1 XT8 wired connected works great

 

[connkall]

I figured something along those lines but expected "Asus AiMesh" to sort that all out and deal with it as that's how they market it... AiMesh is supposed to work with AiMesh per Asus, I didn't come across any caveats regarding this specific router (ET12) and other non 6E AiMesh routers.

But whatever, I'm happy with the ET12 so far.