AX88U Pro with 2 AX86U AIMesh node with horrible Jitter issues

[SchneiderIS]

I have a AX88U Pro with 2 AX86U‘s that are Ethernet backhaul connected at 2.5G. The backhaul appears to be all stable but WiFi is another issue. If I do a reboot then the wifi is good for several days and then it started to degrade at the nodes. When connected to the primary (88U) there is no jitter (seriously 0), but when connected to one of the nodes I have ping/jitter to the level of 36/47 on idle, 22/20 on download, and 171/57 on upload for a download of 336 Mbps and upload of 183Mbps on a Gb internet connection. My upload and download speeds are also all over the map with great downloads after the reboot and then a constant decline. The environment does have a lot of IoT devices and HomeKit extensively setup. From a firmware perspective I am running Merlin on the 88U (388.2_2) and the latest Asus on the 86U’s (3.0.0.4.388.23285). All said though I don’t understand the Pint and Jitter issue. What is causing such long ping and jitter times?

 

[L&LD]

Try an electrical reset on all routers/nodes.

Leave the power button 'on', but pull the power plug from the router, and from the wall AC outlet for a few minutes too. Turn on the main router first, and wait 15 minutes or more before turning on the nodes.

What would a Plan view of the area covered look like? Are the routers on top of each other if on separate floors? Can you move the routers further apart than they already are?

Does turning off one or the other nodes improve things? Were the nodes and the main router fully reset before setting up this network (and, without using a saved backup config file to secure the network and connect to your ISP)?

I would suggest running the same firmware (RMerlin's) on all routers instead of mixing them as you have.

I would also try doing a System Reboot via the AiMesh, System Settings after the routers/network have been 'up' for an hour or more too.

It also won't hurt to test with new cables too. As will testing with manual Control Channels for each band that is affected.

Btw, what client devices are you using to test this? And what is your testing method?