IoT issues: AiMesh vs. AP's, to use Smart Connect or not?

[adambean]

Hey all,

Have a GT-AC5300, RT-AC5300 and AC66u B1. I've had them in AiMesh for quite some time now. Generally speaking, they work great as of the last several firmware updates. What I keep fighting with, is crappy IoT devices that only support 2.4 (like WeMo).

I'm using Smart Connect so everything is a single SSID. I'm assuming this is the core of my issue and that I shouldn't use Smart Connect, and that I should split my channels. The thing is though, with Mesh and Smart Connect, my devices seem to auto balance themselves, pretty damn well! Further, I like having a single network name as it makes life easy.

I'm just not certain what causes these random issues. Some days my IoT devices work like a champ, others, they do not. No rhyme or reason. They're on the network, just don't respond to phone apps, nor Google Alexa, or sometimes or the other.

Further, is there any value in tearing down the Mesh and converting the routers to AP's instead? I'm currently on an Ethernet back-haul, so don't "really" need the Mesh except for (per my naive understanding), that it handles traffic and hands off better than if in AP mode.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

 

[Grisu]

disable AirtimeFairness, MuMIMO and UniversalBeamforming for both bands 2G/5G - it may help.

And keep in mind your AC66U_B1 doesnt support Smart connect, so node-steering not supported between this and the others.
Maybe better to change it for an RT-AC86U.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hey all,

Have a GT-AC5300, RT-AC5300 and AC66u B1. I've had them in AiMesh for quite some time now. Generally speaking, they work great as of the last several firmware updates. What I keep fighting with, is crappy IoT devices that only support 2.4 (like WeMo).

I'm using Smart Connect so everything is a single SSID. I'm assuming this is the core of my issue and that I shouldn't use Smart Connect, and that I should split my channels. The thing is though, with Mesh and Smart Connect, my devices seem to auto balance themselves, pretty damn well! Further, I like having a single network name as it makes life easy.

I'm just not certain what causes these random issues. Some days my IoT devices work like a champ, others, they do not. No rhyme or reason. They're on the network, just don't respond to phone apps, nor Google Alexa, or sometimes or the other.

Further, is there any value in tearing down the Mesh and converting the routers to AP's instead? I'm currently on an Ethernet back-haul, so don't "really" need the Mesh except for (per my naive understanding), that it handles traffic and hands off better than if in AP mode.

Thoughts?

Thanks!

AC1900/AC68/AC66 B1 do not support Smart Connect, so maybe using same SSIDs with the AC66 B1 is troublesome. First test might be to disable Smart Connect and use separate SSIDs. Otherwise, maybe replace the AC66 B1 with a router that supports Smart Connect.

OE

 

[adambean]

disable AirtimeFairness, MuMIMO and UniversalBeamforming for both bands 2G/5G - it may help.

And keep in mind your AC66U_B1 doesnt support Smart connect, so node-steering not supported between this and the others.
Maybe better to change it for an RT-AC86U.

Back before I factory reset to troubleshoot (which helped a lot), I did disable Airtime, not the others. Just set them all, will see how this goes, thanks for the suggestion!

Now that 5ghz-2 is reserved for backhaul (why with Ethernet enabled, who knows!?) - should I apply these changes there as well?

 

[adambean]

AC1900/AC68/AC66 B1 do not support Smart Connect, so maybe using same SSIDs with the AC66 B1 is troublesome. First test might be to disable Smart Connect and use separate SSIDs. Otherwise, maybe replace the AC66 B1 with a router that supports Smart Connect.

OE

I thought this too. I asked the same question here quite some ago and was told I need not worry. At one point during my frustration with this system, I did keep the AC66u unplugged for awhile, and it didn't seem to help. Will put this back into the mix if the previous recommendation doesn't help.

At this point, I wouldn't buy another Asus router. I'm holding out for a Unifi AX solution and will more than likely rebuild later.

Thanks

 

[MayoTheGreat]

I know this is an old post, but from what I searched it was the most recent post discussing AiMesh and Smart Connect. Yesterday I received an RT-AC86u to "replace" my RT-AC68P that was having a hard time keeping up with speeds since I'm pretty sure I purchased it in 2013 or 2014...it served its purpose. I have a 600/20 connection thru Xfinity/Comcast, and could barely reach 300 on any of my devices. I understand the throughput vs link speed differences are about half for actual speeds, but during speed tests a year ago+ with 300 mbps service I was seeing 360-370. I also had to reboot the router quite often to return it to highest speeds, and its range started to suffer.

Anyways, I figured instead of tossing the 68P I'd set it up as an AiMesh node since I get zero signal in my detached garage and my backyard (house built in 1920....has a good amount of brick and cement). Well I followed the M&M config, and by default it had set the 86u with Smart Connect. It's only been a day and I've noticed clients jumping to 2.4 that have 5 ghz radios and are in range, and the hand-off seems pretty random. Now this could be due to the 68P being older and the CPU not being as good as it once was, OR the more likely scenario is that I'm trying to use Smart Connect in my whole network with a node that doesn't support it.

Fortunately in my circumstance, there is only 1 device in my house that currently supports only 2.4 (HP Printer), so I think for me I'm better served to turn off Smart Connect, and have 2 separate SSIDs. I've always had it setup this way with a single router, with manually configured channels, but I guess I was hoping the hand-off in an AiMesh setup would be more seamless.....maybe if I had (2) 86u's. In any case....I'll turn off Smart Connect, set my channels manually, set the 5GHz band routing assistant to -65 or so to help steer clients from the root to the node, and see if the connections get more stable.

For whatever reason I noticed that my desktop (one room over from the Root) was connecting to the node (in the basement, much further away) at the 2.4. I used roaming block list to force the desktop and 1 other device (also in the office) from not connecting to the node, and so far it seems to be working. I have also noticed that any device that can connect to both 2.4 and 5....if it somehow connects to 2.4, can be reconnected to 5 if you turn off and then turn back on wifi....however, this is not ideal as it should be automatic.

I'll change my settings and report back in a day or 2

EDIT: Well....I changed the settings, and already seeing better results with devices connected to the main router, the ac86u. On the desktop I just ran a couple speedtests, and I'm averaging around 550 mbps down over wireless, where as before it would start at about 550 but drop to about 350 by the end of the test.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I know this is an old post, but from what I searched it was the most recent post discussing AiMesh and Smart Connect. Yesterday I received an RT-AC86u to "replace" my RT-AC68P that was having a hard time keeping up with speeds since I'm pretty sure I purchased it in 2013 or 2014...it served its purpose. I have a 600/20 connection thru Xfinity/Comcast, and could barely reach 300 on any of my devices. I understand the throughput vs link speed differences are about half for actual speeds, but during speed tests a year ago+ with 300 mbps service I was seeing 360-370. I also had to reboot the router quite often to return it to highest speeds, and its range started to suffer.

Anyways, I figured instead of tossing the 68P I'd set it up as an AiMesh node since I get zero signal in my detached garage and my backyard (house built in 1920....has a good amount of brick and cement). Well I followed the M&M config, and by default it had set the 86u with Smart Connect. It's only been a day and I've noticed clients jumping to 2.4 that have 5 ghz radios and are in range, and the hand-off seems pretty random. Now this could be due to the 68P being older and the CPU not being as good as it once was, OR the more likely scenario is that I'm trying to use Smart Connect in my whole network with a node that doesn't support it.

Fortunately in my circumstance, there is only 1 device in my house that currently supports only 2.4 (HP Printer), so I think for me I'm better served to turn off Smart Connect, and have 2 separate SSIDs. I've always had it setup this way with a single router, with manually configured channels, but I guess I was hoping the hand-off in an AiMesh setup would be more seamless.....maybe if I had (2) 86u's. In any case....I'll turn off Smart Connect, set my channels manually, set the 5GHz band routing assistant to -65 or so to help steer clients from the root to the node, and see if the connections get more stable.

For whatever reason I noticed that my desktop (one room over from the Root) was connecting to the node (in the basement, much further away) at the 2.4. I used roaming block list to force the desktop and 1 other device (also in the office) from not connecting to the node, and so far it seems to be working. I have also noticed that any device that can connect to both 2.4 and 5....if it somehow connects to 2.4, can be reconnected to 5 if you turn off and then turn back on wifi....however, this is not ideal as it should be automatic.

I'll change my settings and report back in a day or 2

EDIT: Well....I changed the settings, and already seeing better results with devices connected to the main router, the ac86u. On the desktop I just ran a couple speedtests, and I'm averaging around 550 mbps down over wireless, where as before it would start at about 550 but drop to about 350 by the end of the test.

The 68P does not support Smart Connect, so use separate SSIDs.

My notes may offer some AiMesh insight.

OE

 

[MayoTheGreat]

Thanks for the notes. Everything seems significantly more stable when splitting up the SSID's. Especially since my house is only 1500 sq/ft and i only have 2 devices that are 2.4 only, this was definitely the way to go. Im able to get up to 400 mbps down on my phone, 550 down on my desktop, and stream 4k HDR over plex no problem. It was definitely a router issue with the 68P. Probably too many devices connected at once, that now they're split between 2 devices everything is handled much better.