Is it possible to take an AiMesh node offline without pressing the power button?

[costica1234]

Hi everyone,

I've just purchased an ASUS ZenWiFi AX XT8 containing a pack of two routers and I'm very happy with the performance and the AiMesh capability. I've set up the routers yesterday and enabled the Tri-Band Smart Connect feature in the iOS app, and everything looks great. Despite the fact that the general consensus is to avoid upgrading the firmware, I did it anyway and so far I haven't experienced any issues.

That being said, my routers have been set up so that the main one connected to the WAN cable is downstairs, while the AiMesh node is upstairs (note that there is no Ethernet cable between the two routers). Because I'm not often upstairs and neither of my family members use the Internet that much while in bedrooms, I would like to have the ability to temporarily disconnect the AiMesh node. I did this earlier by turning off the node via the power button, but is there a way to do this from the iOS app or the ASUS web interface? Note that I don't want to remove the node (which I've seen as an option in the iOS app); instead, I just want to mark the node as offline. I was thinking about using a smart plug, but I would appreciate a solution that uses the software provided by ASUS.

Thanks for reading!

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hi everyone,

I've just purchased an ASUS ZenWiFi AX XT8 containing a pack of two routers and I'm very happy with the performance and the AiMesh capability. I've set up the routers yesterday and enabled the Tri-Band Smart Connect feature in the iOS app, and everything looks great. Despite the fact that the general consensus is to avoid upgrading the firmware, I did it anyway and so far I haven't experienced any issues.

That being said, my routers have been set up so that the main one connected to the WAN cable is downstairs, while the AiMesh node is upstairs (note that there is no Ethernet cable between the two routers). Because I'm not often upstairs and neither of my family members use the Internet that much while in bedrooms, I would like to have the ability to temporarily disconnect the AiMesh node. I did this earlier by turning off the node via the power button, but is there a way to do this from the iOS app or the ASUS web interface? Note that I don't want to remove the node (which I've seen as an option in the iOS app); instead, I just want to mark the node as offline. I was thinking about using a smart plug, but I would appreciate a solution that uses the software provided by ASUS.

Thanks for reading!

You can just switch it OFF. If the app has a control for this, use it. I doubt the webUI has a control for this.

OE

 

[bbunge]

Smart switch on the node power plug?

 

[dosborne]

What are you trying to accomplish by turning the node off?

Is it power saving, connection issues,.....

 

[costica1234]

What are you trying to accomplish by turning the node off?

Is it power saving, connection issues,.....

My family members are concerned about the increased radiation levels that this second router might bring (even though this node is placed in a bedroom that nobody sleeps in, and there is a distance of like 7m (23ft) to the beds located in the other rooms). Also, like I said in my original post, I don't always need that router to be up and running all the time, so turning it off will also save a little bit on the monthly electricity bill. In the meantime, I'm using a smart switch (because the router downstairs is always on), but would turning the AiMesh node on and off few times a week cause any problems down the road? Personally I would leave it on all the time, as having to wait 2 minutes for the node to go live isn't exactly ideal (and I'm also very skeptical about "Wifi radiation" being harmful to humans).

 

[dosborne]

Well, running the smart switch 24/7 and the mesh node " as required" likely won't save you any actual power, or at least nothing significant, since you will be running 2 devices at times and 1 device full time

Also, back to your original post, an app solution wouldn't control the physical power plug, so you wouldn't save any power there either.

But power aside, and dealing with the wifi radiation, you could dial back the tx output or use wifi scheduling to enable / disable, but I'm not sure if these exist in AP mode as I don't run that any more.

The smart switch sounds like your best option.

 

[costica1234]

Thanks a lot for your input!

I’ve been looking at most settings in the web interface and couldn’t find anything related to Wifi scheduling (perhaps it is in AP mode as you said, but I can’t run that since I only have one Ethernet cable and that is downstairs). I’m going to look at Tx output later.

I also discovered this “Eco mode” in the settings, which I might be using at night instead of relying on the smart switch. Basically the AiMesh node upstairs consumes like 7W of power when up and running (which isn’t a lot), but I will check the consumption in Eco mode later as well.

 

[L&LD]

Unless you're running the node at full tilt all night, the beacons it sends won't hurt anymore than the neighbor's wifi signals all around you. Nor does it take into account the non-WiFi radiation we're all exposed to from natural and government sources either.

Either use the node or not, but don't think you're safe(r) either way. No matter what you end up doing.

 

[costica1234]

I've also checked the wattage when the routers are in the so-called Eco Mode. The instantaneous power consumption was fluctuating from 6 to 7W compared to a constant 7W in normal mode. So basically, there's almost no difference. The speeds were dropping a bit, but I haven't checked very close to the router.