Keep my MacBook connected to my Router, not an AIMesh Node...

[Laurence5905]

So I have an Asus RT-AC88U router, with an RP-AC1900 access point being used as an AIMesh Node...

Where I happen to sit while I work at home is located directly between the two, and my MacBook Pro is constantly switching between them. 4 or 5 times a day, it decides to switch, and every time it switches, it drops all my damn network connections -- remote desktop, NAS, FTP volumes, all of it! I wind up with a bunch of files open that I cannot save. If I'm lucky, it'll time out after 4 or 5 minutes of trying to save them, and then it will let me save them locally. But often it just locks up completely and I never get control of the computer back, so I have to turn it off and back on, which results in lost work -- and, I'm sure will eventually result in corrupting some files on the computer itself, which would be very bad.

I just want it to stick with one or the other -- I honestly don't care which, just pick one and stick with it!

I have added the MacBook Pro's MAC address to the Roaming Block List (Advanced Settings | Wireless | Roaming Block List), but that doesn't appear to do anything. Why do they even have that list?! It literally does nothing! Seriously, what does it do?! Does it only prevent roaming from one node to another, and not from the router to the node(s)? What kind of idiocy is that?!

Does anyone know of any way to keep this stupid thing from switching back and forth? I don't care how I do it -- even if it's not officially supported by Asus and I have to hack something. (For example, if there is a way to get into the RP-AC1900 and tell it to block the MacBook's IP address, I'd do that.) I just want it to pick either the router or the node and stay there! (Preferably the router, but I honestly don't care at this point. Just fix this idiotic switching.)

Thanks for any help you can provide.
L.

 

[OzarkEdge]

So I have an Asus RT-AC88U router, with an RP-AC1900 access point being used as an AIMesh Node...

Where I happen to sit while I work at home is located directly between the two, and my MacBook Pro is constantly switching between them. 4 or 5 times a day, it decides to switch, and every time it switches, it drops all my damn network connections -- remote desktop, NAS, FTP volumes, all of it! I wind up with a bunch of files open that I cannot save. If I'm lucky, it'll time out after 4 or 5 minutes of trying to save them, and then it will let me save them locally. But often it just locks up completely and I never get control of the computer back, so I have to turn it off and back on, which results in lost work -- and, I'm sure will eventually result in corrupting some files on the computer itself, which would be very bad.

I just want it to stick with one or the other -- I honestly don't care which, just pick one and stick with it!

I have added the MacBook Pro's MAC address to the Roaming Block List (Advanced Settings | Wireless | Roaming Block List), but that doesn't appear to do anything. Why do they even have that list?! It literally does nothing! Seriously, what does it do?! Does it only prevent roaming from one node to another, and not from the router to the node(s)? What kind of idiocy is that?!

Does anyone know of any way to keep this stupid thing from switching back and forth? I don't care how I do it -- even if it's not officially supported by Asus and I have to hack something. (For example, if there is a way to get into the RP-AC1900 and tell it to block the MacBook's IP address, I'd do that.) I just want it to pick either the router or the node and stay there! (Preferably the router, but I honestly don't care at this point. Just fix this idiotic switching.)

Thanks for any help you can provide.
L.

Have your tried using the Wireless\Roaming Block List in the router webUI? I have not.

Does your laptop WLAN adapter driver permit disabling 'search for a better connection'?

OE

 

[L&LD]

Set up a guest network for your laptop on the main router and 'forget' the other routers SSID's.

 

[Laurence5905]

Set up a guest network for your laptop on the main router and 'forget' the other routers SSID's.

Unfortunately, the Guest network cannot see the other devices on my network, and I need to be able to use those devices for my file shares and printers... But thanks for the suggestion...

L.

 

[L&LD]

Unfortunately, the Guest network cannot see the other devices on my network, and I need to be able to use those devices for my file shares and printers... But thanks for the suggestion...

L.

Yes, it can.

Simply switch the option for 'Access Lan' for that Guest Network you need the devices to have full access.

 

[Laurence5905]

Have your tried using the Wireless\Roaming Block List in the router webUI? I have not.

Does your laptop WLAN adapter driver permit disabling 'search for a better connection'?

Fourth paragraph, first sentence:

I have added the MacBook Pro's MAC address to the Roaming Block List (Advanced Settings | Wireless | Roaming Block List), but that doesn't appear to do anything.

So, yes, I have tried that... It doesn't seem to do anything... Apparently it's only to prevent roaming directly from one node to another, not to prevent roaming from the router to a node.

And, yes, I can prevent my computer from searching for a "new" network, but the computer doesn't recognize the difference between the node and the router -- as designed -- because they both have the same SSID, and it's the firmware inside the Asus hardware that controls the switching from one to the other, not the computer unfortunately... (Unless there's something I'm not aware of in that area...)

But thanks for the suggestions, nonetheless...

L.

 

[Laurence5905]

Yes, it can.

Simply switch the option for 'Access Lan' for that Guest Network you need the devices to have full access.

Well!! Learn something new every day! I just created a new Guest network and I can access everything on my network through it. We'll see if that keeps it from switching. That'd be fantastic if this works!

Thanks!
L.

 

[L&LD]

It has to work! If you 'forget' the other SSID's your network is using.

 

[Laurence5905]

It has to work! If you 'forget' the other SSID's your network is using.

It should work -- assuming the Asus AIMesh network software doesn't allow switching from the router to a node on the Guest network... The Mac is no longer set to connect to the other SSID, so it definitely won't go back to the old network that I know allows switching... So it's all up to the Asus firmware at this point -- will it allow switching from the router to the node (and back) while that device is connected to its Guest network, or won't it? We'll see...

 

[OzarkEdge]

Fourth paragraph, first sentence:


So, yes, I have tried that... It doesn't seem to do anything... Apparently it's only to prevent roaming directly from one node to another, not to prevent roaming from the router to a node.

And, yes, I can prevent my computer from searching for a "new" network, but the computer doesn't recognize the difference between the node and the router -- as designed -- because they both have the same SSID, and it's the firmware inside the Asus hardware that controls the switching from one to the other, not the computer unfortunately... (Unless there's something I'm not aware of in that area...)

But thanks for the suggestions, nonetheless...

L.

Oops sorry, I overlooked your prior attempt to use the Roaming Block List.

I'm told the client ultimately decides its WLAN/node connection, so I'm not sure how much the router firmware is involved in your Mac client switching back and forth between two APs.

Note that Guest networks only broadcast from the router, so your Mac client will have nowhere else to connect no matter how fickle it may be.

OE

 

[Laurence5905]

I'm told the client ultimately decides its WLAN/node connection, so I'm not sure how much the router firmware is involved in your Mac client switching back and forth between two APs.

I thought the client couldn't do the switching because the AIMesh network acts as if it is a single network -- there is only one SSID. Well, two, technically -- one for 2.4GHz and one for 5GHz. But there aren't separate SSIDs for each node -- so the client would have no idea which node it's connecting to, yes? Which should mean the Asus software inside the router and the nodes would tell the client which specific node to connect to, yes? I don't know, honestly -- it just seems to me like that's the way it should work, when all nodes (and the router) are using the same SSID...

Note that Guest networks only broadcast from the router, so your Mac client will have nowhere else to connect no matter how fickle it may be.

That would be a good thing for me in this situation. I'm connected to my Guest network right now, and so far no switching. This might be the solution I've been looking for.

L.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I thought the client couldn't do the switching because the AIMesh network acts as if it is a single network -- there is only one SSID. Well, two, technically -- one for 2.4GHz and one for 5GHz. But there aren't separate SSIDs for each node -- so the client would have no idea which node it's connecting to, yes? Which should mean the Asus software inside the router and the nodes would tell the client which specific node to connect to, yes? I don't know, honestly -- it just seems to me like that's the way it should work, when all nodes (and the router) are using the same SSID...

I believe each router/AP/node broadcasts a unique signal for each band. When using identical SSIDs, the signals are still unique (they have other identifiers?).... they are just named the same.

I'm not qualified to explain how Asus AiMesh works but from what I gather, without enterprise class roaming protocols (which Apple does implement?), the most AiMesh can do is withhold a node connection when it wants a client to connect to a better signal/node.

OE

 

[L&LD]

Yes, as has been explained above, AiMesh doesn't currently work with Guest Networks. It only propagates the main Wireless SSID's.

 

[Grisu]

Client decides to which router it will connect to, router/node may only help in that case with newer clients and protocols.
WiFi network is defined by its BSSID, unique (MAC or random) on every router and node.
So clients will see more than one BSSID (from 2G, 5G, different routers and nodes) and will try to connect to "the best" (sometimes) with SSID and password.
SSID and password are only to connect to this network in a secured way or to allow only some SSIDs to connect to (as soon they are saved on client).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_set_(802.11_network)