NAS connected to Mesh Network - adaptive load balancing

[TBONE204]

Hi there,
currently in the market for a mesh system and a Synology NAS. I'm interested in using Link Aggregation for the NAS. I'm currently looking at the Asus ZenWifi XT8 system but it doesn't appear to support link aggregation.

My question is if I attach the Synology NAS to the router with two cables and enable the Adaptive Load Balancing feature, will that address the lack of link aggregation on the part of the router?

I ask because I've read that the adaptive load balancing can work without managed features of link aggregation on the part of a switch, so I'm wondering if this would translate to being used with a router that doesn't support link aggregation?

Looking forward to the responses/experiences of others! thanks for taking the time.

 

[degrub]

how many clients will be accessing the NAS at one time ?

 

[TBONE204]

how many clients will be accessing the NAS at one time ?

Likely 2 TV's, 1 laptop and a tablet, potentially a desktop as well

 

[degrub]

i would try it with out lag first.
Make sure the mesh system (not sure why you need it) has ethernet backhaul or dedicated radios for backhaul.

 

[TBONE204]

i would try it without lag first.
Make sure the mesh system (not sure why you need it) has ethernet backhaul or dedicated radios for backhaul.

The mesh system I am looking at (Asus ZenWifi XT8) is capable of ethernet backhaul but also has dedicated radios for wireless backhaul as well. I am going for the mesh system because my internet comes into the house in the basement and I would like a strong wireless signal on the second floor where an office is.

Is there an issue with getting the mesh system?

 

[degrub]

It is not the magic solution it is marketed as. It can and does work well in some cases.

bandwidth and penetration of signal. Going through a ceiling/floor up to the next node and then up through another ceiling/floor to the 2nd floor. 5GHz may have an issue getting enough signal through one floor. 2.4 will likely work and be stronger, but much lower bandwidth available. And then there are all your neighbors 2.4 GHz radios to contend with.

wired backhaul (essentially wired ethernet + APs) will almost always beat any mesh except in the case where there are no/minimal (thin walls, not floors) obstructions and interference.

If you have CAT5e wiring in the house, you should be able to use that for ethernet runs up to 1 Gbit/sec. If not, if you have RG6 or possibly even RG59 you can get MOCA2 or MOCA2.5 to work as your backhaul ethernet for between 500 Mbit and 2.5 Gbit/sec. Worst case would be a powerline pair that can get up to 500 Mbit/sec at best. However, the electrical wiring system and breaker types can be an issue.

You can try the mesh system, but make sure you can return it without penalty.

There are number of folks on here running MOCA 2.0 and 2.5 as their backbone ethernet in their house. CAT5e is the easiest set up to work with, even if you have to do the terminations yourself. Plenty of threads here about howto.

Powerline can work well enough for an office. And it is just plug and play. Just make sure you can return the devices in case it doesn't work well enough.

 

[RattyMan]

I use Powerline to connect the 2 units Aimesh together, Devolo 1200+ units, with power-saving switched off (as I get disconnects) - wireless backhaul, although faster, has too many disconnects. I use the AC88U as my primary unit and AC86U as secondary, running Aimesh.
I don't get the same as line speed between the units with Powerline but I can still play 4k movies in my office from the Synology through the second unit (AC86U) over wifi - downloads from the Synology I get 10-12 MB/s through a Windows / Mac copy.
I'm using Link Aggregation from the Synology onto my AC88U - allows me to play a 4K movies (not transcoding) in two places in the house so seems to work well - I've not run benchmarking or anything, just based on my experience of what I actually get.

So personally, this setup works really well for me, but there are many, many factors that could influence this such as your electric circuits, electrical interference, Wifi channels etc. There are times that I have to reboot units, change channels etc.