Need advice on setup involving a rt-be92u and others..

[SandmanXX]

Ok, here's my setup. RT-be96u as the main router, also have rt-ax88u and rt-ax3000. in AIMesh. Large home with lots of walls, these three routers seem to do OK in the way of coverage. The ax88u is more aligned with the be96u towards the middle of the house.
Lots of IoTs, only 2 on wifi (rest on zigbee) for my smart home. Several house items (3 nest protects, 3 google hubs, 2 lenovo clocks, 1 robovac, etc) So 2.4 mostly needed, some 5ghz.

So, I purchased a RT-be92u. I would like to eventually get wifi-7 coverage on the whole house, but I am only adding the be92u for now.
Which router would be the best to replace? The ax3000 or the ax88u?
After that, is there a way to tie in the two BE routers, to use wifi 7 at least partially?

 

[jzchen]

Hands down replace the RT-AX3000. AiMesh is limited by the weakest node, so you want to remove the lowest spec router/RP each time you get a new one.

EDIT- Yes you should be able to create a WiFi 7 SSID with the 2 routers, (not likely MLO but)...

 

[SandmanXX]

Ok, thanks for the input. I actually did that, swapped out the ax3000 for the be92u.
Now, another step/question in this setup of mine.

I have since purchased another be92u. That makes 2, that will be aimeshed with the be96u. So far not one complaint about the 96u from me.
I am no way an expert, but I have in my old head what I want as a setup.
So the question here... The current ax88u I'm going to replace with this second 92u.
However, there are about 35ish clients, mostly (maybe 80%) are connecting wirelessly at 2.4g, to this ax88u. Very busy smart home. There are usually about 10-15 2.4g clients wirelessly on the 96u. The 96u is placed in the middle of the home, I would like for it to stay there, by virtue of placement of accessiblilty and BEST placement for wired clients more important to the house. Would it be a -lot- rougher on wireless if I directly swapped the ax88u for the 92u, or would it be hugely impactful to change the be96u to the ax88u's location, and add the second 92u in the place of the current 96u?

I want to ultimately get 2.4/5/6ghz networks, and be set up for wifi7.

This leads to another question: Why does my 6gz setup box on the main network screen, gray out the 'Apply' box if I make any changes whatsoever in that box?

It won't take any changes, such as eliminating wifi 7 mode, scheduling, etc. The current network screen has 3 networks total, the 2.4 and 5 gz boxes all change/apply fine, and are not checked as wifi mode. MLO is off, and all of this is a wired ethernet backhaul between the 3.

Thanks for your time.

 

[jzchen]

I'm afraid I'm not clear where in the settings you are referring to I'm afraid, or what you are trying to deselect... Maybe screenshot if possible and blur out any personal info? I suspect that your Ethernet Backhaul mode is not enabled. Try enabling Ethernet Backhaul mode and see if you can change the setting...

As of now MLO works in between same router models and/or exact same WiFi specs, 3 channel to 3 channel, each with same bandwidth... (Sorry I will be back)...

 

[SandmanXX]

Sure.

So, if I click the 6 gz box, it will grey out the blue spply button down lower. Any changes, same thing.

 

[SandmanXX]

Oh, forgot...

 

[jzchen]

I believe I understand what you are asking. I suspect there is a bug in the firmware, or more specifically the interaction between the two different model routers in AiMesh, WiFi 7, and MLO.

Eventually you'll likely get WiFi 7 devices, and want to create an MLO SSID. Currently ASUS' official stance is that MLO can only be established between/among same model routers. I have found with my BE98 Pro and BQ16 Pro that it does allow me to MLO between them, but their WiFi specs are exactly the same BE30000, 2.4, 5, 6-1, and 6-2. The BE96U and BE92U are different. In my opinion/how I'd set up:

1. Leave the BE96U where you have it, centralize the highest spec router.

2. Replace the AX88U with the BE92U. Remove both BE92U from AiMesh with the BE96U. Set one of them as AP Mode with AiMesh with a static IP, I'd simply set it as 192.168.50.2 or 192.168.50.10 . Add the other BE92U as an AiMesh node to the AP BE92U. Enable WiFi Agile Multiband on all channels. This way you can MLO between the BE92Us as you wish even now...

 

[jzchen]

BTW- I do believe MLO requires more than one channel to be "SmartConnected", ie not separate from each other as you have all 3.

 

[SandmanXX]

Well, as I probably won't add the second 92u until this weekend, I was considering just factory resetting the 96u, then setting up all the networks (everything) on the 96u alone, then after having everything set up... add in the 2 92us. ..Which, I was thinking about, and can I do this? .. at the inital setup as in the 92u, (but on the 96u this round) it may ask me to just set everything up as wifi 7/ mlo. Then, if I can,?? create the 3 separate networks 2.4 (iot), 5, and 6, and then just use the 3 networks as I have been/want to, with strictly wifi 7 available. ??
Question is, if I can set up as wifi 7/mlo, then add the 3 networks. Don't know if it'll let me set those 3 up separate afterwards tho...

 

[jzchen]

Yes you can add the two after setting up to your liking.

I don't know if WiFi 7 is now backwards compatible. It wasn't, clients would connect and eventually drop off because of 256-bit encryption....

If you set up MLO it only allows me to choose all bands/channels. You'd probably have to set up all 3 like you have on the Guest Network section and toggle the Use same subnet as desired...

I had an AXE16000 AiMeshed, but since the BE98 Pro has no 5-GHz 2, I separated it, along with other AX pieces...

 

[jzchen]

 

[SandmanXX]

So is anyone running wide open here? As in, mlo with all 3 bands, and a separate iot 2.4g, with wpa2? I think I saw cc is, anyone else?
If wifi7 is turned on in 5ghz , on the network page, will older 5ghz connect? Wondering if anyone had trouble with the connection due to the security.
Thanks.

 

[jzchen]

First time I heard of backwards compatibility. So I checked, before the only choice was AES+GCMP256, now as shown AES is an option even with WiFi 7 toggled. Not sure I wanna risk knocking off an IoT and having difficulty reconnecting. (We have a connected Rheem water heater, and nice to have hot water)...

 

[SandmanXX]

So you're basically using that first network, 2.4/5 as your iot then?

 

[jzchen]

IoTs, everything. I tried setting an IoT guest network in the past. Two very annoying IoTs:
That Rheem water heater (hard to connect)
Battery Tender 10A battery charger (easy to drop connection)

Only my WiFi 7 OnePlus Open is left. My son is working in SF and I just helped him VPN into work from his apartment. He takes with him a new iPhone 16 Pro (just opened it there) and 6E MacBook Pro. So I am going around the house with the phone and testing 6 GHz toggling PSC....

EDIT: All SSIDs are the exact same with same password except for MLO.