[Official Release] AiMesh Firmware v3.0.0.4.384.10007 for All Supported Products

[arthurlien]

Honestly, without support for the various handoff helping protocols (802.11k,r,v,s), an isolated guest Network that includes access points is the only compelling reason I see to use the mesh over access point mode right now.

For the security policy, the guest network shall be isolated with private network. (personal opinion)

 

[Stephen Harrington]

I think i can't to discuss any detail information about the unreleased feature and schedule any more. Sorry for that and thanks for everyone's feedback in here.

Understand restrictions on what you can say @arthurlien but thank you anyway for your participation here and whatever crumbs you are able to throw our way to keep us interested!

Must be due for a new firmware release soon?

StephenH

 

[Stephen Harrington]

Want to ask a question, is MAC address filtering works in AiMesh? Will the settings automatically propagates to the nodes?

The question is whether that is always what you want? In my case no it isn't!
I have several "fixed position' wireless devices (IP cams etc) on my current non-AiMesh multi-AP setup where I "blacklist" them on all the APs EXCEPT the one I want them to connect to, to stop them "flip-flopping" between AP's. I have no equivalent way at present of managing that on AiMesh. So fine-grained control of Mac Address Filtering per node (AND Global blacklisting/whitelisting also when appropriate) would be on my wish list.

StephenH

 

[Richard Li]

The question is whether that is always what you want? In my case no it isn't!
I have several "fixed position' wireless devices (IP cams etc) on my current non-AiMesh multi-AP setup where I "blacklist" them on all the APs EXCEPT the one I want them to connect to, to stop them "flip-flopping" between AP's. I have no equivalent way at present of managing that on AiMesh. So fine-grained control of Mac Address Filtering per node (AND Global blacklisting/whitelisting also when appropriate) would be on my wish list.

StephenH

If you need fine grain control, I don't think you need AiMesh.

 

[Richard Li]

Finally, I got my AiMesh works as my wish:

RT-AC88U AP + RT-AC88U node + RT-AC68U node



I am not sure why I cannot find the RT-AC68U before, but this time I tried to work out the search with the RT-68U placing near the RT-AC88U node instead. And finally done.

 

[Stephen Harrington]

If you need fine grain control, I don't think you need AiMesh.

On the contrary, I’m hoping for a better, more feature-rich version than what we’ve seen so far, so I’ll keep throwing in my 2 cents worth of suggestions in the hope Asus may actually finish it off properly before the product managers / marketing department get distracted by the next shiny thing

StephenH

 

[Richard Li]

On the contrary, I’m hoping for a better, more feature-rich version than what we’ve seen so far, so I’ll keep throwing in my 2 cents worth of suggestions in the hope Asus may actually finish it off properly before the product managers / marketing department get distracted by the next shiny thing

StephenH

I think the key of AiMesh is central management, Wifi roaming are implemented by existing features including SmartConnect, roaming assistant, etc.

 

[Richard Li]

A question, can I switch off WPS after binding the AiMesh nodes? I know that WPS is required to switch on when adding a new node, but can I switch off WPS after finished adding?

 

[DummyPLUG]

Want to ask a question, is MAC address filtering works in AiMesh? Will the settings automatically propagates to the nodes?

It should be, but my experience of mac filter on 384.10007 is it totally broken, when I enable it the node will reject all wifi connect include those white listed

 

[DummyPLUG]

If you need fine grain control, I don't think you need AiMesh.

Not quite agree, I also have some ip cam which I want them connect to specific node only because sometime they will connect to another node which have limited backhaul bandwidth

 

[visortgw]

A question, can I switch off WPS after binding the AiMesh nodes? I know that WPS is required to switch on when adding a new node, but can I switch off WPS after finished adding?

Yes, you can. WPS will be automatically enabled (with a prompt) when Search is initiated, but you can (/should) disable it when Search completes.

 

[DummyPLUG]

Found a little bug, I set the country to Singapore and select channel 13 for 2.4G wifi but the node will not switch to the ch13, if I reboot the node they switch to ch1 instead of 13. It work correctly if I am using ch1~11.

 

[Simon5]

Previously I had two rt-ac68U's both in AP mode, one in the basement and one on the first floor. They were both ethernet connected to the router via a patch panel and switch.
The router was the one provided by the ISP.
I was getting speeds on both Asus routers of around 350Mbps.
I've just installed rt-ac86U in the basement and put the ISP router into modem mode so that the 86U is doing the routing.
I've turned on iamesh and configured one of the 68U's as a node to the 86U, the 68U on the first floor and is connected via ethernet. I've removed the second 68U from the network.
In the basement I'm getting speeds of 350Mbps as before.
But on the first floor the speed is now 100Mbps.
Does this mean that the ethernet is simply a backhaul and the mesh network only utilises radio to radio connections to create the seamless transitions when moving around the house?
i.e. the degradation in the signal on the first floor is because of the weakness of the wireless signal between the router and node? And the strength of the ethernet connection is not broadcast from the node as it is when in AP mode?
I'm assuming there is no way to force a handoff to the node as I believe my devices are maintaining a connection to the 86U even when I'm standing right beside the 68U on the first floor.
And does all this mean that a mesh network is a convenience in terms of managing transitions between router and nodes at the cost of speed when compared to using the 68U's as AP's?

I resolved my problem thanks to Richard Li's post.
In the AiMesh settings for a node there are settings that are hidden which can be disclosed by clicking on <More Config>.
In the options that appear after clicking on < More Config> are the ability to select Connection Priority and Connection Type.
By selecting Ethernet and wired as options full speed was restored. I'm now getting over 350Mbps on the router and both nodes.
Handoff is now seamless and working very well.
Can I suggest that this information be included in the instructions for setup for novices like myself?
I was confused by the existing instructions because they seemed to imply that by simply attaching the ethernet cable as indicated, to the WAN and LAN ports, auto detection would take place.
By default the wireless option seems to have been selected

.

 

[Richard Li]

I resolved my problem thanks to Richard Li's post.
In the AiMesh settings for a node there are settings that are hidden which can be disclosed by clicking on <More Config>.
In the options that appear after clicking on < More Config> are the ability to select Connection Priority and Connection Type.
By selecting Ethernet and wired as options full speed was restored. I'm now getting over 350Mbps on the router and both nodes.
Handoff is now seamless and working very well.
Can I suggest that this information be included in the instructions for setup for novices like myself?
I was confused by the existing instructions because they seemed to imply that by simply attaching the ethernet cable as indicated, to the WAN and LAN ports, auto detection would take place.
By default the wireless option seems to have been selected

.View attachment 11716 View attachment 11717

There is an official document that have this procedure. The document is downloadable from ASUS's site.

 

[apotts]

Quick question (working out whether to buy): On a wireless node (ie no wired backhaul), can I just plug in a normal wired client to the node?

 

[visortgw]

I resolved my problem thanks to Richard Li's post.
In the AiMesh settings for a node there are settings that are hidden which can be disclosed by clicking on <More Config>.
In the options that appear after clicking on < More Config> are the ability to select Connection Priority and Connection Type.
By selecting Ethernet and wired as options full speed was restored. I'm now getting over 350Mbps on the router and both nodes.
Handoff is now seamless and working very well.
Can I suggest that this information be included in the instructions for setup for novices like myself?
I was confused by the existing instructions because they seemed to imply that by simply attaching the ethernet cable as indicated, to the WAN and LAN ports, auto detection would take place.
By default the wireless option seems to have been selected

.View attachment 11716 View attachment 11717

https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1035087
https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1035140
https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1035253

 

[pfbz]

Question:

Is there an optimal Signal Strength dBm drop or SNR at which to place AiMesh nodes?

Asus says: "Strongly recommend you put the AiMesh node between your AiMesh router and your existing dead zone." That seems both obvious and vague.

Scenario:

I am looking at implementing an AiMesh network in a large home with an outbuilding. No wired ethernet for backhaul.

Thinking of setting up as follows:

• (Router) New RT-AC88U connected via Cat6 to a WAN Cable Modem
• (Wireless Node 1) Existing RT-AC68W
• (Wireless Node 2) Existing RT-AC68W

I have Signal Strength and SNR measurements throughout the house and property from a single, non-mesh AC68W. Ranges from great (obviously) to -75dBmon 2.4GHz and -85dBm on 5GHz at the farthest areas I'd like good signal.

-75/-85 dBm is likely too far, but what about maybe -55/-65 dBm? Will that 5GHz signal be strong enough at -65dBm to be an effective node on a mesh network? It certainly isn't a 'dead zone'.

Any input/advice/suggestions?

.

 

[visortgw]

Question:

Is there an optimal Signal Strength dBm drop or SNR at which to place AiMesh nodes?

Asus says: "Strongly recommend you put the AiMesh node between your AiMesh router and your existing dead zone." That seems both obvious and vague.

Scenario:

I am looking at implementing an AiMesh network in a large home with an outbuilding. No wired ethernet for backhaul.

Thinking of setting up as follows:

• (Router) New RT-AC88U connected via Cat6 to a WAN Cable Modem
• (Wireless Node 1) Existing RT-AC68
• (Wireless Node 2) Existing RT-AC68

I have Signal Strength and SNR measurements from a single throughout the house and property from a single, non-mesh AC68. Ranges from great (obviously) to -75dBmon 2.4GHz and -85dBm on 5GHz at the farthest areas I'd like good signal.

Any input/advice/suggestions?

https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1035141

 

[drabisan]

Quick question (working out whether to buy): On a wireless node (ie no wired backhaul), can I just plug in a normal wired client to the node?

Yes, you can and it works. Caveat is speed to/from that client is at max the speed of the wireless backhaul and that's way less than 1gbps.

 

[ggruszynski]

I have Signal Strength and SNR measurements throughout the house and property from a single, non-mesh AC68W. Ranges from great (obviously) to -75dBmon 2.4GHz and -85dBm on 5GHz at the farthest areas I'd like good signal.

-75/-85 dBm is likely too far, but what about maybe -55/-65 dBm? Will that 5GHz signal be strong enough at -65dBm to be an effective node on a mesh network? It certainly isn't a 'dead zone'.

Any input/advice/suggestions?.

-65dBm in my world (telecom) would be considered "hot", but not so much for wifi. Would think that RSSI would provide a good link for backhaul. Can always test and see, but think any closer than -55dBm would cause too much noise with the overlap personally. Below are some useful links:

https://www.excentis.com/blog/wi-fi...ents-wireless-infrastructure-based-shaky-data

https://community.arubanetworks.com...ip-between-data-rate-SNR-and-RSSI/ta-p/178312