Optimising performance XT8 AX6600

[Stoneware8324]

I'm having a few connection issues with my XT8 AX6600.
I have two nodes configured in Access Point Mode (I use a separate OPNsense router that connects to my modem) using AiMesh. Each node is separated by only 6 metres, but not quite line of sight. There are concrete walls.
I live in a large inner city apartment block made of concrete, so it's a pretty busy area.
Backhaul is via 5 GHz.

My connection issues include wifi hosts losing their connection from both nodes and weak connection between AiMesh nodes (the second node LED is often yellow and reported by the web gui as Weak).
I'm hoping someone can point me to a guide to tweak settings and get better and more reliable performance. I'm guessing that analyzing wifi signals and changing channels is part of that. I did try that recently, but problems continue.
I am running firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_23285

 

[glens]

Cannot suggest changes unless we know what you've currently got for settings. Were is your locale, in general?

 

[Stoneware8324]

Cannot suggest changes unless we know what you've currently got for settings. Were is your locale, in general?

Thanks, my locale is Sydney CBD, Australia.
Below is my wireless settings. I think they are pretty much standard default settings.
Recently I tried adjusting channels based on WiFi analysis of my apartment, but I don't see any evidence of that or where those settings are made. I'm wondering whether a firmware update set config back to default (in particular Smart Connect).
Sorry for my lack of knowledge. I have read the manual, but it's not very helpful.

 

[tgl]

I don't have an XT8 anymore to check, but I'm eyeing that "Tri-Band Smart Connect" setting with suspicion. That would seem to imply that the things will let in clients on all three radios, which is not what you want. You typically want to reserve the 5GHz-2 radio for backhaul in this sort of setup. See if there's something like a "Dual-Band Smart Connect" option, or just turn off smart connect altogether (it's not all that useful IME). Make sure both APs are set that way.

Another setting I'm dubious of is the "Auto select channel including DFS channels" checkmark. If you're in an urban area, you're likely close enough to an airport that DFS radar avoidance behavior can create problems. I'd turn that off (again, on both APs).

You might actually be best off turning off auto channel selection altogether, and just manually choosing channels. The thing I'm wondering about here is that since you're not using mesh mode, it's not obvious how the remote AP knows which channel the backhaul SSID is on. Maybe it will only work well if both APs are manually set to the same channel for the backhaul SSID. (On the other hand, it's good if they're on different channels for the client SSID, so "auto" might not hurt you there.)

Sorry for the vagueness, it's been a little while since I used this gear. But feel free to play around with these settings.

 

[glens]

If it's not sorted out already...

First XT8 in AP mode wired to router and second unit as aimesh wireless node to first, correct?

Screenshot then obviously from (actual) AP, correct?

First post is a bit ambiguous in that it suggests both that both units are in AP mode, /and/ that they're both mesh nodes. When one unit is the mesh controller it's confusing, to me, to refer to it as a "node", though I acknowledge that term would technically be correct - though it's somewhat more than :just: a node.

My reason for seeking the locale information pertains to "what's available" relative to wifi spectrum (I'd have to look it up but figured somebody else may know off-hand).

Agreed with the above post, ditch the tri-band smart connect. If you want it "smart", exclude 5-2 so that's dedicated to the backhaul. This likely won't help all that much with client connectivity issues unless maybe they're trying the backhaul radio. Also, it depends upon what sort of connection issues are happening: are they not reliably attaching to the AP and/or node, or is that aspect okay but there's no Internet available to them?

The stated distance between the units would normally be fine. 'Almost line of site' perhaps suggests 'just around the corner' where the signal would then be through two walls where they meet. A pretty "beefy" composition as (usually) opposed to somewhere in the middle of a wall. Best to think of how the same type of electromagnetic radiation you can see (visible light) behaves: it does reflect and scatter some, so some of it will find its way around a corner, but what's opaque to light is different at various wavelengths and in this case the "light" shines through more stuff. A wall is more opaque at a shallow angle than at 90 degrees. As well, any metal in the wall (studs, posts, ductwork, wiring, drywall corner beads, etc.) is quite opaque. Your best results might be obtained by altering their locations. Best, that is, beyond running a wire between them.

 

[Jaded5542]

I don't have an XT8 anymore to check, but I'm eyeing that "Tri-Band Smart Connect" setting with suspicion.

Just checked mine, thats how the WiFi Backhaul setting is set, if you go onto the main landing page it says "Smart connect - Dual Band Wireless" When you hit the nodes in the AI Mesh setting and check the Fronthaul/Backhaul it has 5ghz-2 locked out for "Back Haul"

Concerning the OP, I started googling and playing with settings other than the default, and mine just freaked out and died....
If I "force" them into 5ghz backhaul they freak out, if I leave them on auto backhaul they are PERFECTLY fine running 5ghz Backhaul, same with forcing them to use an AP....

 

[Stoneware8324]

First XT8 in AP mode wired to router and second unit as aimesh wireless node to first, correct?

Screenshot then obviously from (actual) AP, correct?

Correct, the first XT8 is in AP mode, wired to router and second unit as aimesh.
The screenshot is from the first XT8.

The internal walls are all concrete. It's an 80's built high-rise - 30 floors. Yep, the second unit is slightly around the corner, almost line of sight. It's a very angular floor plan. There's no easy option of running cable between them.

 

[Stoneware8324]

Just checked mine, thats how the WiFi Backhaul setting is set, if you go onto the main landing page it says "Smart connect - Dual Band Wireless" When you hit the nodes in the AI Mesh setting and check the Fronthaul/Backhaul it has 5ghz-2 locked out for "Back Haul"

Concerning the OP, I started googling and playing with settings other than the default, and mine just freaked out and died....
If I "force" them into 5ghz backhaul they freak out, if I leave them on auto backhaul they are PERFECTLY fine running 5ghz Backhaul, same with forcing them to use an AP....

I played around with disabling "Smart Connect" and got a bit lost. I ended up with a second node that refused to connect to the first AP (flashing blue LED). Luckily I took a snapshot of my configuration before mucking about. Restoring the config brought it back online.
It seems there are trapdoors to fall down unless you know what you are doing. I am an experienced home IT guy, but lack WiFi skills. The XT8 manual is just a shopping list of settings and does not explain the reasoning of when and where to use them. Obviously written by a software engineer, not a technical writer.
Hence my thought to reach out here for more guidance and good practice.

I've managed to bring things back to a level of stability, but would be keen to optimise my setup to account for a busy WiFi spectrum.

 

[Jaded5542]

I played around with disabling "Smart Connect" and got a bit lost. I ended up with a second node that refused to connect to the first AP (flashing blue LED). Luckily I took a snapshot of my configuration before mucking about. Restoring the config brought it back online.
It seems there are trapdoors to fall down unless you know what you are doing. I am an experienced home IT guy, but lack WiFi skills. The XT8 manual is just a shopping list of settings and does not explain the reasoning of when and where to use them. Obviously written by a software engineer, not a technical writer.
Hence my thought to reach out here for more guidance and good practice.

I've managed to bring things back to a level of stability, but would be keen to optimise my setup to account for a busy WiFi spectrum.

https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/comments/10qq3b7

I played with those settings, so far so good, and i locked them to the main XT8

Edit: Id ALMOST say the dashboard is totally broken. My nodes were fine, Daughters watching movies, I'm watching movies, dashboard is saying now nodes are in and out, yet the media server is wired to a node... and its still downloading/accessing the net.
WiFi is off on the TV, i can go to the app store, i can stream, yet its showing the node its wired to is "offline"