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Question about AiMesh AX + AC

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sorachan

Occasional Visitor
I have a question about AX and AC AiMesh mix.

When using AX router as AiMesh router and AC router as AiMesh node, would the AX router use 802.11ax standard? or the AX router would only use 802.11ac standard even if you enabled 802.11ax?

Early last year an ASUS engineer told me even if you use AX router with another AX router as AiMesh, both will be forced to use Wifi 5 instead of Wifi 6 no matter what settings you applied. I think this is fixed with Aimesh 2.0, but I don't know about AX + AC situation.

I don't have Wifi 6 devices yet so I don't think I can check it myself.

Thanks
 
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Hi!
I was also wondering these questions, and just started some tests using a RT-AX86U as a master of an old RT-AC68U in ai-mesh.
1618904875488.png

I set it up as using WPA2/WPA3 security, it appears the AC node is working even with this security, even though it should not support plain WPA3. On my phone this configuration appears as WPA3 (SAE Transition Mode).
1618904903470.png

Regarding AX/AC, it seems when i am close to the AX node, i do get AX speeds (1200mbps link on my Oneplus 8 Pro and my Surface Laptop 3). I did not do tests close to the AC node yet though. They are using ethernet backhaul and the node is on another floor.
I'll try to test the AC node later today so that i can see if the AC node is indeed working with WPA3 and at what speed.
Anyway to answer your question, AX master + AC node, the AX master does indeed provide WPA3 and Wifi 6. I just need to test further the AC node...
 
Anyway to answer your question, AX master + AC node, the AX master does indeed provide WPA3 and Wifi 6. I just need to test further the AC node...
Thanks for your reply.

I think a more appropriate way to test is checking whether 160Mhz can be used with AiMesh. Your client should be able to see 160Mhz through Wifi monitoring software such as Wifi Analyzer if applied successfully, but I think Aimesh may actually force you to use 80Mhz in an AX+AC network. I don’t have any AX client here so I can’t confirm this, I may be wrong here...
 
Well i just looked on my Oneplus and yes indeed, the network is not using 160mhz but only 80, even though i have 160mhz set in the interface. Your assumption was right on spot!
 
Well i just looked on my Oneplus and yes indeed, the network is not using 160mhz but only 80, even though i have 160mhz set in the interface. Your assumption was right on spot!
Yeah, if 160Mhz is not used it’s definitely crippled, since max ax speed requires 160Mhz bandwidth.

Thank you again for confirming this.
 
Now the question is, is the aimesh boost in coverage worth the downgrade in bandwidth? I just bought a switch with multigig and wanted to finally be able to move beyond gigabit speed using wifi6 devices when close to the AX router, while being able to be connected at further distance correctly, even with AC speeds, and all of that without buying a fleet of AX routers (my pockets are not that deep!)...
I'm trying to find if i should not just use the AX86U alone without the AC68U.

I was using two AC68U in aimesh before getting the AX86U. I "ejected" one AC68U from the AC mesh and currently am testing it with the AX86U but this is not in "production" right now.
I was even thinking of adding both my AC68U to the mesh provided by the AX86U, so that i could have great coverage everywhere. But if the AX86U performs better alone then that would be the way to go.
Anyway i'll let you know how my tests evolve...
 
Quality vs. quantity... that is the question..
I just added my AC86U as a mesh node to my AX86U for a test. The AX86U is running 160 MHz on Channel 36. The AC86U, with 4 streams, is connecting at 1300 Mbps through three walls and 40 ft away. Am surprised at the clients jumping to connect to the mesh vs the main router! A Roku3 on the other side of the router is connected to the node. Think I will let the system run a while to see where clients end up. Also synced the Guest 1 to the node.
 
I did some further tests, it appears the aimesh between AX and AC routers has issues. I do not get any 5ghz network around my AC node. I do get 2.4ghz network around it, with WPA2 security, not WPA3. Roaming works fine between the 2.4ghz networks provided by the two nodes though, so WPA2/WPA3 does not appear to be an issue.
The 5ghz network missing from the AC node is troubling to me, as it renders the whole mesh useless to me.
Further tests are required but it does not look that great after all...
EDIT : i did some more tests, i enabled smart connect and this way i only have one SSID, for both 2.4 and 5ghz. I forced 160mhz bandwidth on the 5ghz network, and 40mhz on the 2.4ghz network. This time i DO get 2.4 and 5ghz networks on the AC node, AND i DO get 160mhz bandwidth on the AX node, along with 80mhz on the AC node ! i'll keep testing... I would have prefered to be able to chose which network i use, 2.4 or 5ghz, but i'll see how it works with the smart connect feature.
EDIT 2 : initial tests of the smart connect feature are pretty good so far, my phone connected automatically to the closest node based on its signal strength, no visible disconnection (or i did not notice it). It was always on the 5ghz networks, with 160mhz when connected to the AX node, 80mhz when connected to the AC node. It looks quite good so far!!!
 
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I did some further tests, it appears the aimesh between AX and AC routers has issues. I do not get any 5ghz network around my AC node. I do get 2.4ghz network around it, with WPA2 security, not WPA3. Roaming works fine between the 2.4ghz networks provided by the two nodes though, so WPA2/WPA3 does not appear to be an issue.
The 5ghz network missing from the AC node is troubling to me, as it renders the whole mesh useless to me.
Further tests are required but it does not look that great after all...
EDIT : i did some more tests, i enabled smart connect and this way i only have one SSID, for both 2.4 and 5ghz. I forced 160mhz bandwidth on the 5ghz network, and 40mhz on the 2.4ghz network. This time i DO get 2.4 and 5ghz networks on the AC node, AND i DO get 160mhz bandwidth on the AX node, along with 80mhz on the AC node ! i'll keep testing... I would have prefered to be able to chose which network i use, 2.4 or 5ghz, but i'll see how it works with the smart connect feature.
EDIT 2 : initial tests of the smart connect feature are pretty good so far, my phone connected automatically to the closest node based on its signal strength, no visible disconnection (or i did not notice it). It was always on the 5ghz networks, with 160mhz when connected to the AX node, 80mhz when connected to the AC node. It looks quite good so far!!!
After some testing myself, if I turn on WPA2/WPA3 for my AX86U, the AC86U can also use WPA3 which is not supposed to happen.

AiMesh is so weird in so many ways...
 
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After some testing myself, if I turn on WPA3 for my AX86U, the AC86U can also use WPA3 which is not supposed to happen.

AiMesh is so weird in so many ways...
I did not try that! Given i have many devices that do not support WPA3 i guess the hybrid WPA2/WPA3 mode is going to be the solution for me right now.
In my case, with WPA2/WPA3 mode, the AC node do not show any sign of WPA3 support, but your AC router is much better than my old AC68U so this should explain why you can have it while it does not work for me. Great information nonetheless!
 
I did not try that! Given i have many devices that do not support WPA3 i guess the hybrid WPA2/WPA3 mode is going to be the solution for me right now.
In my case, with WPA2/WPA3 mode, the AC node do not show any sign of WPA3 support, but your AC router is much better than my old AC68U so this should explain why you can have it while it does not work for me. Great information nonetheless!
Oh, sorry, I was using WPA2/WPA3 hybrid mode. You actually can't turn on WPA3 if the node doesn't support it.

Anyway, if I connect the AX router the phone shows WPA3 Personal security, then I move to the node the phone still shows WPA3 Personal security. If I connect the AC node the phone shows WPA2 security, then I move to the AX router the phone still shows WPA2 Personal security.

Unless iPhone Wifi diagnostics is wrong...
 
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Interesting, I wonder how does the AIMESH handle the WPA2/WPA3! I have similar AX & AC routers at home under AIMESH 2 but no idea how does it work.
 

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