RTAX92U - merge 5Ghz - 2 into mesh SSID

[leerees]

2 x RT-AX92u configured as wireless backhaul...

Asus allows us to open up the 5Ghz - 2 AX backhaul channel for shared use with clients.

When unhiding, the problem I'm having is I now have 2 separate SSID's

Wu-Tang LAN
Wu-Tang LAN_dwb (this is the AX channel)

Has anybody figured out how to put 5Ghz - 2 into the mesh so you end up with 1 SSID. Ideally I want to disable the 5Ghz-1 channel as that's AC and thus redundant.

The AX channel connects at over 3Gbps, so is more than capable of sharing the backhaul channel with clients. Speed tests show 990 mb/s which is the full speed of the line.

Anyone got this working?

 

[Techtype]

2 x RT-AX92u configured as wireless backhaul...

Asus allows us to open up the 5Ghz - 2 AX backhaul channel for shared use with clients.

When unhiding, the problem I'm having is I now have 2 separate SSID's

Wu-Tang LAN
Wu-Tang LAN_dwb (this is the AX channel)

Has anybody figured out how to put 5Ghz - 2 into the mesh so you end up with 1 SSID. Ideally I want to disable the 5Ghz-1 channel as that's AC and thus redundant.

The AX channel connects at over 3Gbps, so is more than capable of sharing the backhaul channel with clients. Speed tests show 990 mb/s which is the full speed of the line.

Anyone got this working?

This is where you can set the same name for all three

 

[leerees]

I tried setting the same name for the SSID's but it threw up an error.

 

[Techtype]

I tried setting the same name for the SSID's but it threw up an error.

It may be that setting the same name requires a wired backhaul. In my case with a wired backhaul and the latest beta software, it works.

 

[leerees]

It may be that setting the same name requires a wired backhaul. In my case with a wired backhaul and the latest beta software, it works.

Did you disable the AC 5ghz-1 radio?

 

[Techtype]

Did you disable the AC 5ghz-1 radio?

No

 

[jswing]

The 5G2 is always used as a wireless backhaul for wireless mesh network. It is not possible to use the 5g1 as the wireless backhaul for your mesh network. The only thing you can do is use a wired backhaul, turn off 5G1 and unhide 5g2

 

[leerees]

The 5G2 is always used as a wireless backhaul for wireless mesh network. It is not possible to use the 5g1 as the wireless backhaul for your mesh network. The only thing you can do is use a wired backhaul, turn off 5G1 and unhide 5g2

I'm not asking to use 5g1 as the backhaul. If anything I will switch off 5g1 completely.

What I want to do is make 5g2 as part of the mesh. Effectively turning the AX92u into a dual band router.

The reason for doing this is despite 5g2 being used as front and back, it will offer greater speeds.

 

[jswing]

yes, however, now you're using the 5g2 as both the mesh network and to service clients. This effectively limits speeds to half.

 

[leerees]

yes, however, now you're using the 5g2 as both the mesh network and to service clients. This effectively limits speeds to half.

The 2 nodes are connecting using a 160mhz channel.

It's a big load on 5g2, however it's coping with the traffic and Internet access is snappier on AX. The clients are able to get 960mb/s on an Internet speed test. Pings to common servers are lower using this configuration.

Just to reiterate. The reason for doing this is to enable wifi6 for my clients but still keep a wireless backhaul.

I've currently disabled 2.4g and 5g1 but it would be nice to have 2.4g and 5g2 as part of it's own mesh.

I tried a wired backhaul but still couldn't get it to form a mesh with 5g2.

I'd like to know if anybody here has figured out a way to form a mesh with 5g2.

 

[jswing]

I think your mixing the terms backhaul and mesh (or it sounds like you are). Maybe I’m not completely understanding you. The backhaul is the mesh network (they are not two separate entities). You can use a wireless or wired backhaul to each node to configure the mesh network but not both at the same time to the same node. ASUS does not allow using the 5G1 as a backhaul yet. You can enable the 2.4 g ssid and leave the 5g1 disabled. Now all nodes offer up the 2.4g and 5g2 ssid wireless networks as part of the whole mesh network (fronthaul). In order to configure the 5g2 as a backhaul, you have to make sure no clients are connected to it while configuring the nodes. Once configured, reboot the main router and all nodes, wait for everything to stabilize and then allow clients to connect to the 5g2 network either by manually configuring each client with the hidden 5g2 ssid or Unhiding the 5g2 ssid.
Unfortunately, you cannot segment your mesh network into different SSID networks unless you use a node in repeater or AP configuration but I’m not sure if this would classify it as part of the same original mesh network.

 

[leerees]

Sorry for the confusion.

By default, the RTAX92u forms aimesh of 2.4g, 5g1 and 5g2. However, clients (STA's) cannot access 5g2 as its reserved as the backhaul of the mesh.

Unhiding 5g2 will allow client access to 5g2 but for some reason the router assigns a separate SSID to 5g2.

What I would like is one SSID for the whole thing.

 

[leerees]

Sorry for the confusion. I will admit, it's me incorrectly using these terms.....

By default, the RTAX92u forms an aimesh of 2.4g, 5g1 and 5g2. By default, STA's cannot access 5g2 as it's reserved as the backhaul.

It' a little pedantic but I want to hide 5g2 SSID but still allow STA's access to it.

The problem I'm having is Hiding 5g2 tells the router to use it for backhaul only.

What I want is as described above but without the 5g2 SSID being broadcasted.

Apart from this minor caveat, the mesh is working great. My phone and laptop is AX and roams between 2.4g and 5g2 at 160mhz. The iphones are AC and roam between 2.4g and 5g1.

 

[jswing]

you can control the priority of the backhaul connection to each node separately (wired or wireless). Once the backhaul is established, you can still connect clients to the 5g2 even though it's not broadcasting it's SSID (hidden). You just have to manually setup the connection on your client using the hidden SSID.

 

[jswing]

2 x RT-AX92u configured as wireless backhaul...

Asus allows us to open up the 5Ghz - 2 AX backhaul channel for shared use with clients.

When unhiding, the problem I'm having is I now have 2 separate SSID's

Wu-Tang LAN
Wu-Tang LAN_dwb (this is the AX channel)

Has anybody figured out how to put 5Ghz - 2 into the mesh so you end up with 1 SSID. Ideally I want to disable the 5Ghz-1 channel as that's AC and thus redundant.

The AX channel connects at over 3Gbps, so is more than capable of sharing the backhaul channel with clients. Speed tests show 990 mb/s which is the full speed of the line.

Anyone got this working?

 

[jswing]

2 x RT-AX92u configured as wireless backhaul...

Asus allows us to open up the 5Ghz - 2 AX backhaul channel for shared use with clients.

When unhiding, the problem I'm having is I now have 2 separate SSID's

Wu-Tang LAN
Wu-Tang LAN_dwb (this is the AX channel)

Has anybody figured out how to put 5Ghz - 2 into the mesh so you end up with 1 SSID. Ideally I want to disable the 5Ghz-1 channel as that's AC and thus redundant.

The AX channel connects at over 3Gbps, so is more than capable of sharing the backhaul channel with clients. Speed tests show 990 mb/s which is the full speed of the line.

Anyone got The only thing you can use that is similar is connection steering.

2 x RT-AX92u configured as wireless backhaul...

Asus allows us to open up the 5Ghz - 2 AX backhaul channel for shared use with clients.

When unhiding, the problem I'm having is I now have 2 separate SSID's

Wu-Tang LAN
Wu-Tang LAN_dwb (this is the AX channel)

Has anybody figured out how to put 5Ghz - 2 into the mesh so you end up with 1 SSID. Ideally I want to disable the 5Ghz-1 channel as that's AC and thus redundant.

The AX channel connects at over 3Gbps, so is more than capable of sharing the backhaul channel with clients. Speed tests show 990 mb/s which is the full speed of the line.

Anyone got this working?

 

[jswing]

This is potentially possible by naming all ssids with the same name and using smart connect connection steering. The issue is, older clients, (and some newer ones), don’t handle connection steering very well. There needs to be an industry standard which all clients adhere to before this can become seamless. Many ppl have tinkered with connection steering settings and have some degree of success. Unfortunately, this is on a case by case basis and you have to be prepared to analyze how well each client handles connection steering and try to accommodate their shortcomings.

 

[leerees]

you can control the priority of the backhaul connection to each node separately (wired or wireless). Once the backhaul is established, you can still connect clients to the 5g2 even though it's not broadcasting it's SSID (hidden). You just have to manually setup the connection on your client using the hidden SSID.

I already tried this, it refused the connection unless I unhid 5g2

 

[leerees]

This is potentially possible by naming all ssids with the same name and using smart connect connection steering. The issue is, older clients, (and some newer ones), don’t handle connection steering very well. There needs to be an industry standard which all clients adhere to before this can become seamless. Many ppl have tinkered with connection steering settings and have some degree of success. Unfortunately, this is on a case by case basis and you have to be prepared to analyze how well each client handles connection steering and try to accommodate their shortcomings.

Unfortunately, it will not allow you to name the networks with the same SSID.

What would be good is if all 3 bands appeared in the smart connect screen. That way, I could tweak the handoff from 5g2 down to 2.4g based on PHY rate. In effect I would use rate to steer AX capable devices, non AX devices would be automatically pushed to 5g1 by aimesh.

Unfortunately, only 2.4g and 5g1 appear in the smart connect configuration screen.

 

[jswing]

I already tried this, it refused the connection unless I unhid 5g2

I’ve seen this behavior before. You have to forget the already configured networks on the client. Restart/reboot the client and manually setup the hidden network.