WiFi AiMesh routing

[Crafty3]

Hello all,

I have two ASUS routers:

• RT-BE88U (connected directly to my fibre provider’s modem)
• RT-BE57 (upstairs, set up in mesh mode)


Here’s what I’m trying to understand:

• Right now, WiFi devices upstairs connect to the BE57, and their traffic is routed wirelessly back to the BE88U.
• If I run a 2.5Gbe Ethernet cable between the BE57 and the BE88U, will things change?


Specifically:

• Will upstairs WiFi clients still connect to the BE57 first, but then have their traffic sent over the 2.5Gbe wired backhaul to the BE88U?
• Or will they continue to connect via WiFi-to-WiFi between the two routers, ignoring the cable? What to look for in the logs?

Thanks

 

[Tech9]

Connect the two routers together with Ethernet wire. This is what ASUS calls “wired backhaul”. It will increase the overall system performance and save air time. See AiMesh setup FAQ, it is explained quite well how it works.

 

[bbunge]

• Or will they continue to connect via WiFi-to-WiFi between the two routers, ignoring the cable? What to look for in the logs?

Thanks

While the Ethernet backhaul is more stable than WIFI backhaul I recommend that you leave the AiMesh settings at default. The router and node will figure out what settings are best and, in the unlikely event, the Ethernet backhaul fails it will fall back to WIFI and keep running.
There is not much in the logs that will tell you about the AiMesh. But with Ethernet backhaul you will notice a difference!.
For the Ethernet cable use CAT6. CAT5e can be used in a pinch.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hello all,

I have two ASUS routers:

• RT-BE88U (connected directly to my fibre provider’s modem)
• RT-BE57 (upstairs, set up in mesh mode)


Here’s what I’m trying to understand:

• Right now, WiFi devices upstairs connect to the BE57, and their traffic is routed wirelessly back to the BE88U.
• If I run a 2.5Gbe Ethernet cable between the BE57 and the BE88U, will things change?


Specifically:

• Will upstairs WiFi clients still connect to the BE57 first, but then have their traffic sent over the 2.5Gbe wired backhaul to the BE88U?
• Or will they continue to connect via WiFi-to-WiFi between the two routers, ignoring the cable? What to look for in the logs?

Thanks

How wireless clients choose to connect to your network will not change with the type of backhaul active, wired or wireless.

AiMesh is designed to use the best backhaul connection available, wired or wireless. If AiMesh prefers to use the wired backhaul (historically better than wireless), the wireless backhaul will/should remain OFF and should not appear as a wireless connection in the Wireless Log until the wired backhaul fails (NSS = 3 or 4 streams depending on the number of matching antennas on each end of the backhaul connection).

Install the 2.5GbE wired backhaul, configure the node Backhaul Connection Priority for 2.5G first, and confirm the wireless backhaul is OFF/not present in the Wireless Log. If the wired backhaul fails, AiMesh should automatically enable and failover to using the wireless backhaul. If you do not want failover to occur, enable Ethernet Backhaul Mode to disable the wireless backhaul from turning ON when the wired backhaul fails.

Wireless clients connected to the router should be listed in the Wireless Log. Wireless clients connected to the node will not be listed in the Wireless Log... AiMesh is not perfect.

OE