Zen WiFi BT10 wifi standarts questions

[JamiryoFC]

Hi everyone,

I’m running a dual-node ASUS ZenWiFi BT10 AiMesh system with Ethernet (wired) backhaul.
By default the firmware ships with:

• Smart Connect: ON (single SSID across 2.4/5/6 GHz)
• Roaming Assistant: ON (RSSI-based disconnect threshold)
• Wi-Fi Agile Multiband: OFF
• MLO: ON, but Fronthaul MLO: OFF (client-facing MLO disabled)

My main question is: with Wi-Fi Agile Multiband disabled, does the system still advertise / use any roaming assistance standards like 802.11k / 802.11v / 802.11r (FT), or are those only enabled when Agile Multiband is ON?

More specifically:

• Do the AP beacons/probe responses still include Neighbor Report (11k), BSS Transition (11v), and/or Fast Transition (11r) capabilities when Agile MB is OFF?
• Or is roaming handled purely by client-side logic + ASUS features (Smart Connect band steering + Roaming Assistant “kick”) unless Agile MB is enabled?

Secondary question (BT10-specific):

• Since MLO is enabled but Fronthaul MLO is currently OFF, would enabling Fronthaul MLO typically improve performance/roaming for MLO-capable clients, or could it introduce stability/compatibility issues in an AiMesh setup (even with wired backhaul)?

Any insight (especially from packet captures / ASUSWRT behavior) would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[JamiryoFC]

I ran a full over-the-air beacon/probe capture today (MacBook Air → Wireless Diagnostics → Monitor Mode → Wireshark), and I can confirm that ASUS AiMesh broadcasts 802.11k and 802.11v even when Wi-Fi Agile Multiband (MBO/OCE) is disabled.

Specifically:

• Neighbor Report (802.11k) → present in RM Enabled Capabilities tag
• BSS Transition Management (802.11v) → present in Extended Capabilities tag
• Fast Transition (802.11r) → correctly absent, as expected for WPA2/WPA3-mixed networks
• MBO/OCE elements → absent, which is normal because WAM = OFF

So ASUS is still doing standards-based roaming assistance (k/v) at the beacon level, and AiMesh handles the steering logic on its own (Smart Connect + Roaming Assistant). WAM simply adds MBO/OCE rules on top, but the essential roaming standards are already active by default.

 

[Tech9]

AiMesh roaming still relies on luck because there is no Tx power adjustment per device. The common issue is so called "sticky clients".