2x ZenWifi XT8 connected directly to ISP Router, best way to make it work?

[JChris]

I have a Gigabit (1000 down / 200 up) FTTH from my ISP. The fiber gets inside my house and goes into the router (actually, it is a combo of router + ONT + wireless router + 4-port switch + RF TV converter). It is possible to setup the router in bridge mode, if necessary.

The ISP Router is located in a telecom box near the entrance of the house, you have to close it using the small metal door, which makes the wifi signal terrible. That is why I bought this 2-PACK ZenWifi XT8 and disabled the wifi on the ISP Router. In that telecom box there are RJ45 wall sockets going to the living room, bedroom, kitchen etc.

Currently I have the following architecture:

• ISP Router#LAN1 -> WAN of the ZenWifi's living room (LAN1: Smart TV, LAN2: setup-box)
• ISP Router#LAN2 -> WAN of the ZenWifi's bedroom (LAN1: Smart TV, LAN2: console)
• ISP Router#LAN3 = not used
• ISP Router#LAN4 = not used

Both ZenWifi are configured to work independently as access points and I have 4 SSID broadcasting (LIV-2G, LIV-5G, BED-2G, BED-5G).

I can get 500/200 everywhere in the house using 5G on my Galaxy S10+ which is 802.11ax capable (wifi icon with a "6" when connected). I expected more speed, but anyway, this is not the focus of this topic. My setup-box is always freezing, even though I have IGMP snooping enabled, again, not the focus of this topic. I'm here because I wanted just 2 SSID (e.g. Home-2G, Home-5G) and have devices roaming automatically.

I do not want to use wireless backhaul, because I already have cat5e cables going from the ISP Router in the telecom box to various places in the house, so I would rather have the ZenWifi connected by cable.

I also can not use wired backhaul, because it needs to be configured as ISP Router -> WAN of ZenWifi #1 -> LAN of ZenWifi #2. I do not have this options as there is only 1 RJ45 socket per room in the house.

Is there a way to "fix" this setup or am I stuck with the ZenWifi working as simple access points? Thanks in advance.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I have a Gigabit (1000 down / 200 up) FTTH from my ISP. The fiber gets inside my house and goes into the router (actually, it is a combo of router + ONT + wireless router + 4-port switch + RF TV converter). It is possible to setup the router in bridge mode, if necessary.

The ISP Router is located in a telecom box near the entrance of the house, you have to close it using the small metal door, which makes the wifi signal terrible. That is why I bought this mesh kit and disabled the wifi on the ISP Router. In that telecom box there are RJ45 wall sockets going to the living room, bedroom, kitchen etc.

Currently I have the following architecture:

• ISP Router#LAN1 -> WAN of the ZenWifi's living room (LAN1: Smart TV, LAN2: setup-box)
• ISP Router#LAN2 -> WAN of the ZenWifi's bedroom (LAN1: Smart TV, LAN2: console)
• ISP Router#LAN3 = not used
• ISP Router#LAN4 = not used

Both ZenWifi are configured to work independently as access points and I have 4 SSID broadcasting (LIV-2G, LIV-5G, BED-2G, BED-5G).

I can get 500/200 everywhere in the house using 5G on my Galaxy S10+ which is 802.11ax capable (wifi icon with a "6" when connected). I expected more speed, but anyway, this is not the focus of this topic. My setup-box is always freezing, even though I have IGMP snooping enabled, again, not the focus of this topic. I'm here because I wanted just 2 SSID (e.g. Home-2G, Home-5G) and have devices roaming automatically.

I do not want to use wireless backhaul, because I already have cat5e cables going from the ISP Router in the telecom box to various places in the house, so I would rather have the ZenWifi connected by cable.

I also can not use wired backhaul, because it needs to be configured as ISP Router -> WAN of ZenWifi #1 -> LAN of ZenWifi #2. I do not have this options as there is only 1 RJ45 socket per room in the house.

Is there a way to "fix" this setup or am I stuck with the ZenWifi working as simple access points? Thanks in advance.

Without knowing your area, layout, nor ZenWiFi; I will assume the two AiMesh nodes will cover it, so try to locate them for even coverage, with the root node wired to your ISP router and the remote node wired or wireless to the root node... maybe the AX wireless backhaul will be good enough for the remote node, especially if the wired root node connects the primary media clients. Disable Smart Connect and set different SSIDs and fixed channels on the AiMesh root node in AP Mode.

It sounds like the only way to wire both nodes is to locate and wire the root node near the ISP router and Ethernet hub, by adding a new wire out and back to the hub.

Thought: If there are more cables at the hub than there are jacks at large, then maybe an extra cable was pulled to some location and not terminated.

OE

 

[JChris]

Without knowing your area, layout, nor ZenWiFi; I will assume the two AiMesh nodes will cover it, so try to locate them for even coverage, with the root node wired to your ISP router and the remote node wired or wireless to the root node... maybe the AX wireless backhaul will be good enough for the remote node, especially if the wired root node connects the primary media clients. Disable Smart Connect and set different SSIDs and fixed channels on the AiMesh root node in AP Mode.

It sounds like the only way to wire both nodes is to locate and wire the root node near the ISP router and Ethernet hub, by adding a new wire out and back to the hub.

OE

Sadly, I don't have the layout of my house to share, but it's a 2BR one floor apartment. The model is in the title (ZenWifi XT8).

> with the root node wired to your ISP router and the remote node wired or wireless to the root node... maybe the AX wireless backhaul will be good enough for the remote node

Wireless backhaul is not strong/good enough for me, I tried.

> It sounds like the only way to wire both nodes is to locate and wire the root node near the ISP router and Ethernet hub, by adding a new wire out and back to the hub.

How would that work? I'm a little confused.

Let's say the root node is the ZenWifi in the living room. The structure is like this: ISP Router -> cat5e -> RJ45 wall socket in telecom box -> RJ45 wall socket in the living room -> cat5e -> Living room ZenWifi WAN port

Then I need another cat5e coming out of Living room ZenWifi LAN1 to go into the WAN port of the Bedroom ZenWifi, but I don't have a way to connect them, as there is only 1 RJ45 socket per room.

 

[OzarkEdge]

> It sounds like the only way to wire both nodes is to locate and wire the root node near the ISP router and Ethernet hub, by adding a new wire out and back to the hub.

How would that work? I'm a little confused.

If you locate the root node near the ISP router, you add a wire out to it and wire back to the hub to continue on and out to the remote node. You would have to route the new cabling out and back into the ISP router area.

I'm a bit surprised an AX backhaul is not adequate.

OE

 

[JChris]

If you locate the root node near the ISP router, you add a wire out to it and wire back to the hub to continue on and out to the remote node. You would have to route the new cabling out and back into the ISP router area.

I'm a bit surprised an AX backhaul is not adequate.

OE

That would not be possible, the telecom box is quite small and there is no space inside for the ISP Router + ZenWifi, just the ISP Router. It would also not help a lot, as I need to close the metal box and this would kill my ZenWifi coverage just like killed my ISP Router coverage.

It seems my only option is tweaking with Roaming assistant RSSI dbm and putting the same SSID for both living room and bedroom ZenWifi. This way the device would roam because it would lose connection from one router and connect to the other with the same SSID and password.

Would that work?

 

[OzarkEdge]

That would not be possible, the telecom box is quite small and there is no space inside for the ISP Router + ZenWifi, just the ISP Router. It would also not help a lot, as I need to close the metal box and this would kill my ZenWifi coverage just like killed my ISP Router coverage.

It seems my only option is tweaking with Roaming assistant RSSI dbm and putting the same SSID for both living room and bedroom ZenWifi. This way the device would roam because it would lose connection from one router and connect to the other with the same SSID and password.

Would that work?

I am not suggesting you cram more equipment into the telecom box. I suggested you place the root node near it and wire it into the box by adding new cabling from/to it.

router/telecom box <new> root node <new> telecom box <existing> remote node

I can't predict how you clients and APs will operate. You can easily try it. Just keep in mind that AiMesh is suppose to be a better system approach to using APs.

OE

 

[JChris]

I am not suggesting you cram more equipment into the telecom box. I suggested you place the root node near it and wire it into the box by adding new cabling from/to it.

router/telecom box <new> root node <new> telecom box <existing> remote node

I can't predict how you clients and APs will operate. You can easily try it. Just keep in mind that AiMesh is suppose to be a better system approach to using APs.

OE

That's the thing, it's not possible to put the root node near the telecom box. The door must stay closed so people do not bump into it and there is no furniture near for me to place the ZenWifi, so it would be placed in the ground, which is not ideal. Yeah, I know, it's complicated!

I also tried the architecture below to make wired backhaul work, but as soon as I connected ZenWifi LAN1 back into Switch LAN3 the network went down.

What I was trying to achieve was this:

 

[OzarkEdge]

That's the thing, it's not possible to put the root node near the telecom box. The door must stay closed so people do not bump into it and there is no furniture near for me to place the ZenWifi, so it would be placed in the ground, which is not ideal. Yeah, I know, it's complicated!

I also tried the architecture below to make wired backhaul work, but as soon as I connected ZenWifi LAN1 back into Switch LAN3 the network went down.

View attachment 25960

What I was trying to achieve was this:

View attachment 25961

I believe for AiMesh you need to wire the remote node WAN to the root node LAN as they instruct.

OE

 

[raven-au]

How can you be certain that the WAN connection to the ISP router is completely isolated from the rest of the network your connecting to LAN1 on the ISP router?

Does the ISP router have some fancy VLAN capability?

You can't use the ISP router as if it is a switch that magically knows which network it is connected to and expect it to do the right thing.

 

[raven-au]

You can't use the ISP router as if it is a switch that magically knows which network it is connected to and expect it to do the right thing.

According to that diagram I think your only choice is to delete ISP router LAN1 <-> switch LAN1 and either use the main XT8 wireless backhaul to connect to the other XT8 and the rest of the network that way or connect it directly to the gigabit switch (obviously using one of the XT8 LAN ports) via a separate Ethernet cable that does not connect to the ISP router.

 

[JChris]

Thanks for the replies @raven-au

1. The ISP Router does not have VLAN tagging capabilities

2. I'd rather not use wireless backhaul, because I want the 4x4 5Ghz available to the enduser, and not being used as backhaul. My only option is wired backhaul

Taking everything in consideration I came to the conclusion that it is impossible to achieve what I want using what I have today.

I will leave both ZenWifi working as access points, each connected directly to the ISP Router. Then I will configure Roaming assistant to disconnect devices below a given RSSI value so they connect to the other AP with the same SSID and password.