AI Mesh and Melin - The Short Answer

[Darf Nader]

I have beeen a devout Merlin WRT user for easily 5-6 years now after being so royally disappointed at how ASUS factory firmware is so obtuse and arcane for reasons never fully understood, and that's not to mention frequent from stability issues. Melin's work made going that route a no brainer because his work is pretty amazing. That was when I had a 1 BR apartment with one router

Now I have a 4 floor townhouse (don't be jealous- it's like a Habitrail) where I need two may three access points for wifi. Of course AI Mesh comes to mind as I found that I had some weird behavior just trying to share the same SSID with a Melin FW's RT-AC88U and an RT-AC68P as an access point downstairs. It was better than without, but the "clingyness" of connections on weaker access points seemed to be a problem. AI Mesh was tantalizing but going back to factory seemed like a crumby reason. Well after 2-3 years of nail-biting over the feature and the light at the end of the tunnel where the latest experimental Merlin firmware seems to support it, maybe we may get the best of both worlds. Well, that's what I gathered anyway

Rather than dive into the tomes of threads on the subjects, I want to back up to ask the question: is it really worth it? Does it solves the problem of making sure a client is connecting to the AP with the best signal or is that hokeum? I would love to get the best of both worlds here since I have just a single WAN linkup and I am not trying to make my router do anything fancy with multiple WAN aggregation or router based OpenVPN.

Without diving into the nitty-gritty, can someone tell give me the short answer about the viability of AI Mesh on Merlin and if so or not, is it really all that?

Asking for a friend.

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

Just want to clarify. AiMesh doesn't give you the "best" connection. You stay stuck on the same signal (source) until the strength drops below a configurable threshold (set in Wireless/Professional/Roaming Assistant. So rather than "best", your get "adequate". And that depends on the coverage and overlap of your mesh.

 

[heysoundude]

I suspect that if you're unwilling to research your question to arrive at your own conclusions, you're unwilling to spend the time tweaking your configuration of AiMesh; so my answer to you (and your "friend") is no, Darf.

However - I also suspect that all you need is a friendly guide to help you, and to explain some of the key intricacies and seemingly arcane knowledge. Someone here may step up to watch over your shoulder if you wish to try to set your home up with a mesh, if you're willing to listen to them, do what they say you need to do (when they tell you to do it) and take whatever advice they may offer. If that's not the case, then you're probably optimally configured for your own use case at the moment, and you shouldn't pursue this any further.

 

[teo1966]

And the wifi guest network don't work on your aimesh node

 

[skeal]

Does it solves the problem of making sure a client is connecting to the AP with the best signal or is that hokeum?

A properly configured roaming assistant, in this case would be a better pursuit, IMO. Having individual APs allows for individual configuration. AiMesh still needs a properly configured roaming assistant or it's just as much of a problem. Transmit output is also something you can play with.

 

[RMerlin]

The primary benefit of AiMesh right now is centralized management. Roaming will work just as well (or poorly, depending on how your client reacts to roaming) as with an AP, until Asus implements technologies like 802.11v/k.

 

[azdeltawye]

The primary benefit of AiMesh right now is centralized management. Roaming will work just as well (or poorly, depending on how your client reacts to roaming) as with an AP, until Asus implements technologies like 802.11v/k.

Thanks for the CliffsNotes summary on AiMesh!

Do you know if Asus has any plans of adding guest network capability to AiMesh? Is the current hardware platform capable of this or will they need to roll out HW revisions?

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

Thanks for the CliffsNotes summary on AiMesh!

Do you know if Asus has any plans of adding guest network capability to AiMesh? Is the current hardware platform capable of this or will they need to roll out HW revisions?

AiMesh only supports Guest on the parent router. Not on the nodes. I wouldn't expect Guest support on nodes any time soon. There is no easy way to isolate Guest clients from accessing other LAN resources.
BTW, if you are using Guest support on an AP, you are just fooling yourself. There is no isolation either. For example, connect a wireless laptop to an A/P's guest SSID. Now try logging-in to the main router's gui.

 

[Dirk_Diggler]

Here is my experience setting up AiMesh using RT AX88 as the master and a RT AC68 as the AiMesh node. Downloaded and upgraded to Merlin's 384.13.0 software or both units. From the main login page you will see the AiMesh button so you can click on it and search for AiMesh compatible nodes. I clicked on search and right away found my RT AC68 clicked to install the AiMesh and after about 5 minutes a pop-up message reports that AiMesh was unable to be setup.
At this point I do a search on AiMesh setup and discovery that I need to reset the RT AC68. I reset the RT AC68 and run the install again and (Also I have the RT AC68 right next to the RT AX88) this time it connects. I set the Wireless to 5 Mhz and wait about 15 minutes before I unplug the RT AC68 and move it two rooms away about 25 ft. with two walls between the RT AX88 and the RT AC68. Plug the RT AC68 back in and wait about 10 minutes and I can't see the RT AC68 as an AiMesh node or in the listed devices. I can ping it via IP but not connect to via the browser which I understand is by design.
I let the RT AC68 sit for about an hour still doesn't show up.
So I bring the RT AC68 back into the room with the RT AX88 thinking I will just reset it and chose 2.4 Mhz in stead of 5Mhz no dice. Reset the RT AC68 a couple more time still won't connect as an AiMesh node. So at this point I reset the RT AC68 one more time and set it up as a Repeater and it works fine.

Now I haven't tried the ASUS stock Firmware because I am a Merlin convert and love his work. Again this is just my experience and I hope it's hopeful.

 

[RMerlin]

Do you know if Asus has any plans of adding guest network capability to AiMesh?

Personally I doubt it. Implementing proper Guest support is very complicated, due to how host isolation works when you configure a Guest network to only allow Internet access. This would probably require a completely different guest network implementation, probably through VLANs..

 

[miroco]

The primary benefit of AiMesh right now is centralized management. Roaming will work just as well (or poorly, depending on how your client reacts to roaming) as with an AP, until Asus implements technologies like 802.11v/k.

So it's Asus dragging their feet?

https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202628

 

[vesalius]

The primary benefit of AiMesh right now is centralized management. Roaming will work just as well (or poorly, depending on how your client reacts to roaming) as with an AP, until Asus implements technologies like 802.11v/k.

You are likely unable to say, but is Asus working to implement these roaming standards anytime soon? Should be a big benefit to AIMesh and anyone that uses AP’s. At least for those of us with devices that can take advantage, which should be most every thing recent or that will be released going forward.

 

[heysoundude]

Wouldn’t the radios need to support the 802.11v/k protocol(s) for Asus to implement them/it?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Grisu]

other companies implemented it on their 5 years old routers, there shouldn't be a problem if they want to.

 

[heysoundude]

I haven't looked into 802.11 for quite some time, so this would be a good opportunity to get more up to speed. thanks for the nudge!

 

[HRearden]

Anyone ever tried (was successful) getting guest network running on an aimesh node via the command line?

 

[Grisu]

easily done, but they will have full access to your master router and intranet like on main SSID, guest still not supported on Aimesh, same as in AP-mode.

 

[teo1966]

And the wifi guest network don't work on your aimesh node

come this in the future whit asus ?

 

[L&LD]

@teo1966, no guarantees, of course, but it may make a debut in 386.xx firmware.

@Darf Nader, with no previous experience with AiMess, a customer asked to enable AiMesh for them.

It is now running for several weeks with no issues (two RT-AC86U's both on RMerlin 384.15_0 firmware).

Be sure to follow the same guide from @OzarkEdge that I used, to make it as stable as possible.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/o...-supported-products.44375/page-14#post-381537

I was more than surprised it worked so smoothly and very impressed it continues to give the customer the WiFi coverage they need in their home. (The single RT-AC86U was working great until a neighbor moved in and fired up his router plus 3+ AP's in a normal-sized home across the alley).

Whether this will also work just as seamlessly for your friend depends on too many factors to account for. But in the right environment and the right setup, it is a great option to pursue.

 

[teo1966]

Personally I doubt it. Implementing proper Guest support is very complicated, due to how host isolation works when you configure a Guest network to only allow Internet access. This would probably require a completely different guest network implementation, probably through VLANs..

how are the plans about this ?