AiMesh Node Uplink Selection

[NewtonFrutt]

Hi folks,

I'm new to all this coming from Ubiquiti but very impressed so far.

I'm having an issue though with the "Preferred WiFi Uplink AP" - It is not being honoured all of the time.

I have an AX11000 Pro as the primary and 2 x GT6 mesh nodes. All up to date on firmware with the 11000 on Merlin (for CakeSQM). All running on a dedicated 5GHz backhaul.

GT6#1 is nearest the 11000 at -32db
GT6#2 then connects to GT6#1 at -42db

All nice and strong with the full house able to hit the Cake limiter of 250mbps, nice low latency with minimal bufferbloat throughout.

But then a third of the time GT6#2 connects straight to the 11000 at -80db and the speed of connected devices takes a massive hit.

How do I force rather than "prefer" my chosen configuration?

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hi folks,

I'm new to all this coming from Ubiquiti but very impressed so far.

I'm having an issue though with the "Preferred WiFi Uplink AP" - It is not being honoured all of the time.

I have an AX11000 Pro as the primary and 2 x GT6 mesh nodes. All up to date on firmware with the 11000 on Merlin (for CakeSQM). All running on a dedicated 5GHz backhaul.

GT6#1 is nearest the 11000 at -32db
GT6#2 then connects to GT6#1 at -42db

All nice and strong with the full house able to hit the Cake limiter of 250mbps, nice low latency with minimal bufferbloat throughout.

But then a third of the time GT6#2 connects straight to the 11000 at -80db and the speed of connected devices takes a massive hit.

How do I force rather than "prefer" my chosen configuration?

I would try spacing the nodes -74 to -64 dBm... or farther apart.

Also, node boot order can color your evaluation... reboot a lone node to be sure where it will connect when given too many strong signals.

OE

 

[Tech9]

I have an AX11000 Pro as the primary and 2 x GT6 mesh nodes.

Your hardware choice has limitations down the road. The main router is Asuswrt 5.0 compatible, the nodes are not. Once the main router is moved to Asuswrt 5.0 (stock Asuswrt available now, Asuswrt-Merlin in the works) the new VLAN and Guest Network Pro features won't work on your nodes.

 

[NewtonFrutt]

Your hardware choice has limitations down the road. The main router is Asuswrt 5.0 compatible, the nodes are not. Once the main router is moved to Asuswrt 5.0 (stock Asuswrt available now, Asuswrt-Merlin in the works) the new VLAN and Guest Network Pro features won't work on your nodes.

That's disappointing to hear for sure, but I'm committed now and am going to run with it. I noticed a difference in Merlin support too I couldn't get it for the GT6s.

 

[Tech9]

You don't need Asuswrt-Merlin on the nodes. They are repeaters, no routing there. Asuswrt-Merlin doesn't improve anything Wi-Fi related. Not sure how you are so impressed by AiMesh coming from Ubiquiti. Folks around usually go to Ubiquiti or something else in small business segment after having enough trouble with consumer AiMesh. Your Router -> Node -> Node configuration on firmware mismatch units and wireless backhaul is the one to avoid in general. You basically have a repeater attached to another repeater and your high signal levels indicate they are very close. All the things you can do wrong in one place. Your low WAN speed is perhaps hiding the performance hit at the moment. How's your roaming? Controller driven UniFi and Omada networks have much more sophisticated roaming assistance than AiMesh.

 

[RobJack]

I'm baffled as well as to why you would downgrade from Ubiquiti to AiMesh. What problems were you having with your prior network that prompted the switch to Asus?

 

[Tech9]

The common false advertisement on the consumer market for "blazing fast speeds", "seamless roaming" and "compatibility" is involved and the fact the units have 3rd radio for dedicated wireless backhaul. It helps indeed, but the node in the middle still has to do retransmissions to the further node. AiMesh doesn't have per node Tx power control and tuning this system for proper roaming is going to be quite challenging, if possible at all. Very expensive AiMesh experiment so far with firmware compatibility issues coming.

 

[NewtonFrutt]

I'm baffled as well as to why you would downgrade from Ubiquiti to AiMesh. What problems were you having with your prior network that prompted the switch to Asus?

So it was only consumer level stuff, Ubiquiti AmpliFi HD router and mesh points.

Could never get a decent reliable signal at the far edges of the house despite much trial and error, also as far as I knew I couldn't access any sort of SQM features.

I'm now running with less nodes (2 instead of 4), high speed and low latency throughout the house, SQM has pretty much eliminated buffetbloat... Honestly for me it's a significant step up.

If I ever wanted to go all out, wire the house and go rack mount I'd go back to Ubiquiti but at this level it's not even close.

 

[Tech9]

SQM has pretty much eliminated buffetbloat...

Many folks fight with bufferbloat testing sites scores for no good reason. This waveform site has to be blocked in AiProtection as malicious in my opinion. It hurt many people financially showing worst case scenario at ISP line saturation speeds. Many forks test over Wi-Fi with added latency distorting additionally the test results. This bufferbloat may not be even happening in normal day to day Internet use.

Honestly for me it's a significant step up.

If you are happy with the results - all good.