AiMesh setup with wired device off node?

[scaramonga]

So here is the case.

AX88U as main router in living room with 384.19 F/W, all good. AC86U (same firmware) in bedroom as an AiMesh node connected via wireless to the AX88U, all good.

Thought I'd run an ethernet cable from the AC86U to a Raspberry Pi 4 I have in bedroom, and it works, but it's dreadfully slow? Web pages load occasionally, mostly not all all. It's actually worse than the Pi's built in wifi, and that's saying something. I thought this would be a tad faster doing it this way, although I wasn't expecting ethernet speeds, as both units are wifi connected, but it's unusable.

Am I missing something?, or just expecting too much?

Thx for any help guys.

 

[L&LD]

Does a different Ethernet cable work better? Does it work as expected when connected to the RT-AX88U, directly?

Is the RPi4 using 1GbE ethernet or, something else? How is it (Ethernet Port) connected to the RPi4?

 

[OzarkEdge]

So here is the case.

AX88U as main router in living room with 384.19 F/W, all good. AC86U (same firmware) in bedroom as an AiMesh node connected via wireless to the AX88U, all good.

Thought I'd run an ethernet cable from the AC86U to a Raspberry Pi 4 I have in bedroom, and it works, but it's dreadfully slow? Web pages load occasionally, mostly not all all. It's actually worse than the Pi's built in wifi, and that's saying something. I thought this would be a tad faster doing it this way, although I wasn't expecting ethernet speeds, as both units are wifi connected, but it's unusable.

Am I missing something?, or just expecting too much?

Thx for any help guys.

Test the wireless node performance with a wired PC client. If that performs reasonably well, then troubleshoot the Pi.

OE

 

[scaramonga]

Thx for getting back to me guys

Tested different cable, no difference, but didn't think so, as I was using new CAT 7 variant.

Plugged in my laptop, and it's the same, connects instantly, but unusable, so nothing to do with the Pi. Tried setting AiMesh to Ethernet priority, no difference.

 

[L&LD]

CAT7 is not based on 'standards' that we would normally use in our homes. Do you have a Cat5e to test with?

CAT 5, cat 5e, cat6, cat6a, cat7, cat8 Cable Standards | Cablek

 

[New2This]

What are you running on the Pi4 for OS?
Ubuntu Mate here, no issue

 

[scaramonga]

Nothing to do with Pi, I ruled that out with my laptop (Windows 10 2009 latest), which experiences the exact same problems via a cable from node, using the CAT 7 or the 5e cable Yet pull the cable on my laptop, and it flies via the wifi on node?, but why not via Ethernet?

 

[L&LD]

Is the RT-AX88U in 'AX' Wireless Mode? What other differences between the RT-AX88U and the RT-AC86U in the settings (which the RT-AC86U can't support)?

Myself, I wouldn't troubleshoot further on this 'old' firmware, I would be testing on RMerlin 386.1 Beta 2. Both models are on the same code base. Maybe, things got fixed?

Btw, do you have a 'dumb' switch to test between the devices (with Cat5e cable on both ends)?

 

[scaramonga]

Now that you mention it, the AX88U is in 'AX' mode with N/AC/AX mixed set also, 160MHz also enabled, but set on 80 at present. I have this set as my laptop has built in AX, but is the only device to have so. You think this may be causing the problem?, seeing as the AC86U only goes up to AC? One cant alter any settings on the node, as these are determined by the main router, the AX88U.

I may just upgrade both to 386.1b2 tomorrow anyway, but you may be on to something

 

[bbunge]

First I would upgrade to the 386.1 beta 2. AiMesh 2.0 works better.
Second, keep in mind that a wireless repeater, which is what an AiMesh node is (unless it is a tri-band device) will have half the bandwidth of a "normal" WIFI connection. That is because the radio spends half of its time receiving then the other half re-transmitting. I have an AC68U mesh node with Ethernet backhaul and up to 20 clients working through it. Wired and wireless including guest WIFI.

 

[scaramonga]

Sigh.

Decided to upgrade to latest Merlin (386.1b2) on both my routers, and opted to upgrade the node (AC86U) first, through my AX88U (saves dragging unit from downstairs to LAN connection). No access to node now, all lights up fine. Tried to reset by holding WPS power in etc, but all lights just go blank and it sits there in the dark, literally. Normal power on and all fine, but no connection. Any way to factory reset the node via SSH or another way?, without dragging it all up to the AX88U? Tried connecting via SSH, no go, and AX88U don't even see the thing now?

I haven't touched the AX88U firmware wise yet.