AImesh the same old mess?

[Raphie]

I’m really struggling to understand what it is exactly that AImesh brings to the table beyond “central management” and “automated” configuration.

I’ve been using wireless for 20 years now, the dream being using 1 ssid between different devices and different bands, having coverage in the house with all devices just magically bonding to the best band on the best router or access point.

Reality has been very different, devices not wanting to switch to the most optimal access point, keeping their connection with the router when basically being out of reach, 5g devices, still prefering 2.4g connections etc .etc.

WDS connections dropping, or sacrificing half of the bandwidth at best, still needing to lay down ethernet to access points to maintain performance.

Manual configuration options either not making a difference, or fixing connection issues for one device, while breaking another.

I guess my question is, on a protocol level, have these issues been improved/solved with AImesh, or is it merely a centralized configuration wizard, but all the typical home configuration/performance issues remain the same?

 

[Mine Ong]

To me, the issue with AiMesh comes down to flexibility and stability.

When AiMesh works, it works well (as one would expect how a mesh network would work).

However, like many others, I do find that my AiMesh node (ethernet backhaul to the AiMesh router) disappears frequently. That's a stability issue and I hope with future firmware update it will (and can) be fixed.

Because of the centralized management, you also lose flexibility with what you can do with the node.

Other issues I have with AiMesh at the moment:

- mac address filtering isn't working,
- printer server on the AiMesh node not working *for me*. Others have reported it working
- custom DNS server not working when AiMesh Router uses PPPoE (ADSL) for WAN: if I use my own DNS server (such as pi-hole), I cannot establish PPPoE connection with my ISP. Using ISP-provided DNS is fine

I bought 3 T-Mobile router and converted them to AC68U just for AiMesh. As you can tell from my comments, my feeling is rather mixed. As a stand-alone router, AsusWRT/Merlin is great. I can only hope that AiMesh FW will reach the stability of the regular AsusWRT FW soon, or these codes gets migrated into Merlin.

 

[st3v3n]

We've used Asus routers for going on 10 years, Merlin's FW has gone on each unit as it's come out of the box, but we've held back on upgrading since he wrapped up the v380 legacy code.

We've had no issues with any of our Asus routers, other than the normal bugs others have reported and we've only run Merlin's FW. Occasionally we've added an AP at the far end of the building when large gatherings merit it, but for our own use, no matter how any devices were running, we've never needed mesh. Dialing back the power on the 2.4 radio or turning it off solved issues where devices wouldn't perform as they should, but we still use 2.4 for testing. The two 5 Ghz bands on the AC3200 have always proven enough for our 2000+/beyond square feet.

We also bought several TM1900s and converted them to AC68s, but aren't sold on moving to AsusWRT/AIMesh or Merlin's newer code, at least until the point where AIMesh gets sorted out over all the models. Never overjoyed about the prospect of upgrading to a beta, or being an early-adopter, when there's no possibility of reverting/moving to any other fork for the router, which locks out all other FW, unless I've missed something.

Merlin's v380.68 through 380.68_4 has been very good for us, and AIMesh will be a good thing, as long as it works as intended for everyone. Plenty of good people are testing so if Merlin decides not to add AIMesh to his fork, that would make deciding much easier. Cheers.

 

[maxbraketorque]

One thing that quickly became apparent to me after I switched to multiple APs is that 5 GHz can cover my entire house and yard and 2.4 GHz was no longer needed as a primary wireless connection method. I put it on a separate SSID and use it only for my wifi cameras and older N-only devices that have low throughput. I am currently using my routers in Main/AP mode (not AiMesh) with a single SSID for the 5 GHz bands. Macs and PCs can be set to have preferred wireless networks, and I set the 5 GHz network to be preferred so they only connect to 2.4 GHz when 5 GHz is totally out of range. For devices that don't have a native method to select a preferred wireless network (Android), I have eliminated the 2.4 GHz network from their list of remembered networks.

I am finding that roaming between the routers is working reasonably well. All devices I have tried will eventually switch to the obviously stronger network without any overt help from the router (i.e., Roaming Assistant is disabled), even Android devices. I haven't yet tried to determine what difference in signal strength is required for the various devices to decide to switch to the stronger signal, but that's because the switching behavior seems to be meeting my needs.

So for the moment, I am sticking with the standard Main/AP mode, and I am keeping an eye on the evolving stability of AiMesh. When AiMesh appears to have reached a point of reasonable stability, I will try it to see if it is truly better than Main/AP mode.

 

[m0neytree]

Does anyone here have roaming issue? my setup was AC88U - main and AC68U as node. When I am using my iphone and I walked from AC88U to AC68U, either I got kicked from my game server or my facebook video will hang, and will take some time for it to get back up. Anyone faced similar issue? or Aimesh roaming works perfectly fine? Please do share with me thanks

 

[Marc Aronson]

Does anyone here have roaming issue? ...Please do share with me thanks

I am using AIMESH mode on two converted TM-AC1900s, wired backhaul. Both are access points as I use an old AC56U with WiFi shut off as my router.

I have found that the handoff is pretty seamless. I tested by doing a video call on my laptop with a colleague. I kept talking while walking across handoffs. The other person reported that things went smoothly, with only a very brief glitch in the audio -- in his words, less than 1/2 a second. I "watched" the handoff happen by watching an INSSIDER display on my windows 10 laptop.

Some important notes:

• I am on the Feb release of firmware, as the March release disables AIMESH for converted TM-AC1900s.
• I have disabled universal beamforming and airtime fairness on both frequencies, as suggested in other threads.
• I was on the 5GHZ network.
• My 5ghz and 2.4ghz networks have different SSIDs.

Marc

 

[st3v3n]

Marc, which build is on running your AC56, and which FW did you run on it before you put it on mesh duty? Just curious to see how well our 56 would do. We're still running the older code and was considering bumping our conversions, but with the newest release catching folks who quickly updated then found themselves without mesh, there's no sense in jumping into the void if Asus is determined to disabled the TM conversions. There's not much elaboration available, and I wouldn't know how the new upgrade detects the TM conversions aren't in fact AC-68s (it shouldn't), as long and if the conversion was done correctly, but that's above my pay-grade. Thanks & Cheers.

 

[Marc Aronson]

Marc, which build is on running your AC56, and which FW did you run on it before you put it on mesh duty?

\

The AC56 is not on "mesh duty". It's WiFi is turned off and it is functioning strictly as a router. It is running Merlin firmware 380.63_2.

The two TM-AC1900s are running firmware "3.0.0.4.384_20308". The "parent" is configured as an "AIMESH router in AP mode". The node is configured as an "AIMESH node".

Hope that helps!

Marc

 

[st3v3n]

Pardon: my error, wasn't making light of anything you wrote. I didn't like to make erroneous assumptions so is why I asked, since you wrote it is used as your router, and I thought perhaps you used it with the TM conversions; thanks for clarifying. Cheers.

 

[Marc Aronson]

Pardon: my error, wasn't making light of anything you wrote. .. Cheers.

I didn't have the feeling that you were making light of anything I said and your request for clarification was totally reasonable. I didn't mean for my post to convey any sense of negative reaction to your question. Cheers.

Marc

 

[st3v3n]

Marc, much appreciated. Everyone sees the universe as it extends outward from their perspective. Depending on many factors, time of day, mood, stolen pet, etc, it sometimes is difficult to know if what anyone thinks then writes, will have the result of inadvertently upsetting someone, which isn't the intent of the majority of posts. It's best to have a somewhat thicker skin when one deals with the web but most members in the forums are well-meaning, inoffensive and don't mind being corrected if they're mistaken. I always figure it's good to know and ask, rather than perceive someone may have taken umbrage to a post, thus the rule, no foul, no harm. Cheers.

 

[Sammy2]

..stolen pet..

LOL

 

[st3v3n]

Sammy, the stolen pet is the kindness analogy when stuck on the phone with a hostile, low-tier CSR who got up on the wrong side of the bed; everyone has a bad day at some point, but you have to leave some personal things at home and don't inflict them on others, ie, for instance, someone stole your priceless pet iguana or a wife ran off with her mistress, then there's always what gets to anyone; the fender-bender, but who knows the why and/or what that sets it in motion Solution is to ignore, or bid them goodbye, and call the next CSR; it beats any upset, regardless. One man's stolen 'pet' is another man's corvette Cheers.