Aimesh

[Bobbybiceps]

Will aimesh work with Merlin?

 

[DonnyJohnny]

Will aimesh work with Merlin?

“ Also note that AiMesh is NOT supported, and there are currently no new information as to whether it will eventually be supported or not. “

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/release-384-ng-asuswrt-merlin-384-4-is-now-available.45406/

 

[Vexira]

Well one can only hope and pray.

 

[Gitsum]

It would be nice.

 

[Swistheater]

This idea has unfortunately been put in the parking lot.... Not that the idea isn't doable.... Asus just has a No-Man's land area and this new piece of art falls into that area. Don't worry though if it ever does become doable-- some brilliant minds and merlin would have to chisel away the rough pieces for everyone to be able to appreciate it.---- TBH I use it on three of my AP's and it really has a lot left to be desired, it is only convenient for some of its features . Stability is getting decent, but overall performance that you may get from regular extender mode is lacking.

 

[Gitsum]

So let me ask this, Swistheater, when you use regular extender mode, do you name the SSID's all the same? I don't have as easy of use when I try extender mode. Just curious what the best way to have two routers working together for a large area to cover.
I currently use an AC86U as the main router and an AC68U as my AiMesh node out in the shop.
I like how the AiMesh is so seamless and everything but I really miss the extra stuff in Merlin's firmware.

 

[Swistheater]

So here is my Setup I have a main router RT-AC5300 and a wired AP RT-AC3100 running Merlin's latest beta. I have 3 Mesh RT-AC68U running one of them is in AP mode Via wire and the other two are running AI mesh node. I have a pretty big area to cover and this does the job very well... I use to run them using WDS system in standard AP mode and not in Wireless Extender AP mode, which the results from this was way less throughput. I use to use Extender AP mode but there are lacking features like it doesn't support extending IPV6 channel. WDS and AImesh don't have this limitation, but Aimesh has a hiccup when you reboot the wireless, and WDS has a hiccup when keys rotate. For my purpose I use Aimesh on ac68u because I do not need to mess with settings on them they are just extra's for better coverage. In all the modes I've always used the same SSID On everything but I keep them different for each band though (ie, 2ghz and 5ghz). Simply for me not to be confused. Roaming assistant always works pretty good on all these. Aimesh just makes it a little easier to push the feature. The main flaw I have with Aimesh is the lack of ability to change the samba client user name and password when I peripheral is connected to a node the default user name comes out as Admin and password as Admin.

 

[Swistheater]

my suggestion to you gitsum if you want to use merlin features set up a cheap throw away RTAC-56u as the main router and put one ac68u in AP router node mode and run the other routers as plain nodes of your AI AP node. Disable the wireless on the RTAC-56U and that way you can use Merlin features off of it and benefit from both worlds. Note you have to install merlin firmware on RT-AC56u though and just leave the others as basic stock asus firmware.

 

[Gitsum]

That's an interesting idea.. I do have an AC88U that I'm not using... I have 1gig fiber so I need some horsepower in my main router.
I'll have to try that out.
Thanks.

 

[RussellInCincinnati]

[AiMesh].---- TBH I use it on three of my AP's and it really has a lot left to be desired, it is only convenient for some of its features . Stability is getting decent, but overall performance that you may get from regular extender mode is lacking.

Exactly my own experience with AiMesh. Mediocre performance, but you do get the convenience of one SSID to log into throughout a site with many routers.

AiMesh on expensive Asus routers feels a little like trying to use an Asus router as a serious file server. Can't you get a much more serious file server, loaded with automatic/cloud backup features, for a little over $100 dollars? Yes, you can, and that price is less than the high-end Asus routers. Thus why sweat the details of how USB file sharing may or may not work.

Similarly, there are getting to be so many, not-so-expensive mesh router kits you can buy, am thinking that mesh software is not a priority for the hundreds-of-dollars Asus routers.

 

[Swistheater]

They really didn't make it to be the best they could. I think they did it to draw peoples attention away from all the new stuff on the market. They want to keep the consumer's eyes on them.