Asus XT8 newbie questions

[030basti]

Hi all,

quick newbie question with my new Asus xt8 mesh system at home.

1. I have an FTTH 1gb Connection from my isp and a Fritzbox 5490 that came with it. As unfortunately I can’t run the Fritzbox in bridge mode I have currently configured the first xt8 (connected via lan into the wan port) as access point and then added the second node to it through the mobile app to avoid double nat. Now I just wanted to check if this is best practice or if you would go with double nat to take advantage of the additional Features of the xt8 instead or if you would use the AP mode as well?

2.Both nodes seem to be connected with each other via dedicated 5ghz-2 Backhauland over wifi I currently get around 500-600mbps on both nodes. When I first set up the initial router via lan to my Fritzbox it automatically was set up as router with double nat (second node was not yet connected). I only did one quick speed check back then before switching to ap mode. However back then I received roughly 800mbps. My question is now - do you think this was due to the fact that my iPhone 11 Pro Max was able to connect to the faster 5ghz-2 band or because the set up as router improves the speed of the network?

3. Do you prefer using the 5ghz-2 as dedicated Backhaul or would you allow your endpoints to also use this band?

4. As my apartment does not allow for a wired backhaul i was thinking about getting a power line backhaul between my 2 nodes. Would you recommend that over a dedicated/non-dedicated backhaul between the nodes?

5. Firmware: I have read a lot on this Forum about People using beta firmwares on their xt8. However I did not understand why. Is there any specific advantage over the official non beta firmware at the moment?

thanks in advance
Seb

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hi all,

quick newbie question with my new Asus xt8 mesh system at home.

1. I have an FTTH 1gb Connection from my isp and a Fritzbox 5490 that came with it. As unfortunately I can’t run the Fritzbox in bridge mode I have currently configured the first xt8 (connected via lan into the wan port) as access point and then added the second node to it through the mobile app to avoid double nat. Now I just wanted to check if this is best practice or if you would go with double nat to take advantage of the additional Features of the xt8 instead or if you would use the AP mode as well?

2.Both nodes seem to be connected with each other via dedicated 5ghz-2 Backhauland over wifi I currently get around 500-600mbps on both nodes. When I first set up the initial router via lan to my Fritzbox it automatically was set up as router with double nat (second node was not yet connected). I only did one quick speed check back then before switching to ap mode. However back then I received roughly 800mbps. My question is now - do you think this was due to the fact that my iPhone 11 Pro Max was able to connect to the faster 5ghz-2 band or because the set up as router improves the speed of the network?

3. Do you prefer using the 5ghz-2 as dedicated Backhaul or would you allow your endpoints to also use this band?

4. As my apartment does not allow for a wired backhaul i was thinking about getting a power line backhaul between my 2 nodes. Would you recommend that over a dedicated/non-dedicated backhaul between the nodes?

5. Firmware: I have read a lot on this Forum about People using beta firmwares on their xt8. However I did not understand why. Is there any specific advantage over the official non beta firmware at the moment?

thanks in advance
Seb

1. I'd avoid the double NAT, so use AiMesh AP mode.

2. Only you can possibly know this.

3. A dedicated wireless backhaul makes sense, but you may find a good reason to share that band.

4. I'd avoid any unnecessary complications like powerline. The goal is wireless mesh... if what you have works well enough, I'd stick with it and expect it to improve over time. Save your money for next gen equipment.

5. AiMesh is a work-in-progress that has been rolling out for the last couple of years. Users are installing the AiMesh 2.0 RC2-* beta firmware to improve their AiMesh network, to use the new AiMesh features, and to help improve AiMesh... all self-serving reasons.

OE

 

[030basti]

1. I'd avoid the double NAT, so use AiMesh AP mode.

2. Only you can possibly know this.

3. A dedicated wireless backhaul makes sense, but you may find a good reason to share that band.

4. I'd avoid any unnecessary complications like powerline. The goal is wireless mesh... if what you have works well enough, I'd stick with it and expect it to improve over time. Save your money for next gen equipment.

5. AiMesh is a work-in-progress that is has been rolling out for the last couple years. Users are installing the AiMesh 2.0 RC2-* beta firmware to improve their AiMesh network, to use the new AiMesh features, and to help improve AiMesh... all self-serving reasons.

OE

Thanks for your replies. Highly welcome.
Will stick to access point mode then and simply try to dedicate the backhaul or not and test performance.
As for the aimesh 2.0. I read through the thread and it does not really look like any real performance gains but I might give it a shot.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Thanks for your replies. Highly welcome.
Will stick to access point mode then and simply try to dedicate the backhaul or not and test performance.
As for the aimesh 2.0. I read through the thread and it does not really look like any real performance gains but I might give it a shot.

Being able to set wired backhaul mode and release all WiFi for wireless clients only is a performance gain.

Being able to sync isolated guest WLANs across all nodes is a performance gain.

Being able to bind remote node backhaul route may be a performance gain.

Being able to configure USB applications on remote nodes is a performance gain.

Fixing any existing firmware defects is a performance gain.

OE