Beta ASUSWRT 386 RC2 public beta with full functions AiMesh 2.0

[energyd]

Aimesh can't found each other through certain type of switch. If direct connect between them, it will show up.

I'm using some basic tplink unmanaged switch. The node connects but it's just not showing connected in the GUI for the "uplink" connection(see my screenshot). everything works fine(phones/computers/iots connect without issue). what is an uplink connection by the way?

 

[SoulSlayer]

So, you guys disable ethernet backhaul, it works with managed and unmanaged switches? The nodes connect by ethernet or wifi with the setting disable? I have an unmanaged 8 port tp-link switch.

 

[GHammer]

So, you guys disable ethernet backhaul, it works with managed and unmanaged switches? The nodes connect by ethernet or wifi with the setting disable? I have an unmanaged 8 port tp-link switch.

For me and it seems one other, if I enable Ethernet Backhaul Mode in System Settings from the AIMesh router, no clients ever connect to the node.
If I disable that setting and go to the node Management-> Connection Priority and set it to 1G WAN first clients are connected immediately.

The other that confirms this has managed switch with VLANs, I do not.

Set as I explained, all works fine, clients roam from node to node, I have visibiliity, all but an error message that the node can't connect to the uplink device. Which must be incorrect as the devices on the node have internet access on both 2.4 and 5 GHz.

ASUS needs to use the same term for the same function in their GUI. Of course, take care of whatever is causing the error indication too.

 

[Moabdave]

I use Ubiquiti Unifi managed switches and have no problems with my AX110000 main and two XT8 nodes unless I set the dedicated "ethernet backhaul mode" option. Then things go bad with nodes disconnecting etc. As long as I just use the option of "1G WAN First" for the nodes everything works fine.

Thanks for that tip. I was using the dedicated ethernet backhaul mode. When they release RC8 (I've wasted enough time with RC6 and 7) I'll try that. Also these switches are unmanaged 8 port $80 Office Depot Specials.

 

[jass]

ASUS needs to use the same term for the same function in their GUI. Of course, take care of whatever is causing the error indication too.

I believe Asus already have explained it in this thread: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/a...h-full-functions-aimesh-2-0.65235/post-623331

It's two different functions, but yes they have to take care of whatever is causing the problems to...

 

[Moabdave]

OK, so we've got about 2 or 3 simultaneous conversations pointing towards the same issue. If there are intermediate switches between the master router and the AImesh nodes, your best option is to disable the dedicated Ethernet Backhaul mode in the "new settings panel", and instead have "Ethernet preferred" in the "old settings panel" enabled. Some people can make it work with dedicated Ethernet Backhaul and some can't, reasons why unknown, but seems to be switch dependent.

Thanks, that's good to know, as I suspect i've been beating my head against the wall due to this issue since I started beta testing. My question is, why isn't that just automatic? It seems to me that if an AiMesh note has an ethernet connection to the main router, shouldn't it try that first, and if that fails try via Wi-Fi?, without the user having to know to enable those settings? Oh well, at least I have an answer as to why I couldn't get it to work, so progress is progress.

 

[KingBravery]

Hi, is there anyone here when setup guest network 2.4G-1 and 5G-1 which I also enable Sync to All, the node always blue blinking then yellow static and then blue blinking again. This process repeated until forever. The device I'm using is Zenwifi XT8. So node is not working until I disable that guest network.

 

[energyd]

OK, so we've got about 2 or 3 simultaneous conversations pointing towards the same issue. If there are intermediate switches between the master router and the AImesh nodes, your best option is to disable the dedicated Ethernet Backhaul mode in the "new settings panel", and instead have "Ethernet preferred" in the "old settings panel" enabled. Some people can make it work with dedicated Ethernet Backhaul and some can't, reasons why unknown, but seems to be switch dependent.

Thanks, that's good to know, as I suspect i've been beating my head against the wall due to this issue since I started beta testing. My question is, why isn't that just automatic? It seems to me that if an AiMesh note has an ethernet connection to the main router, shouldn't it try that first, and if that fails try via Wi-Fi?, without the user having to know to enable those settings? Oh well, at least I have an answer as to why I couldn't get it to work, so progress is progress.

that's sound about right. thanks for the summary. I'm using the ethernet backhaul mode and everything works except the error message. I agree that this function(choose b/w ethernet or wifi mode) should not exist as the ethernet backhaul is always better than the wifi backhaul

 

[Darren Rockach]

My understanding of the "ethernet backhaul mode" is that it is only of use on a tri-band router. It releases the third band from backhaul duties and let's you make use of that band for say a dedicated gaming wifi or similar. The down side is that should your wired backhaul fail then the WiFi backhaul would not be available as a backup like it is if you select the '1G WAN first" option. With the "1G WAN First" option wired is used first if available but if not wireless will kick in. Down side being you cannot have the dedicated gaming wifi.
Hopefully I understand that correctly, please correct me if not.

 

[energyd]

My understanding of the "ethernet backhaul mode" is that it is only of use on a tri-band router. It releases the third band from backhaul duties and let's you make use of that band for say a dedicated gaming wifi or similar. The down side is that should your wired backhaul fail then the WiFi backhaul would not be available as a backup like it is if you select the '1G WAN first" option. With the "1G WAN First" option wired is used first if available but if not wireless will kick in. Down side being you cannot have the dedicated gaming wifi.
Hopefully I understand that correctly, please correct me if not.

my understanding is wifi backhaul will not completely take the whole channel. It will occupy part of the channel. The "ethernet backhaul mode" is for (dual band or tri-band) router to avoid the backhaul to take over bandwidth of wifi channels. I think this mode benefit dual band router more as they don't have the luxury of using the third band as the backhaul in case of tri-band router.

 

[LimJK]

OK, so we've got about 2 or 3 simultaneous conversations pointing towards the same issue. If there are intermediate switches between the master router and the AImesh nodes, your best option is to disable the dedicated Ethernet Backhaul mode in the "new settings panel", and instead have "Ethernet preferred" in the "old settings panel" enabled. Some people can make it work with dedicated Ethernet Backhaul and some can't, reasons why unknown, but seems to be switch dependent.

Thanks, that's good to know, as I suspect i've been beating my head against the wall due to this issue since I started beta testing. My question is, why isn't that just automatic? It seems to me that if an AiMesh note has an ethernet connection to the main router, shouldn't it try that first, and if that fails try via Wi-Fi?, without the user having to know to enable those settings? Oh well, at least I have an answer as to why I couldn't get it to work, so progress is progress.

Moabdave,
I can confirm your findings.

My Configuration:

• AiMesh Router: AX88U 9.0.0.4_386_40577 +
• 2 x AiMesh Nodes: AC86U 9.0.0.4_386_40577
• Linksys LGS108 Unmanaged Gigabit Switch from Router to Nodes

I normally leave AiMesh Settings to Firmware defaulted values, in this case:

• AiMesh -> Topology -> (Select an AiMesh Node) -> Management -> Connection Priority = Auto
• AiMesh -> Systems Settings -> Ethernet Backhaul Mode = OFF

AiMesh Network has been very well behaved for RC2-7, until I read your post (and others), so I decided to test this by turning ON "Ethernet Backhaul Mode" and confirmed that both my AiMesh Nodes were disconnected. Looks like a BUG to me ... hoping that ASUSWRT_2020 see this feedback. Turning "Ethernet Backhaul Mode" OFF, my full AiMesh Network is working again

 

[Moabdave]

Moabdave,
I can confirm your findings.
...
AiMesh Network has been very well behaved for RC2-7, until I read your post (and others), so I decided to test this by turning ON "Ethernet Backhaul Mode" and confirmed that both my AiMesh Nodes were disconnected. Looks like a BUG to me ... hoping that ASUSWRT_2020 see this feedback. Turning "Ethernet Backhaul Mode" OFF, my full AiMesh Network is working again

Thanks, and lucky you. After swearing I was done with this Beta test forever more, I decided to try ONE more time armed with this new piece of information. Things are better, one of the 2 AInodes has now connected, and remains connected. That is an huge improvement, and enough to send me down the rabbit hole. However, I'm still fighting spurious reboots and freezing routers when trying to add the 2nd AIMesh node. But what's more frustrating is the 1st node that is working says it can only connect via Wi-Fi, when I know for a fact the Ethernet cable is working. Wired connections work great with stock firmware, and I can ping the other LAN devices on that switch just fine. So yeah, BUG is right. Sigh.

 

[Jasonwang]

I have repeating message ,it going to increased network latency when I`m playing game or video chat.
And the log show : kernel: 8E:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX not mesh client, can't update it's ip

 

[LimJK]

I have repeating message ,it going to increased network latency when I`m playing game or video chat.
And the log show : kernel: 8E:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX not mesh client, can't update it's ip

Not sure what this message mean

Observations:

• I have seen this after I have successfully set up my AiMesh Network the first time: RT-AX88U (AiMesh Router), with 2 x RT-AC86U (AiMesh Nodes)
• I noticed the MacAddress in the messages are MacAddress of both my AiMesh Nodes

Workaround:

• I did AiMesh -> System Settings -> System Reboot (I normally do this AiMesh System Wide Reboot as part of my SOP; it is recommendation by others (including OzarkEdge) in this forum)
• The messages do not appear again

 

[LimJK]

ASUSWRT_2020,

I am just starting the process of collecting and sending all logs via feedback (point to this post), hopefully, you can find a clean log to help catch this bug.

Summary:

• AiMesh -> Systems Settings -> Ethernet Backhaul Mode = ON
• (I have a Linksys LGS108 Unmanaged Gigabit Switch from Router to Nodes)
• Both AiMesh Nodes get disconnected.

What I did:

• I did AiMesh -> System Settings -> System Reset to Factory Default (ie. AiMesh Router / 2 x Nodes)
• Configuring AiMesh Router from scratch followed by adding both AiMesh Nodes
• Working AiMesh environment (I let it run for about 20 minutes)
• I did AiMesh -> System Settings -> System Reboo
• Working AiMesh environment (I let it run for about 20 minutes)
• I did AiMesh -> System Settings -> Ethernet Backhaul Mode = ON
• Send Logs with Feedback where both AiMesh Nodes were disconnected

Workaround:

• AiMesh -> Systems Settings -> Ethernet Backhaul Mode = OFF

Edit1: After I initiated the feedback process that took a while ... I noticed my AiMesh Nodes get reconnected one by one by itself. I suppose I have to be more patient to let AiMesh 2.0 heals itself with change in configuration Sorry! I will continue to let the Logs collection and transfer to continue. I will also continue to let it run in the Ethernet Backhaul Mode = ON.

Edit2: I came back home and decided to have another go. I set Ethernet Backhaul Mode = OFF and ensure that AiMesh is running properly. Then I turn Ethernet Backhaul Mode = ON again. Both AiMesh Nodes got disconnected immediately and is Offline, including NO WiFi on AiMesh Node. Instead of submitting feedback like the last time, I waited for about 20 minutes before I see the AiMesh Nodes slowly coming back. I suppose 20 minutes for AiMesh Network to heal itself is not acceptable from the user's perspective ... so, I would still consider this a bug

 

[Moabdave]

ASUSWRT_2020,

• I did AiMesh -> System Settings -> System Reset to Factory Default (ie. AiMesh Router / 2 x Nodes)
• Configuring AiMesh Router from scratch followed by adding both AiMesh Nodes
• Working AiMesh environment (I let it run for about 20 minutes)
• I did AiMesh -> System Settings -> System Reboo
• Working AiMesh environment (I let it run for about 20 minutes)
• I did AiMesh -> System Settings -> Ethernet Backhaul Mode = ON
• Send Logs with Feedback where both AiMesh Nodes were disconnected

In my case the router usually freezes and/or reboots near the end of the Add AI node wizard. When the router recovers (either from the reboot, or from me rebooting it) the Aimesh nodes I just added no longer appear in the list. Would there still be a benefit to the Ai-Mesh->System Settings -> System Reboot, if the main router no longer lists the 2 recently configured nodes as AiMesh nodes? Usually the Ainode routers are frozen and I have to get out the paper clip to restore them. But since switching the Ethernet Backhaul to off, one usually survives, and despite not appaering on the list, has devices connected to its LAN ports showing as connected devices.

 

[energyd]

In my case the router usually freezes and/or reboots near the end of the Add AI node wizard. When the router recovers (either from the reboot, or from me rebooting it) the Aimesh nodes I just added no longer appear in the list. Would there still be a benefit to the Ai-Mesh->System Settings -> System Reboot, if the main router no longer lists the 2 recently configured nodes as AiMesh nodes? Usually the Ainode routers are frozen and I have to get out the paper clip to restore them. But since switching the Ethernet Backhaul to off, one usually survives, and despite not appaering on the list, has devices connected to its LAN ports showing as connected devices.

Just to confirm does your problem only happen when there are more than one nodes in your network? I don't have this issue with only one node.

 

[S01]

Hi ASUSWRT_2020,

May I ask for adding an option to prioritize the 2.4GHz band as a backhaul?

I figured out that the traffic from my NAS(connected to a node) is eating up my 5Ghz throughput. However, my internet is not that fast, since I can get stable 2.4Ghz 20Mhz to cover for the NAS traffic, I would like to prioritize the 2.4GHz band as the backhaul. I have tested using repeater mode and 2.4GHz was doing a good job to offer a stable connection for 200Mbps internet. Then the 5GHz can provide a stable 1.4Gbps speed for my laptop to connect to the NAS.

However AiMesh offers better roaming and node management, so I hope to get such a feature. I know 2.4G backhaul is not good for online gaming stuff, but since I mostly gaming offline, I prefer the faster connection between my laptop and NAS.

Hope to hear back from you. Thanks in advance!

 

[Jasonwang]

Not sure what this message mean

Observations:

• I have seen this after I have successfully set up my AiMesh Network the first time: RT-AX88U (AiMesh Router), with 2 x RT-AC86U (AiMesh Nodes)
• I noticed the MacAddress in the messages are MacAddress of both my AiMesh Nodes

Workaround:

• I did AiMesh -> System Settings -> System Reboot (I normally do this AiMesh System Wide Reboot as part of my SOP; it is recommendation by others (including OzarkEdge) in this forum)
• The messages do not appear again

I`m sorry,I didn't describe it clearly.'8E:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX' is my iphone11`s mac address.And I had set up AIMESH with two RT-AC66U_B1 by the network cable.

 

[LimJK]

I`m sorry,I didn't describe it clearly.'8E:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX' is my iphone11`s mac address.And I had set up AIMESH with two RT-AC66U_B1 by the network cable.

So, while we have similar messages, but, different reason for the message.