AX88U WAN aggregation using Merlin firmware

[princi]

I'm about to buy an RT-AX88U - and of course, put Merlin on it.

I read about WAN aggregation and that LACP 802.3ad must be supported by the "modem"

I have 10G fibre delivered by an Edgecore L2 switch. I have my own subnet of public IP addresses provisioned by the ISP's DHCP server.

On paper, I should be able to plug 2 WAN cables from the AX88U into the ECS2110-26T and each interface would get it's own public IP and 1G of WAN bandwidth.

Unlike load balancing, aggregation or bonding, should then give me 2G of WAN bandwidth.

There are many many people on this forum who are a more experienced than me with this sort of config:

Have any of you tried something like this with an AX88U running Merlin?


Appreciate your input.

 

[Mutzli]

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think this router supports link aggregation on the WAN port (single WAN port only). It does support it on the Ethernet switch side. In LAN Switch Control you can enable 802.3ad Bonding/Link aggregation on LAN port 1 and LAN port 2. I have a switch connected to the router this way.

 

[Hawk]

I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think this router supports link aggregation on the WAN port (single WAN port only). It does support it on the Ethernet switch side. In LAN Switch Control you can enable 802.3ad Bonding/Link aggregation on LAN port 1 and LAN port 2. I have a switch connected to the router this way.

It does support on wan side as well, to enable it one cable goes to wan and other lan4.

Under wan setting choose wan aggregation to get 2 Gbps, both devices must use lacp protocol.

 

[Mutzli]

It does support on wan side as well, to enable it one cable goes to wan and other lan4.

Under wan setting choose wan aggregation to get 2 Gbps, both devices must use lacp protocol.

I tried to set it up since I have a modem that supports link aggregation, plugged one cable in the WAN port and the second one in the LAN port 4. Configured the LAN 4 port for Link Aggregation and set load balancing to 2:2 and it works. Thanks Hawk for the clarification.

 

[Mutzli]

Well, I just had to disable link aggregation again. My modem, an Arris SB8200 didn't play well with LAG. It lost the internet connection after a few minutes. I assume it has nothing to do with the router, it's probably a firmware issue on the modem that doesn't support proper port bonding and link aggregation. I really don't need LAG anyway since my WAN speed won't max out the modem.

 

[L&LD]

I tried to set it up since I have a modem that supports link aggregation, plugged one cable in the WAN port and the second one in the LAN port 4. Configured the LAN 4 port for Link Aggregation and set load balancing to 2:2 and it works. Thanks Hawk for the clarification.

Well, I just had to disable link aggregation again. My modem, an Arris SB8200 didn't play well with LAG. It lost the internet connection after a few minutes. I assume it has nothing to do with the router, it's probably a firmware issue on the modem that doesn't support proper port bonding and link aggregation. I really don't need LAG anyway since my WAN speed won't max out the modem.

Was going to ask what your ISP speeds were.

I think the issue is that your ISP only provides you with one IP, with the two you forced it to give you with the Link Aggregation settings on the router, it kicked everyone/everything off, to protect itself.

 

[EmeraldDeer]

Well, I just had to disable link aggregation again. My modem, an Arris SB8200 didn't play well with LAG. It lost the internet connection after a few minutes. I assume it has nothing to do with the router, it's probably a firmware issue on the modem that doesn't support proper port bonding and link aggregation. I really don't need LAG anyway since my WAN speed won't max out the modem.

• Assuming the following is known but just in case
• Router support introduced in 384.11 and needs to be enabled in web "GUI WAN > Internet Connection > Enable WAN Aggregation" (otherwise LAN 4 port is exactly that)
• Arris SB8200 support introduced by Comcast a few weeks ago and needs to be enabled in new web interface tab

I have not tried it and not sure I will

 

[ColinTaylor]

WAN Aggregation was added to the RT-AX88U with firmware version 3.0.0.4.384.5951 on 2019/03/27.

According to the change log that version was only merged into Merlin's firmware in version 384.11 which hasn't been released yet.

 

[Gitsum]

WAN Aggregation was added to the RT-AX88U with firmware version 3.0.0.4.384.5951 on 2019/03/27.

According to the change log that version was only merged into Merlin's firmware in version 384.11 which hasn't been released yet.

It's in the Alpha version.

 

[ColinTaylor]

It's in the Alpha version.

Indeed. But according to @Mutzli's sig he's running 384.10_2 which might explain why it didn't work for him.

 

[Mutzli]

Indeed. But according to @Mutzli's sig he's running 384.10_2 which might explain why it didn't work for him.

I'll try to set it up again once 384.11 is in beta. So what's different in .11 from .10_2? I can already set Dual WAN on the router to use a LAN port from 1 - 4 for link aggregation.
My SB8200 is still on a 2018 firmware and not the new one from March 2019. Is there a way to force a firmware update on the modem through Comcast?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Do you have the option on WAN > Internet Connection > Basic Config to set "Enable WAN Aggregation"?

http://demoui.asus.com/Advanced_WAN_Content.asp

 

[Mutzli]

Do you have the option on WAN > Internet Connection > Basic Config to set "Enable WAN Aggregation"?

http://demoui.asus.com/Advanced_WAN_Content.asp

No, you're right. I only have Load Balancing available not aggregation. This might explain the issue I had earlier. I would need two different modems to take advantage of that.

 

[princi]

Load balancing has been available for ages, and is not what I want. Doesn’t help with VPNs.

Unless your ISP plan offers you more than 1Gbps, it’s kind of pointless.

Anyway, thanks for the comments. I’m eager to try this out. Actually, I already have an AC86U that supports this as well - might test it on that first. It’s running Alpha4.

 

[princi]

Doesn't appear to be available on the AC86U - I don't see this option:

"GUI WAN > Internet Connection > Enable WAN Aggregation"

I'm running 384.11 Alpha4

 

[Hawk]

Doesn't appear to be available on the AC86U - I don't see this option:

"GUI WAN > Internet Connection > Enable WAN Aggregation"

I'm running 384.11 Alpha4

Currently RT-AX 88u is only router which support it.

 

[Mutzli]

I'll try to set it up again once 384.11 is in beta. So what's different in .11 from .10_2? I can already set Dual WAN on the router to use a LAN port from 1 - 4 for link aggregation.
My SB8200 is still on a 2018 firmware and not the new one from March 2019. Is there a way to force a firmware update on the modem through Comcast?

Just power cycled my modem and it updated to the latest firmware supporting LAG. Actually the modem is a Touchstone CM8200A which is identical to the SB8200 except it cost about 1/2 when you buy it off eBay.

So all I need now is 384.11

 

[princi]

For those of you who have this working, does it show 2 WAN IPs?

Or is it able to bond two links under the one IP address?

I have my AX88U now, but configuring the Edgecore switch will take me a while.

 

[RMerlin]

For those of you who have this working, does it show 2 WAN IPs?

Or is it able to bond two links under the one IP address?

I have my AX88U now, but configuring the Edgecore switch will take me a while.

Neither. This is for modems that are connected to an ISP providing more than 1 GBps, so the modem is able to also provide more than 2 Gbps to the router itself despite using 1 Gbps interfaces.

 

[princi]

Yes, that is similar to my setup. I have 10 Gbps fibre going straight into an SFP+ port. I’m using a switch rather than a modem. The switch supports LACP 802.3ad

As the ethernet ports are all 1G, I am trying to do WAN aggregation so the AX88U gets 2G of bandwidth.