Can i use RT-AC68U as a first router in a mesh system with Zenwifi XT8 routers as nodes without performance losses?

[palle]

Ok, so i have an inteno modem/router in the middle of the house (boiler room). From there i want to install wires to each end of the house, and connect these to 2 Zenwifi XT8's.
I have an old RT-AC68U which is compatible with ai mesh, could i bridge my inteno modem/router and use the RT-AC68U with wireless inactivated as the first router in a mesh system?

I will inactivate the wifi since it is an AC router and i don't want my wireless equipment to connect to that node and the XT8's have good enough range to cover my house anyways.
Could i do this without losing any performance even though the RT-AC68U probably don't have all the technology that a Zenwifi XT8 got? For example i don't think it got MU-MIMO.
But maybe that doesn't matter because the inteno modem/router aint got MU-MIMO either, or is it just the "main router" that needs to have it?

I don't want to use one XT8 as first router because i will use 10gbit cables to get a 10gbit LAN. For that i need a 10gbit switch in the boiler room and from what i read i can not connect a switch before the first router in the system.
And if i connect the switch after an XT8 i will have to use more then 100m cable in the system if i place the XT8's in each end of the house.

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @palle.

For the title question, no. The main router is what controls the WiFi. Also, if you disable the radio's, you'll have no WiFi.

The rest of your post is confusing me. Do you have a diagram?

 

[palle]

Thanks.

I would only like to disable the radios on the RT-AC68U but not on the XT8's, is that not possible? Today i have the Inteno radios disabled and the XT8 routers radios enabled. Anyways would it be possible without disabling the radio on the RT-AC68U then? i Could put an aluminum foil box around it to not get any signals through.

 

[josephclemente]

I tried disabling the 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz radios on the AiMesh Router in a triple RT-AX86U network. This network uses ethernet backhaul. With wireless disabled on the AiMesh Router, wireless from the two AiMesh nodes still functioned.

 

[L&LD]

Does it still work after a system reboot via the AiMesh, Settings tab?

 

[RogerSC]

Thanks.

I would only like to disable the radios on the RT-AC68U but not on the XT8's, is that not possible? Today i have the Inteno radios disabled and the XT8 routers radios enabled. Anyways would it be possible without disabling the radio on the RT-AC68U then? i Could put an aluminum foil box around it to not get any signals through.

Okay, let's take your wiring diagram as a basis. Now, make only the two XT8's mesh together (known as a ZenWiFi AX mesh), don't make the AX68U part of the mesh. Once you have the ZenWiFi AX part of your diagram going, put it in AP mode. And yes, turn off the wireless radios on the AX68U. Now you've essentially got a "main" wired-only router, and a mesh wireless access point to handle your wifi environment. This works well for me using an RT-AX86U in place of the AX68U...You can use the Asus Router smart phone app to easily get the ZenWiFi AX mesh going, it will come up in router mode. Then immediately switch the ZenWiFi AX mesh mode to AP, and then you can be done with the Asus Router app for the moment. At that point, you can switch to using the web admin interface to finish configuring the ZenWiFi AX mesh...not much to configure for AP mode, just the wireless configuration.

I've used this configuration for months, and it has worked well for me. The only difference is that I don't use wired backhaul for the ZenWiFi AX mesh, I use wireless. But wired backhaul should work well, even though the ZenWifi AX mesh is optimized for wireless backhaul. Just one note, though, I find that using unmanaged switches with mesh nodes is best, since it allows the mesh software to directly control the mesh...if your switches have much "intelligence", that can really confuse most mesh software.

 

[L&LD]

I'll have to experiment with this kind of setup (when/if I have time) to see what benefits it may offer. Using the routers as just APs (i.e. not in router mode), hmmm.

 

[Tech9]

Once you have the ZenWiFi AX part of your diagram going, put it in AP mode.

This allows you to use any router/firewall you want, but you lose Guest Network separation from main network.

 

[noah way]

It looks like there are a whole lot of unnecessary switches in that diagram.