clients connected to node by ethernet show as connected to main router

[jata]

Note: This started after changing one of my mesh nodes from wifi backhaul to ethernet (so i'm confident its related to this change).

I have 2 clients connected by ethernet (wired) to this node. When node is connected via wifi backhaul all is good and these wired clients say they are connected to the node as I would expect.

When I switch to ethernet backhaul on the node then these 2 clients jump between being connected to main router and node in the AIMesh page of the web GUI (and iOS app too).

I know this is impossible as the clients are 'wired' to the node! So I think this is just some asus closed source weirdness that I can probably ignore.

Has anyone else seen this? Found a fix?

I have just spent 2hrs doing a full reset and manual rebuild/reconfig of my network and this did not fix the issue.

Any ideas to investigate further?

 

[Tech9]

So I think this is just some asus closed source weirdness that I can probably ignore.

Yes.

I have just spent 2hrs doing a full reset and manual rebuild/reconfig of my network and this did not fix the issue.

This is part of AiMesh experience.

 

[bbunge]

Note: This started after changing one of my mesh nodes from wifi backhaul to ethernet (so i'm confident its related to this change).

I have 2 clients connected by ethernet (wired) to this node. When node is connected via wifi backhaul all is good and these wired clients say they are connected to the node as I would expect.

When I switch to ethernet backhaul on the node then these 2 clients jump between being connected to main router and node in the AIMesh page of the web GUI (and iOS app too).

I know this is impossible as the clients are 'wired' to the node! So I think this is just some asus closed source weirdness that I can probably ignore.

Has anyone else seen this? Found a fix?

I have just spent 2hrs doing a full reset and manual rebuild/reconfig of my network and this did not fix the issue.

Any ideas to investigate further?

Give it some time. Network Map is usually slow to show changes. It may take up to a day for clients to show correct connections. This is based on DHCP renew time which is usually set for 24 hours. Then again, it may never show correctly and it really does not matter as long as the system works! If it bothers you, don't look at it.

 

[jata]

Give it some time. Network Map is usually slow to show changes. It may take up to a day for clients to show correct connections. This is based on DHCP renew time which is usually set for 24 hours. Then again, it may never show correctly and it really does not matter as long as the system works! If it bothers you, don't look at it.

I know I shouldn't look but I can't help it and it does bother me. haha.

it's not a settling/time thing. I see these clients bounce back and forth between node and router for a few days now.

It's just irritating that I spent hours under the house in the dirt to wire the node and I'm happy. Then this is the reward

 

[jata]

Yes.



This is part of AiMesh experience.

So true. I think I will change everything over to ubiquity in a year or so once wifi 7 is out and not crazy $$$

 

[Tech9]

I think I will change everything over to ubiquity

You can still stop by SNB Forums for a reset or two.

 

[glens]

OMG. Really?

With a client wired to a switch (which is all that's happening here) which is wired to the router, the router /should/ show the client as being connected "directly" to the router. The only time a client should show as being associated with the node itself is when the client /is/ associated with the node's WiFi broadcaster.

And even if then it shows in the router's web interface as being "wired" to the router, so what.

 

[tnpapa]

This is completely normal behavior. I have four wired devices on my node and they all show as connected to the router, which is exactly what they are. The ethernet ports on the node are just a switch, like any other switch, and it's an unmanaged switch at that. So to your network all wired devices will all look like they are connected to the router.

 

[jata]

Thanks all but…

These devices connected to the node by Ethernet flip between being connected to the node and router all the time so something is wrong. Hope you agree that this is not normal.

If I change to wireless backhaul these clients are correctly identified as being connected to the node. Correctly in my opinion.

Surely the behaviour should be the same with wired and wireless backhaul?

 

[RandomUser777]

Thanks all but…

These devices connected to the node by Ethernet flip between being connected to the node and router all the time so something is wrong. Hope you agree that this is not normal.

If I change to wireless backhaul these clients are correctly identified as being connected to the node. Correctly in my opinion.

Surely the behaviour should be the same with wired and wireless backhaul?

Like glen said above, when nodes are connected via wire, it's a "straight path" to the main router.

Imagine you ran ethernet from your main router to an unmanaged switch "A" (port A1), plugged your node "X" into the switch for wired backhaul (port A2), then ran ethernet from the unmanaged switch (port A3) to another unmanaged switch "B" (port B1), and you plugged your second node "Z" into switch "B"'s port B2.

Both node X and Z would be reported as connected directly to your main router.

That's how the LAN ports on the nodes behave.

Very simple.

 

[jata]

Thank you - appreciate the input and help. I do get what you are saying and I agree it is very simple - if it was consistent and reliable - which it is not.

1. Why are my wired clients jumping around from being connected to node and main router - this is not reliable behaviour. By your logic these (wired to node) clients should be connected to the main router but they are not - see screen shot below.

2. Why is the behaviour different when the node is connected wirelessly? This is just changing the backhaul / uplink type. In this case the my wired clients are always reported connected to the node.

I'm not trying to be difficult here - just pointing out the way this works is both broken (wired clients bouncing around) and inconsistent (different behaviour based on uplink type).

All good though. I just wanted to see if other folks have the same issue. Sounds like you don't so happy days.

 

[glens]

The only "issue" is that you're using a "junk" visual interface to reach your conclusions. When the node is wireless, sure, wired-to-that-node connections will appear there as wireless because /everything/ connected there is via a wireless connection to the router. Hey, I "get" that Asus is trying to make things non-tech-savvy(-idiot)-proof, but it's obvious to anyone else they fall short of the mark, by a lot. But since the system "works" anyway (despite), who cares? If one /must know/ where/how something's connected, then they shouldn't be using the "idiot" method. Log in to the client and determine its endpoint, which will be succinct, if no way else.

 

[jata]

Thanks and agreed.