Disable Dedicated Backhaul with Wireless Mesh

[HellsChicken]

I've got a GT-AX11000 as the primary router, and then one XT8 with wired backhaul (via MOCA) and a second XT8 in wireless mesh mode as I can't run a wire there. It's out in a shed and helps boost the signal over what a phone might get on its own, but it's used infrequently so I don't want to have to dedicate an entire band to it.

Is there any way to disable the backhaul being dedicated, and let that second 5Ghz band be used with smart connect? I'd like to have one 5Ghz band with DFS and another without it (for the few devices I have which don't support it). I'm fine with the meshed node sharing a band with other devices.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Is there any way to disable the backhaul being dedicated, and let that second 5Ghz band be used with smart connect?

Do you intend to use the same SSID for 5-1 and 5-2 and expect some 5.0 clients to prefer 5-1 and some to prefer 5-2?

OE

 

[HellsChicken]

Do you intend to use the same SSID for 5-1 and 5-2 and expect some 5.0 clients to prefer 5-1 and some to prefer 5-2?

OE

That’s the goal. I also want easy handoff when walking between the house and the shed.

 

[OzarkEdge]

That’s the goal. I also want easy handoff when walking between the house and the shed.

If you could configure it that way, will you be content when all of your 5.0 clients decide to connect to the 5-2 wireless backhaul band?

OE

 

[HellsChicken]

Before I added the wireless mesh node, I had this configuration (all three bands using the same SSID, 5-1 with DFS and 5-2 without). The clients seemed to split with most going to the DFS band (5-1) and a handful of clients to the non-DFS (5-2).

 

[leerees]

Yes. You can set that node to share it's wireless backhaul with all clients. That band can also become part of your AiMesh. You will have one SSID with seamless roaming to the shed.

This workaround uses the wireless backhaul failover mode.

Before we start, it's worth noting that shared backhauls need double the bandwidth, so consider a DFS / 160mhz channel for the wireless backhaul.

First make sure the shed node is connected via an ethernet cable.

Now you need to enable tri band mode. To do this, select ethernet backhaul in the system settings screen of Aimesh.

Get it up and running and connect some wireless clients to it. Leave it running for at least 15 minutes.

Now unplug the ethernet cable and wait for the backhaul to failover to the shared 5g2 band.

Confirm it's working by using a client. Now, unplug and relocate to the shed.

If it doesn't work, the other work around is selecting "enable client access" in the WiFi settings for that band. However, the first solution works best.

 

[HellsChicken]

Yes. You can set that node to share it's wireless backhaul with all clients. That band can also become part of your AiMesh. You will have one SSID with seamless roaming to the shed.

This workaround uses the wireless backhaul failover mode.

Before we start, it's worth noting that shared backhauls need double the bandwidth, so consider a DFS / 160mhz channel for the wireless backhaul.

First make sure the shed node is connected via an ethernet cable.

Now you need to enable tri band mode. To do this, select ethernet backhaul in the system settings screen of Aimesh.

Get it up and running and connect some wireless clients to it. Leave it running for at least 15 minutes.

Now unplug the ethernet cable and wait for the backhaul to failover to the shared 5g2 band.

Confirm it's working by using a client. Now, unplug and relocate to the shed.

If it doesn't work, the other work around is selecting "enable client access" in the WiFi settings for that band. However, the first solution works best.

Darn I missed this post when you first made it, sorry about that!

Just gave it a try. It doesn't look like you can fall back to wireless backhaul when enabling the "Ethernet Backhaul Mode" option. The backhaul connection priority is fixed on WAN only and can't be changed:

After unplugging the ethernet cable, it shows up as disconnected with no apparent option to connect it wirelessly other than disabling ethernet backhaul mode, which makes the second 5Ghz band dedicated again.

I don't see a setting called "enable client access". The closest thing I can find is unhiding the SSID, but then it's using it's own separate SSID of mynetworkname_dwb. I don't see any option for using Smart Connect with that band. If you can point me to the specific option I'd be happy to give it a try though!

 

[Tech9]

There is no "seamless" roaming with AiMesh no matter what settings do you have. Expect up to 10 seconds "seams".

 

[HellsChicken]

There is no "seamless" roaming with AiMesh no matter what settings do you have. Expect up to 10 seconds "seams".

That hasn't been my experience. Devices seem to roam between my three nodes with no apparent drop. In any case, having a second SSID is a hassle. I don't want to have to manually enter a second one on all my (or guests) portable devices.

 

[Tech9]

Test with VoIP call when moving around different nodes and you'll notice the drops.