[Experimental] Asuswrt-Merlin 384.13 test - AiMesh/DNSSEC through OpenSSL

[Jumpstarter]

Just a quick update that I tried the stock ASUS firmware 3.0.0.4.384_45717-gadd52a8 on the 5300 and set it up as a node with absolutely no issues. After I ensured that ran properly for a while, I tried the Merlin alpha2 firmware on the 5300 again. Set it up as a node, and the crashing started again immediately.

So it is definitely the Merlin firmware on the 5300 that is causing the crashes on the 88 as my main router. The logs from when it was working with the stock 5300 firmware didn't show anything special from what I can tell compared to the errors I already posted.

I did see some 'removal request for address of fe80:XXXX:, but no knowledge of it' when it was working with the stock firmware as a node, but not much more.

So in summary...

WORKING
AC88 - Main Router, your alpha 2 build
AC68 - AIMesh node, your alpha 2 build
AC5300 - AIMesh node, 3.0.0.4.384_45717-gadd52a8

NOT WORKING
AC88 - Main Router, your alpha 2 build
AC68 - AIMesh node, your alpha 2 build
AC5300 - AIMesh node, your alpha 2 build (The one causing the problems)


Is there anything I can do to provide any more technical details to you guys to get this resolved?

Thank you!

yea my RT-AC5300 is acting up as well, on 384.12 it connects to modem perfectly fine, with 384.13, it will not renew DHCP lease properly. I have tried normal and aggressive settings, to eliminate that being the issue. I have factory reset and reconfigured from scratch, that doesn't fix the issue either. only thing that fixed the issue was going back to 384.12. I hope this DHCP leasing issue gets resolved.

 

[heysoundude]

Coolant is good, but how about the dust? I don't clean my router often.
As long as i don't change my router as often as phone, i see no point against tricks to extend service life of router

A $5 (or less!) can of air every 6-12 months would take care of the dust for whomever is concerned with temperature.


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[MNoisy]

My set up is currently running without issue as long as the 5300 node is on stock firmware.

Another problem specific to those using AIMesh and nodes with triband but main router with dual-band will be MAC Filtering and Professional Wifi Settings on the 5GHZ-2 Channel (And possibly 5GHZ-1 as well?).

I already hear your replies about why I would use mesh but still need filtering and the answer is for a handful of devices that always seem to have issues with specific bands dropping; 5 Cameras, home automation devices, sprinkler system, couple other smart switches, 1 fridge, etc. The devices themselves have connectivity issues with specific bands so I need them blocked on specific ap's or nodes.

Could this be a possible future feature? If not, can you provide any detail about if and how dual-band 5ghz settings are pushed to a triband ap/node?

If AiMesh is enabled is there any way to allow only some specific settings to be manually changed on a per device basis and prevent the auto-redirect when connecting to those manually?

Great stuff so far though! Thanks again @merlin and everyone helping!

 

[Swistheater]

My set up is currently running without issue as long as the 5300 node is on stock firmware.

Another problem specific to those using AIMesh and nodes with triband but main router with dual-band will be MAC Filtering and Professional Wifi Settings on the 5GHZ-2 Channel (And possibly 5GHZ-1 as well?).

I already hear your replies about why I would use mesh but still need filtering and the answer is for a handful of devices that always seem to have issues with specific bands dropping; 5 Cameras, home automation devices, sprinkler system, couple other smart switches, 1 fridge, etc. The devices themselves have connectivity issues with specific bands so I need them blocked on specific ap's or nodes.

Could this be a possible future feature? If not, can you provide any detail about if and how dual-band 5ghz settings are pushed to a triband ap/node?

If AiMesh is enabled is there any way to allow only some specific settings to be manually changed on a per device basis and prevent the auto-redirect when connecting to those manually?

Great stuff so far though! Thanks again @merlin and everyone helping!

one solution is to give all Bands a different name, and have one specifically for your camera setup, this would involve turning off smart connect if you have it enabled.

Also mac filtering is a bad idea mixed with smart connect, if you are also using that, because smart connect relies on steering the device from one band to the next, if it is prevented connection, then it will never make it to the appropriate band. You would be better off setting one of your routers up to a static IP off the main and placing it in a double nat mode and allowing those devices to separate that way or using a guest network or creating another vlan specific for them.

 

[MNoisy]

one solution is to give all Bands a different name, and have one specifically for your camera setup, this would involve turning off smart connect if you have it enabled.

Thanks for the idea! Unfortunately, I am wanting to implement AiMesh due to so many roaming devices which way outnumber those with the issues I was hoping to implement the mac filtering for.

Is there a way to manually apply mac filtering to nodes via ssh and have it stick?

Can you also confirm that mac filtering and 5ghz pro settings are duplicated to both 5ghz bands of the triband nodes?

Thanks!

 

[Swistheater]

Thanks for the idea! Unfortunately, I am wanting to implement AiMesh due to so many roaming devices which way outnumber those with the issues I was hoping to implement the mac filtering for.

Is there a way to manually apply mac filtering to nodes via ssh and have it stick?

Can you also confirm that mac filtering and 5ghz pro settings are duplicated to both 5ghz bands of the triband nodes?

Thanks!

if it works correctly, you would think it would spread across nodes. just make sure each band has a different name, so your device knows to connect to that band properly.

 

[Gar]

Upgraded from .12 to .13a2 and it is much more stable with Quad9. If I run without DoT it is nearly perfect, I assume my ISP has something to do with it, don't know enough about it from the technical side.

Wondering if leaving DoT off is a better choice for us. Still not clear on the enhancements with this release and whether it improves security over .12. I realize DoT and DNSsec are different. Trying to find a happy median.

 

[MNoisy]

if it works correctly, you would think it would spread across nodes. just make sure each band has a different name, so your device knows to connect to that band properly.

With so many roaming devices, it's just not ideal for set up or simplification. We have over 50 devices on the system that can roam and getting everyone to add a new SSID and passwords along with trusting the devices to do it right after changing will take more time than it is worth. I totally appreciate the idea however and will keep it in mind as a last resort if needed! At least the option is there.

 

[Jumpstarter]

My set up is currently running without issue as long as the 5300 node is on stock firmware.

Another problem specific to those using AIMesh and nodes with triband but main router with dual-band will be MAC Filtering and Professional Wifi Settings on the 5GHZ-2 Channel (And possibly 5GHZ-1 as well?).

I already hear your replies about why I would use mesh but still need filtering and the answer is for a handful of devices that always seem to have issues with specific bands dropping; 5 Cameras, home automation devices, sprinkler system, couple other smart switches, 1 fridge, etc. The devices themselves have connectivity issues with specific bands so I need them blocked on specific ap's or nodes.

Could this be a possible future feature? If not, can you provide any detail about if and how dual-band 5ghz settings are pushed to a triband ap/node?

If AiMesh is enabled is there any way to allow only some specific settings to be manually changed on a per device basis and prevent the auto-redirect when connecting to those manually?

Great stuff so far though! Thanks again @merlin and everyone helping!

Turns out my issue was related to the modem. I setup with a different modem with help of isp, the issue went away.

 

[JemTheWire]

OK. It’s been over 24hours now since I set up AIMesh on my system. After the initial hiccups, previously posted here, it has been rock solid. No disconnects, WiFi and Ethernet devices working just as they should.

If you have read my previous woes, you will know that I am running 384.13 alpha2 on both the Master and Node devices AX88U & AC88U respectfully.

I have read Eric’s initial notes and requirements of which FW should be used on the NODE. As project has moved on a bit now, is it still better to run STOCK FW on the NODE?

What I am asking in effect is, now I have proved my current setup works well worth AIMesh, should I flash the NODE back to ASUS stock FW? If so, what are the benefits?

TYVM

 

[Marin]

@RMerlin - Would it be possible to remove the "auto" select channel check from the 160 MHz bandwidth and allow that users pick the channel they want?

 

[Marin]

I am sure I missed this if it was announced on the one of the changelogs but every time you check the "Enable 160 MHz" box, it automatically locks the "Auto select channel...." box. As shown above, my AX88U automatically picks channel 100 but I used to have a lot better response with channel 48 and I cannot change this.

 

[SheikhSheikha]

it is simply because all guest network is doing is mirroring the router wireless, or when you have it turned on with the AP it is mirroring the AP wireless, certain features would not be native and functional on node guest wifi, like isolating the guest network from communicating with the rest of the network and the guest network would be able to access the main. where as the guest network on the Aimesh parent router would be able to restrict such actions, but the child node wouldn't without extra help and there is no telling what kind of impact that help would have on the node guest networks already dampen performance.

You can use SSH to turn on guest network on AImesh node, you will see it has not Isolation of any kind.

I can SSH but I have no clue what commands to use to active my guestwifi. I want to active it on my 5GHz on an AX88U.

 

[MDM]

View attachment 18646

I am sure I missed this if it was announced on the one of the changelogs but every time you check the "Enable 160 MHz" box, it automatically locks the "Auto select channel...." box. As shown above, my AX88U automatically picks channel 100 but I used to have a lot better response with channel 48 and I cannot change this.

There is nothing to choose...

And even in the US, there is 2 options, but the second one is not permitted (enabled on all routers); where channel 48 is certainly not possible.

 

[Grisu]

I can SSH but I have no clue what commands to use to active my guestwifi. I want to active it on my 5GHz on an AX88U.

on main router run: nvram show | sort
then activate guest-wifi with your prefered options.
Again run nvram show | sort
Look at the differences, easy done in Excel.
Afterwards you will know what to change on node to activate guest with some nvram set "variable"="value" and at the end nvram commit.

 

[quant88]

why is your ED448 column servfails?

With Windows Firefox, test result for ED448 shows yellow lock.
However, Chrome still display red cross. Changing DNS on router does not change the result. Any ideas ?
View attachment 18638

This time I changed my dns to Quad9 and the result is different - no SERVFAIL
In both tests, DNSSEC support and DOT are enabled.

 

[Marin]

There is nothing to choose...

View attachment 18647

And even in the US, there is 2 options, but the second one is not permitted (enabled on all routers); where channel 48 is certainly not possible.

View attachment 18648

Actually I am in US and I remember having a lot more channels to choose from a few FW releases ago. It is possible that these settings changed recently. It is also possible that they are closed source from Asus and so there is not much that you can do about it.




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[Swistheater]

Actually I am in US and I remember having a lot more channels to choose from a few FW releases ago. It is possible that these settings changed recently. It is also possible that they are closed source from Asus and so there is not much that you can do about it.




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if you have a smart connect turned on disable it, and check again.

 

[Swistheater]

 

[scjr]

View attachment 18650

Is that with Cloudflare, @Swistheater?