Found a way to make AImesh nodes to have different channels!

[akb]

Good work OP finding a solution to this quite specific use case. I don’t have this issue but I have enough other problems…

My lesson is that I have spent too much money on ASUS kit that is ok but still consumer crap.

I will hang in there with my mesh setup with wired backhaul. one node still to wire under the house and not looking forward to that job.

Then I replace everything with better equipment (not ASUS) when wifi7 is real and value for money

I would do the same probably one day. I personally like the single point of view so I need a brand that uses a wifi controller. Atleast for now my network is fraction of the cost of others with ofcourse the cravats, but I love to tinker so finding solutions is sometimes more fun.

I nteresting idea - but isn't this like "going around the barn to get to the house"?

Wouldn't it be much easier to just run the nodes in AP mode instead? Why do you need to use aimesh at all if you need to SSH into the nodes? AP mode would, as far as I understand, be better for you.

Deja vu?

 

[Strud]

Very interesting finding, thanks for sharing!

I'm in the same boat, but with far less devices, <50. I like the simplicity of aimesh syncing all the settings (including guest network, mac filter, internet access restrictions) from a single place - I do have a wired setup.

It would be nice if people could help find out a way to make it automatic (ex. via script running on the node) instead of undermining the initiative.

 

[tcp1p]

@akb Thanks for the tip, unfortunately, I can't seem to get it working on my (hard-wired between them) Asus RT-AX92U & RT-AX88U - I have tried multiple times, but the AIMesh configuration always wins!

I'm adding a third node/router into my configuration in the next couple of days to help cover a bad spot in our house (I just need to run the new cable first) and was hoping I could configure all three nodes to use different WiFi channels, but it looks like AiMesh won't let me. I'll see how it goes with the default setup, but I'm guessing I may have to change to AP mode and lose some of the seamless management capability (like seeing my annotated hostnames from the manually allocated DHCP table - I have ~100 hosts on the network).

 

[Ola Malmstrom]

I learnt something interesting recently. Got hold of an old cisco 1852I access point for a very good price. Installed ME (Mobility Express) fw on it and voila..... The ME access point can act as a controller for up to 50 (!) access points. The radios on the access points can be set up with different channels, bandwidths, transmit power etc. It has support for 802.11 k, r and v. All admin is done centrally on a web interface.

My conclusion is that purchasing an ubiquity edgerouter 8 SF (or similar) and 4 cisco 1852I will give me a more configurable environment than if I use AImesh - to maybe half the price. With everything that exists in a mesh environment, as well as more features such as 802.11r.

Moreover - coverage and speed seems to be the same as using ASUS AX equipment......

 

[coxhaus]

Just a passing thought is if you use separate channels then it is probably not a mesh anymore.
Your throughput should go up using separate channels.

 

[Tech9]

My conclusion is that purchasing an ubiquity edgerouter 8 SF (or similar) and 4 cisco 1852I will give me a more configurable environment than if I use AImesh

What took you so long?

 

[Shadow101]

What took you so long?

lol im curious I see you around on this forum alot , do you still have asus as your driver for your network or have you finally made the switch to a superior option like unifi? nothing wrong with Asus but it has a lot of flaws and issues for me personally that bug me

 

[Tech9]

do you still have asus as your driver for your network

I never had one.

 

[blastbradley]

I really really appreciate you sharing this trick. My specific use case is very similar to you--I'm on a multi-acre plot with five "aimesh" nodes, three wired with ethernet & two using a 5ghz backhaul. 5Ghz performance & roaming is rock solid, and aimesh has been surprisingly stable at a fraction of the cost of buying proper enterprise access points and running more ethernet through the attic.

But, I have dozens of 2.4ghz IOT cameras whose performance was crippled by interference. I had tried turning off the 2.4G radio on some nodes, and reducing the TX power, but ultimately having so many devices all on the same channel just wasn't cutting it. By changing the 2.4g channels on my nodes to leverage 1/6/11, my 2.4ghz issues were immediately resolved and I can watch all my camera feeds in parallel now

 

[maxbraketorque]

I really really appreciate you sharing this trick. My specific use case is very similar to you--I'm on a multi-acre plot with five "aimesh" nodes, three wired with ethernet & two using a 5ghz backhaul. 5Ghz performance & roaming is rock solid, and aimesh has been surprisingly stable at a fraction of the cost of buying proper enterprise access points and running more ethernet through the attic.

But, I have dozens of 2.4ghz IOT cameras whose performance was crippled by interference. I had tried turning off the 2.4G radio on some nodes, and reducing the TX power, but ultimately having so many devices all on the same channel just wasn't cutting it. By changing the 2.4g channels on my nodes to leverage 1/6/11, my 2.4ghz issues were immediately resolved and I can watch all my camera feeds in parallel now

Its been understood for a while that using the same channel is supposed to be problematic, but this is the first proof I've seen that it really is problematic for Aimesh setups.

 

[lgkahn]

problematic for me toll with like 10 2.4ghz cameras.. i eventually gave up mesh .. have a upstairs and downstairs router with different 2.4g channels and even different ssids (obviously downstairs is in ap mode) i have a 2.5gb moca back channel downstairs to upstairs.

 

[Tech9]

problematic for me toll with like 10 2.4ghz cameras

You know... you have a bigger problem than AiMesh using the same channels. Someone with bad intentions just needs to take a look at your cameras, flip a switch on a jammer from Alibaba and all your cameras are out in 2 seconds perhaps along with all your home automation. Wi-Fi cameras are probably okay for baby monitor, but not serious for security purposes.