I think i got my AiMesh network set up wrongly

[sphererer]

Hi guys,

It's nice to meet you all, and I would like to seek some guidance on my AiMesh network, which I believe might be set up wrongly as i'm getting speeds that are not the best, though not bad to be honest.

I had moved in with my in-laws about two months ago, literally a day before retail stores across the country (Singapore) closed and people were asked to work from home as part of our government's measures to curb the Covid-19 situation.

Faced with a poor network configuration at the two-storey apartment my in-laws are living in, I did some (hasty) research on solving the problem and decided to dip my toes into mesh networking, or AiMesh to be specific.

I went out and got myself a set of ZenWifi AC CT8s, as well as an AX58U to set up a 3-prong AiMesh network.

See a rough sketch of the apartment layout and where the ASUS devices are placed at.

Black lines denote concrete walls, while red lines are wooden walls and the grey lines on the first floor are a combination of thin wood dividers and a glass wall around the Entertainment Room.

I decided (naively, perhaps) to use the AX58U as the main router as I felt that, being an AX router, it would have better range than the CT8s, which became my AiMesh nodes.

The router is placed on the second floor, and has to be there as my Internet point is there, while one of the CT8s is on the first floor to provide WiFi coverage to the living room. The other CT8 remains on the second floor, about 10 metres and two walls away from the AX58U.

While I've managed to get better WiFi strength in the living room - at around 40mbps for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz - I can't get a strong signal in the entertainment room, averaging 20mbps for 2.4Ghz.
(I can barely get a 5Ghz signal in there)

WiFi speeds are about the same on the second floor, averaging between 30 to 50 mbps for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz.


I would like to get some advice on whether...
1) ...I made the right decision to go with the AX58U as the AiMesh router. If not, what could I do/change to improve the WiFi coverage around the apartment.

I know things still work, and we also live in circumstances where almost the whole of Singapore is home and using the Internet which would bring about congestion, but I would like to know if there's anything I can do better (and also where to correct myself and learn more about)

2) ...it is possible to make a node 'kick' devices off its connection once it reaches a certain distance threshold. I find a lot of our mobile devices connect to both the CT8s, but not the Ax58U even when my parents in-law's bedroom is right beside the AX58U.


I apologise in advance if my post was unclear, and can explain further to help improve understanding of my situation.

Thanks all!

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hi guys,

It's nice to meet you all, and I would like to seek some guidance on my AiMesh network, which I believe might be set up wrongly as i'm getting speeds that are not the best, though not bad to be honest.

I had moved in with my in-laws about two months ago, literally a day before retail stores across the country (Singapore) closed and people were asked to work from home as part of our government's measures to curb the Covid-19 situation.

Faced with a poor network configuration at the two-storey apartment my in-laws are living in, I did some (hasty) research on solving the problem and decided to dip my toes into mesh networking, or AiMesh to be specific.

I went out and got myself a set of ZenWifi AC CT8s, as well as an AX58U to set up a 3-prong AiMesh network.

See a rough sketch of the apartment layout and where the ASUS devices are placed at.

Black lines denote concrete walls, while red lines are wooden walls and the grey lines on the first floor are a combination of thin wood dividers and a glass wall around the Entertainment Room.

I decided (naively, perhaps) to use the AX58U as the main router as I felt that, being an AX router, it would have better range than the CT8s, which became my AiMesh nodes.

The router is placed on the second floor, and has to be there as my Internet point is there, while one of the CT8s is on the first floor to provide WiFi coverage to the living room. The other CT8 remains on the second floor, about 10 metres and two walls away from the AX58U.

While I've managed to get better WiFi strength in the living room - at around 40mbps for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz - I can't get a strong signal in the entertainment room, averaging 20mbps for 2.4Ghz.
(I can barely get a 5Ghz signal in there)

WiFi speeds are about the same on the second floor, averaging between 30 to 50 mbps for both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz.


I would like to get some advice on whether...
1) ...I made the right decision to go with the AX58U as the AiMesh router. If not, what could I do/change to improve the WiFi coverage around the apartment.

I know things still work, and we also live in circumstances where almost the whole of Singapore is home and using the Internet which would bring about congestion, but I would like to know if there's anything I can do better (and also where to correct myself and learn more about)

2) ...it is possible to make a node 'kick' devices off its connection once it reaches a certain distance threshold. I find a lot of our mobile devices connect to both the CT8s, but not the Ax58U even when my parents in-law's bedroom is right beside the AX58U.


I apologise in advance if my post was unclear, and can explain further to help improve understanding of my situation.

Thanks all!

What down/up Mbps speeds is your Internet service provisioned for?

How are you measuring WiFi speeds? What down/up Internet speeds do you measure with a PC client wired to the router?

What are the link rate speeds for your WiFi client connections?

If using wireless backhauls from node to router, what RSSI and Tx/Rx values do you see in the Wireless Log for each band/backhaul node MAC entry?

Have you tried omitting the 58U and use only two nodes, one up and one down?

1. The choice of router/root node should not affect measured speeds. Did you upgrade firmware and then reset all devices before configuring the router?

2. Roaming Assistant per band in the router is intended to encourage wireless clients to roam to a better node signal once their connection signal power drops below the set RSSI threshold (becomes more negative). But before you worry about this function, you need to place your nodes for coverage overlap... not too far and not too close. You may have too much signal overlap by grouping your nodes in the center area... but your concrete walls may block signal... a WiFi Analyzer app can help to assess signal strength as you walk around.

OE

 

[L&LD]

The RT-AX58U, along with the ZenWifi AC CT8, is not ideal in this environment. With (effectively) just 2x2:2 radios, the performance will suffer.

The RT-AX88U and/or matched with the RT-AC86U may be a better match. The RT-AC3100 may also be a better option here (or multiples of them).

How big is the home? There seems to be too much RF in such a small space. A 4x4:4 router(s) with 4 antennae and 4 streams would be better matched here.

 

[OzarkEdge]

2x2:2

What does this nomenclature mean, please?

OE

 

[L&LD]

2 antennae and two spatial streams each.

 

[OzarkEdge]

2 antennae and two spatial streams each.

What's the third :2 for?

OE

 

[L&LD]

https://www.duckware.com/tech/wifi-in-the-us.html#terminology

'N' Spatial Streams: Refers to T×R:N MIMO, where both 'T' and 'R' equals 'N'. For example, 4 spatial streams means 4×4:4.

HTH.

 

[sphererer]

What down/up Mbps speeds is your Internet service provisioned for?

How are you measuring WiFi speeds? What down/up Internet speeds do you measure with a PC client wired to the router?

What are the link rate speeds for your WiFi client connections?

If using wireless backhauls from node to router, what RSSI and Tx/Rx values do you see in the Wireless Log for each band/backhaul node MAC entry?

Have you tried omitting the 58U and use only two nodes, one up and one down?

1. The choice of router/root node should not affect measured speeds. Did you upgrade firmware and then reset all devices before configuring the router?

2. Roaming Assistant per band in the router is intended to encourage wireless clients to roam to a better node signal once their connection signal power drops below the set RSSI threshold (becomes more negative). But before you worry about this function, you need to place your nodes for coverage overlap... not too far and not too close. You may have too much signal overlap by grouping your nodes in the center area... but your concrete walls may block signal... a WiFi Analyzer app can help to assess signal strength as you walk around.

OE

Oh shucks, I left some of the crucial information out

I am on a 1gbps fibre broadband connection with my ISP, and my hard-wired down/up speeds with a PC client were just under 950 down / 930 up.

The speeds I posted are after I had done a firmware upgrade to Merlin and subsequent factory reset of all the three nodes.

Also took a look at Wireless log and am attaching a screenshot of the RSSI and Tx/Rx value for the devices connected to the AC-CT8 node on the second floor:

The RT-AX58U, along with the ZenWifi AC CT8, is not ideal in this environment. With (effectively) just 2x2:2 radios, the performance will suffer.

The RT-AX88U and/or matched with the RT-AC86U may be a better match. The RT-AC3100 may also be a better option here (or multiples of them).

How big is the home? There seems to be too much RF in such a small space. A 4x4:4 router(s) with 4 antennae and 4 streams would be better matched here.

The home is about 2,000sqft (185sqm) per storey.

Noted on how a 4x4:4 router may be a better choice for a main router