"Meshing Newbie" wants to mesh an RT-AX86U Pro with an RT-AC66U B1 (in UK)

[John A]

Good afternoon (well, it is in the UK ) and I apologise in advance if this question has been raised before (because it probably has) but I don't know where to look!

I've just replaced my RT-AC66U B1 running the house LAN & WLAN with a new RT-AX86U Pro (from Amazon) and the system is now running again (a bit of a faff, that was!), and I'd now like to add the old RT-AC66U B1 to the system in Mesh mode in preparation for a house move (somewhere which we haven't even chosen yet) in another area, and where it'll be "all wireless" for at least some time (and that would probably include using a USB modem with a 3G/4G SIM card in the router until I get a solid cabled connection of some sort).

Therefore can anyone point me to some articles/webpages (on this forum or elsewhere) on how to do the meshing - AND the pitfalls I could /probably will encounter!
NB: I already found quite a few and will be trying to understand them as well as I can, but I've almost certainly missed the most relevant ones!

I'm certainly no networking expert by any means, but (so far!!) I'm not asking for "hand-holding" with the task but any general/specific guidance will be most appreciated!

OTOH, if anyone thinks this whole exercise will be a waste of time, then please say so as I don't want to lose any more hair or sleep over it than I have to!

Thanks in advance

John

 

[bbunge]

Not a waste of time but adding the AC66U_B1 as an AiMesh node will work, you will be limited by the abilities of the old router. For example: no WPA3 and no DFS channels.

As for how to there is likely an Asus page that will give details. My recomendation is to factory reset the AC66U_B1, connect its WAN port to the router LAN port with an Ethernet cable and use the AiMesh GUI to add a node.

Try it and see if it works for you. I've done it with my old AC66U_B1.

 

[ColinTaylor]

[AiMesh] How to setup AiMesh system (Web GUI)? | Official Support | ASUS UK

 

[bennor]

... but I don't know where to look!

This site has a search box/feature top right of the screen. You can use that to search for the many past discussions on AiMesh. From how to set up AiMesh to the various issues, problems and limitations with AiMesh. An example search:
https://www.snbforums.com/advancedsearch/advancedsearch-results?type=thread&keywords=AiMesh&posted_by=&search_forums[]=37

As the above poster indicated and linked to, see the Asus support document on setting up AiMesh. Also there are plenty of guides on can find on the internet with a cursory search. For example:

Asus AiMesh Setup Guide: 100% Solid Tips | Dong Knows Tech

Looking for a detail step-by-step guide to get yourself a proper AiMesh setup? You're at the right spot for that robust home Wi-Fi system.

dongknows.com

What is an ASUS AiMesh network and how to create one?

Mesh Wi-Fi systems are not new, and most people know what they are. However, few people know that they can use traditional wireless routers to create their own mesh Wi-Fi systems. For example, if you have an ASUS router, you can purchase a second one and set them up to work as a mesh Wi-Fi […]

www.digitalcitizen.life

 

[John A]

Not a waste of time but adding the AC66U_B1 as an AiMesh node will work, you will be limited by the abilities of the old router. For example: no WPA3 and no DFS channels.

As for how to there is likely an Asus page that will give details. My recomendation is to factory reset the AC66U_B1, connect its WAN port to the router LAN port with an Ethernet cable and use the AiMesh GUI to add a node.

Try it and see if it works for you. I've done it with my old AC66U_B1.

@bbunge: Thanks and I should have no problems (plenty of cables) with that bit!

 

[John A]

@bbunge: Thanks and I should have no problems (plenty of cables) with that bit!

 

[heysoundude]

You may also want to consider this:

SNB Answer Guy: How Many SSIDs Is Too Many? - SmallNetBuilder

How many SSID's should you use in a multi AP network? The SNB Answer Guy knows.

www.smallnetbuilder.com

(Mesh is not all the marketing dep't has us thinking it's cracked up to be)

 

[John A]

This site has a search box/feature top right of the screen. You can use that to search for the many past discussions on AiMesh. From how to set up AiMesh to the various issues, problems and limitations with AiMesh. An example search:
https://www.snbforums.com/advancedsearch/advancedsearch-results?type=thread&keywords=AiMesh&posted_by=&search_forums[]=37

As the above poster indicated and linked to, see the Asus support document on setting up AiMesh. Also there are plenty of guides on can find on the internet with a cursory search. For example:

Asus AiMesh Setup Guide: 100% Solid Tips | Dong Knows Tech

Looking for a detail step-by-step guide to get yourself a proper AiMesh setup? You're at the right spot for that robust home Wi-Fi system.

dongknows.com

What is an ASUS AiMesh network and how to create one?

Mesh Wi-Fi systems are not new, and most people know what they are. However, few people know that they can use traditional wireless routers to create their own mesh Wi-Fi systems. For example, if you have an ASUS router, you can purchase a second one and set them up to work as a mesh Wi-Fi […]

www.digitalcitizen.life

@bennor:
Sorry if you may have misunderstood some of my first post, but I've had years of searching online and so I have no problem in identifying & using "Search boxes" - the problem being as to what to search for as the same "thing" can be called many different names by many different people, and Searching filters then often show a lot of what you aren't looking for as well as the stuff you are

Therefore, thank you for pointing me more specifically in the directions I should be looking, and so which I will now do!

[AiMesh] How to setup AiMesh system (Web GUI)? | Official Support | ASUS UK

@ColinTaylor
Thanks & have downloaded and printed that webpage!

 

[John A]

Not a waste of time but adding the AC66U_B1 as an AiMesh node will work, you will be limited by the abilities of the old router. For example: no WPA3 and no DFS channels.

As for how to there is likely an Asus page that will give details. My recomendation is to factory reset the AC66U_B1, connect its WAN port to the router LAN port with an Ethernet cable and use the AiMesh GUI to add a node.

Try it and see if it works for you. I've done it with my old AC66U_B1.

PS: losing some of those facilities won't be much of a loss because we will probably be moving to a bungalow some distance from the next one and because we probably won't be getting a huge number of visitors - therefore "privacy" issues should be less than if we in much closer proximity to our

OTOH, if meshing with the older router works successfully enough then I might replace it with a much newer one in a few month's time (??)

You may also want to consider this:

SNB Answer Guy: How Many SSIDs Is Too Many? - SmallNetBuilder

How many SSID's should you use in a multi AP network? The SNB Answer Guy knows.

www.smallnetbuilder.com

(Mesh is not all the marketing dep't has us thinking it's cracked up to be)

@heysoundude
Absolutely - I ceased to believe in most of what marketing dep'ts and salesmen say decades ago (especially after I met and worked with a few of them!) , and take everything I see/hear "with a shaker of salt" (as your Secretary of Defense said very recently about the Russian claims that Ukraine attacked the Kremlin!)

Thus I (almost!) always try to do as much research as I can about what I'm buying or planning to do, and then leave scope for some level of "failure" to meet the full objectives - hence my starting this thread in order to try to understand what I'd actually be facing and what I could probably expect!

 

[heysoundude]

@heysoundude
Absolutely - I ceased to believe in most of what marketing dep'ts and salesmen say decades ago (especially after I met and worked with a few of them!) , and take everything I see/hear "with a shaker of salt" (as your Secretary of Defense said very recently about the Russian claims that Ukraine attacked the Kremlin!)

Thus I (almost!) always try to do as much research as I can about what I'm buying or planning to do, and then leave scope for some level of "failure" to meet the full objectives - hence my starting this thread in order to try to understand what I'd actually be facing and what I could probably expect!

It was my drone. I was aiming for the flagpole. Battery died as I was lining up <shrug>
(Minister of Defense where I live, my Commonwealth brother. I will not be celebrating King Chuckles this weekend, however...)

 

[bennor]

Sorry if you may have misunderstood some of my first post, but I've had years of searching online and so I have no problem in identifying & using "Search boxes" - the problem being as to what to search for as the same "thing" can be called many different names by many different people, and Searching filters then often show a lot of what you aren't looking for as well as the stuff you are

Didn't misunderstand you at all, rather simply replied to what you stated; "Good afternoon (well, it is in the UK ) and I apologise in advance if this question has been raised before (because it probably has) but I don't know where to look!"
You stated you "don't know where to look" so I pointed out the search field and other places to look. Not knowing "where to look" is different than not knowing "what to search for". Shrugs. In any case plenty of information available on how to setup AiMesh has been posted. Good luck.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Therefore can anyone point me to some articles/webpages (on this forum or elsewhere) on how to do the meshing - AND the pitfalls I could /probably will encounter!

My install notes may help. You'll have to substitute your own local WiFi channel considerations.

OE

 

[John A]

My install notes may help. You'll have to substitute your own local WiFi channel considerations.

OE

@OzarkEdge
Thank you very much for those notes - lot of info there which I have yet to read, but I will!

It was my drone. I was aiming for the flagpole. Battery died as I was lining up <shrug>
(Minister of Defense where I live, my Commonwealth brother. I will not be celebrating King Chuckles this weekend, however...)

My apologies, Commonwealth Brother, for confusing your location with that of, presumably (??), the "next door neighbour", and thus for the exact wording of my comment - but I'm sure all the sentiments expressed are still valid!

 

[John A]

Thanks, again, to all of you who have provided me with all those valuable links and data.

I probably now have enough to take a good shot at meshing the two units and I aim to try that within the next few days - and then hope to be able to report "good progress" by the end of next week.