Mysterious ASUS SSID?

[stgeorge]

Hi- I'm running Asuswrt-Merlin (gnuton) 388.1 on two ZenWIFI AX aimesh units in AP mode. I have the 2.4G & 5G wireless channels running in smartconnect mode, and I'm running guest networks in 2.4G and in 5G.

So when I look at available networks, I am seeing my tri-band smartconnect SSID, I'm seeing both guest networks, and then there seems to be these mysterious Asus and Asus_5G-2 SSIDs which are both broadcasting and unlocked. When I connect to one of them, I appear to be joining the same IP address as my primary LAN but it has no internet access ? Why is it there and how do I turn it off? I find it confusing, to say the least! Thanks

 

[tgl]

I'd guess those are your wireless backhaul link. You're not really supposed to allow clients to join the backhaul SSID.

 

[stgeorge]

So how do I turn off the SSID broadcast for the backhaul?? Thanks

 

[Tech9]

Asuswrt-Merlin (gnuton) 388.1 on two ZenWIFI AX aimesh units in AP mode

I would try the newer 388_23285 firmware. There is no point running much older base fork with extra features when there is no routing in AP Mode.

 

[sfx2000]

Hi- I'm running Asuswrt-Merlin (gnuton) 388.1 on two ZenWIFI AX aimesh units in AP mode. I have the 2.4G & 5G wireless channels running in smartconnect mode, and I'm running guest networks in 2.4G and in 5G.

there's another thread that discusses open connectivity and repeaters

@Tech Junky @Tech9 @ColinTaylor - do you recall this?

 

[stgeorge]

I would try the newer 388_23285 firmware. There is no point running much older base fork with extra features when there is no routing in AP Mode.

Where is that version available? All that I see on the gnuton download site is 388.1 Thanks

 

[ColinTaylor]

Where is that version available? All that I see on the gnuton download site is 388.1 Thanks

He was suggesting that you use stock firmware instead of Gnuton's because it's more recent.

 

[stgeorge]

So I found the backhaul radio enable / disable switches for the 2.4/5/5-2 radios and turned them off, which then got rid of the mysterious unlocked Asus SSIDs. Apparently, you cannot turn those off without the Aimesh node being hardwired via ethernet, which makes sense, but since mine is, I turned them off and they disappeared from the radar. Now- the question remains, WHY would the backhaul SSIDs not be hidden ? They're not for public use, so why would they broadcast themselves only to confuse people into trying to use them??? Very odd.

 

[Tech9]

Keep in mind 388.1 was the very first 388 base Asuswrt-Merlin firmware release. It's now 6-months old and was build on top of never officially released as Asuswrt firmware GPL. Since you are running in AP mode and you can't use any of the enhanced Asuswrt-Merlin features my suggestion above was to use more recent only 2 weeks old official Asuswrt firmware. Perhaps many things around Wi-Fi work better on it.

 

[stgeorge]

I'm not sure that I follow... I had previously installed the latest and greatest Asuswrt-Merlin gnuton for the Zenwifi AX XT8, but then tried installing just the lastest Asus firmware 388.1 - As you noted, since I'm only running them in AP Mode, I don't think any of these wrt-merlin tweeks are really useful, and I believe my issue (with the backhaul wifi channel showing as an unlocked SSID) has now been resolved because I just simply turned the radio broadcasting off (for the backhaul) off. But like I said, it seems like it would be better to be able to just hide the backhaul wifi broadcast. Anyway, all good now and much more robust routing with my pfSense router/firewall ahead of these wireless access points.

 

[Tech9]

but then tried installing just the lastest Asus firmware 388.1

There is no Asuswrt 388.1 firmware. The latest Asuswrt firmware for your model is 3.0.0.4.388.23285.

ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) - Support

www.asus.com

 

[stgeorge]

I didn't say Asuswrt 388.1 .... I said, Asus 388.1 which is the current latest & greatest Asus firmware.

 

[Tech9]

I said, Asus 388.1 which is the current latest & greatest Asus firmware.

No idea what are you talking about, sorry. You have a link to the official Asus Support page above.

 

[Deleted member 84281]

I didn't say Asuswrt 388.1 .... I said, Asus 388.1 which is the current latest & greatest Asus firmware.

No 388.1 is a Merlin fork firmware not Asus official. Merlin latest is now 388.2.2 and the official Asus firmware is 388.23285. Merlin 388.2 base firmware is based on slightly older Asus official firmware 388.22525. Merlin has not released any firmware based on the latest from official Asuswrt.