Newbie MESH questions

[dlandiss]

Just starting to get customers who want MESH, but we are running into situations that we cannot explain. The gateway router in question is an RT-AX92 installed by the customer's son. My best guess is that he used the same for the hard-wired node. So please:

1) Are all IP Address assignments made at the gateway router?

2) Assuming an address mask of 255.255.255.0, is there any scenario where a mesh client would get an address on a different subnet, such as 192,168.4.1?

3) For all routing, address assignments, etc. can we treat a mesh node the same as we would treat an access point?

Many thanks!

 

[thiggins]

Just starting to get customers who want MESH, but we are running into situations that we cannot explain. The gateway router in question is an RT-AX92 installed by the customer's son. My best guess is that he used the same for the hard-wired node. So please:

1) Are all IP Address assignments made at the gateway router?

Yes. Root node serves as the DHCP server and router.

2) Assuming an address mask of 255.255.255.0, is there any scenario where a mesh client would get an address on a different subnet, such as 192,168.4.1?

Yes. If there is more than one DHCP server.

3) For all routing, address assignments, etc. can we treat a mesh node the same as we would treat an access point?

Access points are not routers. You should also not have to assign IP addresses. Mesh systems typically set up and manage leaf nodes.
AiMesh lets you override many things, however, but if you don't know what you're doing you can mess things up.

 

[dlandiss]

Yes. Root node serves as the DHCP server and router.
Yes. If there is more than one DHCP server.


Access points are not routers. You should also not have to assign IP addresses. Mesh systems typically set up and manage leaf nodes.
AiMesh lets you override many things, however, but if you don't know what you're doing you can mess things up.

Tim, thank you for your detailed reply. It confirms most of what I thought, but also suggests an issue that may be related to some of the problems we have been seeing in this customer's house.

We install high-end audio/visual systems, including a remote control program that runs on iPads and sends both infrared and IP commands to various pieces of A/V gear. Thus we need fixed IP Addresses for the gateways that translate the commands from the iPad app into the binary format that the client hardware needs.

Reading between the lines of your reply it looks like a mesh node could be configured to also provide DHCP services, therefore creating a second network with a different address scope?

I was not at that house yesterday so had to do the troubleshooting by telephone. I asked my colleague who was on the site to move the Ethernet switch our gear is using FROM the feed from the mesh node, TO a line directly back to the core AX92 router. That worked, suggesting that some sloppy configuration in the node was the culprit.

Tangent to that, the homeowner's son (an "IT Professional") added a VPN, so I am wondering if he routed our stuff through the VPN; which might be a roadblock since it needs to communicate with local devices on the same subnet.

Thanks again for your reply -- and for maintaining this forum and for the technical articles you provide.

 

[thiggins]

Most mesh systems would not have the ability to have multiple DHCP servers. And if an AiMesh system is properly configured, it should not either.

That said, if the "IT professional" built his "mesh" by not adding AiMesh nodes and simply used routers as APs by connecting to a LAN port, he could have forgotten to shut off the other DHCP servers.

VPN's can also change IP addresses.

My 2 cents is that if you are going to use mesh Wi-Fi systems, I would not build them on AiMesh. There is too much opportunity for misconfiguration if a homeowner gets into the system, as might be the case here.

I'd look at NETGEAR Orbi or eero instead.

 

[dlandiss]

Tim, thank you again. I am happy to hear that a proper mesh system does not create new subnets, but uses DHCP from the gateway router -- making configuring all local devices more straightforward. In that respect we should be able to treat it just like a router > access point chain.

Without visiting the remote site I am thinking that our data got routed through the VPN until we removed our switch from the mesh node (also an AX92) and plugged it into the gateway router instead. To add to the frustration my colleague who was on the site had only Apple gear with him, making it a bit harder to learn the network details.