[Official Release] AiMesh Firmware v3.0.0.4.384.20308 for All Supported Products

[Stephen Harrington]

It's always a good time to learn . At any rate, when you makes changes in the UI it just modified the NVRAM values so there is little chance that you will screw anything up during the next firmware upgrade. If you are worried you could always make a note of the values that you changed and before you do a firmware upgrade change them back. Or since there are really no configurations to the nodes you could always factory reset them pretty quickly. The properties mentioned are either on/off so 1 = on, 0 = off. You can also compare values between your main router where you turned WPS off and the nodes where it isn't by using the command.

nvram show wps_enable
nvram show wps_enable_x

You should see that on your main router they are both set to 0 and on your node they would be set to 1.

For my RT-AC68U at least, the commands that work are:-

nvram get wps_enable
nvram get wps_enable_x

StephenH

 

[OzarkEdge]

Also, anyone using an Android device that has issues with RA turned on, does it help at all if you turn on under Developer Options the option "Allow Wifi Roaming Scans"

From Google:

May require enabling Developer's Mode to access setting.

May not be able to disable Developer's Mode without factory defaulting device.

Possible side effects:

o This will cause a side-effect where even if a transfer is still taking place, should the device spot an access-point of the same name with a stronger signal, it will jump to that new access-point instead.

o It will also cause a slight decrease in battery life as the device will poll for the SSID more.

OE

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

Also, anyone using an Android device that has issues with RA turned on, does it help at all if you turn on under Developer Options the option "Allow Wifi Roaming Scans"

I find that when my Nexus 5 phone is inactive (in standby) for a long period, it reverts to cellular data (LTE) in my home. As soon as I wake it up, I briefly see the LTE symbol then it switches back to wifi. So I enabled Allow WiFi Roaming Scans when I saw your post. Now, whenever I awaken the phone, or check the webgui, it is still connected to WiFi. This did the trick for me. Good catch.

 

[RandomName23]

I find that when my Nexus 5 phone is inactive (in standby) for a long period, it reverts to cellular data (LTE) in my home. As soon as I wake it up, I briefly see the LTE symbol then it switches back to wifi. So I enabled Allow WiFi Roaming Scans when I saw your post. Now, whenever I awaken the phone, or check the webgui, it is still connected to WiFi. This did the trick for me. Good catch.

Interesting. Thanks for testing. I’m not sure if it is a “good” end game solution but certainly gives more information. I believe that iOS queries AP strength more often than Android so when iOS gets disconnected with RA they already know where to go. With Android they have to do a scan first. Still interested if doing a static IP with no DHCP request being made helps anyone.

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

Interesting. Thanks for testing. I’m not sure if it is a “good” end game solution but certainly gives more information. I believe that iOS queries AP strength more often than Android so when iOS gets disconnected with RA they already know where to go. With Android they have to do a scan first. Still interested if doing a static IP with no DHCP request being made helps anyone.

My phone already had a manual (fixed) IP inside DHCP, but that isn't the same thing.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I find that when my Nexus 5 phone is inactive (in standby) for a long period, it reverts to cellular data (LTE) in my home. As soon as I wake it up, I briefly see the LTE symbol then it switches back to wifi. So I enabled Allow WiFi Roaming Scans when I saw your post. Now, whenever I awaken the phone, or check the webgui, it is still connected to WiFi. This did the trick for me. Good catch.

I wonder what WiFi/Configure WiFi/'Keep WiFi on during sleep' does?

OE

 

[bbunge]

I wonder what WiFi/Configure WiFi/'Keep WiFi on during sleep' does?

OE

Just what it says, keeps the WiFi on. Other options, Never or Only when plugged in.
Always keep WiFi on eliminates having to wait for the phone or tablet to connect to the WiFi after you wake it up but it does use a bit of battery. I have used both on this Asus tablet but usually keep the WiFi on all the time.

Sent from my P01M using Tapatalk

 

[OzarkEdge]

Given AiMesh with two RT-AC68Us...

My cable ISP speeds are nominally 100/10. A fast desktop PC wired to the router measures 115/12 using speedtest.net. A fast notebook PC wireless-ac 5.0 GHz 866 to the remote node measures ~30/10 with wireless backhaul (likely hauling over the 2.4 GHz band?); and measures ~50/10 over an added/forced wired backhaul (10/100/1000 Ethernet x 100' LAN-to-WAN). The 2.4 and 5.0 GHz wireless backhaul ASUS 'clients' remain in the app device list throughout.

This may not be the best measurement, but I was expecting wired backhaul to yield near ISP speeds of 100/10.

How can I assess wired and wireless backhaul performance, 'speed' and perhaps quality, to aid placing the remote node?

What role does wireless backhaul play when using wired backhaul? In other words, does wired backhaul performance still depend on wireless backhaul performance?

BTW, I momentarily had an unconnected "CADANT" device listed in the app ALL device list along with a few other unconnected devices with manually-assigned/reserved IPs by the router. Google relates CADANT to ARRIS/Motorola cable modems... so this unconnected CADANT device may relate to my SB6141 cable modem. If I see it again, I'll record its MAC to investigate further. But I wonder why it was in the app device list?

What do you think?

Edit: This all cleared up with a clean install.

OE

(I visited the Netgear ORBI forum... the grass is not greener on the other side. )

 

[Foodman]

I am using RT-AC86U as master and RT-AC68U as node. Both upgraded to latest firmware. When I try to add 68U as Aimesh node, it will always report failure and ask me to retry in one minute. Anyone has similar experience?

 

[scope666]

I am using RT-AC86U as master and RT-AC68U as node. Both upgraded to latest firmware. When I try to add 68U as Aimesh node, it will always report failure and ask me to retry in one minute. Anyone has similar experience?

Give this a good read: https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1035087

I have the same hardware as you and it always works if I follow the guide.

 

[RandomName23]

I am using RT-AC86U as master and RT-AC68U as node. Both upgraded to latest firmware. When I try to add 68U as Aimesh node, it will always report failure and ask me to retry in one minute. Anyone has similar experience?

It took me a few times to get my node added to the mesh so it's possible you might have to try a few times. Do you get the same behavior using both the Web UI and the mobile app?

 

[RandomName23]

Given AiMesh with two RT-AC68Us...

My cable ISP speeds are nominally 100/10. A fast desktop PC wired to the router measures 115/12 using speedtest.net. A fast notebook PC wireless-ac 5.0 GHz 866 to the remote node measures ~30/10 with wireless backhaul (likely hauling over the 2.4 GHz band?); and measures ~50/10 over an added/forced wired backhaul (10/100/1000 Ethernet x 100' LAN-to-WAN). The 2.4 and 5.0 GHz wireless backhaul ASUS 'clients' remain in the app device list throughout.

This may not be the best measurement, but I was expecting wired backhaul to yield near ISP speeds of 100/10.

How can I assess wired and wireless backhaul performance, 'speed' and perhaps quality, to aid placing the remote node?

What role does wireless backhaul play when using wired backhaul? In other words, does wired backhaul performance still depend on wireless backhaul performance?

BTW, I momentarily had an unconnected "CADANT" device listed in the app ALL device list along with a few other unconnected devices with manually-assigned/reserved IPs by the router. Google relates CADANT to ARRIS/Motorola cable modems... so this unconnected CADANT device may relate to my SB6141 cable modem. If I see it again, I'll record its MAC to investigate further. But I wonder why it was in the app device list?

What do you think?

OE

(I visited the Netgear ORBI forum... the grass is not greener on the other side. )

Your speeds definitely seem slow. I get about 130/12 for my ISP speed and I can hit those speeds both hardwired, wireless, and wireless connected to the node. The only time I experience slow speeds is if I reboot the main router and I don't reboot the node I will always get around 10Mbps download when I connect to the node. If I reboot the node speeds are back to the normal speeds. Obviously with the wireless speed it depends on how far away from the router/node I am.

If you are using a wired backhaul you should definitely be seeing fast speeds. It has been noticed that even when using ethernet backhaul the 2.4 and 5 Ghz backhauls are still connected. Asus has mentioned that there is communication that happens between all the nodes in the mesh so my guess is that those are there for the node-to-node communication and to also be used if the ethernet link fails. As far as determining backhaul performance, there is the little bar graph when you select the node from the web ui but that is kind of worthless really so the best place I have found so far is to go to the wireless logs section on the main router web ui and you can check the RSSI values of the backhaul links there. You could try disabling your 2.4 Ghz radio to force the backhaul to 5 Ghz but I would say your speeds are definitely not normal or to be expected.

I just sold my Orbi system and it worked fairly well but was way too restrictive in what you could configure which is why I like the mesh capability that Asus is providing better. Not to mention the Asus routers have way more functionality than the Orbi ever will. Orbi required the same SSID for all bands, couldn't turn off any radios, couldn't adjust any radio power, etc. Basically for the average user to just plug and play.

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

Give this a good read: https://www.asus.com/us/support/FAQ/1035087

I have the same hardware as you and it always works if I follow the guide.

Those instructions seem to be written by someone who has never followed them. Step 1.3 Says "position AiMesh router and node within 1 -3 meters of each other during the setup process." The diagram shows the router wired to a modem but never says to connect or configure the node to the router. The next instruction (Step 2.) says to "Upload the downloaded firmware on both AiMesh router and node". Huh??? How's that going to happen?? Yeah, I know smart people here will figure it out. But these instructions need to be written for the average user.
The rest of those instructions are pretty self-evident - although I don't see what powering-down the modem has to do with it. The modem presumably has already given the router an IP lease in step 1. Seems silly and are you supposed to do that every time you add a node?

The problem is that even following these exact procedures, it often doesn't work. I've eventually gotten it through persistence and trying things not mentioned. I've done this with 4 different routers and had mixed results. All eventually took.

 

[scope666]

Those instructions seem to be written by someone who has never followed them. Step 1.3 Says "position AiMesh router and node within 1 -3 meters of each other during the setup process." The diagram shows the router wired to a modem but never says to connect or configure the node to the router. The next instruction (Step 2.) says to "Upload the downloaded firmware on both AiMesh router and node". Huh??? How's that going to happen?? Yeah, I know smart people here will figure it out. But these instructions need to be written for the average user.
The rest of those instructions are pretty self-evident - although I don't see what powering-down the modem has to do with it. The modem presumably has already given the router an IP lease in step 1. Seems silly and are you supposed to do that every time you add a node?

The problem is that even following these exact procedures, it often doesn't work. I've eventually gotten it through persistence and trying things not mentioned. I've done this with 4 different routers and had mixed results. All eventually took.

I wasn't saying the guide was perfect, just thought in particular the reset and positioning close to router with no cables attached were easy to miss.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Those instructions seem to be written by someone who has never followed them. Step 1.3 Says "position AiMesh router and node within 1 -3 meters of each other during the setup process." The diagram shows the router wired to a modem but never says to connect or configure the node to the router. The next instruction (Step 2.) says to "Upload the downloaded firmware on both AiMesh router and node". Huh??? How's that going to happen?? Yeah, I know smart people here will figure it out. But these instructions need to be written for the average user.
The rest of those instructions are pretty self-evident - although I don't see what powering-down the modem has to do with it. The modem presumably has already given the router an IP lease in step 1. Seems silly and are you supposed to do that every time you add a node?

The problem is that even following these exact procedures, it often doesn't work. I've eventually gotten it through persistence and trying things not mentioned. I've done this with 4 different routers and had mixed results. All eventually took.

Hence, my AiMesh install notes https://www.snbforums.com/threads/o...-supported-products.44375/page-14#post-381537

OE

 

[OzarkEdge]

Your speeds definitely seem slow. I get about 130/12 for my ISP speed and I can hit those speeds both hardwired, wireless, and wireless connected to the node. The only time I experience slow speeds is if I reboot the main router and I don't reboot the node I will always get around 10Mbps download when I connect to the node. If I reboot the node speeds are back to the normal speeds. Obviously with the wireless speed it depends on how far away from the router/node I am.

If you are using a wired backhaul you should definitely be seeing fast speeds. It has been noticed that even when using ethernet backhaul the 2.4 and 5 Ghz backhauls are still connected. Asus has mentioned that there is communication that happens between all the nodes in the mesh so my guess is that those are there for the node-to-node communication and to also be used if the ethernet link fails. As far as determining backhaul performance, there is the little bar graph when you select the node from the web ui but that is kind of worthless really so the best place I have found so far is to go to the wireless logs section on the main router web ui and you can check the RSSI values of the backhaul links there. You could try disabling your 2.4 Ghz radio to force the backhaul to 5 Ghz but I would say your speeds are definitely not normal or to be expected.

I just sold my Orbi system and it worked fairly well but was way too restrictive in what you could configure which is why I like the mesh capability that Asus is providing better. Not to mention the Asus routers have way more functionality than the Orbi ever will. Orbi required the same SSID for all bands, couldn't turn off any radios, couldn't adjust any radio power, etc. Basically for the average user to just plug and play.

Thank you for this... very helpful and encouraging!

I made some observations and decided to redo the install. I think the only lingering issue is node-to-node distance/conditions, but I want what I've got and the performance is very good and reasonable.

My confidence in AiMesh continues to increase!

OE

 

[OzarkEdge]

Something off-topic puzzles me... people hide their MAC addresses, presumably for security reasons, and yet an app like WiFi Analyzer reveals MAC addresses. I guess I'll Google this when have nothing better to do.

OE

 

[bbunge]

Something off-topic puzzles me... people hide their MAC addresses, presumably for security reasons, and yet an app like WiFi Analyzer reveals MAC addresses. I guess I'll Google this when have nothing better to do.

OE

No, they hide SSID. Really does not help with anything but if it gives comfort, OK.

Sent from my P01M using Tapatalk

 

[OzarkEdge]

No, they hide SSID. Really does not help with anything but if it gives comfort, OK.

Sorry, I was not clear. People often redact their MAC address(es) from online posts, etc.

OE

 

[apotts]

Here's what I find frustrating...

86U main, 68U node (wireless, maybe 6m clear path between them).

My laptop loves to connect to the node where I sit. -58 from the main, -55 from the node.

Speed from the node varies a lot, but a high of 120/90, typical 80/60 and down to 10/8 at times.
Speed from the main router is consistent at 280/220.

I have forced the laptop to connect to the main router by creating a guest network that allows access to the intranet. I suppose it's just the speed from the wireless node that's disappointing - in particular the way it varies. Speed from my other 68U node which is wired, is fast and consistent (as you'd expect).