[RT-AC5300] - AI Mesh - devices on 5GHz cannot see devices on 2.4GHz

[karma]

Hi all,

Wondering if anybody else has this issue and if there's a fix.

Running two RT-AC5300 connected with AI Mesh and wireless backhaul (2nd 5GHz band) with firmware 3.0.0.4.384_45149.

If I have a device on 5GHz on one node and another on 2.4GHz on a different node they cannot see each other. For instance my GSM is on 5GHz on node1 and Sonos Beam on 2.4GHz on node2, the client running on my GSM cannot connect to the Sonos. This happens with other devices as well. (Node1 is the router, node2 is the ai mesh node.)

I remember in the past i've had this problem also without AI Mesh on a single RT-AC5300, not sure if it was ever corrected.

I've done a factory reset and my settings after that are:
5GHz backhaul: factory defaults, nothing changed.

My 2.4 and 5 bands are on seperate SSIDS, not using smart connect.

professional settings for 2.4GHz and 5GHz
roaming assistant: disable
airtime fairness: disable
Enable WMM APSD: disable

professional settings for 2.4ghz
preamble type: short
Bluetooth Coexistence: enable

2.4ghz general:
Wireless Mode: N only

WAN:
UPnp: disable

Firewall:
Enable DoS protection: yes

AI Protection:
on

WPS off

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hi all,

Wondering if anybody else has this issue and if there's a fix.

Running two RT-AC5300 connected with AI Mesh and wireless backhaul (2nd 5GHz band) with firmware 3.0.0.4.384_45149.

If I have a device on 5GHz on one node and another on 2.4GHz on a different node they cannot see each other. For instance my GSM is on 5GHz on node1 and Sonos Beam on 2.4GHz on node2, the client running on my GSM cannot connect to the Sonos. This happens with other devices as well. (Node1 is the router, node2 is the ai mesh node.)

I remember in the past i've had this problem also without AI Mesh on a single RT-AC5300, not sure if it was ever corrected.

I've done a factory reset and my settings after that are:
5GHz backhaul: factory defaults, nothing changed.

My 2.4 and 5 bands are on seperate SSIDS, not using smart connect.

professional settings for 2.4GHz and 5GHz
roaming assistant: disable
airtime fairness: disable
Enable WMM APSD: disable

professional settings for 2.4ghz
preamble type: short
Bluetooth Coexistence: enable

2.4ghz general:
Wireless Mode: N only

WAN:
UPnp: disable

Firewall:
Enable DoS protection: yes

AI Protection:
on

WPS off

Is the SONOS connected?

Have you tried the app on the same WLAN as the SONOS?

Try forgetting and recreating connections.

Try rebooting all devices.

OE

 

[karma]

yes, for the sonos i've tried being on the mesh node, works fine.

after further testing with another device it looks like any wifi client on the main router cannot see a device connected to 2.4Ghz on the mesh node. With 5GHz everything is fine.

i haven't tried the opposite direction, node to router.

i've sent feedback to ASUS through the router. hopefully they can see something in the logs.

 

[OzarkEdge]

yes, for the sonos i've tried being on the mesh node, works fine.

after further testing with another device it looks like any wifi client on the main router cannot see a device connected to 2.4Ghz on the mesh node. With 5GHz everything is fine.

i haven't tried the opposite direction, node to router.

i've sent feedback to ASUS through the router. hopefully they can see something in the logs.

Any chance AP Isolate is enabled on the 2.4 GHz band?

OE

 

[karma]

Any chance AP Isolate is enabled on the 2.4 GHz band?

OE

nope, it isn't enabled.. i wonder if propagation of the professional settings to nodes has been full implemented yet....

 

[karma]

hmmm have the same problem with a device connected to the node's ethernet. over time i cannot connect to it from a wifi client connected to the main router. just rebooted the node and it connects fine. unfortunately this doesn't do anything for the communication issues with wifi clients connected to the node.

a test I did is:
- reboot router, node remains up: can't connect to node's ethernet client from router wifi clilent
- reboot router and then reboot node: can connect to node's ethernet client from router wifi client

with all scenarios the devices are always reachable from a computer connected via ethernet to the main router.

 

[Grisu]

nothing new, there are some postings here with same issue, just one more bug.

 

[karma]

well i changed to the following on the second 5GHz band (backhaul)
roaming assistant: disable
airtime fairness: disable

and then rebooted the ai mesh node (not the router).

for a couple of days now the sonos has always been reachable as well as the ethernet device connected to the node. before I used to have weekly restarts scheduled on the router, i guess it wasn't happy with that. maybe restart order makes a difference, maybe the node always needs to be restarted after a config change or a router restart, dunno, just pure speculation. anyways, hoping things remain stable. not gonna mess about anymore.

 

[karma]

[edit, meh, as soon as i reboot the router or node the sonos connected to the node on 2.4ghz is no longer reacheable]

well, i played around a little bit again and this seems to have stabilised things for me. order of execution matters and if settings change on the main router it should be done again.
my configuration parameters on the main router:

step 1:
- on all 3 bands professional settings set:
roaming assistant: disable
airtime fairness: disable
enable WMM APSD: disable

- 2.4ghz general settings:
Wireless Mode: N only
Channel Bandwidth: 20MHz
Control Channel: 6

step 2:
- remove node from the main router if already added

step3:
- factory reset and wipe nvram on the aimesh node by turning off the node, while holding down the WPS button turn it on again, keep holding down the WPS button until the front led starts rapidly blinking.. takes several seconds.. dunno, at least 10 seconds?

step4:
- reboot node: turn off then on again (wanna make sure nothing is lingering in ram)

step5:
- add ai mesh node to the main router.

 

[karma]

well, in my never ending quest for a stable 2.4GHz connection I changed the 2.4Ghz settings to:
- wireless mode: Legacy
- unchecked b/g protection

I can see all my devices and everything seems stable but unfortunately in Legacy mode the bandwidth is limited to 54Mbps.. which is annoying. There's definitely something screwy with 2.4GHz.

I did a diff in the NVRAM of the different settings and it seems in wireless mode 'N only' where the protection should be off:
wl_gmode_protection=auto
wl0_gmode_protection=auto

whereas in Legacy b/g unchecked:
wl_gmode_protection=off
wl0_gmode_protection=off

the NVRAM settings on the AI Mesh node are very different so hard to see what's going on. It would be nice if Asus fixed whatever was wrong with 2.4Ghz.

i don't think this has anything to do with AI Mesh btw...

 

[Grisu]

There's definitely something screwy with 2.4GHz.

I did a diff in the NVRAM of the different settings and it seems in wireless mode 'N only' where the protection should be off:
wl_gmode_protection=auto
wl0_gmode_protection=auto

whereas in Legacy b/g unchecked:
wl_gmode_protection=off
wl0_gmode_protection=off

the NVRAM settings on the AI Mesh node are very different so hard to see what's going on. It would be nice if Asus fixed whatever was wrong with 2.4Ghz.

i don't think this has anything to do with AI Mesh btw...

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/wireless-modes-broken-2g-802-11b-g-n-and-5g-a-n-ac.47783/

 

[karma]

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/wireless-modes-broken-2g-802-11b-g-n-and-5g-a-n-ac.47783/

while running merlin's firmware (this was quite some time ago) I don't recall having any issues with 2.4Ghz but unfortunately his firmware doesn't support AI Mesh otherwise i'd be using it.

 

[Grisu]

you can enable Aimesh on master router with Merlin too with a SSH command (then commit and reboot), not supported but some using it anyway with no problem: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac5300-wireless-info-merlin-and-aimesh.47145/#post-411049

 

[karma]

you can enable Aimesh on master router with Merlin too with a SSH command (then commit and reboot), not supported but some using it anyway with no problem: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac5300-wireless-info-merlin-and-aimesh.47145/#post-411049

thanks, i heard about that but i'd rather have something which was 'officially' supported which doesn't get wiped at each firmware upgrade.. to be honest in the past i've recommended asus routers but it's getting hard to now..

 

[Grisu]

dont think it will get wiped.
But whats your problem with it, done in 5 minutes and you can easy go back to saved config.
Just test it for your need and be happy if u have no issues.
Yes really hard now!

 

[ArC]

Hi, I have exactly the same problem and is not acceptable reset the router all the time. The only solution was back to the firmware 3.0.0.4_380_3341-g25420f5 . Loss the news updates but work. I think is a bug in the firmware.

 

[Grisu]

you should read this, Aimesh part: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/e...-13-test-aimesh-dnssec-through-openssl.57489/

 

[karma]

you should read this, Aimesh part: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/e...-13-test-aimesh-dnssec-through-openssl.57489/

ah, cool, thanks for letting me know. I may give it a go.

[edit: tried merlin's version but unfortunately there's no difference. As he explained, the wifi part is closed source so there's no difference between stock and merlin's firmware at that level. i'll stick with 2.4GHz legacy, b/g protection disabled as it seems to be the most stable ]

 

[karma]

well, i've switched my ai-mesh node to repeater mode today with the 2nd 5GHz as 'backhaul'. things seem to be stable and fast for the moment. only problem is that i can't tell which devices are connected to the repeater through the fubarred client list, only though signal strength so not 100% sure if everything is working properly, not entirely sure what i'm giving up by not using ai-mesh. since i only have 2 routers, 1 main and one node, i don't think i lose anything.

[edit, oh ok, a bit slow these days but figured it out, in repeater mode in the client list the 'wired' devices are the devices connect to the repeater lan ports as well as all the wireless/wired clients connected to the main router (bit weird, but ok). the wireless bands are the wifi clients connected to the repeater.

btw in windows 10 the realtek 8822be is complete crap for roaming between access points, replaced it in a laptop with an intel 8265ngw which works perfectly and has better signal strength.

roaming between nodes handled by ai-mesh was better than relying on client roaming but i'd rather have 2.4GHz clients working as they should so i'll stick with this setup until ASUS fixes the 2.4GHz issues with ai-mesh or until i replace my routers with something which works properly.]

 

[karma]

Just in case somebody is interested. I've now installed merlin's 384.16 firmware and switched my main router to AP mode. Because I was bored I decided to give AI mesh another go, changed the second router from repeater to ai mesh node, and everything seems to be working as expected now. Don't know if it's the mode switch or the fact that i'm using merlin's latest firmware but so far so good. So, AP with an AI Mesh node seems ok, i hope it stays that way.

[edit, and i just found this out about the sonos, so wireless N Only mode will not work properly:
https://support.sonos.com/s/article/126?language=en_US

Wireless-N and Wireless-AC routers should work with Sonos as long as they are still broadcasting over B and G WiFi. Most Wireless-N and AC routers should do this unless manually configured not to.
]