Why use AiMesh if you can connect APs via Ethernet?

[sfx2000]

I can vouch for this! In enterprise 80MHz or higher is nothing but marketing. It's useful when in an empty space, but in a crowded area, 40MHz is the only option. Even 20 for 5GHz when it's a dense population.
On 2.4...considering the number of channels available, 20 is the only option. That only if 2?4 is needed.

With 11ac - 20MHz channels there's no real benefit, might as well stay with 11n - highest MCS with 20MHz is MCS7 (because MCS8/9 numerics don't work there). There's a knock-on benefit for the older client stations as well - 11n and 11ac coexist much better than 11 b/g and 11n do in 2.4...

11ac can work very well with 40MHz channels - for business type workloads, most folks wouldn't notice the difference. The benefit of 40MHz in 5GHz, and 20MHz in 2.4 - in retrofit/upgrades from legacy, one can drop in the new AP's and reuse the frequency plan that was in place with older 11n AP's.

 

[sfx2000]

So far, the points in AiMesh's favor are centralized management and automatic configuration, which is a subset of centralized management So what does it do centrally besides automatically configure the routers as APs and set them to the same SSID. Remember, I'm talking about the WIRED backhaul case.

Wired backhaul is always better

There are folks that can't get there - rentals for example, where they may be prohibited from drilling holes thru walls is just one case...

The mesh platforms generally work in that case with the wireless backhaul.

Same SSID is not unique to AiMesh. Same channel is actually a disadvantage many consumer mesh systems share. Normal multi-AP setups use a frequency plan with different APs set to different channels to give each AP its own bandwidth. Enterprises also seldom (never?) run 80 MHz b/w in 5 GHz or 20 MHz in 2.4, to maximize channel use.

Common (or Single) SSID - there's a couple of good posts on the main site that discuss the benefits there - both for inter AP as well as inter-band on a dual-band AP - yes, there are issues with some clients (sticky clients), but generally, a common SSID tells the client STA that each BSSID is using a common distribution system, and part of the same network - so less overhead in the long term - handing over is easier there, as it's a simple reassociation (and maybe auth refresh) - with unique SSID's, one has a lot more work to do - probe request/response, auth, associate request/response to get WiFi up, and then the DHCP lease, as the client sees a new SSID, so we have to do the complete sequence...

One of the upsides of these multiple point wireless systems that force the common SSID approach - it can improve the user experience, no matter what the backhaul is... and that's as much as one can ask from a systems performance perspective as far as the AP's are concerned - then the challenge is the client adapters and drivers...

 

[Ken Atkinson]

ASUS AIMESH to my mind has moved from buggy/work in progress to usable/stable , I don't run a complicated setup AC88U ethernet connected to node 66u-b1 , but roaming works well , i still have smart connect off/not using single SSID yet but system running without needing resets every few days etc.

 

[RMerlin]

@RMerlin i know you mentioned in the past you may never support aimesh, just wanted to put out there the latest stock FW have done a great job improving this feature. At least on the AC68U, I wld love to see it added to your FW, just hoping thats all. Regardless still using ur awesome FW.

The reasons for not supporting AiMesh have nothing to do with how well it works or not, the reasons are purely technical.

 

[Gingernut]

Smart Connect is also available when not using AiMesh, wouldn't that help with multi wireless AP roaming.

By the looks of it one of the only advantages of an AiMesh setup is the centralised network control.

 

[sanke1]

If you have set it up as an access point with ethernet wiring, then you will see wifi disappear and reappear while it is switching from one node to the other.

For me, AIMesh is must now for large homes or universities or offices. It's almost like roaming from one tower to another in cellular network. You cannot see your device disconnecting and reconnecting to another wifi node. It is seamless. This itself is the prime selling point of all these mesh devices. If they are able to give maximum supposed wireless speed due to ethernet backhaul, nothing like it!

 

[SeeSawSam]

I'll be honest... I've switched to using AiMesh simply because I've hit the age where I'm simply "too tired to fiddle with it" any longer. I've been paying attention since the 2400 baud days, up through the Linksys WRT54G years, through a decade of D-Link, and now I'm settled into an ASUS world (primary desktop, screens, peripherals, all of it). My last near-decade was spent using a d-link router and three dlink dap-1522 APs and the associated four SSIDs (I've got a big house). I'm done drilling holes and running cable. I'm done tweaking out of curiosity more than to fix issues. Again, I'm simply "too tired to fiddle with it" any longer.

I bet I'm not alone.

 

[daduls]

I'll be honest... I've switched to using AiMesh simply because I've hit the age where I'm simply "too tired to fiddle with it" any longer. ……..
up through the Linksys WRT54G years,

I'm done tweaking out of curiosity more than to fix issues. Again, I'm simply "too tired to fiddle with it" any longer.

I bet I'm not alone.

No Sir,
You are not....

Still have couple of those Linksys WRT54Gs in a closet just in case......

 

[st3v3n]

I found our 54GS in the unopened box downstairs (with receipt) where I stuck it after Staples had a clearance sale, a long, long time ago; must be an omen.

 

[DummyPLUG]

Actually I don't like the wireless power level to be sync, with older AImesh firmware I used to control each AP wl pwr, right now it is out of control and may be I will go back to multi-AP.