Solved ZenWifi AX XT8 Ethernet Backhaul does not work for Guest Network

[walkerx]

Hi,

I'm in the UK and recently purchased a twin pack AX XT8 to replace a Deco M5 - I've set everything up and got the main side working how I want, but have come across the following issue

If I enable the guest network on 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz with set to all AI Mesh Nodes, I have no connection when using the 2.4Ghz from the remote node and instead the unit reroutes it to connect to the main router so I get low speeds as it reports the connection is weak even though the unit reports it is a great connection.

If I connect via 5Ghz then it works fine from the remote mesh when using Wifi Backhaul.

But if I use ethernet backhaul then I have an issue where the guest network will not work from the remote node. I have also performed a full factory reset as per instructions from ASUS but the problems persist

Has anyone managed to get this working successfully.

Thanks

 

[xt8user]

I'm running 3.0.0.4.386_49873 software with a 2.4G guest network set to "All AI Mesh Nodes" and everything works as advertised (whether on wireless or wired backhaul). In fact most or my Guest network devices attach to one of the Mesh nodes (rather than the router) since they are closer to that node.

 

[walkerx]

Thanks for the reply, I've done a bit of testing over the weekend and had to force the clients to 5ghz guest network then bind them to the remote node, then I could switch to 2.4ghz using the wireless backhaul.

I will perform further testing using the ethernet backhaul, which is where I had the main problems and it not routing correctly.

The only other issue I've spotted, is that we have some older huawei phones (Mate 10 Pro and P20 Pro) and even though they are on the guest network, which gets assigned a different ip address, the ip address showing for the devices on the router web pages is for the main network, but last node is for the guest network ip.

ie - it shows 192.168.1.35 for the ip in the asus router page via browser but on the device it is 192.168.2.35 which is correct

 

[xt8user]

AFAIK Guest Network 1 is the only one that works across "All AI Mesh Nodes". On my system the XT8 assigns addresses is in the 192.168.101.x range for 2.4GHz and 192.168.102.x range for the 5 GHz-1 band regardless of the network settings for the "main" network. The IP addresses assigned appear correctly on the web gui.

 

[walkerx]

I'm using the Guest Network 1 - but on 2 Huawei devices it shows on the web gui and the app when they are logged in the incorrect network address.

Default for main 192.168.50.x
Guest Network 1 2.4Ghz/5Ghz 192.168.100.x

Huawei devices get the ip 192.,168.101.x (ie 192.168.101.230) but show as 192.168.50.230 in the gui and app as though they are connected to the main network and not the guest network, but on the relevant devices they are shown with the correct guest network 1 subnet.

It's only the Huwaei devices showing this as the other devices (Google, Samsung) all show the correct guest subnet in the gui/app and on the device.

I've never seen this happen when I was using my Deco M5 setup

 

[walkerx]

@xt8user

Further update, connected Pixel Slate to the guest network and this shows the same way as the huawei devices, where it has an ip address on the device as 192.168.101.9 but in the gui/app it show as 192.168.50.9

IPv6 is also not available when using the guest network, but is when using the main network

I also tried re-adding the ethernet as backhaul this morning which never worked for guest network. On checking the remote node, I had to manually tell it to use ethernet as auto configuration just defaults to 5Ghz backhaul, and I had the same problem of the guest network not working from the node, yet main network is fine from the node.

I have provided all the logs to ASUS and spoken to Amazon, who have said they are going to replace the unit as something is not right and see if the replacement has the same issue.

 

[walkerx]

So I received a replacement system and set this up and again there is no guest network operational from a remote node if using Ethernet backhaul.

I've tried the latest firmware and an earlier firmware and neither work with ethernet backhaul for guest network, it's like the system can't route the guest network through ethernet back to the main router, even though it works if connect to main network through the remote node.

Using wireless backhaul works for guest network as long as I keep the band seperated (ie guest_2ghz, guest_5ghz) but fails if combine to single name (ie guest_network)

 

[OzarkEdge]

So I received a replacement system and set this up and again there is no guest network operational from a remote node if using Ethernet backhaul.

I've tried the latest firmware and an earlier firmware and neither work with ethernet backhaul for guest network, it's like the system can't route the guest network through ethernet back to the main router, even though it works if connect to main network through the remote node.

Using wireless backhaul works for guest network as long as I keep the band seperated (ie guest_2ghz, guest_5ghz) but fails if combine to single name (ie guest_network)

Use current firmware and reset it before you configure it.

OE

 

[walkerx]

Use current firmware and reset it before you configure it.

OE

Done all that

I've even set the system to use ethernet backhaul through the system settings when in ai mesh screens, all devicves on the main network that connect to the remote node work without issues, so I knowthere is no problem using the ethernet backhaul.

It's only when you connect via guest network you have the problem, the devices will not work when connected via the remote and the smart connect reports it connecting them to the main router wifi due to weak signal, when you try to bind them to the remote node, even though the remote node reports great connection using 1Gbps backhaul.

I can plug in one of my old deco m5 base units into the remote node ethernet ports and this gets connection straight away and works using as a guest network setup, but the XT8 was to replace the older system and if I'm having to rely on another product to act as the guest network then there is no point with using the XT8.

Other than this issue with the guest network, where it will not work with ethernet backhaul (and it needs to work) and that it does not display the correct guest network ip for some devices, it is a great product, but these failings do not warrant the extra £300 cost over the TP-Link products (which have their own limitations)

So it looks like I could be going back to a TP-Link product or see how the NetGear Orbi's are if I can't get this working

 

[walkerx]

managed to do some more testing and it looks like it doesn't want to work through my zyxel switches, if remove these and use an old tp-link switch with this connected to the main node it works

 

[xt8user]

managed to do some more testing and it looks like it doesn't want to work through my zyxel switches, if remove these and use an old tp-link switch with this connected to the main node it works

I believe the Guest 1 network uses VPN ID 101 for the 2.4 Ghz network and VPN ID 102 for the 5GHz network. If your switches don't pass those VPNs then the guest network cant access the remote nodes. I have my remote nodes hardwired and all works just fine.

 

[walkerx]

My Zyxel switches (GS1900-8) are not currently configured with VLANS, so acting as a bog standard switch, so it shouldn't matter what VLAN number it is on, seeing a) tp-link deco m5 works through the same switches with guest network activated b) the Asus works through a normal un-managed switch.

I have even factory reset one of my Zyxel switches to see if it works when no configuration is implemented on the device and it doesn't.

When the Zyxel is in place and a device grabs an ip address, it initially gets one according to the Asus GUI but thats it, the device doesn't receive the IP address so can't connect.

Are you running a managed switch or an unmanaged switch? If managed how have you set this up for guest network to work unhindered, if unmanaged then you won't see the problem I'm seeing.

My next test is to try setting the switches with a 255.255.0.0. netmask to see if that works, but if it worked without making changes for the deco m5, then would have thought no changes would be required for the asus

 

[xt8user]

My Zyxel switches (GS1900-8) are not currently configured with VLANS, so acting as a bog standard switch, so it shouldn't matter what VLAN number it is on, seeing a) tp-link deco m5 works through the same switches with guest network activated b) the Asus works through a normal un-managed switch.

I have even factory reset one of my Zyxel switches to see if it works when no configuration is implemented on the device and it doesn't.

When the Zyxel is in place and a device grabs an ip address, it initially gets one according to the Asus GUI but thats it, the device doesn't receive the IP address so can't connect.

Are you running a managed switch or an unmanaged switch? If managed how have you set this up for guest network to work unhindered, if unmanaged then you won't see the problem I'm seeing.

My next test is to try setting the switches with a 255.255.0.0. netmask to see if that works, but if it worked without making changes for the deco m5, then would have thought no changes would be required for the asus

I do not have any switches between the XT8s, just Ethernet cable and it works just fine.

I know nothing about Zyxel switches however I know that some Ethernet switches will not pass VLANs since they cannot read the ether type correctly since the Ether type is unknown to them and some will not pass 1500 byte packets with VLANs since VJHAN header adds additional bytes to the frames. Since you have one switch that works and one that doesn't my guess is that this is part of the issue.

 

[tornor]

I do not have any switches between the XT8s, just Ethernet cable and it works just fine.

I know nothing about Zyxel switches however I know that some Ethernet switches will not pass VLANs since they cannot read the ether type correctly since the Ether type is unknown to them and some will not pass 1500 byte packets with VLANs since VJHAN header adds additional bytes to the frames. Since you have one switch that works and one that doesn't my guess is that this is part of the issue.

I had the same problems with 2 x xt8, no guest network from node. However skipping the switch between router and node made the trick. Mentioned here as well:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/comments/jiwwhb

Give it a try if you haven't already.

 

[walkerx]

@xt8user

Because you had not mentioned earlier that you were not using switches, but saying it all worked fine, I assumed you may have been using switches, but i've realised in my original post i never mentioned I was using switches as well

@Georg Norrbom

I have tested using an un-managed TP-Link switch and the guest network works via ethernet backhaul. It should still work through the Zyxel managed switches as these are not configured to be fully managed with no vlans configured, especially as a Deco M5 guest network setup works via ethernet backhaul using the same switches

I've emailed Asus asking how they are setting up the guest network and if using VLANs, what their ID's are so at least can see if modifying the switch config will enable it to work.

 

[kildare]

Check in settings if your mobile devices which connect to the guest network are using random MAC addresses.
If so select to use the device MAC address.
Continuosly changing the MAC might cause the router to run out of DHCP addresses.
Moreover this could confuse an active switch.

 

[walkerx]

nothing to do with the random mac address as affects windows laptops as well and mobile/tablets are set to use device mac for network

 

[walkerx]

Hi all,

Thought would provide an update

This is now working after ASUS suggested enabling VLAN Trunk on the relevant ports the Zenwifi devices are connected to, when I asked them for the specific VLAN-ID's the guest network used.