[SOLVED] Asus Zen WIFI AX : how to reset and flows problems!

[ivdes07]

Hello,

I'm trying to install two Asus ZenWifi Ax Access Points and I have nothing but problems!

During the first installation, everything worked normally and easily with speeds close to 500 Mbps near the two terminals.

But, a few hours later, the second terminal did not reach speeds lower than 50 Mbps to reach today ... less than 1Mbps!

At first, to try to solve this problem, I separated the 5Ghz and 2.4 GHz networks and connected my devices going on the internet in 5Ghz. This worked for a few hours to have again very low speeds on the 2nd terminal.

I would like to start again from scratch but I can't manage to reset one of the two terminals to factory settings. I can reset the one connected in WLAN thanks to the application, but I can't reset the second one and I can't find reliable information on how to do it.

I read that you have to unplug the terminal and press the WPS button for several seconds while waiting for the LED to turn red: the LED never turned red.

I tried unplugging the terminal and plugging it back in while pressing "in the hole" under the base of the terminal: the LED turned red, but it never blinked and never came back blue, indicating that the reset was successful.

Does anyone know the RIGHT way to reset these bollards?
And does anyone have an explanation for the flow problems that are getting smaller over time?
Thank you for your patience, if you've read this far!!!!

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[bill001g]

So how do you have this cabled. You have both these units cabled to some main router and are using them as AP correct ?

The so called mesh stuff make this complex. It is much easier when they run as simple AP and you set the SSID you want and connect to what you want. Sometimes these mesh systems will attempt to move device from one radio to another both on the same AP as well as between AP. The flaw in this whole concept is that network has no idea how strong the signal the end device is getting only how strong the signal it sees from the end device.

There really is no need for any of this mesh stuff when you are running the units as AP. The only time you use mesh is when you need to use a wireless repeater. Some mesh units are more advanced that some of the older repeaters. Both systems though do not perform nearly as well as running ethernet connected AP.

As far as resetiing them this is follow the instructions in the manual carefully. There is quite a bit of variation between units.

 

[ivdes07]

Thanks for the answer!

I don't know much about it and my questions are therefore naive: sorry!

Is it possible to connect my two Zen Wifi by cable to the router as two APs, without Mesh network but with both APs under the same network name? If so, how? I tried but when the first Asus is set up with the ASUS application, I can't access the second Zen Wifi to set it up independently.

Thank you for your help.


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[ivdes07]

Small remark: when the download speed is slow, the upload speed is 4 to 5 times faster: is this a clue?

 

[bill001g]

I really don't know how you configure those things. They have all these silly apps for phones. If you had asked before you purchased this I would have recommended you buy 2 inexpensive routers and use them as AP. I would think there is a way to set the mesh units up in stupid mode.

The main feature and reason you would buy mesh for is when you can't run cables and must run repeaters.

So many people see obsessed with the "seamless roaming". It is almost silly since you can always force it to change AP by stopping the wifi client and starting and it will connect to what it thinks is the best. They key flaw with the roaming theory is the end device and not the network control where the connection is made. Key is large enterprise business still uses AP and does not use mesh. Some have extremely expensive controllers that still do not do true roaming. Years ago cisco had a system buy you had to load software on every client and many phones where not supported.

What even puzzles me more is what application you would be using while you walk around your house.

 

[ivdes07]

Thank you for the advice. I will return these two ASUS. I bought them to replace two Xclaim i-3s that are doing very well but whose sale has stopped since 2018 and the service that allows to manage them is done via a Cloud whose services will stop in 2021. There was an application to manage them via iOS but this application no longer exists and I haven't found any other way to manage these APs without the Cloud. Which APs would you recommend? I would like to make the most of my 1 Giga connection and manage these APs with iOS and/or OSX? And if possible take advantage of WIFI 6.

 

[bill001g]

If you want actual AP you can look at ubiquiti but I would look for a inexpensive router. You need no fancy feature all you are going to use is the radios.

You know "cloud" is the magic marketing words to get people to buy now. I know when cisco still had linksys they tried that and they got the message loud and clear that it was a stupid thing. What happens if the internet is down and you need to make changes. They added back local admin but the damage was done. Not too long after they sold it all to belkin for other reasons.

I have no clue on wifi6, about the time wifi6 first released wifi6e was being talked about and then the FCC much more quickly than expected approved the 6g band. I therefore ignored it and am now waiting until next summer to start looking at what equipment is being sold.

If you want a brand I would look at tplink they in general make low cost equipment that works well

 

[gggplaya]

There is such as thing as "FAST ROAMING," it's called IEEE 802.11r. Essentially, if the client supports to protocol, it allows authentication to be stored in the MESH system because both units are communicating with each other and work together. When properly executed, a client moving from one access point to the other can bypass many of the authentication steps to connect to the 2nd access point. This lowers authentication time from about 11 seconds, down to 0.6 seconds. With such a significant drop in authentication time, the experience will seem like a "SEAMLESS TRANSITION" from access point to access point. You can read about how Ubiquiti does it here: https://help.ui.com/hc/en-us/articles/115004662107-UniFi-Fast-Roaming and I can tell you it works really well. At least with Ubiquiti my Apple products and HP and Alienware laptops seamlessly move around the house without a hint of a dropped network. I can see the wifi bars go down and then up as I move floors. You can't get 802.11r on 2 independant access points that don't work together, you'll have to go through the full re-authentication to reconnect to the 2nd access point. Which will take longer.

I've never used the Asus Zenwifi system before, but according to the user manual you don't need to use the smartphone app, you can set it up just like any other Asus router using the webUI. I remember when setting up the Asus AiMesh, that you need to have the routers right next to each other and NOT USE WIRED BACKHAUL during setup. During setup, use only wifi to connect the access points together and the main router will automatically configure and upload firmware to the secondary router to act as a slave mesh node. Once you get the routers fully configured, the very last step is to plug in an optional ethernet wired backhaul. If you're only using wireless backhaul, then make sure you place them properly so the 2nd access point has good 5ghz signal to the main router. You may want to disable 2.4ghz during setup to ensure proper placement. Then re-enable 2.4ghz once everything is setup up properly.

 

[bill001g]

The 11 second time is related to enterprise mode and all the extra time involving the radius server it is much faster with preshared keys that home user have. It still works very poorly since it is not the switch time that is biggest issue. It is that the client does not always pick the proper radio source since it is based on its signal levels and not the signal levels the network has.

It all doesn't matter why does someone really NEED fast roaming to begin with. I can't wait until netgear gets a lawsuit because they actually have advertising showing someone watching his cell phone while walking up stairs. As soon as someone gets hurt they can say netgear told them to do it.

 

[gggplaya]

The 11 second time is related to enterprise mode and all the extra time involving the radius server it is much faster with preshared keys that home user have. It still works very poorly since it is not the switch time that is biggest issue. It is that the client does not always pick the proper radio source since it is based on its signal levels and not the signal levels the network has.

It all doesn't matter why does someone really NEED fast roaming to begin with. I can't wait until netgear gets a lawsuit because they actually have advertising showing someone watching his cell phone while walking up stairs. As soon as someone gets hurt they can say netgear told them to do it.

You're right, WPA Personal PSK is quicker than 11 seconds now that I think about it, but it still takes much more time than 802.11r. I know because I set my parents house up with 2 separate access points using my old equipment. I ran ethernet line for the 2nd access point. I gave them the same SSID and password. The family room in the addition does not get signal from the main router on the other side of the house, so a transition is necessary when moving into that room. That transition can be rough at times. You'll definitely notice a pause and notice the wifi drop out. At times, when you're on the fringe of the main router, I have to manually shut off wifi and then turn it back on so it picks up the closer access point.

In my house I was facetiming with a friend the other day to help him with a technical problem. I had to go from upstairs in my office, to the basement to get some stuff to show him, then back up to the office. It was all seamless. and there's no way my upstairs access point reaches the basement because I only use 5ghz wirelessAC for the ssid I was on. Same phone, used at both houses, but my house uses 802.11r fast roaming.

Also, my cellular signal is not very good inside my house(1-2 bars) so I use wifi calling. I do move around the house alot when taking phone calls.

The other fast roaming protocols that work in unison with 802.11r is 802.11v and 802.11k. But, I'm not sure how well consumer wifi products use these other protocols. With Ubiquiti, the unfi software takes a "site report" for each access point. It'll measure signal strengths from other ssid's on each channel and other Ubiquiti access points. 802.11k will give this list of neighboring access points to the client device, so the client can make a better informed decision of which channel to use and if another access point might be better to roam to. 802.11v will have the access point make suggestions to the client to move to another access point.

This is a good article about wifi roaming: https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basics/wireless-basics/33180-how-to-fix-wi-fi-roaming Bill is right that there is no magic sauce to MESH when using a wired backhaul. It doesn't do anything better than a traditional access point just because it's MESH. However, like I said, mesh systems are designed and tested to work together as a system. They "may" incorporate the fast roaming wifi protocols 802.11r, 802.11k, and 802.11v. Which Asus does.