Singtel TV compatible Wi-Fi mesh

[rohitntu]

When the wired backhaul is working, yes you will most likely get similar wifi performace between the RT-AX82U and the XD6 since you have good signal strength. 750-800Mbps is quite decent speed.

The weakest link in your setup is the existing Singtel Gigabit AC router. It may contribute to the issue of your AIMesh problem. As mentioned before, you may want to dump it and get Singtel Mesh Router (pretty cheap from Carousell) instead to see if that helps.

The best is to totally dump the Singtel issued router and use RT-AX82U as the main router. But then you need two LAN ports in the living room as mentioned before.

1) Option 1
Singtel ONT -- RT-AX82U WAN Port with VLAN profile
RT-AX82U LAN Port 4 -- Living room LAN ports 1 -- Singtel TV box
RT-AX82U LAN Port 1 -- Living room LAN ports 2 -- XD6 mesh node 1
RT-AX82U LAN Port 2 -- master room LAN port -- XD6 mesh node 2
RT-AX82U LAN Port 3 -- bedroom LAN port

2) Option 2 (with an extra switch like TP-Link TL-SG105) -- better wifi performance than Option 1.
Singtel ONT -- Living room LAN Port 1 -- RT-AX82U as main router (Singtel VLAN profile) in living room
RT-AX82U LAN Port 4 -- Singtel TV box
RT-AX82U LAN Port 1 -- Living room LAN ports 2 -- DB box TL-SG105

TL-SG105 LAN port -- master room LAN port -- XD6 mesh node 1
TL-SG105 LAN port -- bedroom LAN port -- XD6 mesh node 2

I think both options need provisioning a second LAN port in living room and that’s not feasible without a lot of ID work.

I did find a setting on the web UI to force Ethernet back haul and that seems to be working okay so far so maybe I’ll just keep using this setup.

Thanks for all your help Xiaofan!

I’ll update this thread if I have any new findings.

 

[rohitntu]

@xiaofan have a strange problem with my wired backhaul configuration:

Wi-Fi devices connected to different mesh access points can't seem to ping each other.

So lets say the two wireless access Points XD6-A and XD6-B.

A PC wirelessly connected to XD6-A can't find a PC wirelessly connected to XD6-B. However a PC wirelessly connect to XD6-A can ping a wired PC connected to XD6-B.

Is there any setting on the routers for this?

 

[xiaofan]

@xiaofan have a strange problem with my wired backhaul configuration:

Wi-Fi devices connected to different mesh access points can't seem to ping each other.

So lets say the two wireless access Points XD6-A and XD6-B.

A PC wirelessly connected to XD6-A can't find a PC wirelessly connected to XD6-B. However a PC wirelessly connect to XD6-A can ping a wired PC connected to XD6-B.

Is there any setting on the routers for this?

It seems to me your AImesh is not set up correctly and some of them might be in router mode (Double NAT). Reset all the nodes to factory default and then set up again.

Double NAT:
https://kb.netgear.com/30186/What-is-double-NAT-and-why-is-it-bad

 

[rohitntu]

All the routers are in access point mode. If it was double NAT why would the ping to the wired PC work but not wireless. In fact the setting is offered only for the AI Mesh mode. The other two routers are in Mesh mode.

I suspect it’s a bug with the firmware where an external switch is used for Ethernet backhaul.

 

[xiaofan]

All the routers are in access point mode. If it was double NAT why would the ping to the wired PC work but not wireless. In fact the setting is offered only for the AI Mesh mode. The other two routers are in Mesh mode.

I suspect it’s a bug with the firmware where an external switch is used for Ethernet backhaul.

Yes that could be the problem. But often the workaround is to reset and set up again.

I use Asus RT-AX82U router and it is already good to cover my 4-room 106 sqm HDB (no Ethernet ports in the rooms) with 5GHz wifi. So I do not need to use AIMesh at home.

 

[rohitntu]

Yes that could be the problem. But often the workaround is to reset and set up again.

I use Asus RT-AX82U router and it is already good to cover my 4-room 106 sqm HDB (no Ethernet ports in the rooms) with 5GHz wifi. So I do not need to use AIMesh at home.

Okay I think I have a workaround for this issue. The problem was that my Living Room has a 2nd old Singtel router which is being used as a switch to feed both the Singtel TV as well as the Asus XD6. This was the master Mesh node as I had configured earlier.

What I did was to swap the Master node to another room. I think the master node wants a direct connection to the Singtel Router in the DB box, vs going through another Singtel switch in the middle. Theoretically it shouldn't matter, but it seems to make a difference.

So this is my final setup:

1. Singtel ONT -> Singtel AC Elite Router (4 LAN ports)
2. LAN port 1 -> Guest Room (Master AiMesh node XD6)
3. LAN port 2 -> Living Room Singtel Switch
3a. Living Room Singtel Switch Port 1 -> Singtel TV box
3b. Living Room Singtel Switch Port 2 -> AiMesh node XD6
4. LAN port 3 -> Study Room (AIMesh node AX-82U)
5. LAN port 4 -> Master Bedroom (AIMesh node XD6)

Performance wise the XD6 and AX-82U are working about the same for my wired backhaul setup.

Will update this thread if I have any new findings over the next few days.

 

[xiaofan]

Okay I think I have a workaround for this issue. The problem was that my Living Room has a 2nd old Singtel router which is being used as a switch to feed both the Singtel TV as well as the Asus XD6. This was the master Mesh node as I had configured earlier.

What I did was to swap the Master node to another room. I think the master node wants a direct connection to the Singtel Router in the DB box, vs going through another Singtel switch in the middle. Theoretically it shouldn't matter, but it seems to make a difference.

Thanks for the updates.

Indeed this may well be the root cause of your AImesh issue. Singtel issued router has some proprietary VLAN implementations and AImesh may not like it.

 

[tank_t]

Router is Gigabit Router AC Elite. It’s in the DB box next to main door which is at one corner of the house. The patch panel to connect all 4 rooms and living room is also there. So essentially ONT goes to Singtel router and it is feeding 4 LAN points, 3 bedroom and 1 in living room.

Just one TV box in the living room. I use an old Singtel router as a hub in the living room to feed both the TV box and one of my Apple routers. Needed to use the old router to pass VLAN to Singtel TV box.

If the gigabit router ac elite able to setup vlan, i know asus only allow lan port 4 to configure vlan for singtel tv. Just connect the singtel stb to living room lan then to that specific port on the gigabit router. U dont need to use the old singtel router.

 

[xiaofan]

If the gigabit router ac elite able to setup vlan, i know asus only allow lan port 4 to configure vlan for singtel tv. Just connect the singtel stb to living room lan then to that specific port on the gigabit router. U dont need to use the old singtel router.

The whole issue is that he only has one LAN port in the living room and he needs both Singtel TV Box and a wireless AP to work in the living room. That is why a Singtel issued router is needed. Actually a dumb switch with IGMP will work as well (I believe TP-Link TL-SG105 will work and it is cheap at aroun S$29).

I believe 3rd party router in special AP mode (connect LAN and not WAN to the main Singtel router) should work as well, as long as it supports IGMP.

Ref: the following is talking about Singtel ONR. But I think it will also works with Singtel ONT + Singtel Router configuration.
https://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/...tel-tv-onr-ac86u-ax23-singtel-tv-box.6681949/