Suggestion for GT BE98 AiMesh Setup

[dwain]

Hello, I want to hear your opinions. 

I have one GT BE98 router in the living room. I didn't bring it in my computer room because all my TV, Apple TV and consoles are in the living room. And also my desktop PC in my computer room has Wifi 7 so I thought it would be enough. And actually it is enough because my internet is 1GB Fiber and I can go up to 860Mbps with Wifi from my Computer room. 

But I decided to connect my desktop to the router with Ethernet cable. So in a few days I'll install a cable from my computer room to the router and plug it directly to the 10G ROG (Lan6) port. 

I have 2 questions here:

What would happen if I decided to plug that 10G Lan6 cable to a switch in my computer and then from the switch I'll connect an ethernet cable to my desktop computer? I guess all of the other devices that would be connected to that switch would have the same priority of speed. But I think I'll only connect a couple of Raspberry Pi to that switch for some NAS setup and I don't think it would affect my internet speed while gaming. What do you think? Is it better to connect the 10G Lan6 port directly to the computer and install a second ethernet cable to attach the switch on it maybe? Would the difference be day and night? 

My second question is Aimesh system. I want Aimesh for other rooms going backwards in the house. Although the wifi is nearly enough, I want it to be perfect everywhere. So I have more a few questions about the aimesh system:

- First, is any cheap Asus router ok to be used for Aimesh? Maybe Tuf Gaming AX3000 V2 or even an AX1800U with less specs? Would these bottleneck the performance of my GT BE98? 
- Is it ok to connect it via Wifi? Or is it better with ethernet cable?
- Would I be able to connect that second router to one of the ports of the switch in the room and use it as AiMesh while using the other ports of the switch as normal ethernet connection? 
- Once I use this second router as Aimesh, will it be only functional for wifi connections? Or will its ethernet ports also be available to use? 

I never used an Aimesh setup before. I'm trying to understand the system. 

Thank you very much in advance for your answers. 

[Saltgrass · Accepted solution]

An AiMesh node is just an extension of the primary router.  Using Wi-Fi backhaul seems to be working fine for me, but the radios need to be available.  A lower cost system may not have the number or types of radios you would need.  

Ethernet backhaul is usually suggested, if you can do that.  You can plug ethernet devices directly into the Mesh node.

It is hard for others to visualize you home setup from a description.  As far as bottlenecking, that would depend on how much speed you would need.   My AppleTV 4K will run rates in the 80 Mbps range but does go higher than that if it needs to.

If you currently have another router, can you use it for testing?

[dwain]

Thank you. So If I use a second router with ethernet backhaul, would I still have extra wifi coverage or is it just goşng to work like an ethernet switch or hub? 

I don’t have a router but I think I’ll either buy sn AX3000 or AX4200 if they both are suggested. 

[Saltgrass]

Not sure I understand your question but backhaul is just a signal path back to the Primary router.  It works the same way using Ethernet or Wi-Fi.  When a device is connected to the Mesh Node, it goes to that Mesh Node then back to the Primary.

If you use Ethernet Backhaul, you can place the Mesh Node farther away from the primary.  If you use Wi-Fi, you are limited by its range.  

The Wi-Fi radio used for Backhaul is not normally used for other traffic, which is why it is good to have one radio you can spare that matches a radio on the primary.  I currently have two 6 GHz networks, on both the Node and Primary, so I use one of those for Backhaul.

[dwain]

oh ok I understand now. So if I connect the second router with an ethernet cable, it will just be stronger as the connection strength. But if the wifi is also strong enough and they're close enough to eachother, it should still work fine. 

Can you choose which radio to use for airmesh between the Node and Primary? I thought all the work would be done automatically. 

[dwain]

So this is what I wanted to ask. So you see the main router. The red ones are the Wan ports of the router and Fiber is connected. I'm using the Lan 1 and 2 ports for TV and Playstation. And from the Lan6 I'm connecting an ethernet cable to a switch which is in another room. And I'm conneting my PC Computer to that switch with Ethernet cable. Now I want to be able to add an Aimesh from the switch. This is what I'm trying to understand whether it is possible or not. So for example the Swith Lan2 port has the PC connected and from the Lan3 of the Switch I'll connect an ethernet cable to the second Asus Router which I want to use it as Mesh Node. (I assume this is also called an ethernet backhaul) Would this be possible? I mean, is it possible to connect the second router through a switch to be able to use is as aimesh or does it have to be connected directly to one of the ports on the main Router (such as Lan 3 4 5)? 

I hope I could explain myself 🙂 

[Saltgrass]

I have no experience with a switch, but if you get a direct connection to the Primary router, it should be the same as running from the WAN port on the Node to the Lan port on the Primary router.

If you need an absolute, "yes you can", then you may want to wait to see if someone else shows up.

[dwain]

Thank you. I have one last question. Once you set up your second router as wifi backhaul node, can the lan ports on the aimesh node (second router) be used to connect to the internet? So can I connect a laptop to the lan1 port of the ainode to connect to the internet instead of connecting via wifi? 

[Saltgrass]

Plugging into the LAN ports on a Mesh Node is the same as plugging into the Primary Router, it all goes through the backhaul.

[jzchen]

Ethernet backhaul is best because you’ll leave all node bandwidth for WiFi.  You can connect the 10 G port to a 10 G switch, they are somewhat expensive at the moment.  The nodes do function as AiMesh nodes so like an Access Point with added benefits that WiFi devices hop from router to node and back seamlessly, (like when you drive around on a cellular call)…