topic Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO? in Networking

Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

tfhoughton — Tue, 04 Feb 2025 23:07:21 GMT

I have a 3 node BE14000 system. Works well, but my house is spread out and I needed better coverage. Got a BD5 to help with that. It joined it to mesh with no problem. Tried to enable MLO to see if that would help even more. But MLO was not recognized. The Web site says MLO is supported on the BD5.

Dual-band WiFi 7 (802.11be) AiMesh Extendable Router, 5000 Mbps, Coverage up to 6800 sq. ft. (3pk), Dual 2.5G Ports, Up to 3 SSIDs for IoT Devices, Parental Controls & VPNs, Advanced Network Security

Dual-band WiFi 7 speeds up to 5000 Mbps with MLO and 4K-QAM

But digging into the web interface it looks like it is not. I just upgraded to the latest FW from the website: ZenWiFi_BD5_3.0.0.6_102_56735-gf95d4ee_456-gd7ba0_Q7PA.

Screen shots on the web interface showing the BD5 does not support MLO yet is attached.

What am I missing?

Thanks.

Tom

Re: Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

jzchen — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 00:06:33 GMT

If you choose 2.4 and 5 GHz and deselect 6 GHz (on the BE14000) then does it allow you to add the BD5?

Re: Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

tfhoughton — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 00:47:36 GMT

Good thought....but, check out the attached pic. It looks to me that MLO is only configure for 2.4 and 5.

Is there another check/set it?

Thx.

Tom

Re: Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

jzchen — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 03:02:09 GMT

Hmmm.

The English is a little rough but this is pretty new about MLO:

https://www.asus.com/us/support/faq/1053342/

It shows a check on 6 GHz what happens when you click on it?

One other thing I thought WiFi 7 was incompatible with WPA2, but things may have changed or I could be wrong I must confess.

I got my GT-BE98 Pro before MLO firmware was even released, end of November 2023. When MLO firmware first came out it was beta, and you would toggle it on and it would ask for a second SSID and password. The very first iteration didn't even say what the 2nd SSID was for, but later I learned it was for all legacy/IoT devices. When you would tinker with the settings it might not even warn you that you just disabled MLO, but later I believe it would say you are changing a setting incompatible with MLO...

It appears the big takeaway from the article I linked is that one MLO SSID can be made. If you make one Main MLO, then Guest Network would not be able to have one. I would guess since the BD5 lacks 6 GHz you would not be able to combine it with MLO tri-band so deselecting 6 GHz might allow you to add the BD5...

I haven't memorized the content of the MLO article so please take what I write with a grain of salt so to speak...

Re: Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

tfhoughton — Wed, 05 Feb 2025 15:41:35 GMT

If I create an MLO network how will only the ZenWifi devices belong to that net?

I tried to set the MLO network to "Use same subnet as main network" but it would not allow me to Apply without adding the network name. When I did add the main network name "This entry already exists". And....this screen still says "this feature not supported" for the BD5. The interesting point is that the WiFi Band dropdown shows only one option 2.4/5/6...I attached a pic.

Is it possible that the only way MLO is upported on the BD5 is in a homogenbous BD5 system - that is, all of the items in the mesh must only suppport 2.4 and 5? I hope not.

Thanks for the advice....

Re: Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

tfhoughton — Fri, 07 Feb 2025 16:36:00 GMT

jzchen, thanks for all of the advice. I checked those options....No luck!

Was thinking that BD5 only supports MLO with only BD5 nodes. Is that the case? I would hope it is not.

Any other responses would be welcomed. I did provide a BD5 review, prompted by an email from ASUS, and asked the same MLO question. No response on that channel yet.

Thanks.

Re: Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

Aureliannn_ASUS — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 05:49:41 GMT

Hi @tfhoughton ,

Thank you for your inquiry.

Regarding your question about the MLO (Multi-Link Operation) feature, we would like to explain:

The MLO feature currently only supports connections between devices of the same model.
The BD5 device only supports MLO connections with other BD5 devices.

If you have any further questions, please feel free to contact us.

Thank you.

Re: Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

tfhoughton — Thu, 06 Mar 2025 14:01:51 GMT

Interesting. I researched the vaious options to extend the WiFi 7 net that is based on the BE14000s. I could not find any reference to BD5 MLO support being limited to a BD5. Seems like a design flaw. What are my options to have MLO support for the BE14000-based core?

Thx

Tom

Re: Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

tfhoughton — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 17:54:55 GMT

The BD5 can be added without changing any settings on the BE14000 - that's the good news. The bad news, as I was just told, is that the BD5 only supports MLO with other BD5s. That is very disappointing. I got the BE14000s and the BD5 to future proof my system for endpoints that support WiFi 7. I certainly hope the BD5 supports WiFi with the BE14000.

BTW..I have the latest BD5 FE - from 03/10/2025.

Re: Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

jzchen — Sat, 22 Mar 2025 14:07:14 GMT

I saw a similar page when looking into setting up MLO on my system. I only have one option 2.4/5/6 on my BE98 Pro on firmware 9.0.0.6.102_37842, but I believe sometimes there are other options available depending on firmware. Are you able to pick only 2.4/5 here?

Re: Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

tfhoughton — Sat, 22 Mar 2025 14:24:59 GMT

Nope....Not able to select the BD5 in the MLO page. As you have seen from a previous message on this thread:

Regarding your question about the MLO (Multi-Link Operation) feature, we would like to explain:

The MLO feature currently only supports connections between devices of the same model.
The BD5 device only supports MLO connections with other BD5 devices.

Seems restrictive. @jzchen ,if all of your nodes support 2.4/5/6 channels have you been able to get MLO working across different Asus models?

Re: Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

jzchen — Sat, 22 Mar 2025 14:38:54 GMT

My ASUS products have no repeats, every single one is different. I feel I can debunk the "same model" theory because my GT-BE98 Pro MLO page shows the BQ16 Pro node as available to MLO with.

Re: Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

tfhoughton — Sat, 22 Mar 2025 15:53:37 GMT

Thanks. @Aureliannn_ASUS can you check @jzchen input about MLO support across diverse components?