Does the ZenWiFi BD5 support MLO?

[tfhoughton]

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

[tfhoughton]

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?

[jzchen]

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.

[tfhoughton]

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.

[tfhoughton]

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....

[tfhoughton]

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.