MLO USE BETWEEN TWO GT-BE98 PROs

[Alex52]

This evening I  turned off all MLO. It had always appeared MLO downhaul was working well between the main and the node. I already knew MLO fronthaul was a problem and have had it turned off for some time.

The only plus for MLO is a perceived better connection between the node and the main. Appearances can be deceiving.

After watching erratic latency spikes for some time now, I turned off MLO downhaul. Latency became lower with fewer and lower spikes. I continued using the same SSID bands created by MLO and saw more stable throughput - even better roaming moving from one room to another. Clients also made connection to 6GHz and favored the band over 5GHz despite the 6GHz band was roughly 10-15 dBm worse at 30 feet through a sheetrock and wood paneled wall in one room. Before this MLO change, clients in this room were favoring 5GHz with its lower throughput.

Until ASUS improves MLO in their firmware, it just isn't worth the performance hit it currently causes. With MLO completely off, I'm getting more reliable 5-8 Gb connections to clients. 

Now, I'm considering rolling back the buggy 3.0.0.6.102_38984 firmware (last update) on my BE96U node to the previous firmware. The hits that firmware "update" caused on it are ridiculous.

My advice is that no one with multiple connected routers should turn on MLO - no matter how attractive the promise it offers looks. The firmware support just isn't there yet. Life is too short not to be able to enjoy the performance you've paid for.

[jzchen]

If it helps any I am aware of a fellow user of dual GT-BE98 Pros with wireless backhaul and MLO enabled (over on the ROG forums), BUT exclusively the pair, (no RT-BE96U as you have).  You may be impressed with just the two BE98s if you could somehow manage without the BE96U for a while....

[Alex52 · Accepted solution]

I've continued using the BE96U in mesh with my GT-BE98 Pro main and nodes. With all MLO turned off, I separated the 6GHz and 5GHz network bands to leave a 6GHz network only, left the IoT 2.4 and 5GHz network band combined, and left the 2.4GHz network alone. I also made sure AES+GCMP256 was enabled on the 6GHz bands, WPA2/WPA3-PERSONAL WEP on 2.4GHz, with WPA2-PERSONAL and AES on the IoT network. This appears to be giving me a stable network using the 3.0.0.6.102_38984 firmware. 

This gives my 4K Samsung TVs, Leviton, and Honeywell thermostat clients stable connections. My other clients are all stable on 6GHz and my connection rates at 6GHz are staying consistently between 6Gb and 9Gb with my fully wireless system.

Of note, my TVs are remaining on 5GHz using the 5GHz band of the IoT network. Other legacy 2.4GHz devices are using the 2.4GHz IoT network. Oddly, my Samsung S24Ultra doesn't alway appear in the connected devices of the ASUS app, but does keep its WiFi 7 6GHz connection. If I reboot the S24Ultra, it does reappeared in the ASUS app temporarily.