ASUS ZenWiFi AX

[Neil.H]

Hi All

I've just bought 2 ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) devices.  Since upgrading to ultrafast I've found the Sky mesh (1 2TB Q box and 2 minis) wasn't up to the job and the bottleneck when connecting to the internet was the internal network.

I've set them up in access point mode for now, and the WiFi speed is amazing compared to the Sky WiFi, however I am finding I get frequent dropouts. I suspect this is down to the two mesh networks conflicting as running an optimise on the ASUS mesh resolves the issue for a few hours.

I am thinking I'd be better off disabling the Sky mesh and connecting the Q boxes to the ASUS mesh.  Which has then led me down the route of thinking well if I am doing that do I even need the SR203 anymore, I don't have a phone connected so I don't need VOIP, and I believe the ASUS in router mode supports DHCP option 61.  

Aside from VOIP, is there any benefit in leaving the SR203 in place with WiFi disabled, or is it just adding an extra layer of complication that isn't required?

[TimmyBGood]

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@Neil.H wrote:

I am thinking I'd be better off disabling the Sky mesh and connecting the Q boxes to the ASUS mesh.  

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Unfortunately Q boxes will not stay connected to non-Sky mesh nodes unless it's by ethernet.

[Neil.H]

Thanks @TimmyBGood so I'd need to either place the ASUS nodes near the Q boxes so I can connect them via ethernet, or use powerline to hardwire them?

[TimmyBGood]

@Neil.H 

That's what other forum posters have done, yes.  You'd probably want to switch off the Q WiFi.

[Neil.H]

Thanks, so hardwired it is for the Q boxes, that's easily done.  I already run powerline for some devices.

So I guess the only other question is; is it worth using the SR203 with WiFi disabled, or should I just replace it with one of the ASUS nodes running in router mode?

[Neil+Stevens · Accepted solution]

I've got exactly the same (wise choice 😁)

I started out with mine in AP mode and left the sky SR203 router for voip but the node kept reverting to 2.4ghz backhaul which made them next to useless. After reading a ton of stuff online I reverted to the 42095 firmware (available on the asus support site) rebooted and then did a factory reset on that firmware. I've not had a single drop since

I tried to figure out how to get round the double nat with the XT8 in router mode but failed so ended up ditching the SR203 (only had pay as you go sky talk so never used the phone) and configured the dhcp option 61 so the XT8 connects directly to the ONT

My main SkyQ box is connected to the Xt8 and picks up an ip address but my 3 SkyQ mini boxes have to connect to the main Q box using the wps button but this appears only to pick up an IP address from the dhcp server running on the XT8

Speed is excellent and I've had zero dropped connections (used to get loads on the skyq mini boxes)

I wasn't sure whether to ditch the SR203 and waited a week or 2 until I decided enough was enough. So glad I did

[Neil.H]

Awesome thanks @Neil+Stevens so you haven't wired your mini's and they're connected via WiFi to your main Q box?

[Neil+Stevens]

no they're not hardwired although in the devices list on the XT8 they appear as wired connections because they use the skyq main box wireless SSID as the connection (and pick up an ip address from the XT8). I assumed they would just connect to the XT8 but the minis aren't designed that way so they don't give you an option to connect to any old SSID like a smart tv does

i used 0123456789ab@skydsl|foo as the dhcp option 61 string 

[Neil+Stevens]

also it means you can use google or another dns server so you aren't affected when Sky have issues 😎

[TimmyBGood]

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@Neil+Stevens wrote:

My main SkyQ box is connected to the Xt8 and picks up an ip address but my 3 SkyQ mini boxes have to connect to the main Q box using the wps button but this appears only to pick up an IP address from the dhcp server running on the XT8

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That's correct: although the main Q box is the network 'node' for the Mini boxes, it doesn't have its own DHCP server as that would obviously be problematic.

[beastlove]

Any chance you could share your settings screen. I have just got sky fibre and cannot work out how to select option 61 to enter my password etc on the XT8.  I must be making a school boy error.

[Neil+Stevens]

it only works on Sky FTTP where you have an ONT provided by Openreach

In WAN settings on the XT8 just use this string in DHCP option 61 0123456789ab@skydsl|foo

i can post the screen but it's moderated so won't be shown straight away

[beastlove]

Sorry, a bit new to this.  What should the WAN connection type be? I cannot see DHCP Option 61 at all.

[beastlove]

@Neil+Stevens Thanks for your help. Your suggestion worked.  I just needed to change DHCP qeuery frequency to normal mode

[Neil.H]

All sorted thanks for your help @Neil+Stevens 

I didn't need DHCP option 61.  I guess because my exchange has only just been enabled so is using IP6 DHCP.