2865ax + AP912c Mesh ?

I'm currently running a 2865ac with two 912c APs.

The router's WiFi performance is not great, particularly video streaming.

Could I upgrade to a 2865ax and still use it as a mesh controller for the (wired) AP912c (obviously accepting that the AP912c doesn't support WiFi 6) ?

Thanks
  

I'm afraid not - the mesh capability (which you'd probably be better off not using anyway - just go 'AP mode' so that everything isn't fighting on the same channels) is tied to the wifi generation (you'll notice in the router menu's it'll say 'Mesh R1' whereas an 'ax' model will be 'Mesh R2'.

https://www.draytek.co.uk/products/access-points/mesh-compatibility

Note that the 'ac' chipset has various issues on the router side (the AP's will be fine). If you have the 2.4Ghz bandwidth set to 20MHz then that is also all you will get on the 5Ghz band - regardless of what you've set in the menu. To get beyond this you must set 2.4GHz to 20/40MHz instead.

So maybe go for the ax (but why not get a 2136ax/2767ax/2867be/2928be these days) and configure each AP manually - this would still give you a huge uplift in performance when connected to the router wifi.

Thanks for that info, Ian.

The 2.4GHz WiFi is set to 40Mhz but maybe there is an advantage in just using manually configured APs over Mesh.

One thing I have discovered is that I have several devices that won't roam, they seem to connect at the MAC address level. They will connect to another WiFi of the same SSID, but won't work. It's most annoying and means that I've had to setup a dedicated SSID for these devices.

Meshing sets all the radios to the same frequencies - so they essentially all compete with each other.

If you do it manually you'll be able to set 2.4GHz to 1/6/11 (although the ac issue hits you here with the use of 40MHz), and 5Ghz to say 36,52,100 (at 80MHz bandwidth).

Are the 'several devices' Apple by any chance ?

"Meshing sets all the radios to the same frequencies - so they essentially all compete with each other."

A quick look at the router is on 11 & 44. AP1 is on 2 & 108 while AP2 is on 5 & 128. There's no suggestion that the Mesh synch isn't functioning.  I am using wired connections between the router and APs.

I did have terrible trouble getting an Apple HomePod Mini to connect to WiFi. Turned out that moving it >2m from the router solved the problem. Adjacent to the router it kept disconnecting and would not reconnect. Even had it checked out at the Apple Store.

The problematic devices are mini WiFi light switches. I raised the problem with the UK distributer who confirmed this as a known issue with no fix available!

Interesting use of some strange bands there then - 2 & 5 (so these overlap). Meshing always set them the same for me when I tried it - so maybe something has changed in that respect.

The usual starting frequencies for 5GHz channels (at 80MHz) would be 36, 52, 100, 116 (and then maybe 149 on the newer generation kit)

https://www.draytek.co.uk/support/guides/the-5ghz-wireless-band


Out of interest - rather than checking what the devices say - what does a wifi scanner on a phone show (e.g. Wifiman) ?