What is the difference between plugging 3 x AP903s into ethernet ports in different locations and setting each of them as AP mode with the same SSID, suitably chosen channels, assisted roaming etc, versus, using the Mesh mode? i.e. what does Mesh mode provide, in that scenario, that AP mode does not?

The collaborative, AP-assisted Roaming only appears to work, if the mode is set to "Mesh" and the APs are wired.

Ok thanks.

Just trying to figure out what is the best approach.

Currently I have 3 x AP903s wired back to the router from various points in the house. All are set to AP mode.

My understanding is if I want to use Mesh mode, then I have to designate one of the APs as the mesh root. I would then set all the others to mesh node with the wired uplink setting selected.

So far so good, but....what I'm unsure of is what does the mesh root mean in this context? Does all traffic somehow go via the mesh root (which doesn't make sense, as what would be the point in a wireless device sending/receiving data via it's mesh node, then sending it down the wire to the router, then sending it down the wire to the mesh root, then back up to the router...?) or is the mesh root just doing some coordinating for the roaming?

oviano wrote:
My understanding is if I want to use Mesh mode, then I have to designate one of the APs as the mesh root. I would then set all the others to mesh node with the wired uplink setting selected.

Yes. When you add the other AP903's as Mesh Nodes, the Mesh Root's config will be copied to them. Double-check manually that everything has, actually, copied.

Does all traffic somehow go via the mesh root ?

No - as you rightly suspected.

is the mesh root just doing some coordinating for the roaming?

Yes.

Unless you then unplug the Mesh Nodes from their ethernet connections and let them use Wifi (at which point the performance will decrease (unless this happens to help with their physical positioning) and you'll lose the coordinated roaming (at least as far as I can tell - though I'd be happy to be proved wrong)

Thanks for that!

A couple of other things I'm wondering - does channel selection work any differently in (wired) mesh mode vs AP? I assume not, and that each AP still needs it's own channels. I've set the APs up to minimise conflict with each other and with the neighbours, I assume all of that still stands? Or does the mesh mode somehow take over all of that?

And how about the AP assisted roaming settings - how does that work/conflict with what the mesh does in this respect?

oviano wrote:
does channel selection work any differently in (wired) mesh mode vs AP? I assume not, and that each AP still needs it's own channels. I've set the APs up to minimise conflict with each other and with the neighbours, I assume all of that still stands?

That's an interesting subject.

I started from the same point as you - it is, after all, still Wi-fi and it's still using the same radio technology. So I was bemused to see my inital mesh configuration using the same channels for all nodes (on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz).

Originally, I was using my AP903 and AP802 in wireless mesh mode; and since there is no dedicated radio for the backhaul, I suppose it follows that Mesh Root and Mesh Node(s) must have to use a common channel to communicate. But that doesn't explain how this will somehow avoid all the interference issues, that we've had to be aware of, up to now :?
(It also doesn't explain the clash on the 2.4GHz band!).

I found that after the initial 'clone' has occured (when the Mesh node joins), you can manually reconfigure it all anyway. It won't be overwritten automatically by changes to the Mesh Root - unless you tell it to resend the config. (I selectively send the 'Objects' definitions, because I definitely want to keep those in line).

I didn't stick with the true Wireless Mesh for very long, as it seemed quite slow (though I didn't measure it) and I perceived it to be unreliable. The unreliabilty was actually a 'feature' in action, but since I didn't have Syslog enabled, I couldn't see what was happening. In my efforts to move everything to a quiet part of the 5GHz band, I'd stumbled into the DFS/Radar territory. Each node, was independently, playing dead for 10 minutes, at every power-up (or configuration-change reboot). It all just seemed well and truly broken, but actually, it wasn't.
(Adding wires and syslog revealed what was happening. I'd done quite enough experimenting at that point and just left it that way!)

And how about the AP assisted roaming settings - how does that work/conflict with what the mesh does in this respect?

Read the last post of this thread: https://forum.draytek.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=23693#p96969 and the docs it links to.

(In summary)
Some devices (like my Vigor 2860), have an "Assisted Roaming" function, that cannot possibly require a Mesh network (because they pre-date Mesh technology). Draytek do not mention "Mesh networking", as being a requirement for "Assisted Roaming" - but they do say the APs have to be wired.

In my experiments, the AP903/AP802 only do "Assisted Roaming" if they are in Mesh Mode (I assumed, but didn't check the 'wired' pre-requisite). I could not make my 2860 synchronise its activity with them - but nothing reported any errors.