@Kevin_Z 

I forgot to add that the main router and the access point router are using different Wi.Fi channels. The main router is using channels 11 and 48. The access point is using channels 1 and 36.

  @Kevin_Z 

I have been able to pinpoint and confirm a problem with Wi-Fi connections on the IoT network.

The IoT network is not working correctly when the AX55 is in the Access Point mode. In Wireless Router mode, it is OK. In testing both modes, it made no difference whether the Guest network was enabled or disabled. When enabled, the Guest network did function correctly on the access point router.

Test results in Access Point mode:
1.   The Reolink IP cameras will sometimes connect to the IoT network, but even when connected, there is no data transfer. Pinging the cameras shows the hosts as unreachable. As a result, the cameras cannot be viewed with their associated app on a PC or mobile device.
2. Amazon Echo devices are shown as connected on the AX55 web interface, however in activating the device for whatever reason, it responds stating that it is having trouble with its internet connection.
3. A connection could not be established using an iPad or iPhone8. The host displays a spinning circle as though it is establishing a connection but never fully connects. The AX55 web interface shows them as connected.
4. A Windows PC could not establish a wireless connection with the IoT network, returning an invalid IP address of 169.x.x.x

Test results in Wireless Router mode:
1. The Reolink cameras quickly connected to the IoT network and there was no problem in viewing them with their associated app.
2. The Amazon Echo devices are working correctly.
3. The same iPad and iPhone connect immediately to the router.
4. The Windows PC is functioning correctly.

To solve this problem temporarily, the Guest network of the AX55 access point is now configured with the IoT SSID and password and the IoT network has been disabled. Everything appears to be working smoothly for the moment.
 

  @Kevin_Z 

Your conclusion appears to be correct as I have not experienced any further wireless problems since disabling the IoT network on the access point router. Here are my settings:

Main network

Guest network

IoT network (shown enabled but has been disabled as the IoT devices are using the Guest network)

Additional settings

I hope this helps you in finding a solution.

  @Kevin_Z 

I just updated the firmware in the access point router and unfortunarely the IoT network is still not working correctly.

Here's what I’ve done exactly:
1. Performed the upgrade
2. Changed the guest network SSID and password back to their original guest settings
3. Set the IoT network SSID and password and enabled the IoT network
4. Checked the clients list for connected IoT devices. Only 1 Echo device was shown as connected but when asking Echo for the time, it had no connection.
5. With a laptop, desktop PC and an iPhone, tested the connections with the main, guest, and IoT networks. The main and guest networks connect correctly. The IoT network never connects.
6. I disabled the security on the IoT network and still could not connect. Oddly, after resetting the IoT network security back to WPA2, the main network security option had changed to “None” and I had to reset it as well.

To get everything back to normal., I finally reverted the IoT network settings back to the guest network until this can be resolved.

  @Kevin_Z 

Question and Suggestion...

In this latest release which adds an IoT network, there is now an additional Security setting in the web interface titled IOT_SECURITY. This setting only appears when operating in the Wireless Router mode.

As there is no new documentation yet to explain this setting, I have a question. If Device Isolation is enabled and the user wants to add a device, a list is presented with all the connected devices in all the networks, not just the IoT network. Does this mean that any device can be isolated? If so, this is a nice feature and perhaps the name IOT_SECURITY should be changed to something like “Device Isolation” which would be more appropriate.

  @Kevin_Z 

New Problem with RE700X Range Extenders and AX55 EasyMesh Interface Display

Scenario:
My main router (an AX55 in Wireless Router mode) is located on the third floor of a 3-story home. Since the latest firmware upgrade several days ago, my two RE700X range extenders (one for each of the remaining floors) were not yet tested for operability with the router. I decided to test them today.

The first range extender, after being plugged in some 3 meters away from the router, surprisingly did not immediately connect as expected. The Tether app did not find the extender and I was unable to connect to the device with a web browser. WPS was used and the extender appeared to connect to the router but the AX55 web interface showed the device as “Offline” and with no IP address. At that point I decided to reset the device and start from scratch.

After a reset, and several attempts to get the RE700X connected, it did finally connect. Going through the settings one by one, it was found the firmware needed to be updated (actually twice) as 2 new recent upgrades are now available. The device was upgraded.

It was then discovered that there is a problem with the AX55 web interface displaying the range extender correctly. It sometimes shows the RE700X connected (with the Wi-Fi signal strength icon) and then suddenly shows the device “Offline”.  The display alternates between the two every minute or so. Summarizing, under Mesh Devices the RE700X is sometimes shown as connected and sometimes as Offline. In each case, the proper IP address is shown as well as any connected clients. All 4 LEDs on the RE700X are on indicating things are normal. With Wi-Fi Tool, the signals do not drop, and this leads one to believe that the range extenders are OK and it is just the AX55 web interface that has a problem showing the correct status.

To confirm everything, the second extender was plugged in and tested, again 3 meters away from the router. It too did not connect on its own with its previous configuration. Deciding not to upgrade or reset the device, I did get it to connect with WPS on the first attempt. It displayed correctly in the AX55 web interface with its IP address and a connected client as shown below:

However, it is experiencing the same problem with alternating between the online and offline status. When displayed as “Offline”, I can still access the extender’s web interface and everything appears as normal as you can see here:

I finally upgraded the firmware in the second extender and the problem with the offline/online display continues to exist. There was never an issue like this before the AX55 firmware upgrade and the extenders have been working flawlessly since the beginning of the year.

  @Kevin_Z 

Problem - No Wi-Fi even though LEDs on

Due to a drop in price, I purchased another AX55 from Amazon and it arrived today. This allows me to test various configurations without disrupting my home network and also gives me a spare router should I ever need it.

Using the original firmware (1.1.2), I proceeded to test Wi-Fi connections with various devices and also tested several range extenders (RE605X and RE700X). Everything OK.

The router indicated there was a firmware upgrade available and after testing the original firmware, I upgraded to the latest official firmware (1.1.8).

Again, I tested device connections and the operability of the range extenders. The RE605X does not support EasyMesh but does connect seamlessly with the router alongside the RE700X extenders. I did not test any “roaming”.

During the course of removing the RE700X extenders from my home network, resetting them, and then joining them to the test network, something happened to my main network router in which the Wi-Fi LEDs were on but there were no radio signals on either band as confirmed by Wi-Fi Tool on two different PCs not connected to either the test network or the main network. This is the same phenomena that I experienced earlier with my AX55 access point router and is mentioned in an earlier post. I used the web interface to disable the main network temporarily and the LEDs on the router then turned off. I re-enabled the Wi-Fi and the LEDs turned back on and the radio signals reappeared in Wi-Fi Tool on both computers. I don’t know at what point the radio signals actually disappeared or why. The only important thing here is that it occurred in Wireless Router mode and not Access Point mode. For the moment, I will not upgrade the test router to the latest pre-release firmware as it is not possible to downgrade the firmware according to the announcement.

Summary:  The AX55 can drop the Wi-Fi signals even though the front panel LEDs are on, and the status shown on the web interface is normal.