Hi,
I have recently bought a 2862AC router and been using it for a couple of weeks, Inc setting up the whole house on the new SSID's etc.
However the Wifi coverage didnt meet my needs, I did not think it would before I bought it, hence the original plan was always to use an AP903 and AP802 to extend the SSID's around the house.
So I now have the 2 additional access points and trying to set them up via the central management feature, but I cant see anyway of copying the WI-Fi config from the 2862AC router across to the AP's.

Looking at the Central management section I can set a profile and and then load it locally as well as to the remote AP's, but I dont fancy setting up SSID's/security as I have only just re connected all of my devices after getting the 2862ac in the first place.
I just cant seem to locate a setting to download the Wi-FI settings from the router to load onto the AP's.

Am I missing a step somewhere?
Cheers

Mike

From what I can make out, the 2862 has no inherent Mesh Wifi support, so if you want to have the AP903+AP802 in a Mesh configuration, the 2862 will not be part of it.

You would disable the Wifi completely on the 2862AC, or use it with a different SSID for something that doesn't need to be accessed from everywhere in the house. The configuration would then be the AP903 as Mesh Root, with the AP802 as the only Mesh node. You can have two SSIDs (the limiting factor being the AP802). These could be different on the 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands, but then you couldn't use the 'band-steering' function.

Regarding management - If you let the AP903 populate the basic settings on the AP802, you'll find there are still one or two parameters that don't 'trickle down'. If you try and use something external (be that the 2862, or VigorConnect etc), you'll find that even more parameters are inaccessible and don't populate.

My view, is that you follow Draytek's procedure for setting up the AP903 as Mesh Root, add the AP802 and let it acquire the basic operating parameters. From that point on, make any small tweaks individually to each AP. This isn't a big deal with only two nodes.

The alternative - if you really want the 2862AC involved - is to use the older WDS or Universal Wireless Repeater modes on the AP903 and AP802. These will give worse performance and the intelligent AP hopping functionality that Mesh Wifi gives will be lost. These do have configurations that the 2862 is capable of pushing out centrally (though I've no experience of using it).

I think newer firmware on the V2862ac will allow it to be a mesh root...but I'd check with support.

Yes, 2.9.2 firmware (the current one) on the 2862ac does have mesh root mode. However, in a setup with two AP903 as nodes, I can not get it to be stable. Using one of the AP903 as root and the other node works fine. I have to conclude that 2.9.2 isnt quite there yet.... which is a shame as thats the only reason I replaced my 2830n (apart from having the VDSL modem on board). Lets hope that future firmware improves matters.....

You may reach the same goal with Central AP Management.
Assuming all your APs are wired to router LAN:
1. create an WLAN profile, fill in SSID and pre-shared key
2. With the same WLAN profile, you can apply "to AP" and "to local", which means the router wifi function.
3. done, and you can enjoy roaming now.

Cheers