I'm looking for the most effective way to set this up. I have an Asus router that runs AI-MESH but only one but the idea of mesh is interesting. As a Cisco router engineer in another life, I know much is possible if one has deep pockets.
I also have two identical TP-Link Archer C7 v2 routers, both running OpenWrt 21.02.0 r16279-5cc0535800 / LuCI openwrt-21.02 branch git-21.231.26241-422c175.
I have the same SSID and key on the Open-WRT routers, one in AP mode only and different channels between them. They are far enough apart that that cannot see each other's 5G signal but the 2.4G signal is good.
I have enabled 802.11r and i tried to setup mesh but it was less than I had hoped for. The 5G network would never come up. It perpetually showed "Wireless is not associated" though the 2.4G mesh comes up.
What I really want is wired backhaul and the most seamless transitions when moving my laptop, phone, tablet around the house. I do not want to run the network backhaul connection over WiFi.
So, this is the layout. Suggestions? Ideas?
. . . . . . . . . . . . .│ . │ . . │
. . . . . . . . . . . . .│ . │ . . │
┌───────┐ ├─┴──┤
│ Modem ├─-┤ Router├──┐
└───────┘ └────┘ . . .│
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .│
. . . . . . . . . . . . .Upstairs . . . │
. . . . . . . . . . . .South side . . │
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . │. . . │. . │. . .│
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . │ . . .│. . │. . .│
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .│. . .├-─┴─-─┤ Downstairs
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .└─-┤ AP Only │ North Side
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . └─────┘