> There is no other security as far as I understand it - you can test this by changing routers and naming the SSID and password the same. Devices will join this new network no questions asked.
AIUI this is a feature, not a bug. It allows devices to switch between different access points automatically.
For example, a large school will need to use many different access points in order to cover the entire building. Students will not want to manually switch between all of these access points, so the school gives each one an identical SSID and password. Devices will then switch automatically as needed.
I read this as cellular providers offloading traffic from their networks by making it so phones will piggyback on Wi-Fi networks. Maybe a symptom of increasing demand for more data but unwillingness to eat the cost or too many users. With Wi-Fi calling they’ve got that covered.
Hardly exotic these days. I have multiple APs at home, all sharing the same ssid with automatic handoff. Practically every ASUS router (at least) can do it, and it's only a few clicks to set up.
Every 802.12-compliant AP can do it. They can even be of different brands, since it’s just the Wi-Fi equivalent of plugging your computer into a different switch on the same (switched) subnet.
The Asus stuff is bit fancier than that, and will do stuff like optimize which AP each device connects to via signal strenth. It's true mesh networking.
> optimize which AP each device connects to via signal strenth
That's how most 802.11 STAs (clients) make a standalone roaming/handoff decision. But if the vendor supports it (and the APs can cooperate towards providing it, such as yours, probably), there's also 802.11v, which allows the APs/network to make the roaming decision based on their respective load, view of the client's signal strength (and not only the client's view of theirs) etc. It's nothing unique to Asus, though.
> It's true mesh networking.
Mesh networking is something else yet, as it concerns how the backing network of the APs is created and managed. You can have 802.11v with Ethernet-connected APs, or plain client-side roaming with meshed APs.
AIUI this is a feature, not a bug. It allows devices to switch between different access points automatically.
For example, a large school will need to use many different access points in order to cover the entire building. Students will not want to manually switch between all of these access points, so the school gives each one an identical SSID and password. Devices will then switch automatically as needed.