[RT-AX86U Pro] Constant blips during video calls

My partner and I both work from home the majority of the time, and we both have a lot of Zoom and Google Meet calls over wifi. For the past couple of months we've seen a lot of "blips" during video calls, where the signal seems to drop out on the call and it take a second or two to sync back up. We're not kicked off the calls, but the video and audio feeds drop out and then reconnect, taking a few seconds to get back up to high resolution. We're in different rooms, and we're both seeing connection speeds of over 400Mbps. We're both running MacBooks which are less than 5 years old, using Google Chrome for Meet calls. We've tried Safari and Firefox also, with the same results. The Zoom client has the same issue, though it handles it a little more gracefully.

System information that might be relevant:

• ~6 month old RT-AX86U Pro running Merlin 3004.388.7
• Fibre connection in Europe, last check saw 922Mbps down/up using the "Internet Speed" tool from the device with a 1.7ms ping and 0.06ms jitter
• RT-AX86U Pro connects to a FRITZ!Box 7581 for internet, which has Wifi and DHCP disabled
• 3 guest 5GHz networks, 1 guest 2.4GHz network
• QoS is disabled
• DNS is routed to a Raspberry Pi running PiHole
• IPv6 enabled as passthrough

I've been tweaking the various wifi settings under the "Professional" based on other advice I've seen in the forum (such as this post), but with no significant improvements. In the next few days I'll try wiring one of the MacBooks in to the router to see whether that has an effect.

Is this a known problem with this model? I replaced an older Asus model running merlin which didn't have the same problem, but would run out of nvram a lot causing other issues.

Any advice would be welcome!

iyoti said:

I've been tweaking the various wifi settings under the "Professional" based on other advice I've seen in the forum (such as this post), but with no significant improvements.

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That might be your issue. Changing settings willy nilly based on someone else's issues or settings.
Are you running any addon scripts?
How is the router configured for Pi-Hole?
What does the router log indicate around the time you have issues with the online call/meeting?
You may want to post your WiFi General and Professional settings in readable format, redacting any sensitive information, for others to review and comment on.

Across the pond in the states, no issues with Zoom meetings on an RT-AX86U Pro running 3004.388.8_2 firmware on a 500mb/500mb fiber line. No AiMesh or AP nodes. Only running YazFi and YazDHCP as addon scripts. No USB drive attached. Running dual Raspberry Pi-Holes with Unbound. Use a Windows laptop connected via 5Ghz WiFi to the router. I do have Smart Connect disabled in the router and use separate SSID's for the WiFi bands. WiFi authentication is set to WPA2-Personal. And use a fixed Control Channel with DFS/160Ghz enabled. Do not have any issues with video/audio in Zoom meetings that I participate in weekly. YMMV

Go back to the WIFI defaults. Use dual band smart con̈ect, set the 5 GHz to 80 MHz on a fixed non DFS channel. If you use Merlin firmware dump the Pi Hole and use Diversion on the router. You can use the same block lists as the pi hole uses. Might be a good idea to try the Asus firmware I have had fewer issues with Asus firmware than Merlin.

bennor said:

That might be your issue. Changing settings willy nilly based on someone else's issues or settings.

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My aim was to disable any "advanced" feature and build up from there, hoping to isolate what the cause is. Unfortunately, no joy.

bennor said:

Are you running any addon scripts?

Click to expand...

No.

bennor said:

How is the router configured for Pi-Hole?

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Under "Lan > DHCP Server", "DNS Server 1" is set to the pi-hole's IP. "DNS Director" on the next tab is enabled, with "User defined DNS 1" set to the pi-hole's IP, and "User defined DNS 2" is set to a backup public DNS server (1.1.1.1). Below that in the client list, the pi-hole's MAC is configured with "Cloudflare safe" redirection.

bennor said:

What does the router log indicate around the time you have issues with the online call/meeting?

Click to expand...

I didn't think to check that. I'll take a look next time we experience a blip!

bennor said:

You may want to post your WiFi General and Professional settings in readable format, redacting any sensitive information, for others to review and comment on.

Across the pond in the states, no issues with Zoom meetings on an RT-AX86U Pro running 3004.388.8_2 firmware on a 500mb/500mb fiber line. No AiMesh or AP nodes. Only running YazFi and YazDHCP as addon scripts. No USB drive attached. Running dual Raspberry Pi-Holes with Unbound. Use a Windows laptop connected via 5Ghz WiFi to the router. I do have Smart Connect disabled in the router and use separate SSID's for the WiFi bands. WiFi authentication is set to WPA2-Personal. And use a fixed Control Channel with DFS/160Ghz enabled. Do not have any issues with video/audio in Zoom meetings that I participate in weekly. YMMV

Click to expand...

Further information based on what you've shared (and thank you for sharing!):

• No scripts
• No AiMesh
• I do have a Devolo powerline adapter to extend the network to the next floor (2-floor apartment with 12" thick concrete walls and 24" thick floors/ceilings), however my partner who has more calls than me and experiences more blips has essentially line-of-sight from her laptop to the Asus.
• No USB drive attached
• SmartConnect is on in an attempt to fix the blip issue, assuming the 5Ghz connection was dropping out and that switching would be better.
• WPA2-Personal for authentication.
• 5Ghz using a fixed control channel with 160Ghz enabled.
• 2.4Ghz using a fixed control channel, 20/40 MHz selected.

Professional Settings for the 2 bands attached.

bbunge said:

Go back to the WIFI defaults. Use dual band smart con̈ect, set the 5 GHz to 80 MHz on a fixed non DFS channel.

Click to expand...

I have the control channel set to 136, I'm not sure whether that is a non DFS channel.

bbunge said:

If you use Merlin firmware dump the Pi Hole and use Diversion on the router. You can use the same block lists as the pi hole uses.

Click to expand...

Can you elaborate on this? I'm not aware of Diversion.

iyoti said:

Under "Lan > DHCP Server", "DNS Server 1" is set to the pi-hole's IP. "DNS Director" on the next tab is enabled, with "User defined DNS 1" set to the pi-hole's IP, and "User defined DNS 2" is set to a backup public DNS server (1.1.1.1). Below that in the client list, the pi-hole's MAC is configured with "Cloudflare safe" redirection.

Click to expand...

Not sure if the way you have Pi-Hole set on the router would impact things. The following is generally how i have my router configured with Pi-Hole for my use case:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/pihole-dns.74646/page-3#post-712319
Namely the DNS Director section is configured differently then how yours is configured.

iyoti said:

Can you elaborate on this? I'm not aware of Diversion.

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See here:
Everyone has their own opinions on best ways to accomplish what Pi-Hole, Diversion, AdGuardHome and other programs accomplish. Some prefer one over another for reasons.

Thanks @bennor. The DNS Director section is configured that way so the RPi can resolve, otherwise all DNS lookups fail on my network. Diversion is interesting, I'll definitely look deeper into that… once my issues are resolved!

UPDATE:

Wired-up my partner's laptop today, and she has reported the blips are still happening over ethernet. So it doesn't seem to be related to Wifi, and therefore why my wifi adjustments haven't really helped.

It tends to happen on longer calls (say, over 20mins), and doesn't happen when either of us are working from other locations.

Logs were set to "notice" level, and nothing logged at the time it last happened. Around 4 mins before the incident, I see things like this:


None of the MAC addresses from the logs correspond to the affected MacBook.

iyoti said:

Wired-up my partner's laptop today, and she has reported the blips are still happening over ethernet. So it doesn't seem to be related to Wifi, and therefore why my wifi adjustments haven't really helped.

It tends to happen on longer calls (say, over 20mins), and doesn't happen when either of us are working from other locations.

Click to expand...

Other troubleshooting steps to try. Remove Pi-Hole from the equation and configure the router and it's DNS servers to use either public DNS servers or your broadband provider's DNS servers.

If possible access the broadband provider's RITZ!Box 7581 administration screen and see if it has a log file. If so check the RITZ!Box 7581 to see if there is any indication of any issues or problems around the time you have Zoom issues.

Do you have AiProtection enabled on the router? If so disabled it, and select Withdraw from the router's Setting > Privacy (if I remember right) section.

Do you have anything on the local network or software on the computer set to run ever 20 minutes or set to run when the computer is inactive for long periods of time. Things like computer (or file) backup, antivirus/security software scans, or drive/computer health scans, etc. Could be those scheduled scans or programs are interfering with the Zoom meeting or with the network connection.

Does this issue manifest itself if you are connected to someone else's internet/wifi? Like a local library's internet service?

bennor said:

Other troubleshooting steps to try. Remove Pi-Hole from the equation and configure the router and it's DNS servers to use either public DNS servers or your broadband provider's DNS servers.

Click to expand...

I've disabled this for the last week while my partner has tested, and we're still seeing multiple blips per day.

bennor said:

If possible access the broadband provider's RITZ!Box 7581 administration screen and see if it has a log file. If so check the RITZ!Box 7581 to see if there is any indication of any issues or problems around the time you have Zoom issues.

Click to expand...

I've checked, but unfortunately the Fritzbox is very light on the details in its logs. Basically "started up and got an internet connection X days ago". I've run through all the settings I can find and disabled everything that isn't related to the basic internet connection.

bennor said:

Do you have AiProtection enabled on the router? If so disabled it, and select Withdraw from the router's Setting > Privacy (if I remember right) section.

Click to expand...

No, this isn't enabled.

bennor said:

Do you have anything on the local network or software on the computer set to run ever 20 minutes or set to run when the computer is inactive for long periods of time. Things like computer (or file) backup, antivirus/security software scans, or drive/computer health scans, etc. Could be those scheduled scans or programs are interfering with the Zoom meeting or with the network connection.

Click to expand...

Nope, nothing like that.

bennor said:

Does this issue manifest itself if you are connected to someone else's internet/wifi? Like a local library's internet service?

Click to expand...

Nope. I have calls at the office on Google Meet without an issue, but at home there's at least one blip per call.

TL;DR:
After removing the RPi from the setup and using Cloudflare's DNS servers, we're still seeing blips on a regular basis. There's essentially nothing in the logs at the time of the blips. There are some references to miniupnpd a little earlier in the logs around the time of 2 of the blips, so I've disabled that service and we'll see how we get on during the next week. I'll also try bypassing the Asus itself to discount the Fritzbox as the culprit.