386.4: AC86U losing 2.4 GHz devices

[XIII]

The last couple of days my RT-AC86U running Asuswrt-Merlin 386.4 is losing some/all devices on the 2.4 GHz band (on both the regular and all three 2.4 GHz guest networks); devices on the 5 GHz band are fine (wired as well).

Restarting the wireless service (service restart_wireless) does not help, nor does deauthenticating/deauthorizing. Only a reboot of the router brings those 2.4 GHz devices back online.

Anyone else experiencing this? Any better workarounds than rebooting the router?

(Examples of such devices: Raspberry Pi Zero W, Athom Homey, Philips Somneo wake-up light, LaMetric Time clock - the last one less than 2m away from the router)

 

[bennor]

Anyone else experiencing this? Any better workarounds than rebooting the router?

Yes people are experiencing Wifi disconnection issues with the 386.4 firmware across a number of Asus routers. A search, if you haven't done one, will yield a number of posts and threads. Some have their issues confined to specific IoT devices, some have it confined to one WiFi band or the other, others have problems across all their WiFi bands. There doesn't seem to be a one size fits all solution beyond doing a basic troubleshooting step of a hard reset and reconfiguring to see if the issue persists. Others solved their problem by rolling back to the 386.3_2 firmware. For example one past discussion:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/2-4-ghz-frequent-disconnects-with-tp-link-and-honeywell.76764/

 

[XIII]

The TP-Link issue is the one I remembered from the (now closed) 386.4 thread, but that seemed to be specific to those devices.

(That's why I listed the devices that I use)

 

[bennor]

The TP-Link issue is the one I remembered from the (now closed) 386.4 thread, but that seemed to be specific to those devices.

(That's why I listed the devices that I use)

See post #6 in that above thread where a person talks about issues with their AC86U device.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/2...-with-tp-link-and-honeywell.76764/post-738893

And the following post (#7) in that thread also appears to be another person with AC86U router that is having wireless issues.

 

[bennor]

And more wifi issue posts from users with AC86U on several of the recent firmware versions (386.3.2 and 386.4)...
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/wifi-5ghz-drops-and-cannot-reconnect.76871/
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/wifi-5ghz-drops-and-cannot-reconnect.76871/#post-739890
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-386-4-is-now-available.76498/page-39#post-736622
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-386-4-is-now-available.76498/page-30#post-735121

 

[heywire]

And more wifi issue posts from users with AC86U on several of the recent firmware versions (386.3.2 and 386.4)...
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/wifi-5ghz-drops-and-cannot-reconnect.76871/
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/wifi-5ghz-drops-and-cannot-reconnect.76871/#post-739890
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-386-4-is-now-available.76498/page-39#post-736622
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-386-4-is-now-available.76498/page-30#post-735121

There are several more threads. For example:

Since upgrading to firmware 386.3_2, my Internet will not stay connected for even a day.

Just weird. I can't understand how that file could fail to write. And why it's even empty. There's plenty of storage. It's clearly writing leases to that file given we see the attempt. Can you write anything else to that same storage? Try the following script. cat /var/lib/misc/temp.txt...

www.snbforums.com

RT-AC88U frequent wifi disconnection/deauthenticated

For quite a while now, I've been struggling to correct an issue with my RT-AC88U, which seems to be getting worse. Any help is very much appreciated. Router: Asus RT-AC88U Firmware: 386.2_6 current 384.17_0 previous Modem: Motorola MB8600 Adapter: ASUS PCE AC88 Devices: Windows 10, Desktop PC...

www.snbforums.com

Disillusioned with RT-AC86U (and RT-AX86U)

I raised a thread a week or so about problems I was having with my RT-AC86U, regarding really slow DNS responses, and also Fing complaining that DHCP wasn't always happy. @L&LD suggested I do a full wipe and reset, which I reluctantly did. The good news is that this seemed to solve the problems...

www.snbforums.com

As you can see, these kinds of issues go way back.

Personally, I'm extremely frustrated by this striking lack of QC. Bought an AC86U to run the internet in my apartment complex thinking this was a true and tested model like the AC68U.

After borrowing another AC86U unit, flashing back and forth both official and Merlin firmware two versions back, I'm getting constant micro-disconnections on devices with with medium-low signal strenght on 5ghz jumping back and forth between 2.4 and 5ghz - even on official firmware. On Merlin firmware it happens even with devices in the same room as the router. Sometimes it worsens to the point that you cannot stream a tv show without being interrupted every 10-15 minutes. Completely untenable and unacceptable.

Jan 25 17:01:30 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): wl0.1: Auth 62:07.. [MAC-address], status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Jan 25 17:01:31 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): wl0.1: Auth 62:07.. [MAC-address], status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Jan 25 17:01:31 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): wl0.1: Auth 62:07.. [MAC-address], status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Jan 25 17:01:31 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): wl0.1: Auth 62:07.. [MAC-address], status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Jan 25 17:01:32 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): wl0.1: Auth 62:07.. [MAC-address], status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Jan 25 17:01:35 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): wl1.1: Disassoc 62:07.. [MAC-address], status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Jan 25 17:01:35 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): wl1.1: Auth 62:07.. [MAC-address], status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Jan 25 17:01:35 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(537): wl1.1: ReAssoc 62:07.. [MAC-address], status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Jan 25 17:01:35 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): wl0.1: Disassoc 62:07.. [MAC-address], status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0

... on and on in a reoccurring loop with 10-15 minutes between. Two Android-devices on the guest network seems to be the culprint atm, but with Merlin, it happens with all devices. Tried going back a few Merlin releases, but it caused wild CPU spikes and other issues.

(yes, I've tried to disable Smart Connect, 20mhz 2.4 band etc. Not that that should be necessary, that being said. And hard-resetting, yes). Merlin is even worse than the official firmware with respect to instability. Perhaps not his fault as I understand he is relying on proprietary blobs from Asus, but ffs the Merlin features is the reason I bought Asus in the first place.

Tenants complaining, countless hours searching forums and troubleshooting etc., bugs popping out of nowhere, no solution in sight. I'm not even running anything custom, just WPS-reset'ed stock settings. I'm so fed up with this POS I'm considering tossing out my whole fleet of Asus routers and never buy Asus again.

The AC68U works with no problem as a AiMesh node (I've also tried the AC86U without AC68U as an AiMesh node), but the AC86U (main, WAN connected) is reliably unreliable and basically unusable at this point. Even my AX88U on another location started throwing some of the same errors after the recent 386.4 upgrade.

How the hell am I supposed to rely on Asus products if they reliably crash like this for several firmware versions, released months in between? Would this be acceptable for the main electricity into my house? Especially these days, reliable internet is essential, and one would expect and established brand like Asus to understand that reliability is important above anything else in a router. Then how the f*** is is possible that numerous forum users are discovering the same errors for a long time, even years back this has been a frequent issue. Do they even do basic testing in an environment before pushing this useless s**t out through the release-channel? Astounded by the lack of attention this receives.


EDIT: Two new members to the club:

RT-AC86U Wireless Internet cutting out

Hello! New to this forum! So I have 2 of these routers set up and for the past 2 years we have been trying almost everything to fix this issue to no avail so now I turn to you guys. We have had these routers probs around 3-4 years now. So basically I have one router as the "master" and another...

www.snbforums.com

5GHz Wifi drops and set to open system

I have AX56U with latest merlin firmware 386.4. The 5Ghz connection was dropped and it was being set to Open System (WPA2 before). Checked the log and I do see few lines of "Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3)" Not sure if this is relevant but it is...

www.snbforums.com

EDIT2: aaaand, it goes on

[AC88U] Reset / QoS Type / 2.4 WiFi Band Issue

Hi guys, I recently upgraded my ac88u to the latest beta [386.4_beta2 > 386.4_beta3] and for some odd reason speeds are extremely slow? VM M500 UK. No issues at Virgin Media, BQM is healthy. The only thing I did was update to the latest beta and update spdMerlin and Diversion - now my speeds...

www.snbforums.com

Beta - ASUSWRT 386 RC3-3 public beta for IPv6 DDNS and IPv6 VPN server

ON AX55 after reserving ip address for particular mac address, have lost connection to router interface. HTTPS was never enabled.. Same thing happened with me one more time. Within this issue: VPN client (wireguard) got disabled and connected clients lost VPN connection but able to connect to...

www.snbforums.com

GT-AX11000 (fw: 3.0.0.4.384_8011) constant Deauth

I have Apple iMac siting at very close proximity to the GT-AX1100 so wireless signal strength is absolutely no the issue. Every hour like a clock work, I get a Deauthentication from GT-AX11000 so iMac does disconnect/authenticate/Associate sequence as seen on the sniffer capture (screenshot...

rog.asus.com

Archived - Virgin Media Community

community.virginmedia.com

Smart Switches Disconnecting - Smart Home Community

I've had TP-Link smart switches and plugs for the last 5 years and never had an issue. I recently updated the firmware on my router (Asus GT-AX11000) and updated my iPhone's IOS to 15 and nothing but problems. Switches and plugs w/ Hardwa

community.tp-link.com

AX86U v386.4 Samsung Tablet Woes

Have two Samsung A6 tablets that both now have issues connecting to WIFi since last dirty update. So reset router to factory defaults wiping out everything and manual reconfigured with settings that have work fine in v386.2 and earlier using WPA2-Personal AES Using either frequencies, will not...

www.snbforums.com

https://www.reddit.com/r/WeMo/comments/krmgzp

In swedish: https://www.sweclockers.com/forum/trad/1622914-asus-rt-ac86u-tappar-internet-flera-ganger-per-dag

 

[Wallace_n_Gromit]

I recently was having problems with my RT-AC86U losing 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wifi. The key idea in my case was RECENTLY.

I have had many, many months of what I would call flawless WiFi.

After the recent Merlin and Asus Official updates which I would happily dirty update to try out/test, I began to notice more and more frequent Wifi Drops of one or other or even both bands. Many might automatically blame the HW or SW, and in their case this might be true. In my case, I have found, not so much.

After being a member of these forums for 2 years, I had learned that dirty updates, though convenient, were never a best practice. I am just grateful that I know enough, that when things aren't working as they should be, I have a resource here to troubleshoot the problem.

The Result: 3 days 2 hour(s) 58 minute(s) 39 seconds of flawless service (again)!

 

[vincom]

I recently was having problems with my RT-AC86U losing 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wifi. The key idea in my case was RECENTLY.

I have had many, many months of what I would call flawless WiFi.

After the recent Merlin and Asus Official updates which I would happily dirty update to try out/test, I began to notice more and more frequent Wifi Drops of one or other or even both bands. Many might automatically blame the HW or SW, and in their case this might be true. In my case, I have found, not so much.

After being a member of these forums for 2 years, I had learned that dirty updates, though convenient, were never a best practice. I am just grateful that I know enough, that when things aren't working as they should be, I have a resource here to troubleshoot the problem.

The Result: 2 days 2 hour(s) 45 minute(s) 29 seconds of flawless service (again)!

my 2 month old ac86u was initially having 2.4 issues with a dirty flash but otherwise running well, but 2.4 would routinely go down or multiple reconnects to my phone and and other 2.4 devices, 5ghz seem to have no issues when connecting to it after 2.4 was having issues but i need/want 2.4 for distance and penetration and all of my smart devices only use 2.4. my old ac66u had no issues, upgraded to ac86u for processor speed, i have many devices wired and 2.4 wireless, but none using 5ghz.

did a complete wipe/restore , reformat jffs, no scripts running and manually setting up devices w. 386.4 fw, default wireless settings. running perfect for a couple of weeks but then all of my 2.4 were not connecting or constant disconnects. tested 5ghz for short interval but it seemed fine. rebooting fixed the issue, been a day now and still fine. i'll see how it goes and if rebooting helps i'll add a scheduled reboot for every couple of days. i have "no" other issues as others have posted

edit. just lost network lan connection to all wired devices/pc's, reboot fixed it. sheesh. my pc was the only working one. idk why, they were on a switch, mine connected directly. but reboot seems to have fixed issue

 

[Wallace_n_Gromit]

~ There doesn't seem to be a one size fits all solution beyond doing a basic troubleshooting step of a hard reset and reconfiguring to see if the issue persists. ~

Maybe that is the first step that many, including me, tends to do ONLY after all other methods fail. That method is working for me for last 3 days and counting.

 

[Morris]

To all those having drops, please make the following changes:
- Disable Smart Connect. Smart connect works by dropping clients and hoping they will reconnect
- Disable Rooming Assistant. It also works by dropping clients
- Universal Beamforming - Non standard based game that can cause issues
- Explicit Beamforming - It is not clear what standard is used. Might cause issues.

Good luck,

Morris

 

[heysoundude]

I'm so fed up with this POS I'm considering tossing out my whole fleet of Asus routers and never buy Asus again.

I'll take them off your hands if they're headed to the bin - I do a bit of electronics recycling/repurposing for the local Habitat for Humanity and other charities.
You, your apartment complex, your tenants would probably appreciate networking by ubiquiti

 

[XIII]

- Disable Smart Connect. Smart connect works by dropping clients and hoping they will reconnect

I do indeed use SmartConnect (for quite some time), but did not experience losing all devices on a band with previous firmwares / WiFi drivers.

 

[Wallace_n_Gromit]

Starting at about 3 days 11 hours, Wife first noticed the ROKU TV wasn't connected last night on 5GHZ. So just plugged in ethernet cable, disabled WiFi. This morning at about 3 days 20 hours both 5GHz and 2.4GHz bands were off. Dang. Back to drawing board. next step will be a nuclear reset.

 

[Tech9]

but did not experience losing all devices on a band with previous firmwares / WiFi drivers.

I quit testing 386.4 on AC86U due to Wi-Fi instability, but on 5GHz band. You may have to wait for the next Asuswrt-Merlin. Stock Asuswrt works better on AC86U for some unknown to me reason. I'm going to test again when Asuswrt RC3 is officially released, if it comes to AC86U.

 

[jeff3820]

I'll take them off your hands if they're headed to the bin - I do a bit of electronics recycling/repurposing for the local Habitat for Humanity and other charities.
You, your apartment complex, your tenants would probably appreciate networking by ubiquiti

What I setup for my son was a Ubiquiti access point, Ubiquiti switch, Ubiquiti cloud key controller, and just use the AC-86U as a router…turned the WiFi off on the AC-86U. Where the ONT comes into his apartment is in a terrible place for WiFi coverage. There was a wired cable to the best location in the apartment and the Ubiquiti solution was perfect. No issues at all and WiFi works great.

 

[heysoundude]

What I setup for my son was a Ubiquiti access point, Ubiquiti switch, Ubiquiti cloud key controller, and just use the AC-86U as a router…turned the WiFi off on the AC-86U. Where the ONT comes into his apartment is in a terrible place for WiFi coverage. There was a wired cable to the best location in the apartment and the Ubiquiti solution was perfect. No issues at all and WiFi works great.

That's brilliant because you can still use the scripts. nice, I like it!

 

[Tyson]

I recently was having problems with my RT-AC86U losing 2.4GHz and 5GHz Wifi. The key idea in my case was RECENTLY.

I have had many, many months of what I would call flawless WiFi.

After the recent Merlin and Asus Official updates which I would happily dirty update to try out/test, I began to notice more and more frequent Wifi Drops of one or other or even both bands. Many might automatically blame the HW or SW, and in their case this might be true. In my case, I have found, not so much.

After being a member of these forums for 2 years, I had learned that dirty updates, though convenient, were never a best practice. I am just grateful that I know enough, that when things aren't working as they should be, I have a resource here to troubleshoot the problem.

The Result: 3 days 2 hour(s) 58 minute(s) 39 seconds of flawless service (again)!

I got same problem today. For my result I just check the WiFi channel and change it to clear WiFi channel. Finally, the problem was resolved.

 

[heywire]

I got same problem today. For my result I just check the WiFi channel and change it to clear WiFi channel. Finally, the problem was resolved.

"clear WiFi channel"
Do you mean set the channel manually? For 2.4ghz, 5ghz or both? I don't see a "clear" option in the settings anywhere.

And this resolved the problem for stock firmware or merlin?

Can anybody else confirm that this resolved their problems?

 

[pinkgrae]

"clear WiFi channel"
Do you mean set the channel manually? For 2.4ghz, 5ghz or both? I don't see a "clear" option in the settings anywhere.

And this resolved the problem for stock firmware or merlin?

Can anybody else confirm that this resolved their problems?

I'm reading @Tyson's post to mean that he manually set his wifi channel to one that was relatively clear, i.e. not suffering from interferenrece from neighbours' wifi etc. This is a tried and tested way to resolve wifi drops and other issues particularly in congested locations.

I'm not aware of a (legal) way to 'clear' wifi channels to make them available for your own use only. There is no such option in either stock or asuswrt-merlin firmware.

 

[Morris]

I'm reading @Tyson's post to mean that he manually set his wifi channel to one that was relatively clear, i.e. not suffering from interferenrece from neighbours' wifi etc. This is a tried and tested way to resolve a number of wifi issues.

I'm not aware of a (legal) way to 'clear' wifi channels to make them available for your own use only.

I took it to mean he set his channel to Auto which works well for me on 2.4 Ghz. This way the router will parodically check for the least busy channel and move to it. If you chose a fixed channel, it may not stay clear.

Morris