About to pull my hair out - RT-AX88U Pro 2.4 Wireless clients dropping

[Tech9]

Well, so far so good.

Broadcom is always adjusting things. It was the same with the previous generation radios. When I purchased my Asus router a new firmware was released on the same day. It had really bad Wi-Fi and I was thinking the router is defective. They somewhat fixed it later, but it was similarly to your experience disappointing. With a new model router you have to be patient. It may start working properly and with 3.0.0.6 (or perhaps then 3.0.0.8?) firmware somewhere in 2026.

 

[The_Bishop]

Option #3:

Ah, ok. Got you.

Being as there's an option for multiple guest networks, might make another one for the IoT stuff.

 

[Logi]

Ah, ok. Got you.

Being as there's an option for multiple guest networks, might make another one for the IoT stuff.

All my devices (not IoT) use 5GHz, therefore I have dedicated the 2.4GHz to IoT, no need to use the Guest network

 

[The_Bishop]

Broadcom is always adjusting things. It was the same with the previous generation radios. When I purchased my Asus router a new firmware was released on the same day. It had really bad Wi-Fi and I was thinking the router is defective. They somewhat fixed it later, but it was similarly to your experience disappointing. With a new model router you have to be patient. It may start working properly and with 3.0.0.6 (or perhaps then 3.0.0.8?) firmware somewhere in 2026.

I'd love to see Merlin migrate to the new firmware platform, but I understand that's a lot of work and leaves a lot of legacy routers behind.

It still amazes me that a fairly mature network standard can be this buggy with new models, though. Thanks for the help!

 

[The_Bishop]

All my devices (not IoT) use 5GHz, therefore I have dedicated the 2.4GHz to IoT, no need to use the Guest network

I wish that was the case, still have stuff that requires 2.4.

 

[The_Bishop]

Well, over 4 hours of uptime and nary a whisker of trouble. Thanks for the support, everyone!

 

[Tech9]

What settings change stabilized the connection to your 2.4GHz clients?

 

[The_Bishop]

Honestly? All I did was switch to Merlin from the stock firmware, and it has been flawless. I also disabled Wifi 6 on 2.4 as I don't have any Wifi 6 devices and Wifi 6 gives my Recteq grill problems.

Edit: I'm at 27.5 hours of uptime on the problematic devices and no issues.

 

[jg01]

Maybe it was the WPA2 key, might need WPA/WPA2.

 

[The_Bishop]

Maybe it was the WPA2 key, might need WPA/WPA2.

Nope, had WPA2 for a long time prior to the router swap.

 

[KevTech]

Honestly? All I did was switch to Merlin from the stock firmware, and it has been flawless. I also disabled Wifi 6 on 2.4 as I don't have any Wifi 6 devices and Wifi 6 gives my Recteq grill problems.

Edit: I'm at 27.5 hours of uptime on the problematic devices and no issues.

I think Merlin is still on the 3.0.0.4 firmware and if you were using the latest stock it would have been the 3.0.0.6 firmware.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

Disable also the above.

 

[The_Bishop]

I think Merlin is still on the 3.0.0.4 firmware and if you were using the latest stock it would have been the 3.0.0.6 firmware.

I'm aware. Just a touch disappointed about the lack of stability in the 3.0.0.6 firmware.

 

[mran613]

Hey, how are things going with Merlin? Which version are you on? I am in the beginning of doing what you tried to do on an RT-AX88U Pro using Asus 3.0.0.6.102_33309 firmware. I'm finding some issues with VLANS so I am contemplating switching to Merlin. Oh BTW, my Recteq 700 connects to wifi 6 on 2.4 without issue.

Thanks

Mark

 

[The_Bishop]

Been running the latest version of Merlin with no issues whatsoever.

The RecTeq issue was a faulty wireless chip in the controller, and recteq was good enough to replace the controller even though I was out of warranty.

 

[AzecTheButcher]

Been running the latest version of Merlin with no issues whatsoever.

The RecTeq issue was a faulty wireless chip in the controller, and recteq was good enough to replace the controller even though I was out of warranty.

Wow. I've been searching high and low for confirmation of this issue and a solution. It's wild that I find this thread, the most solid thread detailing this problem with the RT-AX88U Pro, and you responded just this past week to confirm using Merlin is the fix that is still working.

I'm going to install Merlin over the weekend and see if it also solves it for me. Same symptoms: everything just disconnects for no reason and the logs get flooded with the stuff seen below:

Aug 28 15:04:40 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth6: Disassoc 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:40 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: 0, reason: Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:44 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth6: Auth 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:44 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth6: Assoc 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: Successful (0), rssi:-41
Aug 28 15:04:50 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth7: Disassoc 34:3E:A4:86:26:30, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:50 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth7: Deauth_ind 34:3E:A4:86:26:30, status: 0, reason: Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:51 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth6: Disassoc 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:51 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: 0, reason: Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:55 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth6: Auth 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:55 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth6: Assoc 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: Successful (0), rssi:-41

There's no rhyme or reason.... but it appears that the 3.0.0.6.102_33308 firmware has some bugs in it. This happens randomly: Sometimes days go by without seeing it happen, sometimes it's 3 times in a day. Everything stops connecting even though internet itself is fine, sometimes it comes back in a minute, other times I have to reboot the router.

I'll try to report back to confirm in a week or so.

 

[ah1750]

I am having the same issue with my RT-AX86U... would love to hear some ideas about how to resolve it!

 

[AzecTheButcher]

Wow. I've been searching high and low for confirmation of this issue and a solution. It's wild that I find this thread, the most solid thread detailing this problem with the RT-AX88U Pro, and you responded just this past week to confirm using Merlin is the fix that is still working.

I'm going to install Merlin over the weekend and see if it also solves it for me. Same symptoms: everything just disconnects for no reason and the logs get flooded with the stuff seen below:

Aug 28 15:04:40 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth6: Disassoc 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:40 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: 0, reason: Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:44 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth6: Auth 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:44 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth6: Assoc 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: Successful (0), rssi:-41
Aug 28 15:04:50 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth7: Disassoc 34:3E:A4:86:26:30, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:50 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth7: Deauth_ind 34:3E:A4:86:26:30, status: 0, reason: Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:51 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth6: Disassoc 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:51 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: 0, reason: Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:55 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth6: Auth 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Aug 28 15:04:55 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth6: Assoc 18:7F:88:64:F4:3B, status: Successful (0), rssi:-41

There's no rhyme or reason.... but it appears that the 3.0.0.6.102_33308 firmware has some bugs in it. This happens randomly: Sometimes days go by without seeing it happen, sometimes it's 3 times in a day. Everything stops connecting even though internet itself is fine, sometimes it comes back in a minute, other times I have to reboot the router.

I'll try to report back to confirm in a week or so.

Following up finally: Still doesn't work right even after moving to Asuswrt-Merlin 3004.388.8_2. The disconnects are much less frequent (like not quite every day) and seem to resolve a little bit quicker. But it's still occurring. I'm likely going to find a replacement router... Which is a shame since this has Quad Core 2.0ghz and 1GB of ram along with mostly up-to-date standards for a reasonable price. Not super happy about having to downgrade or pay a lot more.

 

[Viktor Jaep]

Following up finally: Still doesn't work right even after moving to Asuswrt-Merlin 3004.388.8_2. The disconnects are much less frequent (like not quite every day) and seem to resolve a little bit quicker. But it's still occurring. I'm likely going to find a replacement router... Which is a shame since this has Quad Core 2.0ghz and 1GB of ram along with mostly up-to-date standards for a reasonable price. Not super happy about having to downgrade or pay a lot more.

Have you considered configuring the wifi per some of the best practices found on this forum? If you're aggressive with your settings, or incorrectly choosing things willy-nilly, you're going to experience disconnects.

 

[AzecTheButcher]

Have you considered configuring the wifi per some of the best practices found on this forum? If you're aggressive with your settings, or incorrectly choosing things willy-nilly, you're going to experience disconnects.

I don't have a complicated network and I'm running default settings (QoS on, default 2.4 and 5ghz settings). It really seems like this router is a lemon. My issues mirror what others in this thread have. The connection doesn't just drop on the wifi, it drops on both wired PC's we have as well. Internet stays connected, at least according to the UX, and no lights are changing on the router or the modem.