AC86U after a few days has no 5ghz clients.

[jsmiddleton4]

I could be wrong but my understanding is they confirm there's an issue and then send you an already refurbished one or a new one they have for just this kind of thing. So it only takes a few days.

 

[jrmtz85]

I could be wrong but my understanding is they confirm there's an issue and then send you an already refurbished one or a new one they have for just this kind of thing. So it only takes a few days.

I t actually has the exact same serial number, so I don't think its a new one. Didn't note the MAC addresses of LAN/WLAN so can't confirm whether maybe any of those were replaced internally.

 

[bitoiu]

Unrelated but I've had this issue with the AC87U and I've tried all the proposed solutions and to me it's starting to feel like a hardware issue. It can either last for days or break soon after I restart the router.

 

[jrmtz85]

Unrelated but I've had this issue with the AC87U and I've tried all the proposed solutions and to me it's starting to feel like a hardware issue. It can either last for days or break soon after I restart the router.

Yup, that's how it was on the on the one I RMA-ed. You still in warranty?

 

[bitoiu]

Yup, that's how it was on the on the one I RMA-ed. You still in warranty?

Hey @jrmtz85, thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately no, I have an ax88u on the post arriving tomorrow.

 

[jrmtz85]

Hey @jrmtz85, thanks for the feedback. Unfortunately no, I have an ax88u on the post arriving tomorrow.

My 86u started acting up again and support has been pretty much useless. Tempted to get the ax88u. Hows it been working for you? Range, speed etc. Thinking I'd use the ax88 as my main, and then my working 86u as a hardwired aimesh in a different room. And if they every fix the broken 86u I have, just sell it on eBay or something

 

[jrmtz85]

Wanted to update. After about 1 week of back and forth with support with attempts at "fixes" (change channel, change width, etc.), they asked me for the logs of the device and some other info. They finally decided to RMA again (this time free shipping), and ended up confirming the issue with 5ghz. They sent me a brand new unit (I assume it is brand new since everything was original shrink wrap). For now have set it up as second node in AiMesh (now have AX88u as main, and 2 86u as nodes).

 

[OzarkEdge]

Wanted to update. After about 1 week of back and forth with support with attempts at "fixes" (change channel, change width, etc.), they asked me for the logs of the device and some other info. They finally decided to RMA again (this time free shipping), and ended up confirming the issue with 5ghz. They sent me a brand new unit (I assume it is brand new since everything was original shrink wrap). For now have set it up as second node in AiMesh (now have AX88u as main, and 2 86u as nodes).

That's a lot of WiFi coverage, yes? How far apart are they?

OE

 

[jrmtz85]

That's a lot of WiFi coverage, yes? How far apart are they?

OE

The whole house is ~3600 sqft. Lets call the front door 12'oclock, from the center of the house (it is centered). Main x88u is at about 5 o'clock on the first floor. That's TV room.

First 86u node is at about 8 o'clock on first floor as well. That's master bed. They are about 55 linear feet, with 2 walls (one of them a chimney) in between. These are connected via wifi. getting about 40-50mbps on 5.0 on cell phone speedtests (I get about 400 in front of x88u).

Second 86u node is in the office on second floor, at about 2 o'clock. This one is hardwired via a 2.5 MOCA adapter (on which i'm getting 3500 phy rates). I'd say these are about 60-75 linear feet away, but through the floor and several walls.

 

[OzarkEdge]

The whole house is ~3600 sqft. Lets call the front door 12'oclock, from the center of the house (it is centered). Main x88u is at about 5 o'clock on the first floor. That's TV room.

First 86u node is at about 8 o'clock on first floor as well. That's master bed. They are about 55 linear feet, with 2 walls (one of them a chimney) in between. These are connected via wifi. getting about 40-50mbps on 5.0 on cell phone speedtests (I get about 400 in front of x88u).

Second 86u node is in the office on second floor, at about 2 o'clock. This one is hardwired via a 2.5 MOCA adapter (on which i'm getting 3500 phy rates). I'd say these are about 60-75 linear feet away, but through the floor and several walls.

That's not bad! That chimney matters!

OE

 

[jrmtz85]

That's not bad! That chimney matters!

OE

And actually, will probably dedicate some time this weekend at the cable entry point to see if I can track down which cable goes into the bedroom. If I can figure that out, i'll get another MOCA adapter (and a 3-way splitter) and get the bedroom node wired in as well.

 

[doggyofone]

I have been seeing this on my RT-AC68U with latest stock or Merlin firmware on 5GHz about every 5 days or so.
What is strange is all devices still show up in the wireless log as Associated/Authorized but none of them are.
Refresh the log and all devices still show as Associated/Authorized but no connections on any of them.
Turning wireless off/on with the push button will fix it.
To rule out a devices issue I replaced the RT-AC68U with a RT-AC56U I found in my closet for two weeks and it never had this issue.

I'm running Merlin 384.17 on a new 86U. I installed everything a few days ago and wifi has been excellent since. I found both 2.4 and 5G networks out this am, after they had worked well for the last few days. Both showed an excellent signal, but neither would connect. I rebooted a couple times, which didn't help. So I clicked on the on/off button once, so I could confirm wifi was off on my phone. However, when I checked the phone was connected to wifi.
I'm not sure why the wifi would off/on with one click, but it worked for me.
Is this wifi loss still a consistent problem with the Asus firmware for some users? Is there a setting issue that resolves this?
Has anyone determined whether or not it is firmware, or hardware - if HW I would return the router? My hardware version is H/W 1.5.
I've had several Asus routers and have never had an issue like this.
Thanks.

 

[CaptainSTX]

The hardware issues seemed to be concentrated in AC86s manufactured in 2018. If the router was manufactured after 2018 then can be corrected by adjusting the settings for such things as band steering, auto channel, etc. Use the search function on this site to search for your Wifi and what fixes were recommended to others.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I'm running Merlin 384.17 on a new 86U. I installed everything a few days ago and wifi has been excellent since. I found both 2.4 and 5G networks out this am, after they had worked well for the last few days. Both showed an excellent signal, but neither would connect. I rebooted a couple times, which didn't help. So I clicked on the on/off button once, so I could confirm wifi was off on my phone. However, when I checked the phone was connected to wifi.
I'm not sure why the wifi would off/on with one click, but it worked for me.
Is this wifi loss still a consistent problem with the Asus firmware for some users? Is there a setting issue that resolves this?
Has anyone determined whether or not it is firmware, or hardware - if HW I would return the router? My hardware version is H/W 1.5.
I've had several Asus routers and have never had an issue like this.
Thanks.

Some thoughts...

When you dump off your issue into another thread discussion, it distracts and confuses and may lead those who might help to not bother to figure out what's up since it can take too much effort to bother sorting things out.

It could be helpful to know what stock Asuswrt firmware Asuswrt-Merlin is based on without having to research it.

I would narrow down the router issue, if any, first before considering the router to be defective.

My install notes cover basic considerations for installing an 86U... a review might help... ignore the AiMesh bits.

OE

 

[doggyofone]

Some thoughts...

When you dump off your issue into another thread discussion, it distracts and confuses and may lead those who might help to not bother to figure out what's up since it can take too much effort to bother sorting things out.

It could be helpful to know what stock Asuswrt firmware Asuswrt-Merlin is based on without having to research it.

I would narrow down the router issue, if any, first before considering the router to be defective.

My install notes cover basic considerations for installing an 86U... a review might help... ignore the AiMesh bits.

OE

OK, thanks. I read through this post and it referenced my problem and a solution - on/off switch. This is why I jumped in. As far as which stock firmware, I'm not sure. Merlin's changelog doesn't reference it. His last release was April 26, so its not aligned with Asus's May release. THe Asus release references wifi stability improvements, so maybe I should run with that software for now.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I read through this post and it referenced my problem and a solution - on/off switch. This is why I jumped in.

Understood... makes sense. Of course, I did review this whole thread to discover your issue... and I missed that!

OE