AC87R Intermittent WAN Disconnect

[Nofences]

I bought my first Asus router about a 2 weeks ago. It is a REFURBISHED RT-AC87R, I bought it from Newegg. After getting it setup, I loaded Merlin firmware on it, ver 378.52_2. About 3-4 times a week the Internet simply disconnects, the internet light on the router turns red. I can still connect to the router, just not the internet. A simple reboot of the router gets me back online, but it is a very frustrating problem. I travel from time to time and need access to my files at home. I did a quick search on the forum to see if anyone else is having this issue and didn't see anything exactly like my issue, I was hoping someone might have an idea I could try before attempting to RMA this router.

 

[L&LD]

What firmware was loaded when you initially set it up? Did you do a reset to factory defaults followed by a minimal and manual setup to secure the router and connect to your ISP, AFTER you flashed the latest firmware?

 

[Nofences]

I honestly dont know what firmware it came with. I did not do a reset to factory defaults either. I will try all of the above now.

Update: Ran a factory default and did the minimal network setup, also setup all the rest of my settings manually. Since this issue is not always a daily occurrence, I will monitor and let you know if I am still experiencing the problem. Thanks for the help.

 

[L&LD]

Hope this is all that was needed.

 

[RMerlin]

Check your System Log when the connection issue occur, to see if there's any additional information logged as to what is happening.

 

[Nofences]

Will do Merlin, I will copy and paste here if the issue reoccurs.

One more inconsequential question concerning the LED lights on the front of the router, the 5GHz light is a steady blink (as opposed to what looks like a rapid activity blink on the 2.4 GHz) and the LED on LAN port 1 is a slow steady blink, but when it is lit it flashes like there is activity on the port. Is this normal? It doesn't seem to be affecting anything, I have about 6 devices connected to the 5GHz band and they all work just fine, and the computer connected to LAN 1 is also working fine, my OCD is compelling me to ask.

 

[RMerlin]

Will do Merlin, I will copy and paste here if the issue reoccurs.

One more inconsequential question concerning the LED lights on the front of the router, the 5GHz light is a steady blink (as opposed to what looks like a rapid activity blink on the 2.4 GHz) and the LED on LAN port 1 is a slow steady blink, but when it is lit it flashes like there is activity on the port. Is this normal? It doesn't seem to be affecting anything, I have about 6 devices connected to the 5GHz band and they all work just fine, and the computer connected to LAN 1 is also working fine, my OCD is compelling me to ask.

The 5 GHz radio is from a completely different manufacturer (Quantenna), so it's possible their LED behaviour might be different from the rest of the router (which is based on Broadcom hardware).

 

[Nofences]

Well, it lasted about 3 days, but luckily I was sitting right in front of the computer when it happened. I saved the Syslog before I rebooted the router, hopefully it will shed some light on the issue and help provide a possible fix.

Every time this has happened, a simple reboot of the router fixes it. I tried rebooting the cable modem, but that did not resolve it.

 

[RMerlin]

Well, it lasted about 3 days, but luckily I was sitting right in front of the computer when it happened. I saved the Syslog before I rebooted the router, hopefully it will shed some light on the issue and help provide a possible fix.

Every time this has happened, a simple reboot of the router fixes it. I tried rebooting the cable modem, but that did not resolve it.

The problem is with your modem, its Ethernet cable, or your ISP. Your Ethernet interface is physically going down, this usually indicates that your modem just rebooted itself, or there's a problem with the Ethernet connection between the modem and the router.

Apr 14 21:32:34 WAN Connection: Ethernet link down.
Apr 14 21:32:34 stop_nat_rules: apply the redirect_rules!
Apr 14 21:32:44 WAN Connection: Ethernet link up.