Asus' Routers bad? Asus's Routers network management bugs.

[stambeccuccio]

I report 2 problems that are making me lose confidence in the goodness of the Asus' Router and its firmware.
Given that:
- I do not think the problem is of the 32799_GPL
Today, that the home network is implemented with different IoT devices (Internet of Things), so the management of the Asus' Routers network has become unacceptable.

In particular with Asus' Routers:
1) the devices connected to the network is not clear. The "Network map - Client status" is inaccurate, unreliable and is continuously in "Refresh". The truth is that it does NOT work and has never worked from several years;
2) also the pop-up screen related to "Network map - Client status - View List" is inaccurate, unreliable and does not show all the devices that are connected to the network. The truth is that it does NOT work and has never worked from several years.

In addition, there are great difficulties with some IoT devices that continuously disconnect from the network and not because they are not under good Wifi coverage (it happens even if connected via LAN), but because the management of the Asus' Routers network has major flaws, it is bugged and untrustworthy.
Low-power devices that, after a certain period (random), are no longer able to talk with the proprietary servers and are disconnected from the network (both domestic and WAN).
In particular, the following devices (personally tested) do not work well with Asus' Routers:
a) Netatmo Station (https://www.netatmo.com/en-gb/weather)
b) Netatmo Thermostat (https://www.netatmo.com/en-gb/energy)
c) URMET Device for the call forwarding ref. 9854/58 (https://www.urmet.com/en-us/CallMe-en)
d) Miele domestic appliances, washing machine and dryer (https://www.miele.com/en/com/application-4735.htm)
etc.

I came to this conclusion after numerous tests.. so, with extreme sincerity, I must say that:
1) or Asus remedies such macroscopic network management bugs of their own firmware,
2) or it is good to change the brand and abandon the Asus' Routers because they are unreliable and do not manage the network well.
To be clear: if you buy a router it is because it works, it makes no sense to buy a router that does not work and has problems.
The customer who pays and buys a Router is not a beta tester. He wants a product that works well, not an experimental product that "perhaps" maybe tomorrow will work!

With the same sincerity I also say that I bought another Asus 'Router (RT-AC68U hardware E1-2018) just because Merlin's firmware exists ... and hoping for an improvement of the Asus' firmware by Merlin ... hoping in a miracle by Merlin (which I sincerely thank for its great commitment and hard work).
I purchased an Asus' Router only because Merlin's firmware exists and not for other reasons.
If Merlin's firmware had not been exist, I would have never bought an Asus' Router.

I ask sorry for my exposure, my not perfect English... and for my sincerity.
Greetings,
stambeccuccio (Italy)

 

[sfx2000]

Well... a couple of comments...

1) Network Map - it's closed source, and it's always been a bit problematic - mostly because the problem it attempts to solve is a bit troublesome

2) IoT devices - yes, but this can be worked thru - with 2.4GHz, try to keep things simple, turn off 'Airtime Fairness' perhaps, along with TurboQAM support (some 2.4GHz wireless devices don't like this), and this tends to help...

All vendors, including Asus, tend to reach towards the general market, and to that end, work, but some are more 'tuned' than others...

Top Level - work with the Router/AP, take the time to understand it, and the device interaction - and it'll be good...

AsusWRT has more than enough knobs and levers - more than most... and RMerlin's builds are built on sound understanding of the baseline code and user requirements...

 

[stambeccuccio]

sfx2000 -> I thank you very much for your interest and support, but ...

 

[sfx2000]

I thank you very much for your interest and support, but ..

that's a WLAN interface on the trusted LAN...

Your point being?

 

[ColinTaylor]

@stambeccuccio Try disabling Universal Beamforming if you are having WiFi problems.

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/guide-troubleshooting-wifi-issues.12825/#post-375354

 

[RMerlin]

The networkmap is as accurate as it can possibly be for me. Anything that has ever connected recently to my network has shown up for me.

Keep in mind that a router has no way of knowing for sure when a device is connected to it or not. An Ethernet device that doesn't generate any traffic for a certain period of time for example - how can the router tell if it's been disconnected, in sleep mode, or simply not generating traffic? You will face the same issue with every single routers - there is no real mechanism for Ethernet to determine if a client is present or not within a network at all time. The best that can be done is go through the ARP table used for Ethernet routing, and expose that list on the webui. The ARP table can only tell what was AT SOME POINT present on your network. It's not a realtime list, and it cannot be so unless you start flooding your entire network with ARP requests every few seconds.

Those problems are present in every single router on the market, this has nothing to do with Asus in particular.

 

[Keenan]

Well... a couple of comments...


2) IoT devices - yes, but this can be worked thru - with 2.4GHz, try to keep things simple, turn off 'Airtime Fairness' perhaps, along with TurboQAM support (some 2.4GHz wireless devices don't like this), and this tends to help...

My RT-AC86U has always defaulted to NitroQAM/1024-QAM for both 2.4 and 5 GHz radios, should that be changed only if I'm having 2.4 GHz connection issues?

Thanks

 

[128bit]

I report 2 problems that are making me lose confidence in the goodness of the Asus' Router and its firmware.
Given that:
- I do not think the problem is of the 32799_GPL
Today, that the home network is implemented with different IoT devices (Internet of Things), so the management of the Asus' Routers network has become unacceptable.

In particular with Asus' Routers:
1) the devices connected to the network is not clear. The "Network map - Client status" is inaccurate, unreliable and is continuously in "Refresh". The truth is that it does NOT work and has never worked from several years;
2) also the pop-up screen related to "Network map - Client status - View List" is inaccurate, unreliable and does not show all the devices that are connected to the network. The truth is that it does NOT work and has never worked from several years.

In addition, there are great difficulties with some IoT devices that continuously disconnect from the network and not because they are not under good Wifi coverage (it happens even if connected via LAN), but because the management of the Asus' Routers network has major flaws, it is bugged and untrustworthy.
Low-power devices that, after a certain period (random), are no longer able to talk with the proprietary servers and are disconnected from the network (both domestic and WAN).
In particular, the following devices (personally tested) do not work well with Asus' Routers:
a) Netatmo Station (https://www.netatmo.com/en-gb/weather)
b) Netatmo Thermostat (https://www.netatmo.com/en-gb/energy)
c) URMET Device for the call forwarding ref. 9854/58 (https://www.urmet.com/en-us/CallMe-en)
d) Miele domestic appliances, washing machine and dryer (https://www.miele.com/en/com/application-4735.htm)
etc.

I came to this conclusion after numerous tests.. so, with extreme sincerity, I must say that:
1) or Asus remedies such macroscopic network management bugs of their own firmware,
2) or it is good to change the brand and abandon the Asus' Routers because they are unreliable and do not manage the network well.
To be clear: if you buy a router it is because it works, it makes no sense to buy a router that does not work and has problems.
The customer who pays and buys a Router is not a beta tester. He wants a product that works well, not an experimental product that "perhaps" maybe tomorrow will work!

With the same sincerity I also say that I bought another Asus 'Router (RT-AC68U hardware E1-2018) just because Merlin's firmware exists ... and hoping for an improvement of the Asus' firmware by Merlin ... hoping in a miracle by Merlin (which I sincerely thank for its great commitment and hard work).
I purchased an Asus' Router only because Merlin's firmware exists and not for other reasons.
If Merlin's firmware had not been exist, I would have never bought an Asus' Router.

I ask sorry for my exposure, my not perfect English... and for my sincerity.
Greetings,
stambeccuccio (Italy)

dude, i feel for u. i'm using the ac86u now for about a year. was very leery but my last 3 linksys routers were an abomination! forced me to use dd-wrt. had never ending updates to fix never ending problems and workarounds because cisco/belkin wouldn't step up.

i've had past issues with d-link and netgear so this ac86u was new. tons of negative reviews on asus routers dropping connections after some age scared me. so what am i saying?

u roll the dice. this is by far the best router for my simple needs ever. i'm running stock and reported 2 problems to asus - the network map and slow or no auto-connection with only 1 of 4 tvs. it took 2 updates but the map is completely accurate now and that 1 tv's connectivity has improved by 60%!!

i have multiple sets streaming 4k, nas, puters and a few iot devices, but typically, in all, less than 10 connected concurrently. imho, the merlin interface puts dd-wrt to shame. use the "call home" interface to report problems. worked for me.

i'm a believer!

 

[sfx2000]

My RT-AC86U has always defaulted to NitroQAM/1024-QAM for both 2.4 and 5 GHz radios, should that be changed only if I'm having 2.4 GHz connection issues?

Thanks

Only if you're having connectivity options... the Turbo/NitroQAM in 2.4GHz is not per standards, so disabling it if some devices are having connectivity issues is a wise move.

 

[Keenan]

Only if you're having connectivity options... the Turbo/NitroQAM in 2.4GHz is not per standards, so disabling it if some devices are having connectivity issues is a wise move.

I currently don't have any connections issues but it's good to know I could change this setting as a diagnostic if or when I do.

Thanks

 

[stambeccuccio]

No. I have no Wifi problems. Maybe I explained myself wrong.
The problem is that often (in a random way) these devices can not communicate with the proprietary servers, the problem is in the WAN side connection.
On the WAN side, these devices appear disconnected and therefore restart, thinking that they are no longer connected to the local network.
Thanks for kind answers and support.