Release ASUS RT-AC68U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386.40558 (05-Nov-2020)

[dave14305]

ASUS RT-AC68U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386.40558

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/RT-AC68U/FW_RT_AC68U_300438640558.zip

New Feature

1. AiMesh 2.0
   • System optimization: one click in AiMesh to optimize the topology
   • System Ethernet backhaul mode, all nodes will only connect by ethernet, all bands will be released for wireless clients.
   • System factory default and reboot.
   • Client device reconnect, make the device to offline and online again.
   • Client device binding to specific AP.
   • Guest WiFi on all Mesh nodes (all node need to upgrade to 3.0.0.4.386 firmware)
   • Access nodes USB application.
2. Connection priority and Ethernet backhaul mode introduction
   https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1044184
   How to setup ASUS AiMesh or ZenWiFi Mesh Ethernet backhaul under different conditions
   https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1044151/
3. New Family interface in ASUS router App.
   ASUS Router App for iOS must greater or equal to iOS v1.0.0.5.75.
   Android version greater or equal to v1.0.0.5.74
4. The unit of the WiFi time scheduler goes to 1 minute.
5. 2.4 and 5G on the network map could be configured in the same tab.
6. Captcha for login can be disabled in administration -> system.
7. Printer server port can be disabled on the USB app page.
8. Clients which connect to the guest network can be viewed in the network map -->view list --> interface

 

[ForkWNY]

Downloaded the firmware to my 68U AiMesh nodes this morning (have 4 of them, all connected via ethernet backhaul). So far no issues as AiMesh nodes. Cannot comment on the latest firmware when the 68U is running as a primary.

 

[Don->]

ASUS RT-AC68U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386.40558

https://dlcdnets.asus.com/pub/ASUS/wireless/RT-AC68U/FW_RT_AC68U_300438640558.zip

Main router is am RT-ac86u with the Mesh router being an RT-68U both running the 386 firmware for Airmesh 2.

The 86U has been running the "386" code since it was released without issue.When I upgraded the 68U this morning, I then factory reset it via the WDS press whilst powering on. I have not been able to create a new mesh as the 68U whilst is discovered by the 86U it steadfasly refuses to synchronise. The 86U shows a progress indicator that stops at 1% and then fails. It gives reasons of what may cause the failure to Mesh . I have tried them all by cannot recreate the Mesh.

Somewhat stumped at the moment as will have to dig into this a bit more and look at the log files to obtain any hint of what is going wrong.

 

[OzarkEdge]

What's wrong with using the reset button to reset? Hold it until the power LED begins to flash.

OE

 

[Don->]

What's wrong with using the reset button to reset? Hold it until the power LED begins to flash.

OE

Nothing what so ever. I just chose to use a different method

 

[OzarkEdge]

Make sure Wireless\WPS is enabled on the main router.

OE

 

[Don->]

I know what has gone wrong. I did not factory reset my 86U router after it upgraded. However once its factory reset it has to be reconfigured from the keyboard. It will not work if you reimport a saved configuration file. Its times like this I wish there was a config utility to convert the old config to the new format after the upgrade.

 

[ForkWNY]

I agree about ASUS and configuration. Configuration is just text data that is read in by the firmware/system. If something is off with text configuration data, then that data should be ignored by the firmware and reset to a default value, rather than reading in data that is invalid from an old incompatible config then having processes go awry as a result. If you're going to read in configuration, at least come up with some logic to transpose old configs into a new acceptable format so that there aren't problems migrating from an old to a new firmware. I'm sure I'm over-simplifying it but that should be integral during R&D. It's definitely frustrating having to completely redo a config from scratch, especially if you have a lot of static LAN assignments, port forwarding rules, and you've spent the time labeling all the devices on your network (smart outlets and such)...having to do it all over again is tedious and time-consuming. You would think that end-user configuration of network devices would be more evolved than it is currently.

 

[heysoundude]

Downloaded the firmware to my 68U AiMesh nodes this morning (have 4 of them, all connected via ethernet backhaul).

Your network topology - is it a star configuration, or are the 4 nodes daisy chained?
(If someone could comment on the pros/cons of each, I'd appreciate it - I'm about to inherit one of these to mesh with my ac86 and would prefer to pull/terminate wires once)

 

[ForkWNY]

It's a star configuration...all of the 68U's are home-run to a gigabit switch which is connected to my primary/main router, an ASUS GT-AC5300. Star topology is more reliable. If a switch (or 68U that is near the front of the chain) fails in a daisy chain topology, everything upstream is hosed. Star is preferred since it's simpler, eliminates an extra hop, easier to troubleshoot, and somewhat more tolerant of failure. Overall however star vs daisy chain won't really make much of difference in terms of performance.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Your network topology - is it a star configuration, or are the 4 nodes daisy chained?
(If someone could comment on the pros/cons of each, I'd appreciate it - I'm about to inherit one of these to mesh with my ac86 and would prefer to pull/terminate wires once)

I'd say star is preferred since it uses dedicated vs shared backhauls for better traffic distribution and better fault isolation/tolerance.

OE

 

[wouterv]

Installed 3.0.0.4.386.40558 over 3.0.0.4.385.20633, no additional reset.
The first 10 minutes after startup the GUI was a bit slow, that seemed to have settled.

 

[heysoundude]

I'd say star is preferred since it uses dedicated vs shared backhauls for better traffic distribution and better fault isolation/tolerance.

OE

I've not seen any talk of daisy-chaining, even though from a redundancy perspective, I'm inclined to try it - going with what's proven to work has it's own attraction, however. Never hurts to ask...

 

[OzarkEdge]

I've not seen any talk of daisy-chaining, even though from a redundancy perspective, I'm inclined to try it - going with what's proven to work has it's own attraction, however. Never hurts to ask...

Daisy chaining is what you do when you can't connect directly (star). Daisy chaining introduces overhead.

The only redundancy I see is if you wire a wireless node, regardless of topology.

OE

 

[mm_farahat]

I've upgraded my 3 AImesh nodes to "3.0.0.4.386.40558", all the nodes are AC66U but I am no longer able to open to the router web interface it just keep loading forever.

any ideas?

 

[wouterv]

A new message type appeared in the System Log for the automatic firmware check:

Nov  6 02:19:19 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check:(7042)]retrieve firmware information
Nov  6 02:19:19 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check:(7059)]no need to upgrade firmware
Nov  6 02:19:49 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check:(7042)]retrieve firmware information
Nov  6 02:19:49 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check:(7059)]no need to upgrade firmware

Better twice then not?

 

[OzarkEdge]

I've upgraded my 3 AImesh nodes to "3.0.0.4.386.40558", all the nodes are AC66U but I am no longer able to open to the router web interface it just keep loading forever.

any ideas?

Reset the firmware.

OE

 

[Lee MacMillan]

Off to a rocky start with this new firmware on my 66U-B1. The GUI wouldn't load after it installed and I had to pull the power plug. It seemed to be ok after that, I was able to log in but I noticed the CPUs were running at 70-80% (used to be 3-5% at idle) and my client list was missing all the 5Ghz clients. Then the GUI froze up so I closed that tab and now I can't get into it again. It's just sitting there waiting for router.asus.com. Everything else seems to be working ok but this is the first time a firmware upgrade hasn't worked just fine.

Update 30 minutes after this post: I used the internet for a while and now am able to access the GUI. The CPUs are also running at 3-5% at idle which is where they were with prior firmwares. I guess the new firmware needed to "settle in" before the GUI was usable.

 

[wouterv]

The router sems to run fine, no issues for the clients and speeds as usual.
I noticed an error in the System Log:

Nov  6 08:24:54 conn_diag[279]: CONNDIAG: [WARNING] get chanim_stats 0 error!!!

No idea what that means.

 

[keefrto]

What's wrong with using the reset button to reset? Hold it until the power LED begins to flash.

OE
[/QUOT

so would it matter which download i did first? i have 2 86u and 1 68U