Hello,
After having my ASUS RT-N56U reliably work for many years, I decided to upgrade a week ago to the RT-AC88U. I have more an more WiFi devices in the home, plus we recently moved to a larger house that warranted a router with better range. It seems the RT-AC88U is universally regarded in the media as an excellent router.
Unfortunately, my experience has been terrible. The first unit set up easily and I was happy to see it cover my house much better. I saw throughput improvements near and far range and all was well for about 1 day. After the first day, I noticed my thermostat, which is very close to the router, indicate it had no WiFi. It is one of the few devices I permanently connect to 5 GHz and sure enough, 5 GHz was not working on the router. A quick Google search indicated that might be a common problem with this router, so after a few reboots I decided not to mess with it and just connected the thermostat to 2.4 GHz. A day or so later I noticed that the 5 GHz light on the router was out too though it seemed to indicate in the admin page it was working.
About 5 days after that initial issue, I noticed my XBOX suddenly not connected to the Internet. Other devices also had issue and I decided to check on the router. After logging in and seeing no issues I rebooted the router than it become unrecoverable. It would no longer bring up WiFi and the computer connected to the LAN port stopped having internet as well. I went through basic troubleshooting (restarted Internet Modem, unplugged everything, etc etc...) and was never able to recover the router; couldn't even get to the admin page. I did a boot into recovery and erased the NVRAM, which I believe brings it back to initial firmware. Even after that it would not boot up. I decided to return it and Amazon shipped me a new router the next day. In the meantime, plugging the old RT-N56U back in brought me online in minutes.
When the new router arrived I set it up again and immediately had issues with my Sonos system. Apparently enabling airtime fairness causes this and disabling it fixed that issue right away. All was well until the following day, when Wifi and Internet on the computer went out less than 24 hours after installing the new router. I was unable again to get to the admin page and rebooting it briefly got me in there again before it too completely died; that is, it boots up (power light on) but never shows LAN or WiFi working. It does show a WAN activity light.
I decided to call ASUS support this time but they were of no help and suggested replacing the router again. I think I am personally done giving a 3rd one a try but hoped that perhaps someone on here can help me troubleshoot a tad further before I return this unit also. I seem to see some mentioning of heat issue and the router does feel warm but not particularly ho that it would seem concerning. I wanted to let it sit for a day and see if it boots back up. If that is the case, heat might perhaps be a problem, but how could that be fixed? I have the router sitting on top of a cabinet and it has nothing blocking airflow from any sides.
Anyway, all and any help is appreciated. Certainly am glad I had not given the RT-N56U away yet, as was my plan. It appears to be staying with me for some time longer!
After having my ASUS RT-N56U reliably work for many years, I decided to upgrade a week ago to the RT-AC88U. I have more an more WiFi devices in the home, plus we recently moved to a larger house that warranted a router with better range. It seems the RT-AC88U is universally regarded in the media as an excellent router.
Unfortunately, my experience has been terrible. The first unit set up easily and I was happy to see it cover my house much better. I saw throughput improvements near and far range and all was well for about 1 day. After the first day, I noticed my thermostat, which is very close to the router, indicate it had no WiFi. It is one of the few devices I permanently connect to 5 GHz and sure enough, 5 GHz was not working on the router. A quick Google search indicated that might be a common problem with this router, so after a few reboots I decided not to mess with it and just connected the thermostat to 2.4 GHz. A day or so later I noticed that the 5 GHz light on the router was out too though it seemed to indicate in the admin page it was working.
About 5 days after that initial issue, I noticed my XBOX suddenly not connected to the Internet. Other devices also had issue and I decided to check on the router. After logging in and seeing no issues I rebooted the router than it become unrecoverable. It would no longer bring up WiFi and the computer connected to the LAN port stopped having internet as well. I went through basic troubleshooting (restarted Internet Modem, unplugged everything, etc etc...) and was never able to recover the router; couldn't even get to the admin page. I did a boot into recovery and erased the NVRAM, which I believe brings it back to initial firmware. Even after that it would not boot up. I decided to return it and Amazon shipped me a new router the next day. In the meantime, plugging the old RT-N56U back in brought me online in minutes.
When the new router arrived I set it up again and immediately had issues with my Sonos system. Apparently enabling airtime fairness causes this and disabling it fixed that issue right away. All was well until the following day, when Wifi and Internet on the computer went out less than 24 hours after installing the new router. I was unable again to get to the admin page and rebooting it briefly got me in there again before it too completely died; that is, it boots up (power light on) but never shows LAN or WiFi working. It does show a WAN activity light.
I decided to call ASUS support this time but they were of no help and suggested replacing the router again. I think I am personally done giving a 3rd one a try but hoped that perhaps someone on here can help me troubleshoot a tad further before I return this unit also. I seem to see some mentioning of heat issue and the router does feel warm but not particularly ho that it would seem concerning. I wanted to let it sit for a day and see if it boots back up. If that is the case, heat might perhaps be a problem, but how could that be fixed? I have the router sitting on top of a cabinet and it has nothing blocking airflow from any sides.
Anyway, all and any help is appreciated. Certainly am glad I had not given the RT-N56U away yet, as was my plan. It appears to be staying with me for some time longer!
