[Asus RT-AX88U] Experiences & Discussion

[Quentin Dumay]

@imathew you may want to check the changelogs from your version to the latest, there was a driver update if I recall for the 'AX88U. A chore is 'play' when you get a stable router out of it.

I was wondering if something (a script maybe) exist to inject the DHCP table with all the MAC/Local Fixed IP addresses/Host Name in the router.
That would make the reconfiguration process way faster
Does it exist ?

 

[L&LD]

Yes, it does exist but has its own tradeoffs. Nothing I would use myself when I want a stable and transparent install. (If I remember correctly, they won't show up in the GUI using the script).

 

[Kingp1n]

I recently read mu-mimo complements OFDMA. I currently have mu-mimo disabled but have OFDMA enabled. There was article written a few years ago how mu-mimo wasn't really required and of course this was done when this feature was fairly new:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/why-you-dont-need-mu-mimo.41716/

Has anyone here re-enabled it to use with OFDMA or does the article still stand?

 

[BitterBob]

Hi all. I'm looking for a bit of help and am hoping this is the right place rather than starting a new thread. I just picked up a new AX88U to replace a Linksys EA8500 I had which died. I must have had a surge or something odd happen across the network because my older cable modem, my router and some networked pool equipment all bit it at once. This is in my home where we have a mix of activity including media streaming, NAS, games, multiple PCs, tablets, phones, etc. Anyway, I got the new cable modem (technicolor CGM4331COM, comcast's xb-7) up and running and was disappointed to see I could only get approx 400 mbps down when running straight into it with my lenovo y580 on speedtest.net. Previously, I was able to achieve closer to 600mbps this way with the old modem (gigabit plan). I then set the modem to bridge and installed the new AX88U just like how I used to have the EA8500 with it connecting to several switches downstream then to an AP and devices. As far as I could tell, everything worked well with the exception that my internet speed, especially wired, is much slower than expected. Wired devices with cat 5e or 6 cables and capable gigabit controllers are only seeing approx 150mbps down. Newer wireless devices like my galaxy note 10 plus are seeing over 200mbps down whether connected to the AX or my other AP (netgear R7000). I have noticed that file transfer speeds across the network are much improved, as are the wireless speeds. What I don't understand is why I'm seeing such a drop in internet speed when using the AX to rout. I have looked all over the web (especially this forum) for solutions and tried several things including rebooting, resetting, using the latest merlin release, minimizing settings, but nothing seems to change. The only change from default settings on the router that I did was enable ipv6 and mac clone (couldn't get an ip without it). I could not find a NAT Acceleration option in either firmware I tried. I know that I have the larger issue of a slow comcast connection, but what can I do to achieve better internet speeds from this router? Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

[LimJK]

I was wondering if something (a script maybe) exist to inject the DHCP table with all the MAC/Local Fixed IP addresses/Host Name in the router.
That would make the reconfiguration process way faster
Does it exist ?

Hi,

This is what I do for my RT-AX88U with Merlin's Firmware ... hope it is useful for you.

Save values: to USB named ASUS

nvram get dhcp_staticlist > /tmp/mnt/ASUS/dhcplist.txt
nvram get custom_clientlist > /tmp/mnt/ASUS/custom_clientlist.txt

cp /jffs/nvram/dhcp_hostnames /tmp/mnt/ASUS/jfssnvram_dhcp_hostnames.txt
cp -r /jffs/usericon /tmp/mnt/ASUS/

Restore values: from USB named ASUS

cd /mnt/ASUS
nvram set dhcp_staticlist="`cat /tmp/mnt/ASUS/dhcplist.txt`"
nvram set custom_clientlist="`cat /tmp/mnt/ASUS/custom_clientlist.txt`"

cp /tmp/mnt/ASUS/jfssnvram_dhcp_hostnames.txt /jffs/nvram/dhcp_hostnames
cp -r /tmp/mnt/ASUS/usericon /jffs/ 

nvram commit && reboot

 

[Quentin Dumay]

Hi,

This is what I do for my RT-AX88U with Merlin's Firmware ... hope it is useful for you.

Save values: to USB named ASUS

nvram get dhcp_staticlist > /tmp/mnt/ASUS/dhcplist.txt
nvram get custom_clientlist > /tmp/mnt/ASUS/custom_clientlist.txt

cp /jffs/nvram/dhcp_hostnames /tmp/mnt/ASUS/jfssnvram_dhcp_hostnames.txt
cp -r /jffs/usericon /tmp/mnt/ASUS/

Restore values: from USB named ASUS

cd /mnt/ASUS
nvram set dhcp_staticlist="`cat /tmp/mnt/ASUS/dhcplist.txt`"
nvram set custom_clientlist="`cat /tmp/mnt/ASUS/custom_clientlist.txt`"

cp /tmp/mnt/ASUS/jfssnvram_dhcp_hostnames.txt /jffs/nvram/dhcp_hostnames
cp -r /tmp/mnt/ASUS/usericon /jffs/

nvram commit && reboot

Very useful thanks !
I will definitely try that.
Do the lines show up in the GUI ?

 

[LimJK]

Very useful thanks !
I will definitely try that.
Do the lines show up in the GUI ?

You mean something like this?
I have about 40 devices and I like to factory reset for each new version firmware I use. I am lazy, so I do this to save some time

 

[Quentin Dumay]

You mean something like this?
I have about 40 devices and I like to factory reset for each new version firmware I use. I am lazy, so I do this to save some time
View attachment 23109

Exactly ! (Looks like you are a huuuuuuge Apple fanboy )
That looks perfect, thanks a lot
Another question (maybe silly), why are you saving on USB and not somewhere on the router ?

 

[bluzfanmr1]

I must have had a surge or something odd happen across the network because my older cable modem, my router and some networked pool equipment all bit it at once.

I would make sure the wiring is ok. Test what you can test and have your provider test their end.

 

[LimJK]

Exactly ! (Looks like you are a huuuuuuge Apple fanboy )
That looks perfect, thanks a lot
Another question (maybe silly), why are you saving on USB and not somewhere on the router ?

Quentin Dumay,
I have a habit to do full factory reset on my AiMesh Router for each new released version of Firmware, with that all settings on the router is gone. Backing up to USB drive is the most convenient way for me. I actually backup a few other NVRAM items specific to my settings I used, thus making full reset to router and setting it up again slight less painful.

 

[imathew]

Hi,

This is what I do for my RT-AX88U with Merlin's Firmware ... hope it is useful for you.

[/CODE]

This is fantastic, thanks very much. Most settings are quick to put in but this is where the most of the time is spent. Brilliant.

 

[Quentin Dumay]

Quentin Dumay,
I have a habit to do full factory reset on my AiMesh Router for each new released version of Firmware, with that all settings on the router is gone. Backing up to USB drive is the most convenient way for me. I actually backup a few other NVRAM items specific to my settings I used, thus making full reset to router and setting it up again slight less painful.

Thanks !
Silly question indeed...

 

[LANShark]

Hello: Also still experiencing issues I've seen throughout this thread and others of my 5GHZ dropping daily. I'm not savvy enough to know which portion of the logs to copy, but I copied the section around the time when I know it dropped and will add below. Have a MB8600 modem on Comcast Gigabit, a SmartTV and an XB1X hardwired into the router. I've done the nuclear reset. I'm on the latest Merlin firmware. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[FTC]

Hello: Also still experiencing issues I've seen throughout this thread and others of my 5GHZ dropping daily. I'm not savvy enough to know which portion of the logs to copy, but I copied the section around the time when I know it dropped and will add below. Have a MB8600 modem on Comcast Gigabit, a SmartTV and an XB1X hardwired into the router. I've done the nuclear reset. I'm on the latest Merlin firmware. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

View attachment 23454 View attachment 23455

Hi, for that it's worth, and so that you can have a baseline to compare. I have been running mine for 35 days already without a single hiccup using merlin 384.16 stable release. Perfectly stable including the 5Ghz AND 2.4Ghz bands. I have compared your settings with mine and the differences are :

In the general tab :
- I have wireless mode set to Auto instead of N/AC/AX
- I have AX mode, Wifi Agile and Wake time settings Enabled vs you have them disabled
And in the professional tab :
- DTIM Interval I have it set to 3 vs you have 1
- OFDMA I have it enabled vs you, disabled

Note that I do NOT use QOS, and yes AiProtection. I am located in Spain and using band 44 as center channel for 5Ghz.
Maybe you can adopt this settings, see if they are also stable. If not, then most likely the problem is either environment (a specific device that I do not have is causing unstability, interferences, ..) or defective hardware.
If with my settings you achieve stability, congratulations. Being only 6 differences, maybe you want to try to play setting one by one and see which is the culprit.

 

[LANShark]

Hi, for that it's worth, and so that you can have a baseline to compare. I have been running mine for 35 days already without a single hiccup using merlin 384.16 stable release. Perfectly stable including the 5Ghz AND 2.4Ghz bands. I have compared your settings with mine and the differences are :

In the general tab :
- I have wireless mode set to Auto instead of N/AC/AX
- I have AX mode, Wifi Agile and Wake time settings Enabled vs you have them disabled
And in the professional tab :
- DTIM Interval I have it set to 3 vs you have 1
- OFDMA I have it enabled vs you, disabled

Note that I do NOT use QOS, and yes AiProtection. I am located in Spain and using band 44 as center channel for 5Ghz.
Maybe you can adopt this settings, see if they are also stable. If not, then most likely the problem is either environment (a specific device that I do not have is causing unstability, interferences, ..) or defective hardware.
If with my settings you achieve stability, congratulations. Being only 6 differences, maybe you want to try to play setting one by one and see which is the culprit.

Thanks. Merlin looks to be on 384.17. Maybe I'll put it to 384.16 and see.

 

[mbze430]

Anyone have both LAN and WAN Aggregation turned on? Because I keep losing my Wired Devices Network Map/View List aside from the "kernel: protocol 0800 is buggy, dev eth1". Not sure if this is a bug from ASUS or Merlin I am using 384.17

If LAN Aggregation is on by itself it is fine

If WAN Aggregation is on by itself it is fine

But both... it breaks it

 

[brummygit]

Since upgrading to 384.16 (from .14), "802.11ax / Wi-Fi 6 mode" re-enables itself on the 2.4GHz band every restart. Fine on the 5GHz band, though. The 384.16 firmware thread has been locked so I'm asking here - anyone else seen this? Otherwise everything seems great, so for now I'll just manually disable it every time it restarts, and will try 384.17 when it's stable.

I'm running Asus stock 3.0.0.4.384_9107 and have been seeing the same issue. I had Smart Connect turned on so there's only 1 setting covering both bands but it resets every reboot.

I've now turned off Smart Connect after having serious problems getting my 5Ghz to behave so may be able to confirm that it's only 2.4Ghz after the next reboot.

EDIT: Factory reset done recently with 384_9107 already loaded, and re-added my RT-AX56U AiMesh nodes

 

[imathew]

I'm running Asus stock 3.0.0.4.384_9107 and have been seeing the same issue. I had Smart Connect turned on so there's only 1 setting covering both bands but it resets every reboot.

My issue stopped after a full reset. I did see a similar issue later when I made a minor config change and 5GHz enabled 160Mhz bandwidth mode and caused some problems, but it generally restarts without issue now.

 

[elrengo]

I just turned MU-MIMO off on my RT-AC3100 (I already turn off Universal/Implicit Beamforming and the other settings RMerlin suggests) and on a 2.4GHz client (N2230 default driver settings), laptop plugged into AC power) I got 10Mbps faster download (to 95Mbps) and 25Mbps faster upload (to 88Mbps) from 2 walls and about 40' away from the router. Oh, and 1ms ping (down from 2ms ping time) on speedtest.net.

On an AC client (AC8260 with Throughput Booster disabled, in Device Properties), from the same location, the ping times stayed the same (2ms) but the download speeds increased by 18Mbps (to 266Mbps) and the uploads increased by a more modest 9Mbps (to 214Mbps).

This is my new 'default' install tweak, right after a full M&M Config, going forward.

Witch setting RMerlin suggest to turn off? Where I can found? Thanks! It's only for 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz. too?

 

[msg617]

I picked up an AX88U. Running latest ASUS firmware, 3.0.0.4.384_9107.

I've observed that whenever the router reboots or loses power, all settings are lost: the router reverts to factory defaults. This seems strange to me.

Has anyone else observed this? I don't see an obvious setting that would control this.