[Asus RT-AX88U] Experiences & Discussion

[avtella]

CPU operations are noticeably faster which is nice to know the extra cores are actually doing something. Unfortunately SMB seems very unstable right now (at-least with my Intel 9260 @ 160MHz). Hopefully this is addressed once the firmware is more mature.

I also noticed Runner and Flow Cache are both now compatible with AiProtect, not sure what the previous limitation was but it seems its been resolved.

You should be able to hit 140 MB/s down (1120 Mbps) easily with the 9260ac on HT160 paired with this router’s hardware since it’s pretty much the same as the RAX80. Granted you need to use the router’s USB port rather than a NAS to hit those speeds as gigabit Ethernet would limit peak speeds. With my NAS I’m getting ~120 MB/s. I’m sure with an update issues should be sorted.

I believe Intel will release the M.2 AX WiFi cards in Jan-Feb.

 

[Nothobranchius]

RMerlin, Guys & gals,

I just setup my new ax88u. I have nothing but BIG problems. I have been running the ac3200 (and now again because of the problems) for many years.
Here are the major problems,
First i ran the 384.8_2. Manually setting same params as ac3200 for my network and wifi.
ISP couldnt connect, even after reboot modem isp. After 5 mins, it jumped in thinking all is good. I have an automatic ip.
Next problem, wifi issues on 5ghz, either it is completely unfindable (light is OFF on the router) or it jumps to good signal (max) to less.
Then the Chromecast ultra is found but giving connectivity problems, final stage of connecting to wifi = failed
i tried the following, smart connect on/off, IGMP snoop on off, airtime fairness on off .. am i missing something?
resetting the chromecast didnt work
AND also sometimes when i saved parameters, it didnt reboot correctly, flashing leds and no response.
Then also, sometimes it looses Internet WAN IP.
My ip's are : 192.168.1.254 and range 192.168.1.1-192.168.1.245

Then i installed the alpha version, boy was i wrong, no 5ghz at all, resetting 3x, no chromecast, only wired works fine but sometimes failed to see my network drives on nas.

Then i installed the stock version of asus latest one today .. 5329. Same issues as the 384.8_2 version.

when reversing back to the good old ac3200, everything works fine, ddns, chromecast, iptv, router..

I just wait out a new firmware? whats going on?
@RMerlin : these issues must have alot of users, i virtually setup the same as my ac3200, i am resetting after firmware upgrade.
I didnt format the JFFS partition, but if you initialize thats the same no?

Oh and on all firmwares i get the following message :
br1 is using the same source port as eth_v1 (or something similar, i didnt write it down)
every 4 minutes. i reset all my switches, nas, modem, router.. same critical message.
i never had this before on the ac3200. it must be related to the issues at hand.

physical connections :
physical connected rj 45 cable to wan ip port = isp
physical connected rj 45 cable to port 1 = going to zyxel switch poe 24hp
physical connected rj 45 cable to port 4 = iptv (iptv enabled on router LAN4) but NONE as provider)

i set 2 vlans, one for tv (seperate) and one for networking home. (192 and 10.x.x.x)
on my switches (netgear, tplink and zyxel)
it works like a charm on the ac3200

other options i set in the ax88u is QOS and AiProtection

Thanks !!
Tom

 

[AndyD]

Using the AX88U since launch here
No such issues for me with latest official firmware.
Maybe a bad unit?

 

[Nothobranchius]

Using the AX88U since launch here
No such issues for me with latest official firmware.
Maybe a bad unit?

I hope NOT!
thanks for the input.

 

[Nothobranchius]

@RMerlin : if you want me to beta test lemme know
I dont use scripts on the JFFS. Its pretty much all basic stuff.
uPNP is disabled. Native IPv6.
Didnt try the 384.8 version.

what i sometimes have on the ac3200 is poor ipv6 handling,
odhcp6c[455]: Failed to send DHCPV6 message to ff02::1:2 (Cannot assign requested address)
and sometimes looses ipv6 adress. When checking on testipv6.com it fails. Even on the AX88u.
Is that because my modem doesnt allow something? its a docsis 3.0 cv6181e. (Telenet).
At least the ax88u didnt loose the ipv6 ip

 

[RMerlin]

ISP couldnt connect, even after reboot modem isp. After 5 mins, it jumped in thinking all is good. I have an automatic ip.

Many ISPs are picky about router changes. Some can require that you turn off the modem for as long as 10-20 minutes before they will accept to provide you with a new lease. And some are even more picky and will require you to clone the old router's MAC.

Next problem, wifi issues on 5ghz, either it is completely unfindable (light is OFF on the router) or it jumps to good signal (max) to less.

Wifi has been rock stable for me here, my only issue with 5247 is power management doesn't seem to work properly (so the link rate is constantly at the full rate and it never goes down). make sure you don't use a DFS channel, as these might be picky, especially if in a region where there are nearby radars.

i tried the following, smart connect on/off, IGMP snoop on off, airtime fairness on off .. am i missing something?

I mostly use the default wifi settings, except I manually select a channel, and disable Airtime Fairness and Implicit Beamforming.

Then i installed the alpha version, boy was i wrong, no 5ghz at all,

Make sure you are not on a DFS channel. Otherwise, sounds like a defective device simply. Contact Asus's support for further troubleshooting.

i set 2 vlans, one for tv (seperate) and one for networking home. (192 and 10.x.x.x)
on my switches (netgear, tplink and zyxel)
it works like a charm on the ac3200

VLANs cannot be configured on the RT-AX88U the same way as the RT-AC3200, as the robocfg userspace tool doesn't exist on these newer models.

Is that because my modem doesnt allow something? its a docsis 3.0 cv6181e. (Telenet).

Ugh, Telenet. These guys require special support by routers, because apparently doing things "the normal way" is beyond them... That might be a large part of your WAN/LAN issues there. Best you talk with Asus's support.

 

[Nothobranchius]

Thanks for the reply @RMerlin !

Isnt it Explicit Beamforming? Also, on the ac3200 i used channel 6 for 2.4ghz.
the thing is, i got wifi to work for a bit but then the chromecast is not able to find or connect.
the chromecast is on the vlan 0 of the switch with rj45 also.

Where do i find DFS channel? How do i NOT set it ? Or is that a guess ?

I only use vlan on the switches. the wan port of the docsis on the ac3200 does report VLAN 2 because:
Telenet is giving me 2 IP adresses, one for internet 178.x.x.x and one starting with 10.x.x.x for IPTV
you are correct, normally Telenet gives people always a wireless router AND you then need to set a DMZ if you want to use your own router.
BUT i have asked and got a few years now a modem only docsis.
The DHCP query frequency is on NORMAL , what does that agressive mode do? just ping it more often?

another question : i set key rotation interval to 0 .. (like on the ac3200) i suppose thats ok?

Btw; how come you get older builds than asus? 5329 is the asus one. Coz that last one fixes the boot problem thing.
I did have that a few times when saving my parameters, it didnt refresh and the lights got stuck.

all help is welcome !

Thanks !

 

[ShelaMonster]

Have you tried a different gigabit switch?

I made the following changes.

1. Default IP address changed to 192.168.2.1
2. DHCP range changed to 192.168.2.12 to 192.168.2.25
3. Static addresses assigned to the LAN 192.168.2.2 to 192.168.2.11
4. Installed a VPN client in the Client 1 slot.
5. Wireless settings for SSID and password.
6. Cloned BGW210 mac address to WAN.
7. DNS Server 1.0.0.1 and 9.9.9.9

I've done more or less the same aside the VPN client, and I left the IP pool at 192.168.50.1 and so forth respectively.
Don't have another gigabit switch to test, but I would be surprised if that was the issue seeing as how it worked fine with my AC88U, and the speeds are correct if I use the BGW210 instead...

-----

Something I've noticed with the AX88U by comparison to the AC88U (the only other router I've owned, and the last one I used) is that the RAM usage seems very high...
Even idle with nothing really going on, over half of it is in use, which I understand, unused RAM is wasted RAM, but it is a bit alarming the AC88U functioned quite well with less RAM, and used less overall.

One thing I'm concerned about is using the Download Manager for a torrent will spike the RAM usage to 90% or higher, and remain there as long as the service is running, even if there's no activity on the download.
For now I'm not using it anymore as it seemed to be causing problems.

Still seeing messages about the connection list being full, which is odd since I never saw that with the AC88U... same setup and all.​

 

[RMerlin]

Isnt it Explicit Beamforming?

Explicit is fine, as it's defined within the 802.11ac standard, and requires the client to explicitely request it.

Where do i find DFS channel? How do i NOT set it ? Or is that a guess ?

On the 5 GHz band, avoid channels between 52 and 140. Also avoid using 160 MHz channel width.

another question : i set key rotation interval to 0 .. (like on the ac3200) i suppose thats ok?

It greatly reduces security of your network by opening yourself to brute force attacks.

Btw; how come you get older builds than asus? 5329 is the asus one. Coz that last one fixes the boot problem thing.

Because I need the source code to be available, not just a firmware image (which is of no use to me). The latest source code released is still 5247.

 

[AndyD]

Had been using my ISPs router Speedport plus with PPPoE passthrough enabled for some time now connected to my AX88U to get connected to the internet.
Didn't use it as a bridge as I have VOIP coming from it.
Decided to get a Fritz!box 7590 to replace the ISP Router for its advanced VOIP features and hopefully a bit better connection,
PPPoE passthrough enabled on the fritz 7590 also.
Although I can make a PPPoE connection and the internet light of the asus ax88u turns white, I am unable to browse the internet.
Ping works and resolves addresses to IPs, as well as traceroute and nslookup.
If I create a PPPoE connection from my Windows 10 PC rather than the asus, browsing works fine.
Any ideas what may be the issue here?

 

[eclp]

I don't know if it has already been mentioned that Asus is currently offering cashback for some of its equipment.
Of course I used it for my new AX88U …

https://promotion.asus.com/en/node/617

 

[Grisu]

I don't know if it has already been mentioned that Asus is currently offering cashback for some of its equipment.

same price as before only that you now need cashback to get it.
To offer product more expensive to give a cashback afterwards where you have lot of work and mess to really get is very bad business in my eyes!
And they get all your personal data for free ...

 

[eclp]

And they get all your personal data for free ...

I have considered Asus to be a serious company for many years.

 

[Grisu]

I have considered Asus to be a serious company for many years.

times are changing ...

 

[RMerlin]

And they get all your personal data for free ...

Proof?

 

[Grisu]

Proof?

sorry in German, please translate with google:
http://extreme.pcgameshardware.de/asus/404780-never-ending-story-asus-cashback.html
https://forum.mindfactory.de/t89994-erfahrungen-asus-cashback.html

You have to send them receipt with your:
name
address
phonenumber (most shops here require it for posting)
mailaddress from where you send them cashback request
bank account details for transaction of cashback

what could they want and get more?

And then you get nothing, had this with a graphic card some years ago and never got it, after 5th mail I gave up too, they said cashback not valid as we bought it from neighbour country (within EU - there are no fees or taxes and they must sell it to EU members)!

Sorry, but really bad experience for me!

 

[eclp]

I have browsed the posts in both forums once, there are indeed numerous negative experiences regarding the cashback, but there are also positive news. Sure, when it comes to money people don't have fun and don't have much patience. Nevertheless, a payout after a certain time has worked. I will be surprised and report here. By the way, I speak great German …

 

[RMerlin]

what could they want and get more?

Looks like fairly normal information to request to provide a cashback/mail-in rebate/etc...

Also hardly "And they get all your personal data for free" - they get the necessary information to be able to give you money (so, it's even far from being "free").

Pretty much all typical cashback/mail-in rebate programs will request the same information, and take 1-2 months before you actually get your money.

 

[EricTheRed]

@RMerlin
I just got a shiny new AX-88U and loaded up your firmware (384.8_2).

Everything works, except that I can't get my full gigabit internet speeds with AiProtection turned on. When I do a test, one of the CPU cores reaches 100% instantly and i get nearly 500Mbps. Turn off AiProtection and poff, full speeds.

I would really like to use your firmware and not return the device. I appreciate any insights you might have on this issue.

 

[Hawk]

@RMerlin
I just got a shiny new AX-88U and loaded up your firmware (384.8_2).

Everything works, except that I can't get my full gigabit internet speeds with AiProtection turned on. When I do a test, one of the CPU cores reaches 100% instantly and i get nearly 500Mbps. Turn off AiProtection and poff, full speeds.

I would really like to use your firmware and not return the device. I appreciate any insights you might have on this issue.

I have rt-ax88u as well, and I turn on ai protection for test and my router cpu only reach 48% and here is my speed test result


Try with latest alpha version firmware and see if you get different result.