[Asus RT-AX88U] Experiences & Discussion

[gpmc]

Hello,
I just got No.2 RT-AX88u routers to upgrade my home network. Both have been updated with latest ASUS firmware (before I also tried Merlin 384.14 but unsuccesfully) but I'm experiencing the following issue I did not have with previous ASUS routers.
1 router is connected to FO modem (1 Gbit) and 2nd is in AiMesh mode located in a different room and then connected via Ethernet cable to make the connection more stable.
In AiMesh mode the 2nd router should act as AP both in WiFi and wired mode but I can not get any of the 8 Gbit ports working at all with the devices I connected (Sony TV, Nvidia Shield TV, Xbox, etc.).
As soon as I connect the Ethernet cable of a device to the port then the router "disappears" from the status page of the router.asus.com interface page (which points to the Master).
Since I'm really interested in having also the Gbit ports fully operational, may someone suggest some settings otherwise I will return the 2nd router.
Thank you in advance

 

[Jugnu]

Hi,

I've been experiencing wifi issues since past few months with both my laptop and android phone on 5G and 2.4G connection. My devices on wifi randomly drops connection, stay down for a minute or two before reconnecting. I've AX88U and it's running latest Merlin Firmware 384.14. I'm seeing this behavior since Firmware 384.13 and continue to this day. I remember never having this issue on 384.12. I searched this forum for solutions, followed every other solutions related to this that I found here and still haven't been able to figure out as to why this has been happening. I checked the system logs and found few entries of deauth_ind in the logs. Attached is the log here. Can someone please look at the logs and suggest something to fix this issue?

Thanks

 

[eclp]

Hi,

I've been experiencing wifi issues since past few months with both my laptop and android phone on 5G and 2.4G connection. My devices on wifi randomly drops connection, stay down for a minute or two before reconnecting. I've AX88U and it's running latest Merlin Firmware 384.14. I'm seeing this behavior since Firmware 384.13 and continue to this day. I remember never having this issue on 384.12. I searched this forum for solutions, followed every other solutions related to this that I found here and still haven't been able to figure out as to why this has been happening. I checked the system logs and found few entries of deauth_ind in the logs. Attached is the log here. Can someone please look at the logs and suggest something to fix this issue?

Thanks

Make a complete reset and flash the new and extremely stable beta 384.15 firmware. Each of your error logs will be gone. This beta is running great, you don't need to worry.

 

[Wycleff]

Im currently on an Ac86u and it's pretty impressive, very stable and fast. Works like a charm with Asuswrt-Merlin.
But maybe its time to upgrade soon.

So AX88U vs. GT-AC5300

I stumbled over many posts that described how bad the Wifi of the AX88U is. Also many people recommend the GT-AC5300. But why ?

Is it really so superior ?
I tought nearly every device with Asuswrt-Merlin is in the same league in terms of stability ?

 

[RMerlin]

But maybe its time to upgrade soon.

What would be the reason for upgrading?

 

[Wycleff]

What would be the reason for upgrading?

Im currently living in some Sort of Residential Community but im moving away soon and cant take the Hardware with me.

Now, im currently in the Situation->

Buy an ac86u or ax88u or 5300 ...?

 

[L&LD]

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/worth-upgrading-from-802-11b-g-n-to-802-11ac.61545/#post-545955

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/choice-for-a-new-router-aimesh-node-combo-today.61424/#post-544078

RT-AX88U Upgrade https://www.snbforums.com/threads/b...ta-is-now-available.60037/page-31#post-531024

 

[quadra2030]

Question for AX88 owners - does the latest Asuswrt firmware still "hopping" through WiFi channels every hour when Smart Connect is enabled (Auto WiFi channels selection is active and can't be disabled)? AC86 suffers from it in last few firmwares (starting with 45xxx).

 

[sanke1]

Question for AX88 owners - does the latest Asuswrt firmware still "hopping" through WiFi channels every hour when Smart Connect is enabled (Auto WiFi channels selection is active and can't be disabled)? AC86 suffers from it in last few firmwares (starting with 45xxx).

Smart Connect should be renamed to DumbConnect. Leave that off and use separate SSIDs for 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz networks. Your devices will thank you.

 

[quadra2030]

Thank you for your advice, but it still doesn't answer my question.

 

[RMerlin]

Im currently living in some Sort of Residential Community but im moving away soon and cant take the Hardware with me.

Now, im currently in the Situation->

Buy an ac86u or ax88u or 5300 ...?

Depends on your needs and budget. The RT-AX88U is a great router, but it's generally expensive for what it brings. The GT-AC5300 is only for those that need three bands, and don't require my firmware.

 

[New2This]

I have both GT5300 and AX88U, trying out the AX88U as Ive bought it from amazon with a 30 day return, I can say what a difference with running RMerlin firmware, stable, fast, snappier, and Im able to run scripts ( two so far) again. Able to run my VPN the way it should with the AX88U.... GT5300 never really ran well with the firmwares. But without running any VPN on the GT5300 it just worked, but it still didnt seem it was working to it full intensions. With only having 2 AX devices in the house we both noticed a difference on our phones.

This is only my 4th day running the AX88U (lastest RMerlin Beta firmware its stable) and no drop outs, kids arent complaining , its good being in the drivers seat again with RMerlin firmware

I think my AC86U running RMerlin runs better than my GT5300

 

[Wycleff]

Hmmm didn't know there is a GT and RT 5300. The GT5300 is not supported by RMerlin, so its a no-no for me.

Im on RMerlin Firmware since several Years. Just awesome what he delivers and i hope he continues to spread his Firmware love for a long, long Time.

So its now Ac86u vs. ax88u.
Il continue to investigate.

 

[davort]

I'm having an issue with this router, every few days (ranging from about 3 to 7), I get the errors in the attached screenshot.

The

Feb 3 00:31:01 dnsmasq[3168]: Maximum number of concurrent DNS queries reached (max: 150)
​

errors persist and the WAN connection is down until I reboot the router, then everything works fine again for another few days.

It seems to be a firmware independent, I started with the latest Asus firmware, then rolled it back to an earlier one, now I'm running Asuswrt-Merlin 384.14, and the errors have persisted across all three.

Any ideas on how to fix would be appreciated!

 

[RMerlin]

I'm having an issue with this router, every few days (ranging from about 3 to 7), I get the errors in the attached screenshot.

The

Feb 3 00:31:01 dnsmasq[3168]: Maximum number of concurrent DNS queries reached (max: 150)
​

errors persist and the WAN connection is down until I reboot the router, then everything works fine again for another few days.

It seems to be a firmware independent, I started with the latest Asus firmware, then rolled it back to an earlier one, now I'm running Asuswrt-Merlin 384.14, and the errors have persisted across all three.

Any ideas on how to fix would be appreciated!

You have it backward. Your router complains about piling up DNS requests BECAUSE your Internet is down.

Based on your log, the issue is with your ISP or your modem. The log states that the Ethernet connection between the modem and the router went down, which typically indicates that the modem is rebooting.

 

[davort]

You have it backward. Your router complains about piling up DNS requests BECAUSE your Internet is down.

Based on your log, the issue is with your ISP or your modem. The log states that the Ethernet connection between the modem and the router went down, which typically indicates that the modem is rebooting.

Ok, but shouldn't the router recognize when the modem comes back up and restore the connection?

I've had this happen maybe 8 times now, and whether I reboot the router 5 minutes after it happens or 8 hours after it happens, my WAN connectivity is restored immediately after the router reboot. But it never recovers on its own.

I don't ever mess with the modem to get the WAN connection working again, I just reboot the router and it's good to go.

 

[RMerlin]

Ok, but shouldn't the router recognize when the modem comes back up and restore the connection?

It can sometimes have issues recovering, especially if the modem temporarily presents itselfs as a DHCP server, causing your router to get a DHCP lease from the modem itself rather than from the ISP. When the problem occur, check if your router might possibly be pretending having a WAN IP address of 192.168.100.xxx (common with cable modems). In general, the lease should be short enough to cause it to expire, and then allow the router to request a new lease, which this time would come from the ISP itself. Again, depends on how the modem itself is configured.

You should look into the root problem (the modem rebooting) first.

 

[davort]

It can sometimes have issues recovering, especially if the modem temporarily presents itselfs as a DHCP server, causing your router to get a DHCP lease from the modem itself rather than from the ISP. When the problem occur, check if your router might possibly be pretending having a WAN IP address of 192.168.100.xxx (common with cable modems). In general, the lease should be short enough to cause it to expire, and then allow the router to request a new lease, which this time would come from the ISP itself. Again, depends on how the modem itself is configured.

You should look into the root problem (the modem rebooting) first.

Thanks!

For posterity, it seems like the problem with recovery was related to the pseudo-bridge mode I had enabled on my Telus "My Wifi Hub" modem / router. I say "pseudo"-bridge mode, because for some reason it doesn't seem to actually turn off the rest of the services on the modem / router even though it claims to. However, if I turn off the "bridge mode" the AX88U recovers fine in the event of a modem reboot.

But yeah, the underlying constant reboots from the P.O.S. are the other problem to solve, going to see if I can just bypass the Telus modem / router entirely with a media converter.

Final update: I ditched the Telus "My Wifi Hub" modem / router and replaced it with a Trendnet TFC1000MGA SFP Fiber to Ethernet media converter. I tested it a few times and the RT-AX88U recovers fine with it in the event of a disconnection. Feels good to cut that sketchy Telus router / modem thing out of the loop entirely, and my problems are solved, thanks again folks!

 

[New2This]

I was having issues with my cable modem also it was The ISP modem/ wifi. Which I also put in bridge mode., latency was crap. So I went out and bought a TC4400 modem. What a world of difference

 

[ankhazam]

Hey,
is it normal for this router to support about 600-650mbps WAN with all the traffic control features enabled (IPV6, WTFast, QoS, TrendMicro, WebClassification, etc?)

The 900mbps readings are with everything disabled... once I enable any of the aforementioned features it drops to ~650mbps...