Release ASUS RT-AX88U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388.22525 (16-02-2023)

[Joseph Gan]

So after 12 days of uptime, none of the devices could connect to the other RT-AX88U which is a node.

1. First, I rebooted both router and node but still same problem.
2. I removed the node, rebooted main router and re-added the node still no device can connect to the node.
3. Router not actually rebooting even after pressing reboot button.
4. Finally reset the main router, set it all up again and added back the node. Now all devices connect to node properly.
5. I have 2 RT-AX88Us so incompatibility should not be an issue.

Should we just dump Asus Routers if basic mesh functionality doesn't work?

Do you use the Reboot Scheduler? I have my Asus routers all set to reboot daily at 4:00 am. It's under Administration: System: Basic Config.

I have Smart Connect enabled, and haven't had any problems with that.

 

[Gregory Phillips]

Overnight my router suddenly dropped my 5g network to half speed on all connected wireless devices, a steady 1201.0 mbps on both. I rebooted twice and when it came back up both times it will not show wireless connections displaying everything as hardwired. I think I'm about to rollback to the previous version.

Edit: After a few minutes it finally started displaying wireless devices again, samsung s23 ultra and my government laptop, at normal speed. If this happens again I am rolling back.

Edit 2: I just rolled back to 22237 and my wireless speeds seem to be normal again. Could the latest signature update have affected the firmware? That was the only recent change before stupid struck.

Edit 3: OMG the older firmware behaved strangely too so I reflashed back to 22525. If my problem persists I'll be inclined to believe that my 5g radio is dying.

 

[dgrigo]

Overnight my router suddenly dropped my 5g network to half speed on all connected wireless devices, a steady 1201.0 mbps on both. I rebooted twice and when it came back up both times it will not show wireless connections displaying everything as hardwired. I think I'm about to rollback to the previous version.

Edit: After a few minutes it finally started displaying wireless devices again, samsung s23 ultra and my government laptop, at normal speed. If this happens again I am rolling back.

Edit 2: I just rolled back to 22237 and my wireless speeds seem to be normal again. Could the latest signature update have affected the firmware? That was the only recent change before stupid struck.

Edit 3: OMG the older firmware behaved strangely too so I reflashed back to 22525. If my problem persists I'll be inclined to believe that my 5g radio is dying.

Man, go to ASUS RT-AX88U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388.20558 22237 was the worst firmware!

 

[Gregory Phillips]

I'm starting to suspect that my government laptop is generating interference that is affecting my phone. Once I completed my work day and turned it off my phone bandwidth came back up to normal. I pulled out my personal laptop and placed it on the same spot and it didn't interfere with my phone and it uses the same intel wifi card.

Nevertheless I'm going to get an axe router once the price gouging stops.

 

[d5aqoep]

I'm starting to suspect that my government laptop is generating interference that is affecting my phone. Once I completed my work day and turned it off my phone bandwidth came back up to normal. I pulled out my personal laptop and placed it on the same spot and it didn't interfere with my phone and it uses the same intel wifi card.

Nevertheless I'm going to get an axe router once the price gouging stops.

You can try updating the Wifi drivers of your govt laptop if you have admin access or ask their IT dept to update it for you.

You can also tinker with band settings in Asus router web gui.

I disable combined network of 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz. Keep your laptop on 2.4 Ghz and your Phone on 5 Ghz or whichever suits your speed requirements for that particular device.

 

[Gregory Phillips]

I never run combined networks so I can exclude the lower bands from my devices. I tried switching to wpa3 and it seems to be helping a little bit.

I'm still waiting for the asus axe11000 to come back in stock and I will buy one to replace this router.

 

[Tech9]

I'm still waiting for the asus axe11000 to come back in stock

Are you sure? This is the older hardware router similar to GT-AX11000 with single 2.5GbE port and one Wi-Fi 6E radio instead of 2x Wi-Fi 6. GT-AX11000 Pro is the newer hardware router with more usable now bands, 1x 10GbE + 1 x 2.5GbE ports and will get the new Pro firmware at some point.

 

[Gregory Phillips]

I'll probably ante up for the axe16000 and be done with it. I've looked at some other brands but they don't offer dual wan which I need for work.

 

[Tech9]

Don't count on Dual WAN on Asus routers. Read the many threads with issues and possible workarounds. What's built-in is not reliable for both fail over/back and load balancing. You need a proper Dual WAN router in front of your Asus or experiment with the available custom script:

WANFailover - Dual WAN Failover Script

WAN Failover is designed to replace the factory ASUS WAN Failover functionality, this script will monitor the WAN Interfaces using a Target IP Address and pinging these targets to determine when a failure occurs. When a failure is detected in Failover Mode, the script will switch to the...

www.snbforums.com

WANFailover - Dual WAN Failover ***v2 Release***

WAN Failover is designed to replace the factory ASUS WAN Failover functionality, this script will monitor the WAN Interfaces using a Target IP Address and pinging these targets to determine when a failure occurs. When a failure is detected in Failover Mode, the script will switch to the...

www.snbforums.com

 

[PeterF]

I've had decent experience with Draytek for dual wan failover at a startup I worked for. Their newer model gets ok reviews https://www.mbreviews.com/best-dual-wan-routers/

 

[Gregory Phillips]

Thanks for the info. Whatever I get must have 6E w/dual wan. The dual wan on my ax88u has worked apart from the time the flash didn't take right which disabled it until I reflashed it.

 

[GHog]

I too have had decent experience with Draytek products. Currently I use a Vigor 2866 for my xdsl connection, and this product works so much better than anything offered by CenturyLink. Only thing this modem will not do is a bonded line. The Vigor 2862B is for that use and they discontinued it over a year ago since Draytek wanted to get out of bonded modems. You might find a used one out there, but good luck on that since users with bonded lines don`t give these up until they go to fiber or CL updates their line and box on street. They have the 2866, 2865,2766,2765, and a few dual lan port devices that work better than CL offerings.

 

[Gregory Phillips]

Has anyone else noticed wifi throttling on this firmware? If I run speedtest on my phone its connection speed immediately drops and once completed the speed goes back up. I saw a test of the rapture axe16000 and it was doing the same thing to its wireless clients.

I'm going to do a bit more research before I drop over six bills on a new router.

 

[vit5421]

Has anyone else noticed wifi throttling on this firmware?

Nope, works absolutely fine and give full 940mbs internet speed on new galaxy s23+ with connection rate up to 2400mbs. So great

 

[d5aqoep]

I'll probably ante up for the axe16000 and be done with it. I've looked at some other brands but they don't offer dual wan which I need for work.

Please wait out 7-8 months and buy the ROG Rapture GT-BE98 or RT-BE96U which are Wifi7 capable.

 

[Gregory Phillips]

I read up on those two routers but they are months away. I noticed yesterday on my router that once you pass 3 ax clients that it gives them all the same reduced bandwidth.

 

[Tech9]

Not very clear what's the issue. Wi-Fi bandwidth is shared between active clients.

 

[Gregory Phillips]

Not very clear what's the issue. Wi-Fi bandwidth is shared between active clients.

So I killed the power to the router and let it sit a minute then rebooted and my wireless connection speed immediately doubled. I then altered the reboot schedule to include a day in the middle of the week. If that doesn't work then I might have to do a daily reboot and if that's the case its time to replace the unit.

Edit: So I decided to run speedtest from my desktop which yielded what I expected - it gave me full allotted bandwidth my my ISP. Then I go stand right in front of the router with my S23U and run the same test and I get reduced speeds when it should match as it has in the past. If something was wrong with my 5ghz radio my laptop would suffer from the same fate but it runs faster and from farther away so I'm confused.

 

[Tech9]

Keep in mind mobile devices have built-in power saving features with no user control. I wouldn't trust a speedtest on a phone too much. If your devices are running normally with no user experience impact - no need for daily reboots. You are clearing stored Wi-Fi environment data and system caches for no reason causing actual user experience negative impact. At least your Dnsmasq has to build the DNS cache again and loading of websites first time will be slower no matter if the possible throughput to devices is higher for some unknown reason. I would say just use the router as normal and don't pay too much attention on numbers. Wi-Fi environment is changing dynamically any minute and this may also affect your measurements.

 

[Gregory Phillips]

I'm beginning to think that its a bug in the S23U and I've read in the Samsung forums their March firmware update introduced it so hopefully they will fix it soon and I can stop watching the connection speeds on the router.