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

[Gregory Phillips]

S23U firmware was updated this morning and no change to the connection speed behavior. I've got my eye open for the BE routers to replace this unit.

 

[PunchCardBoss]

@bluepoint Sometime earlier today (about 10 hours ago) something happened. I didn't have a drop-out but my 5Ghz WiFi speed dropped in half. My PC WiFi connection shows about 10 hours of up-time. and the 160Mhz signal dropped to 80Mhz.

And, although my router is still showing control channel = 40, my PC is showing channel = 48. And, I still have 13 hours before the DHCP lease time is up.

Something definitely went wacky.

I will check again tomorrow morning. But this observation sure sounds similar to what others, even on other asus models, are experiencing.

so much for a stable config. Looks like Asus has more work to do.

 

[bbunge]

@bluepoint Sometime earlier today (about 10 hours ago) something happened. I didn't have a drop-out but my 5Ghz WiFi speed dropped in half. My PC WiFi connection shows about 10 hours of up-time. and the 160Mhz signal dropped to 80Mhz.

And, although my router is still showing control channel = 40, my PC is showing channel = 48. And, I still have 13 hours before the DHCP lease time is up.

Something definitely went wacky.

I will check again tomorrow morning. But this observation sure sounds similar to what others, even on other asus models, are experiencing.

so much for a stable config. Looks like Asus has more work to do.

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You can get a bit more bandwidth with your DS220+ by using both LAN ports in bonding mode connected to your router or switch.
As for your other perceived issues, it seems to me that what you have described could be considered normal operation. Also, if you are waiting for the DHCP lease to expire you are not using static IP addresses. Manually Assigned, yes.
It will waste my time recommending wifi settings as you already have your mind set the router and firmware are faulty. Best of luck finding something better.

 

[PunchCardBoss]

As for your other perceived issues, it seems to me that what you have described could be considered normal operation. Also, if you are waiting for the DHCP lease to expire you are not using static IP addresses. Manually Assigned, yes.
It will waste my time recommending wifi settings as you already have your mind set the router and firmware are faulty. Best of luck finding something better.

Yep. I agree.

I will add one more observation that may have prompted the router to change from 160 to 80 Mhz. My wife went out of the house and took her phone but left her 5Gz WiFi connection on. As she was leaving, her WiFi signal got weaker and weaker. It was at this time the router changed.

I am theorizing that this condition caused the router to change its channel bandwidth from 160 to 80. And when this happened, all other clients on 5Ghz WiFi experienced a reduction in speed.

Now, after more than 20 hours of my wife's return to the house, the router has NOT changed back to 160 channel bandwidth. I suspect it will stay there till the router is rebooted.

Well, I agree with you. Further investigation on this front is pointless. I do hope that Asus will make some improvements to their FW that would better serve its customer's needs.

 

[Tech9]

You know 160MHz wide channel is not guaranteed, right? What worked a month ago may not work anymore due to Wi-Fi environment change. Not necessarily firmware related and Asus has nothing to do about it. The range is worse as well as stability. Why pushing for 160MHz all the time?

Since I live in an area that has close neighbors and can see more than 20 SSIDs within range

 

[OzarkEdge]

Well, I agree with you. Further investigation on this front is pointless. I do hope that Asus will make some improvements to their FW that would better serve its customer's needs.

I feel you are drawing too many false conclusions. Do you know about Dynamic Frequency Selection?

OE

 

[bluepoint]

@bluepoint Sometime earlier today (about 10 hours ago) something happened. I didn't have a drop-out but my 5Ghz WiFi speed dropped in half. My PC WiFi connection shows about 10 hours of up-time. and the 160Mhz signal dropped to 80Mhz.

And, although my router is still showing control channel = 40, my PC is showing channel = 48. And, I still have 13 hours before the DHCP lease time is up.

Something definitely went wacky.

I will check again tomorrow morning. But this observation sure sounds similar to what others, even on other asus models, are experiencing.

so much for a stable config. Looks like Asus has more work to do.

View attachment 48621

View attachment 48622
View attachment 48624

160MHz bandwidth isn't designed for static *channel* assignment for the reason it uses DFS channels. Gov't. agencies uses those frequencies, therefore, they do not want us to hold on to them permanently if it causes interference to them. They share those frequency provided it doesn't interfere with them. What you've seen is probably by design.

 

[PunchCardBoss]

@bluepoint
@OzarkEdge
@Tech9

Thank you all for your replies. I do appreciate your insights.

The more I hang around you guys, the more I learn. Tks for tolerating my clumsy learning curve.

 

[drabisan]

160MHz bandwidth isn't designed for static IP assignment for the reason it uses DFS channels. Gov't. agencies uses those frequencies, therefore, they do not want us to hold on to them permanently if it causes interference to them. They share those frequency provided it doesn't interfere with them. What you've seen is probably by design.

You want to say static channel assignment, right?

 

[bluepoint]

You want to say static channel assignment, right?

Yes, I'll correct it now.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Neither apply... I can use any candidate IP and/or channel with DFS... I just can't use 160MHz/DFS here.

OE

 

[d5aqoep]

Day by day, this router is annoying the F out of me. It's so buggy and Ai Mesh is unstable pos.

 

[PunchCardBoss]

Neither apply... I can use any candidate IP and/or channel with DFS... I just can't use 160MHz/DFS here.

Others have reported RSSI conditions that affect 160Mhz Channel bandwidth stability. I have recently begun a test...

My Conditions:

• "Channel bandwidth" = 160Mhz
• "Control Channel" = 40 (manually set)
• No AiMesh
• FW 388_22525
• Group Key Rotation Interval = 0

When Wireless > Professional > Roaming Assistant is [ENABLED], my router says:

"Disconnect clients with RSSI lower than [-70] dBn". ​

-70 dBn is the default value. When any of my 5Ghz clients fall below -70dBn (which can be observed on the System Log > Wireless Log GUI page), my "Channel bandwidth" automatically changes from 160Mhz to 80Mhz. This change to 80Mhz increases these client's RSSI to -68 (under the -70 default threshold).

When I decrease Roaming Assistant RSSI threshold to [-75] dBn, "Channel bandwidth" stays at 160Mhz so long as my 5Ghz clients stay above the -75 dBn threshold.

Working hypothesis: When any 5Ghz client falls below the RSSI threshold, the router automatically reduces the "Channel bandwidth" in an attempt to improve RSSI for those clients. Once "Channel bandwidth" is reduced, it never returns until the router is rebooted.

NOW, I've [DISABLE] Roaming Assistant. "Channel bandwidth" stays at 160Mhz. It has only been 2 days into this test. I will report back when more testing-time has passed.

 

[PunchCardBoss]

I will report back when more testing-time has passed.

Test results after 4 full days...

Sustained 160Mhz Channel bandwidth.

• 3 test clients
  • 1 Win11 PC showing TX=2401; Rx=2161
  • 2 android phones showing Tx=720.6 & 864; Rx rate = 6M
• All clients went off-site several times and re-connected at 160Mhz when within WiFi range
• A few clients were re-booted for conditions unrelated to WiFi and reconnected at 160Mhz
• No dropouts. No wacky WiFi conditions. Stable WiFi for the past 4 days.
• WiFi reception/strength at the furthest part of the house was okay.

 

[Gravityz]

i noticed that a couple of 2.4ghz devices connect to wifi but do not show as connected under either network map or aimesh.
all these devices have dhcp entries and have correct names.

 

[Gravityz]

killall -9 networkmap works

i have put it in a cronjob which executes every sunday morning 6:00 AM

 

[liqiang2020]

version 23012 is coming soon?

 

[Gravityz]

i changed bandwidth form 20mhz and 80mhz fixed to 20/40 and 20/40/80
it seems aimesh is way more stable now without any disconnects

 

[camaro322hp]

killall -9 networkmap works

i have put it in a cronjob which executes every sunday morning 6:00 AM

Thank you! I've been looking for this command for a long time. My AX86U is stable and runs fine for the most part, except that the network map frequently stops updating. This avoids me having to reboot all the time. I confirm it works on the AX86U also.

 

[wol-shiver]

Am I the only one checking daily for our new fw lol