Release ASUS RT-AX88U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_24198

[Jeep]

Version 3.0.0.4.388_24198, Date: 2023/10/20

Bug fixes and improvements:
-Ensured consistent display of client status on the WireGuard server.
-Enhanced system stability when accessing the WireGuard Server with DMZ enabled.
-Improved stability when enabling or disabling the WireGuard server.
-Addressed an issue that prevented clients from accessing the network when setting up the OpenVPN server in TAP mode.
-Optimized memory utilization and fixed an occasional server error when registering DDNS with an app.
-Corrected a bug encountered when adding a rule to the Network Services Filter.

Security Fixes:
-Upgraded to the latest dropbear version.
-Fixed a stack overflow vulnerability.

RT-AX88U｜WiFi Routers｜ASUS USA

ASUS gaming routers provide the very best gaming experience, with an arsenal of features and tools designed to improve online gaming performance and give you the competitive edge you need to win.

www.asus.com

 

[m0rF1uS]

Finally new one…. It’s been awhile

 

[Wadadli]

Installed this firmware on my 88u and had all kinds of trouble connecting to it afterward. After managing to get connectivity, I SSH'd to the unit and dumped the NVRAM.
This is a few lines from that dump:

wl0_oplist=Wi-Fi Alliance!eng|Wi-Fi!chi
wl0_optimizexbox=0
wl0_osu_frndname=SP Red Test Only!eng|SP !kor
wl0_osu_icons=icon_red_zxx.png+icon_red_eng.png
wl0_osu_method=1
wl0_osu_nai=
wl0_osu_servdesc=Free service for test purpose!eng| !kor
wl0_osu_ssid=OSU
wl0_osu_uri=https://osu-server.r2-testbed.wi-fi.org/

Don't know about you but to me they definitely look weird. The only thing I could come up with is that "osu-server" has something to do with Discord. (???)
Careful installing this fw.

 

[Wadadli]

For your added enjoyment, this is actually what my PuTTY terminal showed me.

 

[Gregory Phillips]

I checked in the router earlier and it didn't show anything then I came here and found this so I just updated. Hopefully this will correct the lockups I was having with the previous version.

 

[cyberlore]

This morning my network was constantly dropping wireless clients. Could only connect to the main router (AIMesh with two additional nodes), the 88U, in intermittent windows and even then the web UI was extremely slow to load and would fail to render half the time. CPU appeared to be spiking. After physically disconnecting the mesh nodes (both w/ ethernet backhaul) things were fine. As soon as I added them back in, everything would start dropping again. Rolled back to 3.0.0.4.388_23748 on the 88U and we're back to rock solid as it has been for years.

I'll be skipping over this firmware release for the time being.

 

[Gregory Phillips]

Last time that happened to me I had to reflash the firmware which fixed the bad behavior.

 

[cyberlore]

Pro tip, much appreciated. I'll give it a spin tonight and report back.

EDIT: Nope, network hosed after reflashing to latest.
FWIW, my AI Mesh nodes are AX-56U running latest (3.0.0.4.386_51665). This model has seemed a bit unloved for a while, so not shocked if there's an incompatibility introduced. I'll just be staying tuned for the next firmware release.

 

[ubimea]

Yikes, watch out, first time EVER fried one of my RT-AX88U used as a node. I'll call ASUS support in the morning. Not an auto update, rather direct from the node itself. Disappointed.

UPDATE:

Several hard resets, at least now connected, working on various issues related to 3.0.0.4.388_24198.

2nd UPDATE

Manually updated main RT-AX88U with latest firmware 3.0.0.4.388_24198 and so far, no issues. Everything is working fine Go figure.

 

[Gregory Phillips]

I still don't have any complaints about this firmware.

 

[wol-shiver]

I still don't have any complaints about this firmware.

Hello Mr. Phillips

Would you kindly detail your setup/use case to see if it's comparable to mine, the comments I'm seeing here scare me.

I have 2 ax88u in mesh, wired backhaul. Using smart connect at -65.

+- 30 clients, 10 wired. On latest release prior to this one.

 

[Gregory Phillips]

I do not run in aimesh mode which could be a source of trouble as could smart connect which I have turned off. I run the 2.4 and 5ghz bands as separate with wpa2/wpa3 security and dual wan enabled in failover fallback mode. I have a mix of dhcp and static clients with aiprotection, firewall and DOS protection enabled. On the wan side I have nat enabled and manually specify my dns servers as I've had too many problems with xfinity's.

I know that in the past with Asus routers if a new firmware starts giving trouble that its recommended to reset the router and reenter everything from scratch rather than loading in a saved profile. That has worked for me on more than one occasion but YMMV.

FWIW I was about to replace this router after the last firmware update until this one came out and stopped the lockup issue I was having.

 

[Wayne]

I will give it a miss!

 

[KidJoe]

So, I have the AX88U as a wired Node in my AiMesh setup. Reading over the comments in this thread, its looking like I should NOT upgrade to this one?

 

[jayvarner]

My setup is very similar to Gregory Phillips'. Firmware auto updated last night and everything was dropping this morning. I rolled back to the previous version - 3.0.0.4.388.23285 - and all has been well since.

 

[wol-shiver]

I decided to jump on and see what's the story.

All good for last 24 hours.

2 ax88u in mesh, wired backhaul. Using smart connect at -65.

+- 30 clients, 10 wired. 1Gbe wan, 2 wfh full time.

Memory usage seems down 6-8%.

 

[Gravityz]

it seems openvpn was upgraded and the default security hash(SHA-256) was not accepted anymore.
changed it to SHA512 and it seems to work on legacy mode
however when i switch openvpn to most secure mode it starts to complain
AES-256-CBC bad cipher for data channel use

after reading some stuff it seems Openvpn prefers AES-256-CGM but i can not choose that from the current firmware.
is that option in this firmware 24198

or otherwise what is a better cipher which will be accepted by openvpn

 

[Gravityz]

switched to wireguard. seems to be better and hopefully not stop working after every update