ASUS setup (GT-AX6000 or AX86U) generating issues with work video calls only (Under stock or Merlin). Narrowed it to configuration

[Jcamilo70]

Hey guys!

Have the weirdsest issue which is affecting my work. Work from home and EVERYTHING (home and work) works flawlessly with the exception of whenever I try to have zoom video calls for work (pretty often), work laptop will eventually disconnect (both company's VPN with CiscoSecure client and that notebooks's internet connection) forcing me to reboot in order to be able to connect to the internet again, and the issue will occur again on my next zoom call after a few minutes. Have tried several troubleshooting methods and discarded hardware issues. Narrowed it down to something on my Asus configuration setup.

Would tremendously appreciate any and all advise as it's affecting my work very negatively


Hereby all of the info and everything I've tried:

• Have a setup with GT-AX6000 & AX86U on Aimesh (Aimesh is Wireless).
• ISP Router is on Bridge and Asus is doing all of the Internet administration (PPPOE, cable)
• Everything works flawless with this setup, including, home, videogames, media, smarthome, and even work with one exception, whenever I perform a video call from work from my work notebook, after a few minutes ciscosecure/work's vpn will disconnect and won't allow me to reconnect until I reboot the notebook (and will happen again after a few minutes). All of work's other tasks and apps work flawlessly.
• When working from the office it works flawlessly and the issue doesn't happen.
• When connecting to my ISP's modem directly (non-bridge) at home, the issue doesn't happen.
• Tried using a different setup without any asus routers and using an old Huawei Router connected to my ISP's router on Bridge mode, the issue doesn't happen.
• Work is a bank, must user their notebook, their CiscoVPN and can only use their approved software (eg. zoom)

Troubleshooting tasks already tried and the issue persists:

• Changed my ISP to another one which now provides static IP, issue persists.
• Tried no AIMESH and only one router (tried both)
• Clean reset/Installed both The AX6000 & AX86U and tried default settings.
• Tried using only AX86U, or only using AX6000.
• Tried connecting to my work notebook using wired, 2.4ghz, 5ghz, and powerline.
• Flashed Merlin on both routers and clean installed (everything on 388.4 now).
• Changed all of the ethernet cables
• Had Work helpdesk reinstall zoom and update all of the network drivers
• DIsabled AIProtection, QOS, portforwarding and of course no Game acceleration or parental controls
• Used DMZ on Work Notebook's IP.
• Changed IP range.
• Gave Dedicated IP to Work Notebook from Asus
• Changed DNS

So, narrowed it down to some weird settings I may have overlooked or should include on my ASUS (should I do port forwarding for something Zoom ?) config, here's are pictures of my current setup (Not adding 2.4 & 5ghz proffessional settings pics yet, since as I said issue happens wired as well, but will if someone wants to see), would TREMENDOUSLY appreciate any and all support and I'm wililing to try anything as my work is being seriously affected

 

[Crimliar]

So a couple of quick questions!
Is the modem in a real bridge mode?
Is the VPN software for your employer running on your device or on the modem?

 

[Jcamilo70]

So a couple of quick questions!
Is the modem in a real bridge mode?
Is the VPN software for your employer running on your device or on the modem?

Thank you so much!

yes, Real bridge mode.

VPN software is on my work laptop.

 

[follower]

Hey guys!

Have the weirdsest issue which is affecting my work. Work from home and EVERYTHING (home and work) works flawlessly with the exception of whenever I try to have zoom video calls for work (pretty often), work laptop will eventually disconnect (both company's VPN with CiscoSecure client and that notebooks's internet connection) forcing me to reboot in order to be able to connect to the internet again, and the issue will occur again on my next zoom call after a few minutes. Have tried several troubleshooting methods and discarded hardware issues. Narrowed it down to something on my Asus configuration setup.

Would tremendously appreciate any and all advise as it's affecting my work very negatively


Hereby all of the info and everything I've tried:

• Have a setup with GT-AX6000 & AX86U on Aimesh (Aimesh is Wireless).
• ISP Router is on Bridge and Asus is doing all of the Internet administration (PPPOE, cable)
• Everything works flawless with this setup, including, home, videogames, media, smarthome, and even work with one exception, whenever I perform a video call from work from my work notebook, after a few minutes ciscosecure/work's vpn will disconnect and won't allow me to reconnect until I reboot the notebook (and will happen again after a few minutes). All of work's other tasks and apps work flawlessly.
• When working from the office it works flawlessly and the issue doesn't happen.
• When connecting to my ISP's modem directly (non-bridge) at home, the issue doesn't happen.
• Tried using a different setup without any asus routers and using an old Huawei Router connected to my ISP's router on Bridge mode, the issue doesn't happen.
• Work is a bank, must user their notebook, their CiscoVPN and can only use their approved software (eg. zoom)

Troubleshooting tasks already tried and the issue persists:

• Changed my ISP to another one which now provides static IP, issue persists.
• Tried no AIMESH and only one router (tried both)
• Clean reset/Installed both The AX6000 & AX86U and tried default settings.
• Tried connecting to my work notebook using wired, 2.4ghz, 5ghz, and powerline.
• Flashed Merlin on both routers and clean installed (everything on 388.4 now).
• Changed all of the ethernet cables
• Had Work helpdesk reinstall zoom and update all of the network drivers
• DIsabled AIProtection, QOS, portforwarding and of course no Game acceleration or parental controls
• Used DMZ on Work Notebook's IP.
• Changed IP range.
• Gave Dedicated IP to Work Notebook from Asus
• Changed DNS

So, narrowed it down to some weird settings I may have overlooked or should include on my ASUS (should I do port forwarding for something Zoom ?) config, here's are pictures of my current setup (Not adding 2.4 & 5ghz proffessional settings pics yet, since as I said issue happens wired as well, but will if someone wants to see), would TREMENDOUSLY appreciate any and all support and I'm wililing to try anything as my work is being seriously affected


View attachment 53109

View attachment 53110

View attachment 53111

View attachment 53112


View attachment 53114

Wireless> Professional>Enable IGMP Snooping (2.4Ghz, 5Ghz)
Your screen shots are too small.

 

[Jcamilo70]

Wireless> Professional>Enable IGMP Snooping (2.4Ghz, 5Ghz)

Thank you so much!
I have it enabled for both 2.4 and 5ghz, but sadly as I mentioned the issue persists even when wired, not just wireless.

 

[follower]

Thank you so much!
I have it enabled for both 2.4 and 5ghz, but sadly as I mentioned the issue persists even when wired, not just wireless.

Is there any reason that you are using 'Use DHCP routes>RFC3442 & Microsoft' instead of only 'Microsoft'?
Do you use any STB(IPTV) on the same network?

 

[Jcamilo70]

Is there any reason that you are using 'Use DHCP routes>RFC3442 & Microsoft' instead of only 'Microsoft'?
Do you use any STB(IPTV) on the same network?

I think I merely saw it on someone's screenshot and tried it as another troubleshooting option when everything else failed, by default it was only RFC3442, but setup works with that as disabled too.
I don't have any STB on the same network.

Should I keep it as RFC3442?

 

[follower]

I think I merely saw it on someone's screenshot and tried it as another troubleshooting option when everything else failed, by default it was only RFC3442, but setup works with that as disabled too.
I don't have any STB on the same network.

Should I keep it as RFC3442?

VPN Split Tunneling Recommendations

Virtual Private Network (VPN) services are crucial to securing data accessed by users working from remote locations. One of the biggest challenges Zoom customers experience is related to not allowi...

support.zoom.us

I saw one of my friend who lived in Japan had similar issue like you. His ISP was using strange IPV6 tunneling system. There was no other way to fix the problem except changing ISP.

 

[Kingp1n]

Maybe have your job IT enabled IPV4 only on your laptop for your connection versus both IPV4 & IPV6. I had similar issues but I couldn't even connect to the company VPN. If this doesn't work, it can be the that router is in bridge mode and it may be causing the issue.

 

[Jcamilo70]

VPN Split Tunneling Recommendations

Virtual Private Network (VPN) services are crucial to securing data accessed by users working from remote locations. One of the biggest challenges Zoom customers experience is related to not allowi...

support.zoom.us

I saw one of my friend who lived in Japan had similar issue like you. His ISP was using strange IPV6 tunneling system. There was no other way to fix the problem except changing ISP.

Maybe have your job IT enabled IPV4 only on your laptop for your connection versus both IPV4 & IPV6. I had similar issues but I couldn't even connect to the company VPN. If this doesn't work, it can be the that router is in bridge mode and it may be causing the issue.

MY ISP is IPV4 only!! BUt I already tried two ISPs, and like I mentioned, if I user other routers instead of the ASUSes, everything works fine, so there must be something I can adjust setup wise

 

[Kingp1n]

MY ISP is IPV4 only!! BUt I already tried two ISPs, and like I mentioned, if I user other routers instead of the ASUSes, everything works fine, so there must be something I can adjust setup wise

How about the Network connections under Networking, have them check Internet Protocol Version 4 (TCP/IPv4) only and uncheck Internet Protocol Version 6 (TCP/IPv6) and reboot laptop and try again.

 

[Tech9]

I would try RT-AX86U as router and see what happens. If the same - clearly something in Asuswrt. If good - something GT-AX6000 specific.

 

[Jcamilo70]

I would try RT-AX86U as router and see what happens. If the same - clearly something in Asuswrt. If good - something GT-AX6000 specific.

Hi!

Unforrtunately tried that already. fails with either of the asus routers.
If using non-asus router it works fine, but it's only the zoom that fails and causes a disconnect :/

Must be something on the settings.
First post reflected everything I've tried.

 

[Tech9]

I would suspect some incompatibility between your work notebook and Asus routers. Your Zoom session is over VPN connection. Your router, Asus or other brand, doesn't see the type of traffic. Zoom or other doesn't matter. Must be the connection. What else you can test with over this VPN?

Why a reboot of the notebook is needed? Network interface crash? Something else can't recover? Something is happening on the client side. If you don't activate the VPN is the notebook working normally? Not sure if you can test that, my employees devices connect to company VPN automatically.

 

[Jcamilo70]

I would suspect some incompatibility between your work notebook and Asus routers. Your Zoom session is over VPN connection. Your router, Asus or other brand, doesn't see the type of traffic. Zoom or other doesn't matter. Must be the connection. What else you can test with over this VPN?

Why a reboot of the notebook is needed? Network interface crash? Something else can't recover? Something is happening on the client side. If you don't activate the VPN is the notebook working normally? Not sure if you can test that, my employees devices connect to company VPN automatically.

Hi, thanks!!


1) once the zoom makes the connection get lost, unless I reboot, the ciscosecure wont connect to any other wifi or wired network (not even my iphone sharing 4g) unless I reboot the notebook.

2) when I use this connection without using zoom, I csn go days without an error, usint my work notebook on my asus setup to use outlook and office, teams coomunications, degreed and watching videos, and using banking apps without a single error (all through banking vpn)
But the moment I make a zoom call, csnt go 20 minutes withour getting disconnected and unable to reconnect until I reboot.

 

[Tech9]

The only thing I can suggest at this point is drivers review/update on this work notebook, but perhaps you have to give it to the bank IT support. Not sure if you have user account restrictions on it. To me this is a client issue because the router only sees VPN traffic and nothing else. I'm inviting @sfx2000 to this conversation. He knows inner workings of many technologies and perhaps has an idea what's happening.

 

[Jcamilo70]

The only thing I can suggest at this point is drivers review/update on this work notebook, but perhaps you have to give it to the bank IT support. Not sure if you have user account restrictions on it. To me this is a client issue because the router only sees VPN traffic and nothing else. I'm inviting @sfx2000 to this conversation. He knows inner workings of many technologies and perhaps has an idea what's happening.

Thanks!

Notebook is locked and I'm fully restricted to do pretty much anything, but I got IT support to update network drivers and also reinstall Zoom to no avail.

I know notebook only sees VPN traffic, but some users above noted some tunneling / port issues related specifically to zoom.
Oddly enough, as mentioned, I can use this same exact setup for days without an issue so long as I don't use zoom. (or I can switch the asus setup for other routers and it won't fail).



quoting what I've tried thus far:

• Changed my ISP to another one which now provides static IP, issue persists.
• Tried no AIMESH and only one router (tried both using only AX86U or only AX6000)
• Clean reset/Installed both The AX6000 & AX86U and tried default settings.
• Tried connecting to my work notebook using wired, 2.4ghz, 5ghz, and powerline.
• Flashed Merlin on both routers and clean installed (everything on 388.4 now).
• Changed all of the ethernet cables
• Had Work helpdesk reinstall zoom and update all of the network drivers
• DIsabled AIProtection, QOS, portforwarding and of course no Game acceleration or parental controls
• Used DMZ on Work Notebook's IP.
• Changed IP range.
• Gave Dedicated IP to Work Notebook from Asus
• Changed DNS

 

[Tech9]

Wait for @sfx2000 to take a look.

I also have employees with VPN connection and I'm sure they have different home routers. Never seen this issue before and the system was heavily used during COVID time, including Zoom. I was using this type of connection perhaps 50% of the time all day long. I'm using different hardware though.

 

[sfx2000]

Hi All - the corporate VPN client (Cisco Secure Client, which is an evolution of AnyConnect) is the one thing that I suspect. I don't think the router or the ISP has any issues here...

That is happens over ethernet and wifi, this again goes to the Cisco client software - what I would suggest trying is a Zoom session from another computer on your LAN, this takes the Work PC out of the loop, and if things are fine there, this definitely takes the ISP modem and your Asus router out of consideration.

Secure Client offers both DTLS and TLS for SSL connections - check and see if you have the option to choose this (admin definitely does), but changing from DTLS to TLS might solve your problem. Remember that DTLS uses UDP as a transport, and as such, there is no lower layer ACK's, so traffic could overrider the client buffers and wedge the connection.

Optionally, if the VPN gateway permits, you can try IPSec w/IKEv2

Just my thoughts here..

 

[sfx2000]

One other thing - if the WAN link is PPPoE - try dropping the MTU size down - default is 1500, but if you drop it down to, let's say, 1320...

If things start working, bump that value up until it doesn't, and then back it off a bit.

The VPN adds additional overhead bits to every packet, and sometimes this can cause fragmentation - and on UPP based VPN's, this is very not good...