Release Asus XT8 - 3.0.0.4.386.43181 - 2021/06/17

[MrZzzzzzz]

After running 43181 w/o problems for a couple of days, the same problems resurfaced as with the 43170; nodes dropping connection an only connecting to 2.4Ghz. So quickly reverted to 42095 again.

 

[Raven76]

After running 43181 w/o problems for a couple of days, the same problems resurfaced as with the 43170; nodes dropping connection an only connecting to 2.4Ghz. So quickly reverted to 42095 again.

yep... 43169/43170 and 43181 are simply bugged...

 

[DFaultXEX]

Thanks to this post I've now rolled back to 42095.

43181 resulted in the node dropping its connection with the uplink reverting to 2.4 GHz after less than a day, despite being a stable 5 GHz on the previous firmware.

 

[karma]

I have to say that this firmware-roulette is starting to get a bit tiresome, specially after the long beta test process some of us participated in. I don't know which routers or brands to recommend anymore if somebody were to ask me for a router recommendation.

 

[bokolobs]

I have to say that this firmware-roulette is starting to get a bit tiresome, specially after the long beta test process some of us participated in. I don't know which routers or brands to recommend anymore if somebody were to ask me for a router recommendation.

I agree with this! The reason I got this mesh router a few months ago is because I needed a faster one than my TP-Link Deco 5 and the CT8 and XT8 came highly recommended by Wirecutter. But these firmware updates breaking the router's basic functions is just too much. The return period has already elapsed for me. I might just call this whole ordeal an expensive loss and move on. At the same time it sprung me to action. I've decided to wire the whole house and then reassess. My pair of XT8s might still be worth keeping if they can maintain connection thru a wired backhaul. But I'm really thinking of switching to the Ubiquiti line. I'm sure those have a list of issues, too.

 

[karma]

I agree with this! The reason I got this mesh router a few months ago is because I needed a faster one than my TP-Link Deco 5 and the CT8 and XT8 came highly recommended by Wirecutter. But these firmware updates breaking the router's basic functions is just too much. The return period has already elapsed for me. I might just call this whole ordeal an expensive loss and move on. At the same time it sprung me to action. I've decided to wire the whole house and then reassess. My pair of XT8s might still be worth keeping if they can maintain connection thru a wired backhaul. But I'm really thinking of switching to the Ubiquiti line. I'm sure those have a list of issues, too.

well, the 42095 firmware is working great for me in AP mode so I'm just going to stick with that for a while I guess. If I were using the XT8 as my main router I would be mightily annoyed with not being able to install the latest security patches. I can only imagine how the average consumer is coping and how much harm these issues are doing to the brand which is a shame. I was also thinking of switching to ubiquiti/amplifi but they didn't seem to meet my needs and unless i'm mistaken you have to create an account with them to be able to use the routers which I dislike. I even bought a couple of the latest TP-link dedicated access points a while ago but they have high latency and didn't have wireless mesh yet. aaaanyways....

 

[bokolobs]

well, the 42095 firmware is working great for me in AP mode so I'm just going to stick with that for a while I guess. If I were using the XT8 as my main router I would be mightily annoyed with not being able to install the latest security patches. I can only imagine how the average consumer is coping and how much harm these issues are doing to the brand which is a shame. I was also thinking of switching to ubiquiti/amplifi but they didn't seem to meet my needs and unless i'm mistaken you have to create an account with them to be able to use the routers which I dislike. I even bought a couple of the latest TP-link dedicated access points a while ago but they have high latency and didn't have wireless mesh yet. aaaanyways....

What are you using as your main router?

 

[ronabop]

Upgraded my my three XT8's, same problems as before, then reset my primary node to factory defaults (to rule out other mesh nodes as an issue, they weren't even connected anymore), same broken behavior as before:

40295:
"Alexa turn off living room" -> 4 TP-lInk lightbulbs, 2 TP-Link Outlets, a Denon receiver, and a Sony TV all turn off at the same time.

43169, 43170, 43181:
"Alexa turn off living room" -> Sometimes all devices turn off. Sometimes my Echo (1st gen) gets stuck, and some devices will accept the command, and it'll pause, and either eventually get to them all or just give up.

Same behavior happens regardless of command it seems, just changing colors on just the lightbulbs (LB 130's) has the same issues, where it seems to be throttling the commands somehow, until they all complete, or timeout.

 

[karma]

What are you using as your main router?

a dedicated firewall/router machine

 

[DoctorBob]

Upgraded my my three XT8's, same problems as before, then reset my primary node to factory defaults (to rule out other mesh nodes as an issue, they weren't even connected anymore), same broken behavior as before:

40295:
"Alexa turn off living room" -> 4 TP-lInk lightbulbs, 2 TP-Link Outlets, a Denon receiver, and a Sony TV all turn off at the same time.

43169, 43170, 43181:
"Alexa turn off living room" -> Sometimes all devices turn off. Sometimes my Echo (1st gen) gets stuck, and some devices will accept the command, and it'll pause, and either eventually get to them all or just give up.

Same behavior happens regardless of command it seems, just changing colors on just the lightbulbs (LB 130's) has the same issues, where it seems to be throttling the commands somehow, until they all complete, or timeout.

Sounds like the issue I've been having with just a few smart lights! - Going back to 40295 as a test.

 

[bokolobs]

a dedicated firewall/router machine

Thanks, but care to share the brand and model?

 

[bokolobs]

Anybody here getting a stable connection with 43181 with the mesh node in a wired backhaul configuration?

 

[fullhack]

Upgraded my my three XT8's, same problems as before, then reset my primary node to factory defaults (to rule out other mesh nodes as an issue, they weren't even connected anymore), same broken behavior as before:

40295:
"Alexa turn off living room" -> 4 TP-lInk lightbulbs, 2 TP-Link Outlets, a Denon receiver, and a Sony TV all turn off at the same time.

43169, 43170, 43181:
"Alexa turn off living room" -> Sometimes all devices turn off. Sometimes my Echo (1st gen) gets stuck, and some devices will accept the command, and it'll pause, and either eventually get to them all or just give up.

Same behavior happens regardless of command it seems, just changing colors on just the lightbulbs (LB 130's) has the same issues, where it seems to be throttling the commands somehow, until they all complete, or timeout.

I had some very similar experiences with a TP-Link smart switch (HS200) running on 43181 as well. I monitored the device with a continuous ping and it would be all over the place (huge latency and substantial packet loss). As soon as I went back to 42095 and ran the same monitoring, the latency and packet loss were gone.

The majority of my other devices seemed ok on 43181, but that one switches extreme behavior still caused me to revert to 42095 for stability.

Perhaps some kind of setting/config in the newer firmware that just doesn't play nice with the TP-Link or other devices?

 

[Raven76]

Perhaps some kind of setting/config in the newer firmware that just doesn't play nice with the TP-Link or other devices?

No... when a firmware gives the SAME problem on ALL users, the answer is the simpliest one: firmwares 43169, 43170 and 43181 are bugged. PERIOD.

 

[sgoldswo]

I had some very similar experiences with a TP-Link smart switch (HS200) running on 43181 as well. I monitored the device with a continuous ping and it would be all over the place (huge latency and substantial packet loss). As soon as I went back to 42095 and ran the same monitoring, the latency and packet loss were gone.

The majority of my other devices seemed ok on 43181, but that one switches extreme behavior still caused me to revert to 42095 for stability.

Perhaps some kind of setting/config in the newer firmware that just doesn't play nice with the TP-Link or other devices?

It's not just TP-Link hardware, the problems most seem to be having related to the wireless backhaul being unstable, which is simply unacceptable for a home working set up. It seems to affect all firmware post 43169 inc 43181. Interestingly, the behaviour is harder to spot in 43181 than in earlier firmware, simply because the outages are shorter, but it's long enough to knock out a video call or remote VM connection. My own anecdotal experience suggests there are greater problems with the paired sets vs independent units. 43181 also runs a slower connection to the nodes (in my case I was getting approx 250-300 on my nodes, which compares with 350-500 on 42095).

If I was being harsh I would simply take the view this recent branch of firmware is broken, at least with this hardware, and Asus should shift back to working from 42095 as the base.

 

[RadarJammer]

What I find irritating: the XT8 is essentially an XD4R (same SoC and RAM, same 2.4 GHz and 5GHz radios) with and additional radio, an upgraded switch, an USB port and some expanded firmware, but there seem to be no complaints about the XD4R. I have both as single units since recently and use them as classic APs. I bought the single XT8 in June and the first firmware I tested (with knowledge about this thread) was 43181. I got reproducible client disconnects during speed tests so I went back to 42095 and since then it is stable.

 

[crawfish]

I have two XT8s bought separately, one as the router, the other as an AIMesh node with wireless backhaul in a pretty small space. I've had some issues with Remote Desktop disconnecting spontaneously, and I let ping to that remote computer run overnight. The main PC is wired to the router, while the second PC is wired to the node. I'm consistently getting 1-3 packets lost every hour on the hour (8 minutes after the hour, to be exact). I'm also getting occasional random losses of up to 8 packets in a row. Some hours have none of these random losses, while one hour had two. My total losses are 53 out of 41,675. Transfer speeds between the two PCs run at 110 MB/s on a pretty nicely sustained basis.

Is this the sort of thing you guys are seeing?

 

[slikr]

Same I rolled back to firmware 42095 and everything is fine again!

 

[codemunkee]

Same, everything released after 3.0.0.4.386_42095 causes the router to restart at random intervals and I haven't been able to pinpoint why.

 

[KingBravery]

I have use this XT8 with all mentioned firmware.

I have no issues with backhaul turn to 2.4Ghz unless my main AX86U wifi channel set to lower channel which is not supported by 5G-2 backhaul band.

I'm just using XT8 as nodes only.

Maybe the problem happen when set it as main router and use the firmware version after 42095.

Even the current released Merlin firmware still use 42095 GPL.