Release Asus XT8 - 3.0.0.4.386.43181 - 2021/06/17

[mrbill]

If all of us write a feedback on those buggy firmwares perhaps asus will search for a fix!

I'm not holding my breath. Look at all the recent reviews on Amazon and the vast majority are very unhappy. I'm sure these units are getting returned almost as fast as people are buying them, yet no fix despite the logs we sent and the returns they are getting. Here's some recent comments, all from different people on Amazon:

the fact that it keeps crashing every 24hrs is unacceptable.

When this system works it's awesome but it cuts out randomly for some reason.

Asus nodes disconnect from each other frequently and support videos are in Mandarin.

Wifi mesh network was ultrafast but not stable; internet connection dropped periodically, each time requiring a hard reset.

Right off the bat, the signal keeps disconnecting

Returned, dropped WiFi too many times

Nodes have a hard time staying “white”

Things seemed to be working ok for a few days - then I started seeing intermittent network outages

The latest stable firmware version for me is 25790 and that was released so long ago. After all this, I can't see giving Asus another dime of my money.

 

[crawfish]

On the plus side, I have no complaints about it as an AX router. I'm getting 100+ MB/sec transfers to an Intel AX200 card 25 feet away, through a wall, and I've had no connectivity issues so far. The problem appears to be with the mesh functionality and it alone.

I'd love to try 2.5 Gbps, but there's no way to reconfigure the WAN port so that I can connect my wired PC to it in order to test it. You might think Dual WAN could work, but while it lets you reassign the primary WAN port to a LAN port, it still wants you to use the WAN port for the secondary; assigning USB to it doesn't work. So it appears the 2.5 Gbps feature is only possible for nodes.

 

[Chippy_boy]

In Asus's defence (not much of a defence tbf) then at least 42095 has been rock solid for me. It runs for weeks on end without any dropped connections or glitches of any kind. That's with a main AX8 router and 3 x AX8 nodes. The whole system is fast and stable. ... so long as I stay on 3.0.0.4.386_42095

 

[camiloiv]

In Asus's defence (not much of a defence tbf) then at least 42095 has been rock solid for me. It runs for weeks on end without any dropped connections or glitches of any kind. That's with a main AX8 router and 3 x AX8 nodes. The whole system is fast and stable. ... so long as I stay on 3.0.0.4.386_42095

ROFL!
Same here, have not been able to move out of it... and believe me, I've tried...

 

[crawfish]

On the plus side, I have no complaints about it as an AX router. I'm getting 100+ MB/sec transfers to an Intel AX200 card 25 feet away, through a wall, and I've had no connectivity issues so far. The problem appears to be with the mesh functionality and it alone.

Judged solely as a router, what would one compare it to? I like the fact it doesn't look like a typical router with antennae sticking out all over and that its lights can be completely turned off. I'm kind of stuck on this idea because I've determined I don't really need the mesh functionality. Using just one of my XT8's, I've replaced my old router, and I don't see why I'd consider another AX router.

 

[RogerSC]

Judged solely as a router, what would one compare it to? I like the fact it doesn't look like a typical router with antennae sticking out all over and that its lights can be completely turned off. I'm kind of stuck on this idea because I've determined I don't really need the mesh functionality. Using just one of my XT8's, I've replaced my old router, and I don't see why I'd consider another AX router.

Yes, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the XT8 is pretty much functionally equivalent to the RT-AX88U that I also have, with no mesh functionality going on. As a single main router. Good to discover that. Could even be a scosh better than the 88U. A lot less ports on the back, which isn't a problem for me since I'm replete with network switches *smile*. And its sleek design doesn't stand out in a living room setting. Seems like Asus did a good job with this one, kind of a sleeper as a single router. The firmware could be better, but I'm doing okay with 43181 (and mesh to boot) here.

 

[ninjabob]

I have also returned to 42095 with a weekly scheduled reboot and it has been rock solid. I shall be staying with this firmware until someone here says there is something better.

 

[toaruScar]

This revision has been really stable for me so far. It has 33 days of uptime and counting, and all functions are normal. I have 4 XT8 nodes, a mounted HDD for Time Machine backup.

 

[Chippy_boy]

This revision has been really stable for me so far. It has 33 days of uptime and counting, and all functions are normal. I have 4 XT8 nodes, a mounted HDD for Time Machine backup.

Sorry, which revision?

 

[toaruScar]

Sorry, which revision?

As the title suggests, 3.0.0.4.386.43181

 

[Asclepias]

The latest stable firmware version for me is 25790 and that was released so long ago. After all this, I can't see giving Asus another dime of my money.

Same here, latest stable firmware version for me is 25790.

 

[srkonus]

 

[kamil666]

This revision has been really stable for me so far. It has 33 days of uptime and counting, and all functions are normal. I have 4 XT8 nodes, a mounted HDD for Time Machine backup.

Ping these nodes and see how many packets are dropping. Do a ping for a few hours and send a screen.

 

[toaruScar]

Ping these nodes and see how many packets are dropping. Do a ping for a few hours and send a screen.

I pinged them for 4 hours at 5Hz, below are the results.

The two with non-zero packet loss are wireless node. The 1.8% packet loss happens on the guest room router.

This is the distribution of ping's time

This is the topology. The glowing edge is wireless connection

Interestingly, after studying the packet loss, I find that thepacket loss occuring on the guest room router has an hourly pattern. Below are summary of packet loss:
Sequence 12069 to 12412, 0:40:13 after beginning, duration 68.6
Sequence 29748 to 30090, 1:39:09 after beginning, duration 68.4
Sequence 47331 to 47639, 2:37:46 after beginning, duration 61.6
Sequence 64911 to 65219, 3:36:22 after beginning, duration 61.6

 

[kamil666]

It looks good, 5GHz-2? For me, 5GHz-2 connects, but it also maintains a 2.4GHz connection with the 43184 software, but at 42095 it only keeps 5GHz-2. Unfortunately, at 43184 I am losing it.

 

[toaruScar]

It looks good, 5GHz-2? For me, 5GHz-2 connects, but it also maintains a 2.4GHz connection with the 43184 software, but at 42095 it only keeps 5GHz-2. Unfortunately, at 43184 I am losing it.

Those are both negligible packet loss.

 

[kamil666]

True, but on the old software it doesn't lose, and on the new one it does.

 

[toaruScar]

True, but on the old software it doesn't lose, and on the new one it does.

How long does this burst of packet loss last?

 

[kamil666]

A few or several seconds and the connection is restored.

 

[crawfish]

Interestingly, after studying the packet loss, I find that thepacket loss occuring on the guest room router has an hourly pattern. Below are summary of packet loss:
Sequence 12069 to 12412, 0:40:13 after beginning, duration 68.6
Sequence 29748 to 30090, 1:39:09 after beginning, duration 68.4
Sequence 47331 to 47639, 2:37:46 after beginning, duration 61.6
Sequence 64911 to 65219, 3:36:22 after beginning, duration 61.6

I and others have noted the same thing:

Release - Asus XT8 - 3.0.0.4.386.43181 - 2021/06/17

Send me link with this firmware, thanks.

www.snbforums.com