ASUS XT8 all of a sudden weak mesh node signal

[maximillion82]

Hi all,
my ASUS XT8 always had a great signal -72db. All of a sudden the signal quality deteriorated to weak (-59db). I didn’t change anything, not the firmware, no settings were changed and I didn’t move the router or the node. Does anyone have an idea how to fix this. I connected them with a dedicated 5 GHz wifi connection.

 

[L&LD]

-59dB is a great (better) signal.

 

[maximillion82]

-59dB is a great (better) signal.

Thank you for the rely. Sorry, I checked again it's -56dB. It's weird because the router complains that it's a weak signal.

 

[Raven76]

Probably the router has switched to 2.4 GHz backhaul: stronger signal, but marked as weak by Asus app and web interface.
If you are using firmware 43170, go back to 42095.

 

[maximillion82]

Probably the router has switched to 2.4 GHz backhaul: stronger signal, but marked as weak by Asus app and web interface.
If you are using firmware 43170, go back to 42095.

Now all of a sudden it says -59 and it’s green again. Maybe it dropped to 2.4GHz. Why downgrade the firmware? Is there a know issue?

 

[casual1060]

Probably the router has switched to 2.4 GHz backhaul: stronger signal, but marked as weak by Asus app and web interface.
If you are using firmware 43170, go back to 42095.

Hello,

@Raven76, Could you explain how to go back to 42095?

I have observed similar behavior to @L&LD. The weak connection appears to correspond to 2.4 GHz backhaul. But I don't think that means the 2.4 GHz signal is stronger. I find I cannot get the nodes to join the mesh at 5 GHz backhaul even if I put them right next to the primary router. The WiFi speeds seem reduced as well. This is new behavior: the system worked well for the first coupe of weeks, with strong "green" connections and high WiFi speeds. Now the WiFi speeds are reduced (from 200-300 mbps to 20-100 mbps). Plus the links are flaky, nodes keep dropping off. It doesn't seem to be working right. I suspect the firmware.

Thanks.

 

[Raven76]

Now all of a sudden it says -59 and it’s green again. Maybe it dropped to 2.4GHz. Why downgrade the firmware? Is there a know issue?

Yep... with my XT8s the latest firmware caused switches to 2.4Ghz backhaul

Hello,

@Raven76, Could you explain how to go back to 42095?

With manual uploading firmware (from web gui)

 

[maximillion82]

Hello,

@Raven76, Could you explain how to go back to 42095?

I have observed similar behavior to @L&LD. The weak connection appears to correspond to 2.4 GHz backhaul. But I don't think that means the 2.4 GHz signal is stronger. I find I cannot get the nodes to join the mesh at 5 GHz backhaul even if I put them right next to the primary router. The WiFi speeds seem reduced as well. This is new behavior: the system worked well for the first coupe of weeks, with strong "green" connections and high WiFi speeds. Now the WiFi speeds are reduced (from 200-300 mbps to 20-100 mbps). Plus the links are flaky, nodes keep dropping off. It doesn't seem to be working right. I suspect the firmware.

Thanks.

As far as I know.
Go to https://www.asus.com/Networking-IoT...i-Systems/ASUS-ZenWiFi-AX-XT8-/HelpDesk_BIOS/

download the firmware.
on the computer login to the router GUI, under settings go to firmware update. Select manual update (or something similar - I’m on the phone right now and can’t see the exact details) and select the firmware you downloaded.
after that it’s recommended to run a factory reset.
ASUS always recommends to backup the setting before performing an update. Personally I just reconfigure the router myself, but you can also backup restor I think.

 

[asususer2008]

I have been having issues too. I am now downgraded per the suggestions here. My nodes drop at random. I have a 1gb fiber connection and before I just started this downgrade problem I was only getting 50mb down on wifi off one of the nodes with an Apple TV that is connected to it the node with ethernet. it seems something is wrong with the 160mhz channels on this firmware and possibly the one right before it. it also will not let me manually select the channel after telling it to only use 160mhz, using auto does not seem to choose the best channel.

 

[casual1060]

Thank you @maximillion82 and @Raven76 for the helpful instructions on downloading the previous 42095 firmware. I've downloaded the file and will try that next.

(No surprise, a complete reinitialization of every node, plus switching out the primary node for one of the others, did not do any good. And so it seems pretty clear it's not a hardware *or* settings configuration issue. Firmware seems a plausible answer as the units doubtless came pre-loaded with an older firmware, and then once I put them online, they eventually upgraded automatically to 43170, which was released in mid-May 2021. I bought my units right around mid-May.)

But, I'm curious, @asususer2008, it's not clear from your comment, did the downgrade work? Also, as per previous comments, is there a way to stop ASUS from automatically upgrading to the latest firmware when it sees mine is out of date?

 

[casual1060]

Update: I downgraded the firmware for all 5 of my routers to 42095. Did a hard reset of all 5 to factory settings, then rebuilt the mesh network from scratch. The first node I added to the primary router - perfect. It used the 5 GHz - 2 frequency for the backhaul, and the signal quality was "great" (green). I moved it to an adjacent room - still green. So I thought - aha! I'm on the right track.

Then I added another node, and the network reverted to the previous behavior - even while the second node was in the same room as the primary router - both the second and first nodes reverted to 2.4 GHz uplink, and showed as yellow. I finished building the network, and it is still running entirely with the 2.4GHz frequency for the backhaul. The firmware is still 42095.

One observation is that the 5 GHz - 2 network seems to be completely unused according to the network stats.

So, not a firmware issue...though it is interesting the initial connection "worked".

Thoughts...? I'm left wondering if there is a way to force the system to use the 5 GHz -2 channel for the backhaul. Something to do with the channel bandwidth options...?

 

[casual1060]

Well, the system is gradually moving to 5GHz backhaul with great signal quality. Just one node left that is on the 2.4GHz backhaul. I guess the firmware downgrade worked! Thank you all.

 

[Mny]

So the best solution for me is move the node close to the other, about 3 ft and have it connect to a good speed, then move it back. This happens to me once in a while. I live in a big apartment building and there’s a lot of interference.