Asus Zenwifi XT12 blinking blue light

[rsnhakan]

Hi,

Am I doing something wrong? I'm using wifi backhaul for my 2nd node. I had the same problem with the blinking blue light after a few days of usage with my XT8 and now with my brand new XT12: same problem after 3 days of usage.

The 2nd node is crashing (which is connected by wifi backhaul).

I did install Merlin it's firmware to try that one if it has the same problem. Does Merlin recognise this problem with the official FW?

 

[DJones]

Hi,

Am I doing something wrong? I'm using wifi backhaul for my 2nd node. I had the same problem with the blinking blue light after a few days of usage with my XT8 and now with my brand new XT12: same problem after 3 days of usage.

The 2nd node is crashing (which is connected by wifi backhaul).

I did install Merlin it's firmware to try that one if it has the same problem. Does Merlin recognise this problem with the official FW?

Can you take a picture of what blue light is blinking? Different lights blinking can indicate different status’s.

 

[rsnhakan]

Can you take a picture of what blue light is blinking? Different lights blinking can indicate different status’s.

Well I did reset everything for the 50th time. But it's a very fast blinking blue light which indicates that the router can't communicate with the main router. It makes it crash. The blinking blue light does not go over after a reboot.

 

[DJones]

Well I did reset everything for the 50th time. But it's a very fast blinking blue light which indicates that the router can't communicate with the main router. It makes it crash. The blinking blue light does not go over after a reboot.

I’m not really sure I can help with wifi backhaul disconnection Rmerlin will tell you it’s all proprietary and he doesn’t change anything with mesh except for update the SDK when it changes per version.

What maybe I would suggest is looking into getting a power line Ethernet adapter, I’ve occasionally had disconnections after reboots using wifi mesh and the node not reconnecting honestly it’s a pain to have to reset. A cheap power line adapter was my solution to not have to have a walk of shame to the nearest Ethernet port.

The power line can offer Ethernet back haul also in the event wifi goes down. Most power lines only do 300Mbps up to 2Gbe depending on model, but I still prioritize the wifi on my GT-AX11000. So far I haven’t had any disconnections from the node except for when I’m doing testing on my main router and reboot half a dozen times, but conditions may very due to signal strength.

 

[rsnhakan]

I’m not really sure I can help with wifi backhaul disconnection Rmerlin will tell you it’s all proprietary and he doesn’t change anything with mesh except for update the SDK when it changes per version.

What maybe I would suggest is looking into getting a power line Ethernet adapter, I’ve occasionally had disconnections after reboots using wifi mesh and the node not reconnecting honestly it’s a pain to have to reset. A cheap power line adapter was my solution to not have to have a walk of shame to the nearest Ethernet port.

The power line can offer Ethernet back haul also in the event wifi goes down. Most power lines only do 300Mbps up to 2Gbe depending on model, but I still prioritize the wifi on my GT-AX11000. So far I haven’t had any disconnections from the node except for when I’m doing testing on my main router and reboot half a dozen times, but conditions may very due to signal strength.

That's a good option to consider.

My question was if Merlin did make some changes to this AiMesh that it will not disconnect. I did install RMerlin this morning, but my 2nd node stays orange/yellow and speed is far more slow than official.
So I have to return my XT12 and keep using my XT8 with the only and one beta FW Asus ever released which is stable.

 

[DJones]

That's a good option to consider.

My question was if Merlin did make some changes to this AiMesh that it will not disconnect. I did install RMerlin this morning, but my 2nd node stays orange/yellow and speed is far more slow than official.
So I have to return my XT12 and keep using my XT8 with the only and one beta FW Asus ever released which is stable.

I’m afraid no he hasn’t made any changes. All of the wireless drivers he gets are stock Broadcom SDK’s that are proprietary meaning he doesn’t change them only updates them to whatever the latest drivers ASUS gives him. Asuswrt-Merlin is more about unlocking or adding additional Linux features, Entware, security patches, etc. AI mesh falls under one of these closed source proprietary things from ASUS, unfortunately nothing he can do about that.

Projects like Openwrt or DD-WRT take it a step further and create custom wireless drivers or modify them, but device support is limited to whatever they offer, which is usually alway in beta and potentially unstable which can permanently brick your device. (Learned and killed many routers from experience lol)

 

[rsnhakan]

I’m afraid no he hasn’t made any changes. All of the wireless drivers he gets are stock Broadcom SDK’s that are proprietary meaning he doesn’t change them only updates them to whatever the latest drivers ASUS gives him. Asuswrt-Merlin is more about unlocking or adding additional Linux features, Entware, security patches, etc. AI mesh falls under one of these closed source proprietary things from ASUS, unfortunately nothing he can do about that.

Projects like Openwrt or DD-WRT take it a step further and create custom wireless drivers or modify them, but device support is limited to whatever they offer, which is usually alway in beta and potentially unstable which can permanently brick your device. (Learned and killed many routers from experience lol)

What I am asking myself: Asus sells these devices with some kind of marketing. But for me it’s not working. The 2nd node keeps crashing/losing connection. And my router and node are pretty much close to each other (8 meters with a little wall and door between them).

 

[DJones]

What I am asking myself: Asus sells these devices with some kind of marketing. But for me it’s not working. The 2nd node keeps crashing/losing connection. And my router and node are pretty much close to each other (8 meters with a little wall and door between them).

I think you’d have to see in your wireless log under the radio that is the wireless backhaul what the reported signal strength is to make sure it’s not a signal issue. And see if other neighbours aren’t using that spectrum also. The wireless backhaul usually is 80 width and usually at the end of the 5ghz spectrum maybe around channel 149. 5ghz doesn’t penetrate walls very well so usually it doesn’t go as far but if you live in a apartment complex I can see some issues (not saying you do). Make sure your backhaul under professional wireless on the main router is set to performance power. You can also adjust the settings here’s mine for reference.

What I think your issue is with AI mesh is mesh network discovery for whatever reason the main router forgets the node. At least that’s what I notice when my mesh screws up. Sometimes however I can still see my node connected under wireless log but mesh just doesn’t work and doesn’t show under AImesh. It’s weird. But again I haven’t had nearly as many issues since I got the wired backhaul powerline. Obviously it’s like well now I need another thing that could just work stand-alone all on its own, but since wireless bridging is always going to be unreliable compared to Ethernet it’s a nice fallback.

It could also be something else, but I’m not a expert on AImesh I just know it’s problematic. Personally I would have bought myself a ubiquity mesh system, but I already owned ASUS routers I went that route instead.

 

[OzarkEdge]

The 2nd node keeps crashing/losing connection. And my router and node are pretty much close to each other (8 meters with a little wall and door between them).

24ft is not very far apart. Have you tried adjusting the router/node location/orientation and spreading them farther apart to test wireless backhaul connection stability?

Also, find your backhaul connection details in the Wireless Log to know more about their quality (NSS, RSSI, Tx rate). Their MACs will be of the device and their Number of Spatial Streams will reflect the number of antennas in play, typically NSS 3 or 4.

OE

 

[rsnhakan]

I think you’d have to see in your wireless log under the radio that is the wireless backhaul what the reported signal strength is to make sure it’s not a signal issue. And see if other neighbours aren’t using that spectrum also. The wireless backhaul usually is 80 width and usually at the end of the 5ghz spectrum maybe around channel 149. 5ghz doesn’t penetrate walls very well so usually it doesn’t go as far but if you live in a apartment complex I can see some issues (not saying you do). Make sure your backhaul under professional wireless on the main router is set to performance power. You can also adjust the settings here’s mine for reference.

What I think your issue is with AI mesh is mesh network discovery for whatever reason the main router forgets the node. At least that’s what I notice when my mesh screws up. Sometimes however I can still see my node connected under wireless log but mesh just doesn’t work and doesn’t show under AImesh. It’s weird. But again I haven’t had nearly as many issues since I got the wired backhaul powerline. Obviously it’s like well now I need another thing that could just work stand-alone all on its own, but since wireless bridging is always going to be unreliable compared to Ethernet it’s a nice fallback.

It could also be something else, but I’m not a expert on AImesh I just know it’s problematic. Personally I would have bought myself a ubiquity mesh system, but I already owned ASUS routers I went that route instead.

My settings are at stock settings, so also set to Performance.

After restoring the set-up everything works amazing. Even at my 2nd node I get 900 Mbps (I have a 1Gbit ethernet sub.). So that's a loss of 100Mbps for what I can put my fingers in fire, amazing.

@OzarkEdge yes I did. Doesn't really matter where I put it. Connection is stable. Works amazing. But after a few days or sometimes a week or so the 2nd node is crashing. When it's working I get performance likewise ethernet connection.