Beta ASUSWRT 386 RC2 public beta with full functions AiMesh 2.0

[OzarkEdge]

Just out of curiosity, does AIMesh 2.0 passthrough "guest wifi network" information to other nodes?

I believe currently, if you have a "guest wifi network" say on 5GHz-1 with primary SSID is "SSID-1" and "guest wifi network" SSID "Guest-1" and others (Guest-2, and so on) it doesn't pass that "Guest-1" SSID to the AIMesh nodes

I was told early this year that AIMesh 2.0 would now push "guest wifi network" to all AIMesh nodes.

Yes and no...

... only 2.4 and 5.0 guest WLANs index 1 have a new setting for Sync to AiMesh Node: Router only or All. The remaining guest WLANs index 2 and 3 do not appear to have this setting.

OE

 

[semigator]

I have not enjoyed the same level of connection stability for my 2.4 mobile client while working around the property, now and before I switched to using Smart Connect. TuneIn regularly stops streaming with a connection error when normally it does not. If feels like RC2-6 has a connection management issue.

Here's an abbreviated snip from the General Log:

Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: D84:3C:0A:7A:A4 not mesh client, can't update it's ip
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: pgd = ffffffc011703000
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: [f6953510] *pgd=0000000011758003, *pud=0000000011758003, *pmd=00000000153c1003, *pte=0000000000000000
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: CPU: 0 PID: 31262 Comm: amas_lib Tainted: P O 4.1.27 #2
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: Hardware name: Broadcom-v8A (DT)
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: task: ffffffc01e86a080 ti: ffffffc013ef0000 task.ti: ffffffc013ef0000
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: PC is at 0xf6998a58
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: LR is at 0xf6996728
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: pc : [<00000000f6998a58>] lr : [<00000000f6996728>] pstate: 600f0010
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: sp : 00000000f69534f8
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: x12: 0000000000000000
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: x11: 00000000f6955ad4 x10: 0000000000000002
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: x9 : 00000000f6d82c92 x8 : 00000000f6a91000
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: x7 : 00000000f6955b20 x6 : 00000000f6a91cc0
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: x5 : 00000000f6a91cc0 x4 : 00000000f69535c0
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: x3 : 00000000000f7db0 x2 : 00000000f6955ae8
Oct 18 12:06:15 kernel: x1 : 00000000f6d82c92 x0 : 00000000fbad8004
<snip>
Oct 18 12:07:08 rc_service: amas_lib 31300:notify_rc restart_firewall
Oct 18 12:58:03 kernel: eth4 (Ext switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 11) Link DOWN.
Oct 18 12:58:06 kernel: eth4 (Ext switch port: 3) (Logical Port: 11) Link UP 1000 mbps full duplex
Oct 18 13:15:09 roamast: determine candidate node [D4:5D:64:7B:5F:61](rssi: -52dbm) for client [90:C78:90:85:59](rssi: -68dbm) to roam
Oct 18 13:15:09 roamast: Roam a client [90:C78:90:85:59], status [0]
Oct 18 13:15:10 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(469): eth5: Deauth_ind 90:C78:90:85:59, status: 0, reason: Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3)
Oct 18 13:15:10 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(486): eth5: Disassoc 90:C78:90:85:59, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8)
Oct 18 13:23:31 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(505): eth5: Auth 90:C78:90:85:59, status: Successful (0)
Oct 18 13:23:31 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(534): eth5: Assoc 90:C78:90:85:59, status: Successful (0)
Oct 18 13:26:48 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(486): eth5: Disassoc 90:C78:90:85:59, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8)
Oct 18 13:26:48 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(505): eth5: Auth 90:C78:90:85:59, status: Successful (0)
Oct 18 13:26:48 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(534): eth5: Assoc 90:C78:90:85:59, status: Successful (0)
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: 90:C78:90:85:59 not mesh client, can't update it's ip
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: pgd = ffffffc0117a6000
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: [f77cf510] *pgd=0000000009e0d003, *pud=0000000009e0d003, *pmd=000000001163b003, *pte=0000000000000000
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: CPU: 0 PID: 18021 Comm: amas_lib Tainted: P O 4.1.27 #2
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: Hardware name: Broadcom-v8A (DT)
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: task: ffffffc017671480 ti: ffffffc010d4c000 task.ti: ffffffc010d4c000
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: PC is at 0xf6f2ca58
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: LR is at 0xf6f2a728
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: pc : [<00000000f6f2ca58>] lr : [<00000000f6f2a728>] pstate: 600f0010
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: sp : 00000000f77cf4f8
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: x12: 0000000000000000
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: x11: 00000000f77d1ad4 x10: 0000000000000002
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: x9 : 00000000f7316c92 x8 : 00000000f7025000
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: x7 : 00000000f77d1b20 x6 : 00000000f7025cc0
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: x5 : 00000000f7025cc0 x4 : 00000000f77cf5c0
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: x3 : 00000000000f7db0 x2 : 00000000f77d1ae8
Oct 18 13:26:48 kernel: x1 : 00000000f7316c92 x0 : 00000000fbad8004
<snip>
Oct 18 13:54:01 rc_service: amas_lib 18035:notify_rc restart_firewall

I've made bold some suspicious entries... the first D84:3C:0A:7A:A4 is a SONY AVR wired to the root node... the second 90:C78:90:85:59 is my 2.4 mobile client. There is only one weak 2.4 ch9 20MHz WiFi signal overlapping my ch11 signals.

OE

@OzarkEdge looks like you have the same tainted amas_lib process I reported. This has happened in the logs on all the beta RC versions for my main RT-AC86U. I don't think roaming assistant even works with beta, so I turned it off hoping it would help, but it didn't. I had to go back to production code.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I had to go back to production code.

I considered that but the burden is bearable so looking forward to RC2-7.

OE

 

[Moabdave]

With 56 pages of replies (and counting), I don't know if this will even rise above the noise. But I'll just add my experience with RC6. I'm done. Going back to production code. Haven't had a working AiMesh for more than a few minutes before something happens, a freeze, whatever. Here's the setup:
Main router: GT-AC5300
2 nodes:AC-88U, Ethernet backhaul to both.


The symptoms were different at first, but after I did a factory reset on all 3 routers with RC6, the usual course is I load the configuration file, loads fine, search for the 2 Aimesh routers. Sometimes they are accepted as AInodes, sometimes not. If the first is accepted, it is lost after accepting the 2nd node. In no case has the AImesh nodes survived with their configuration intact after a reboot. The 2 nodes become zombies, unresponsive (sometimes not even the LAN ports work) Waited for over 10 minutes in some cases, but AIMesh never recovers. It was working fine with production. so back I go. Darn, i was hoping to have guest network on the AImesh.

 

[OzarkEdge]

The symptoms were different at first, but after I did a factory reset on all 3 routers with RC6, the usual course is I load the configuration file, ...

If you reset and then restored a saved configuration, you negated the benefit of performing a factory default reset.

OE

 

[Moabdave]

If you reset and then restored a saved configuration, you negated the benefit of performing a factory default reset.

OE

I only did that as I have a number of devices that need to keep their static IP, otherwise a bunch of stuff breaks. Is there a way of just importing the static ip list from the "old configuration" to the "new configuration"?

 

[OzarkEdge]

I did that as I have a number of devices that need to keep their static IP, otherwise a bunch of stuff breaks. Is there a way of just importing the static ip list from the "old configuration" to the "new configuration"?

I understand. I think some here have discussed such salvage tools/scripts, but I have not paid attention since I don't use any manually-assigned IPs. I do assign two static IPs, one to the router and one to a printer.

If you can, I would jettison all but the ones you really need to maintain, and re-enter them after you get your AiMesh working. Or just skip the beta test and return to released firmware that tolerates your saved configuration for now.

What I'd like to know is why does it seem like many of my clients always get the same IP from the router DHCP server? I don't even need to assign them... they just keep getting the same ones even after the router gets purged and upgraded umpteen times. Strange!

Back to your issue... when weirdness prevails, the first troubleshooting step is a clean install... reset and then configure from scratch. It's not popular advice.

OE

 

[dave14305]

What I'd like to know is why does it seem like many of my clients always get the same IP from the router DHCP server? I don't even need to assign them... they just keep getting the same ones even after the router gets purged and upgraded umpteen times. Strange!

dnsmasq hands out IPs based on a hash of the client’s MAC address, so all else being equal, it will always hand out the same IP to the same client.

 

[OzarkEdge]

dnsmasq hands out IPs based on a hash of the client’s MAC address, so all else being equal, it will always hand out the same IP to the same client.

That's cool, but...

Before the AiMesh constant router upheaval, I use to manually-assign a few IPs to atas starting at 192.168.1.11,12,... so I could use the same shortcut to browse to their webUI. Then I stopped bothering. But those shortcuts keep working... those atas keep getting the same IPs. 192.168.1.11 is the beginning of the IP pool, but I still don't understand it.

OE

 

[Moabdave]

If you reset and then restored a saved configuration, you negated the benefit of performing a factory default reset.

OE

FYI, Just because of this quote, I tried one more time. Upgrade all 3 routers to RC6, factory reset, no config import, start from scratch. No dice. Must be something about my setup that hasn't been tested by Asus. Thanks anyways, though. Now I am going back to production. However, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Per the original post on page 1, RC5 was not released for the 88U due to bugs. So I guess they've had problems with that model and some are still around in RC6

 

[Moabdave]

dnsmasq hands out IPs based on a hash of the client’s MAC address, so all else being equal, it will always hand out the same IP to the same client.

That's been my experience most of the time. But I've got a Windows 10 laptop, that every once in a while, gets a different IP, and it's important that one keeps its IP, so I had to manually enter that one in the routing table.

 

[Maverick009]

Ok so trying out RC2-6 for a 2nd go around with the Asus GT-AX11000 and RT-AC3100 routers. This time I did more fine controlling and did a clean firmware install. Everything seems to be much better this time. I have the 5Ghz channels locked at 80Mhz channels right now, as I was noticing some stuttering on TV playback with the once HDHomeRun Prime 3 device I have. Not all devices support 160Mhz channels or AX wireless and the ASUS RT-3100 is also not an AC Wave 2 router, so could not go all out in full potential bandwidth/ Even at 80Mhz Channel for the 2nd 5ghz channel that is the dedicated backhaul, I get Transmit Rate 585Mbps and Receive Rate 702Mbps maxing out around 877.5Mbps. I also have 2 Apple TV 4 Gen devices on the backhaul 5Ghz Channel too, as I was keeping mainly the Streaming devices together, with only exception right now being the Nvidia Shield 2019 connected the main 5Ghz channel with the rest of the devices, due to its latest update giving a few minor issues and I was troubleshooting stuttering with Channels App, from the HDHomeRun.

So far everything is working nicely this go around with a few minor hiccups, such as the AiMesh Node (RT-AC3100) connects to the AX11000 on the 2.4Ghz channel after maybe a reboot or major configuration and eventually finds its way back the dedicated 5Ghz backhaul. I have also moved DHCP duties to my Ubuntu VOIP Server, as of tonight, and everything is ticking along nicely. My Main gaming computer, is running on the 2.5Gbps jack at the moment too, and I have Link Aggregation turned on for both the WAN/LAN4 for my Netgear MultiGig Modem, allowing be to even go slightly beyond the 1Gbps internet speed I get with Comcast, hitting around 1.175Gbps (I have noticed slight issues here and there with WAN Link Aggregation, where once I reboot the router, I get full speed again. Very rare, but looks like a minor bug), and Link Aggregation/Bonding of LAN Port 1 and 2 going to my 24 Port TD-Link T1600G-28TS Switch.

Everything so far seems to be working and AiMesh 2.0 may be the real gem this go around, as it gives more fine control over the nodes, and allows you to see connections speeds and more. The other parts of the routers, seems to be more bug fixes and consistency updates. There may be other updates to the RC that I am missing, that may help with speed/stability/performance, but this update is shaping to be real nice. I do recommend a clean wipe/use Recue Mode to update firmware and make sure nothing carries over from previous firmware that may cause issues.

Update 1: So far everything for most part seems to be running well. I did have to take my dedicated DHCP server offline until I have more time to look at it over the weekend, as at one point last night, devices could connect to the wireless router, but no IP addresses were being assigned. May be a configuration error on my side, but I do not have time to thoroughly look at it, so Router is back to dedicated DHCP server too. The bigger issue I seem to be seeing is that Link Aggregation with the WAN continues to have problems after awhile where only the WAN will stay active and the 2nd link goes down, cutting my speed from the achieved speeds of around 1175Mbps to 800-949Mbps speed. May not be much speed lost, but still should not be as unstable as it seems to be. A reboot of the router seems to fix it immediately. Will test it more.

 

[LimJK]

I only did that as I have a number of devices that need to keep their static IP, otherwise a bunch of stuff breaks. Is there a way of just importing the static ip list from the "old configuration" to the "new configuration"?

Moabdave,

This is normally what I do, as I like to do Factory Reset for each new Firmware I installed. I am lazy, I have about 40+ devices that I manually assign IP address. The assumption here is there is a Thumbdrive (with name "ASUS") plugged into one of the USB port of the AiMesh Router. I saved about 10 other NVRAM items. I normally take about 15-30 minutes to setup my AiMesh network from scratch, hope it is useful for you.

First item, saved the DHCP_staticlist, Second item saved the icons you assigned to each device. I think these are the 2 most time consuming items.

———————————————————————————————————————————-
Save values:
———————————————————————————————————————————-
nvram get dhcp_staticlist > /tmp/mnt/ASUS/dhcplist.txt
nvram get custom_clientlist > /tmp/mnt/ASUS/custom_clientlist.txt
cp -r /jffs/usericon /tmp/mnt/ASUS/

———————————————————————————————————————————-
Restore values:
———————————————————————————————————————————-
cd /mnt/ASUS
nvram set dhcp_staticlist="`cat /tmp/mnt/ASUS/dhcplist.txt`"
nvram set custom_clientlist="`cat /tmp/mnt/ASUS/custom_clientlist.txt`"
cp -r /tmp/mnt/ASUS/usericon /jffs/
nvram commit && reboot

Edit: I added "custom_clientlist" that maps USER DEFINE DEVICE NAME to MAC ADDRESS, whereas the "dhcp_staticlist" maps MAC ADDRESS to USER ASSIGNED IP ADDRESS.

 

[drabisan]

I only did that as I have a number of devices that need to keep their static IP, otherwise a bunch of stuff breaks. Is there a way of just importing the static ip list from the "old configuration" to the "new configuration"?

nvram set dhcp_staticlist=<00:11:32:29:B9:44>192.168.1.12><00:11:32:6C:28:44>192.168.1.13>

nvram commit

and that's all.

I found it easier to save the output of nvram show for such reasons.
There is an option for everything in that file. You just need to understand the format and use it.
Same can be used for port forwarding.
Of course, you have to enable ssh to access the router.

 

[sanke1]

Just an update to my own RC-6 experience: I now have—knock on wood—4+ days of uptime with the following config: GT-AC5300 (main), RT-AC68U (wired node), Blue Cave (wireless node)..........
On the whole, I'm finding RC-6 to be release-worthy.

Small correction, it is RC2 Beta 6 and not RC6. Hehe.

 

[LimJK]

Small correction, it is RC2 Beta 6 and not RC6. Hehe.

according to the #1 post, it is RC2-6

 

[sanke1]

according to the #1 post, it is RC2-6

My bad that I overexplained what 6 meant.

 

[karma]

My bad that I overexplained what 6 meant.

firmwaresplaining! tsk tsk... ;P

 

[OzarkEdge]

FYI, Just because of this quote, I tried one more time. Upgrade all 3 routers to RC6, factory reset, no config import, start from scratch. No dice. Must be something about my setup that hasn't been tested by Asus. Thanks anyways, though. Now I am going back to production. However, I guess I shouldn't be too surprised. Per the original post on page 1, RC5 was not released for the 88U due to bugs. So I guess they've had problems with that model and some are still around in RC6

When you try RC2-7 , take more time configuring it... might help to discover where it goes south.

OE

 

[gfondeur]

I only did that as I have a number of devices that need to keep their static IP, otherwise a bunch of stuff breaks. Is there a way of just importing the static ip list from the "old configuration" to the "new configuration"?

Yeah, a spreadsheet