AX86U Dropping on Ethernet and Wifi, Different Devices

[light]

After buying this router last year to solve another lag issue, another issue has been progressively getting worse where devices are randomly and briefly dropping from the internet.

It starts off as outgoing packet loss (noticed in VoIP calls, hearing others but not being heard, and in games, cant move/rubber-banding, but everyone else moving), but will usually end in a disconnect. The duration is usually ~10 seconds.

We have Blue Ridge Cable (brctv). We have speeds of 300/12.

Fixes tried:
- updating to Merlin firmware
- optimizing settings, installing flexqos, etc.
- had cable tech change the drop on tree pole, and all connections to house and to ISP modem
- new cat6 ethernet cables

Problem not fixed. So, I then looked at the laptop I game on, the Asus M15. Optimized settings on both fresh Windows 10 and fresh Windows 11 - problem still exists on both ethernet and wifi.
Then, decided to play a real-time game on my mobile phone (S20 5G), but still getting dropped at random intervals. But at least I know it's not the laptop.

Then we moved, and with that brought a different ISP-Modem, but same ISP (brctv). Problem still exists but seems to be happening more often.

I have no clue what to do anymore.
Please help.

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @light.

It doesn't seem like you performed a full and proper reset at any time?

First, flash the firmware you want to use (RMerlin 386.4_0 is my suggestion). Now, follow the steps below to fully reset your router/network.

Fully Reset Router and Network

Use the following link to fully reset your router as indicated in the post above.

[Wireless] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset | Official Support | ASUS Global


With the router now fully reset and allowed to use its expected defaults, the following suggestions will help you configure your router to be as stable and fast as possible.

Fully Reset / Best Practice Setup / More

Almost all L&LD Links

About L&LD

 

[light]

Thanks for the welcoming.

Just read through some of the links in your post. I want to try this all later today, just a quick question: Why do I need to change the SSID? And why can I not use other characters/spaces in it's name/pass?

 

[OzarkEdge]

Thanks for the welcoming.

Just read through some of the links in your post. I want to try this all later today, just a quick question: Why do I need to change the SSID? And why can I not use other characters/spaces in it's name/pass?

If you did not reset the firmware before configuring it from scratch, try that first.

Reset FAQ
Reset Button/webUI Restore
WPS Button Hard Reset

I've never changed SSIDs to solve a WiFi issue, so feel free to save that one for last.

Not all WiFi devices/drivers are created equal, so it is advisable to construct SSIDs and passwords to be most conforming to avoid unknown conflicts. Keep it simple, alphanumeric, and avoid tricky symbols, spaces, etc.

For the one-way audio issue with VoIP, try disabling WAN\NAT Passthrough\SIP Passthrough (SIP ALG).

Also consider trying a spare router... maybe your new AX86U has a hardware issue.

OE

 

[bbunge]

The recent Asus firmware for the AX86U seems to have fixed connection issues for some folks. Merlin 386.4 or Asus FW_RT_AX86U_300438646061 works well for me.

You do need to do a Hard Factory Reset and configure manually! Especially after changing firmware from Asus to Merlin or back again. It will not hurt your router!

As for SSID and passphrase, upper/lower case letters and numbers. Do not use spaces and special characters as they can cause issues with some clients.

I recommend using Dual Band SmartConnect, WPA2-Personal, 2.4 GHz at 20 MHz Auto channel, 5 GHz at 20, 40, 80,160 MHz Auto channel, do not change any Professional settings, disable WPS. After running for few days you can set the WIFI to fixed channels that the firmware had selected. Avoid the DFS channels if you have Roku or other remotes that use WIFI.

Some may counter my use of 20, 40, 80, 160 MHz on the 5 GHz band but it will give you more flexibility if the router gets bounced by RADAR. I have found that the router will run at 80 MHz most of the time then switch up to 160 MHz when I start using my WIFI 6 (AX) devices.

 

[light]

Welcome to the forums @light.

It doesn't seem like you performed a full and proper reset at any time?

First, flash the firmware you want to use (RMerlin 386.4_0 is my suggestion). Now, follow the steps below to fully reset your router/network.

Fully Reset Router and Network

Use the following link to fully reset your router as indicated in the post above.

[Wireless] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset | Official Support | ASUS Global


With the router now fully reset and allowed to use its expected defaults, the following suggestions will help you configure your router to be as stable and fast as possible.

Fully Reset / Best Practice Setup / More

Almost all L&LD Links

About L&LD

Am I flashing before and during this whole reset? (two times?)

 

[L&LD]

Yes. Two or more times. Do it until the router responds as expected.

 

[light]

Yes. Two or more times. Do it until the router responds as expected.

Problem not solved. I don't know what else to do.

 

[L&LD]

If after using the links above properly, and all the resources on this topic that the forums offer, and the router still doesn't behave well at the suggested default settings, I world consider it defective at that point.

On a handful of routers, I have done more than 6 resets before they proved stable. (Don't give up too easily, and don't assume anything either. Everything is suspect until proven otherwise).

 

[zero7404]

i haven't examined to see if i have packet loss with the guest network, but i am having this issue where the client connected to the guest network (the first one, 2.4GHz band) will drop off and when trying to reconnect to the same guest broadcast it will not reconnect. i tried rebooting the client computer before rebooting the router and it still wasn't connecting. the only way i could get it to connect again is rebooting the router.

all other ssid and ethernet devices do not have this issue when i notice it happens. not sure if that's an issue on the router side or client side.

 

[light]

i haven't examined to see if i have packet loss with the guest network, but i am having this issue where the client connected to the guest network (the first one, 2.4GHz band) will drop off and when trying to reconnect to the same guest broadcast it will not reconnect. i tried rebooting the client computer before rebooting the router and it still wasn't connecting. the only way i could get it to connect again is rebooting the router.

all other ssid and ethernet devices do not have this issue when i notice it happens. not sure if that's an issue on the router side or client side.

Not sure. All I know is that my PC is exclusively on ethernet, and the only one on ethernet. The only specific I know is that my packet loss is OUTGOING ONLY.

 

[zero7404]

i don't know how the guest broadcasts are treated by the router in general. i do know the first one is unique and it assigns devices IP addresses that are outside of my DHCP pool. other than specifically making sure that the guest network has ZERO visibility to the rest of my LAN, i didn't see something where lease time or something else would kick a client off or reject the connection request from the client. the client has been connected to the same ssid before the only message i get when trying to connect is 'cannot connect to this network'.

i have a time schedule for the LAN device (in parental controls), but that doesn't have anything to do with failure to connect to the guest wifi. just trying to sort out if this is firmware specific or associated with my client device. it's a win10 enterprise pc. it never goes to sleep and wifi appears to work correctly on it.

 

[light]

i don't know how the guest broadcasts are treated by the router in general. i do know the first one is unique and it assigns devices IP addresses that are outside of my DHCP pool. other than specifically making sure that the guest network has ZERO visibility to the rest of my LAN, i didn't see something where lease time or something else would kick a client off or reject the connection request from the client. the client has been connected to the same ssid before the only message i get when trying to connect is 'cannot connect to this network'.

i have a time schedule for the LAN device (in parental controls), but that doesn't have anything to do with failure to connect to the guest wifi. just trying to sort out if this is firmware specific or associated with my client device. it's a win10 enterprise pc. it never goes to sleep and wifi appears to work correctly on it.

Try making a thread if you haven't yet. Maybe someone can help you out here.

 

[follower]

After buying this router last year to solve another lag issue, another issue has been progressively getting worse where devices are randomly and briefly dropping from the internet.

It starts off as outgoing packet loss (noticed in VoIP calls, hearing others but not being heard, and in games, cant move/rubber-banding, but everyone else moving), but will usually end in a disconnect. The duration is usually ~10 seconds.

We have Blue Ridge Cable (brctv). We have speeds of 300/12.

Fixes tried:
- updating to Merlin firmware
- optimizing settings, installing flexqos, etc.
- had cable tech change the drop on tree pole, and all connections to house and to ISP modem
- new cat6 ethernet cables

Problem not fixed. So, I then looked at the laptop I game on, the Asus M15. Optimized settings on both fresh Windows 10 and fresh Windows 11 - problem still exists on both ethernet and wifi.
Then, decided to play a real-time game on my mobile phone (S20 5G), but still getting dropped at random intervals. But at least I know it's not the laptop.

Then we moved, and with that brought a different ISP-Modem, but same ISP (brctv). Problem still exists but seems to be happening more often.

I have no clue what to do anymore.
Please help.

Enable IGMP Snooping.

 

[light]

Enable IGMP Snooping.

Where exactly can I find this setting?

EDIT: Found setting after some research on it, and enabled it for LAN. Was already enabled for WiFi. Will test later.

EDIT2: No difference.

 

[pb9]

FWIW, I have found that Resetting the Router(I have an Rt-ax86u too) seems to help. Reset the router and then make all the changes you need to. If you see my threads - first one was related to a driver update on the wireless card of a windows laptop. Second one was related to interference on my 160Mhz channel which I disabled (but it didn't work until the reset)

 

[follower]

Where exactly can I find this setting?

EDIT: Found setting after some research on it, and enabled it for LAN. Was already enabled for WiFi. Will test later.

EDIT2: No difference.

You didn't enable all of them.

[Wireless Router] How to set up IPTV on ASUS router? | Official Support | ASUS Global

 

[light]

You didn't enable all of them.

[Wireless Router] How to set up IPTV on ASUS router? | Official Support | ASUS Global

What do you mean "all of them"?

 

[follower]

What do you mean "all of them"?

You should setup for IPTV too if your STB is connected to your router. Follow the direction that I linked. It depends on your ISP.

 

[zero7404]

i dont have or use IPTV my router is serving computers, mobile devices, a few appliances, a nas, an xbox and a roku.

would IGMP snooping be something i can use and enable or is it applicable to IPTV applications only ?

wondering if my work computer is part of a multicast .. don’t know for sure. its also connecting to an ssid thats isolated from my lan so i’m not sure if this feature would apply to the clients connected to guest wifi.