AX86U nest thermostats not connecting - common problem

[Gustovier]

All,

It seems there is a common problem with our ax86u routers (and nest thermostats getting or maintaining successful connections through the router. I dont think this issue is regulated to just the AX86u router but probably other asus routers as well.

here’s a few examples:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Nest/comments/ljsix8

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...-nest-thermostat-cannot-connect-solved.61284/


And it seems there’s many others sprinkled around this forum as well. I wanted to try and see if we can combine the efforts to one singular place to help out other users. I’ve tried so many things that I’ve lost track of what I’ve done and now where to go. At one point I had it working and it stayed connected for a few days, and then stopped now I can’t access the thermostat at all from the web or iOS clients. These clients just say it’s offline. None of these issues happened until I upgraded from my failing netgear r7000p router with this new asus router.

The weird thing is that the thermostat says it’s connected, but It won’t actually make successful connections to the internet (I verify this by checking for a software update on the thermosta) and of course I can’t then control the using The iOS app or the nest website.

Has anybody got their nest thermostat to stay reliably connected to their ax86 (or similar) router ?

 

[bbunge]

All,

It seems there is a common problem with our ax86u routers (and nest thermostats getting or maintaining successful connections through the router. I dont think this issue is regulated to just the AX86u router but probably other asus routers as well.

here’s a few examples:

https://www.reddit.com/r/Nest/comments/ljsix8

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...-nest-thermostat-cannot-connect-solved.61284/


And it seems there’s many others sprinkled around this forum as well. I wanted to try and see if we can combine the efforts to one singular place to help out other users. I’ve tried so many things that I’ve lost track of what I’ve done and now where to go. At one point I had it working and it stayed connected for a few days, and then stopped now I can’t access the thermostat at all from the web or iOS clients. These clients just say it’s offline. None of these issues happened until I upgraded from my failing netgear r7000p router with this new asus router.

The weird thing is that the thermostat says it’s connected, but It won’t actually make successful connections to the internet (I verify this by checking for a software update on the thermosta) and of course I can’t then control the using The iOS app or the nest website.

Has anybody got their nest thermostat to stay reliably connected to their ax86 (or similar) router ?

Do you have the Nest on a guest network? If so and you set up guest 1 try it on guest 2 unless you have a mesh network.
What firmware are you using?
I have an Ecobee that stays connected very well on the 2.4 GHZ. Also have old G IP cams that work well.
Edit: make sure you have WPA2 enabled. WPA2/WPA3 should work. Set the 2.4 GHZ to 20 MHZ and the 5 GHZ to 80 MHZ. Disable Airtime Fairness and Universal Beamforming for both bands under WIFI/Professional

 

[Gustovier]

Do you have the Nest on a guest network? If so and you set up guest 1 try it on guest 2 unless you have a mesh network.
What firmware are you using?
I have an Ecobee that stays connected very well on the 2.4 GHZ. Also have old G IP cams that work well.
Edit: make sure you have WPA2 enabled. WPA2/WPA3 should work. Set the 2.4 GHZ to 20 MHZ and the 5 GHZ to 80 MHZ. Disable Airtime Fairness and Universal Beamforming for both bands under WIFI/Professional

I dont Use any guest networks at all, so it’s on my regular 2.4ghz. I’m using the latest Merlin beta firmware 386.2 beta 2 that I upgraded to his morning after I heard it might fix this issue, but no dice. The nest thermostat says it’s connected, but it’s not really Able to connect to anything nor can I connect to it via the nest website or iOS apps.

I have wpa2-personal. And tried setting my main 2.4ghz to 20mhz and my main 5ghz network to 80mhz (Btw should these really be set like this? Will I lose some performance, especially if I live in a condo building?). I already had airtime fairness disabled. But I had to disable universal Beamforming (will this degrade my performance?). Even with all these changes Still no luck Getting true connectivity working with the nest Although it says it’s connected to the router

 

[bbunge]

I find it interesting that Nest thermostats have had issues with WIFI going back over 5 years. One of the first recommendations is to make sure your WIFI is working... duh! Batteries, faulty batteries that is, are also mentioned as causing problems. Glad I do not have a Nest..

A bit of searching for Nest/Asus issues took me to a forum post I had commented on 5 years ago. Back then I recommended the 20 MHZ on her 2.4 GHZ band. Asus tech support had suggested that to me and in an area with lots of WIFI is recommended to minimize interference. Also choosing channel 1, 6 or 11 is recommended. None of the WIFI changes will degrade performance and may improve it. Something else is to use a simple SSID, no more than 8 letters with upper and lower case letters and numbers only. No special characters! Same with the passphrase. No special characters and keep it short. 8 to 10 characters at the most. Good also to have an app or program to see what WIFI channels are most used in your neighborhood. Pick the least used of channels 1. 6, or 11 in the 2.4 GHZ and set a fixed channel. I am back to the Asus firmware today as I discovered I can get almost 10 percent better download bandwidth. The QOS also seems to work better for me.

 

[Gustovier]

The problem is most definitely with this asus router. As soon as I go back to my old my old netgear r7000 router everything works well again with the nest. Like I said the nest first “connect” successfully to the router but it doesn’t seem like it’s able to communicate with anything in the network/internet. Thus I can’t get it to check for a software update or control it via the nest iOS app or nest website

 

[SoCalReviews]

The problem is most definitely with this asus router. As soon as I go back to my old my old netgear r7000 router everything works well again with the nest. Like I said the nest first “connect” successfully to the router but it doesn’t seem like it’s able to communicate with anything in the network/internet. Thus I can’t get it to check for a software update or control it via the nest iOS app or nest website

Not necessarily. Client devices can retain router information including that from the previous router. The AX86U has many more settings and features that your older clients may not support. There is a good chance this issue can be solved by changing your settings for 2.4Ghz including many the the recommendations already provided in this thread. As suggested also try using brand new SSID names and passwords (use alpha numeric only with less characters per previous suggestions).

Don't worry too much about 2.4Ghz performance (yes, set to 20Mhz) since many of those older client devices usually don't need or support the highest bandwidth for Wifi anyway. The same is true with Universal Beamforming... it's not really needed for those client devices. The goal here is compatibility, reliability and good range for those clients.

Your high performance devices that stream content or low latency gaming should be on 5Ghz (80Mhz is recommended and will support the maximum features for most of your client devices). You can keep most of the other advanced performance features enabled for 5Ghz.

 

[John Fitzgerald]

The problem is most definitely with this asus router. As soon as I go back to my old my old netgear r7000 router everything works well again with the nest. Like I said the nest first “connect” successfully to the router but it doesn’t seem like it’s able to communicate with anything in the network/internet. Thus I can’t get it to check for a software update or control it via the nest iOS app or nest website

Do a FACTORY RESET of the Nest when you are on the new router.
Check battery voltage in Nest: must be above 3.6v (in good state 3.9v)
Check lin voltage: should be 200mA if C wire is applying proper voltage.

 

[Gustovier]

A complete reset hasn't improved the situation..Changing SSID also doesn't improve (even with complete factory reset). The problem 100% has to be with this router, and the settings with it. I had got it working at one point with assigning it a static IP, but it would still loose ability to communicate over the internet every so often, that's when I upgraded the firmware to Merlin's latest beta and now it hasn't been able to communicate over the internet at all, again the nest says its "connected" to the router and I see it on the wifi map within the asus config screens. When I go back to the netgear router everything is rock solid again...

Any other Ideas? Maybe I'll try going back to the regular asus firmware and see if that works

 

[John Fitzgerald]

A complete reset hasn't improved the situation..Changing SSID also doesn't improve (even with complete factory reset). The problem 100% has to be with this router, and the settings with it. I had got it working at one point with assigning it a static IP, but it would still loose ability to communicate over the internet every so often, that's when I upgraded the firmware to Merlin's latest beta and now it hasn't been able to communicate over the internet at all, again the nest says its "connected" to the router and I see it on the wifi map within the asus config screens. When I go back to the netgear router everything is rock solid again...

Any other Ideas? Maybe I'll try going back to the regular asus firmware and see if that works

If you are running SCRIPTS, have you whitelisted the domains for Nest?

 

[Gustovier]

If you are running SCRIPTS, have you whitelisted the domains for Nest?

Haven't install any special add-on's.. This did work at one point, and when it did it would work for a little bit and then eventually the nest wouldn't be able to connect to anything. I would think If it was lack of whitelisting it would 100% not work all the time

 

[John Fitzgerald]

Haven't install any special add-on's.. This did work at one point, and when it did it would work for a little bit and then eventually the nest wouldn't be able to connect to anything. I would think If it was lack of whitelisting it would 100% not work all the time

Post a picture of the BATTERY Voltage and Lin Voltage.

 

[Gustovier]

 

[John Fitzgerald]

View attachment 32575

1) Was the Furnace on or off when you took the picture?
2) How many wires are attached to the mounting plate?

 

[Gustovier]

1) Was the Furnace on or off when you took the picture?
2) How many wires are attached to the mounting plate?

Furnace was off I think at the time. I think there’s 3 wires but have to check.

I definetly appreciate the help but can I ask where you are going with this? How does this have to do with getting the thermostat to work with this router, knowing that it works just fine with my older netgear router?

 

[John Fitzgerald]

Furnace was off I think at the time. I think there’s 3 wires but have to check.

I definetly appreciate the help but can I ask where you are going with this? How does this have to do with getting the thermostat to work with this router, knowing that it works just fine with my older netgear router?

I don't think the Nest is getting good power. That effects the wireless radio that has to work 24/7 even when it's not running heat, even in summer.

If you have 3 wires, were all 3 in use on the old thermostat before you installed the Nest OR were there only 2 wires and a spare that you found?

 

[Gustovier]

I don't think the Nest is getting good power. That effects the wireless radio that has to work 24/7 even when it's not running heat, even in summer.

If you have 3 wires, were all 3 in use on the old thermostat before you installed the Nest OR were there only 2 wires and a spare that you found?

That doesn’t explain why the nest works just fine with my older router. I just hooked the old router back up again and the thermostat is connecting to everything just fine.
The issue is with the router

 

[SoCalReviews]

That doesn’t explain why the nest works just fine with my older router. I just hooked the old router back up again and the thermostat is connecting to everything just fine.
The issue is with the router

It seems there are RT-AX86U owners who have their router working fine with Nest devices...

Asus RT-AX86U Review: A Terrific Router! | Dong Knows Tech

The Asus RT-AX86U AX5700 Gaming Router is a well-rounded Wi-Fi machine with stellar performance and features. At $250, it's a steal. Get it!

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This RT-AX86U owner posted below the main review in the reader comments as Anthony NG

"...Also, I have a wide range of “older” IoT devices like the Nest Dropcam, and some Lyric leak detectors, and I have not had any problems."

He also said he owned a Netgear RAX50 but had issues with it so he bought a RT-AX86U which he seems to be very happy with.

There are a lot of possibilities. If you are convinced it's the router that is the problem and not a firmware or settings issue... The problems you are experiencing with your specific Nest device model could related to compatibility issues with the AX86U or AX capable routers (including other non-Asus brands) or certain AX routers with specific hardware. You could also try searching Nest support forums or contact Nest device support to see if there is a solution for your specific Nest device.

Note: Also check your router's IP address settings and ranges since the AX86U defaults to 192.168.50.1 instead of the more common 192.168.1.1 which is what your old Netgear router probably used.

 

[jmpr]

These are my pro settings in 2'4 ghz. Set other way prevent my old devices to connect to my Asus (the 2346 is important, as per default is set to 2347, and old devices only support until 2346).

 

[John Fitzgerald]

In all this discussion there has been no mention of Resetting/Rebooting the MODEM?

I can't just switch out my routers willy nilly without resetting or unplugging my modem and letting it re-key to the new device.

Perhaps the flip flopping of Routers has caused an issue with the Nest.
When did you do a Factory Reset of the Nest when it was hooked up to the New AX86?
Yes, this is a PITA and wipes all the Nest settings.

 

[John Fitzgerald]

For anybody reading and wants to try a clean power source for converting an old 2 wire system, this works:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08BLCCZDK/?tag=snbforums-20