AX88U driving me crazy because it keeps crashing

[juko]

Thank you all again for your support but unfortunately nothing has helped in the end. I am still loosing internet connection, almost always when moving into areas around the house with bad wifi reception on my iPhone 12 Pro Max. I have no idea how internet connectivity and bad wifi reception can be relation as they should not be but that's the way it is, must be some weird bug of the router.
Some final remarks:
- I switched again between Merlin and official ASUS firmware and learned that on Merlin my router behaves the same as Jukos. In addition to internet connection, I will most of the times also loose complete access to the router and have to hard reboot it. All router LEDs will remain white.
- On official ASUS, only internet connection will be lost and I can still connect and reboot via the web interface. The internet LED will turn to red.

I will sell both of the routers now and move to another brand.

Yeah, same with me. It seems with official FW it behaves a bit differently (not so total hang) but with Merlin it does hang the whole router. There is clearly something wrong with the router software. Now that I've changed the Multicast Rate(Mbps) setting the router keeps crashing much more infrequently. But I think it's just due to fact that devices are not that often connected with bad quality wifi signal. I think also devices connected to guest network (2.4GHz) will cause the router to hang when the signal is weak. Last time it happened was last week once again when I was away from home for a week. As dornadeluxe wrote in the original post he had the same problem with two separate AX88U units. I'm also 100% certain mine has exact same issue. I'm really frustrated and also going to sell my both Asus routers and switch to another brand.

 

[ByteEnable]

Broadcom I2C is failing per the kernel driver:

May 5 07:06:28 kernel: bcm_i2c: bus 0: Failed to detect SFP: 100 retries exhausted

Can you post the kernel log?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Broadcom I2C is failing per the kernel driver:

May 5 07:06:28 kernel: bcm_i2c: bus 0: Failed to detect SFP: 100 retries exhausted

Can you post the kernel log?

That's a normal message for that model, ignore it.

kernel: bcm_i2c: bus 0: Failed to detect SFP: 100 retries exhausted

Hi, I couldn't find an answer online, does anyone know the source/meaning of this message on a AX88? thx kernel: bcm_i2c: bus 0: Failed to detect SFP: 100 retries exhausted

www.snbforums.com

 

[ByteEnable]

That's a normal message for that model, ignore it.

kernel: bcm_i2c: bus 0: Failed to detect SFP: 100 retries exhausted

Hi, I couldn't find an answer online, does anyone know the source/meaning of this message on a AX88? thx kernel: bcm_i2c: bus 0: Failed to detect SFP: 100 retries exhausted

www.snbforums.com

Yeah after looking closer at dmesg I have the same error messaging.

 

[elenex]

Hello, I seem to have similar issues, is there already fix for this??

 

[juko]

I'm afraid there is no fix. I had the issue happening more or less frequently for a year (it only started to happen when I started to use RT-AX88U with RT-AX58U in aimesh configuration). Tried all possible configuration changes, different firmwares, scheduled restarts etc, but nothing helped.

 

[xwildx]

I have the same issue with the rt-Ax88u
i bought a new one and the issue is still there

I found a way to prevent crashing… 1. disable wpa3 (only keep wpa2, prevent wifi to crash) and 2. disable hardware acceleration by enabling QoS, it prevent the router from freezing

To check if hardware acceleration is in you will see it in Tools

​

HW acceleration	Runner: Disabled - Flow Cache: Disabled

I have now an uptime 2 months without freezing issue

Take note that I’m geeting 380mb/sec instead of 550 mb/sec, the hardware acceleration really slow down the NAT but at least the router is not crashing anymore

 

[Morris]

I have the same issue with the rt-Ax88u
i bought a new one and the issue is still there

I found a way to prevent crashing… 1. disable wpa3 (only keep wpa2, prevent wifi to crash) and 2. disable hardware acceleration by enabling QoS, it prevent the router from freezing

To check if hardware acceleration is in you will see it in Tools

​

HW acceleration	Runner: Disabled - Flow Cache: Disabled

I have now an uptime 2 months without freezing issue

Take note that I’m geeting 380mb/sec instead of 550 mb/sec, the hardware acceleration really slow down the NAT but at least the router is not crashing anymore

Glad you worked this out. One of your clients probably has a WPA3 bug as well as the router's. That should not crash the router so Asus/Broadcom has something to fix

Enabling QOS is probably preventing a buffer overrun, again a bug for Asus/Broadcom to address.

Morris

 

[dornadeluxe]

I can also give an update here since I did not sell the routers after all. Instead I wrote the whole story to ASUS and I am in contact now with technicians in Taiwan on the issue. After asking me to telnet to re router and to enter a bunch of crazy commands and to send the outcome over they already sent me a few beta updates but for the time being it is still crashing. Keep fingers crossed that they will get this fixed... Will keep you updated.

 

[Morris]

I can also give an update here since I did not sell the routers after all. Instead I wrote the whole story to ASUS and I am in contact now with technicians in Taiwan on the issue. After asking me to telnet to re router and to enter a bunch of crazy commands and to send the outcome over they already sent me a few beta updates but for the time being it is still crashing. Keep fingers crossed that they will get this fixed... Will keep you updated.

It is great that they have escalated your case like this.

Morris

 

[xwildx]

I can also give an update here since I did not sell the routers after all. Instead I wrote the whole story to ASUS and I am in contact now with technicians in Taiwan on the issue. After asking me to telnet to re router and to enter a bunch of crazy commands and to send the outcome over they already sent me a few beta updates but for the time being it is still crashing. Keep fingers crossed that they will get this fixed... Will keep you updated.

Thanks that's good to know.

I forget to specify something. Do you guys also have PPPoE ? I have a fiber link that use PPPoE on VLAN 35 for the WAN, I always thought that maybe the issue is hardware acceleration with the PPPoE or VLAN.

The other issue I found out on the RT-AX88U is that the router itself do not support RFC4638 for the PPPoE (so it limit the MTU on PPPoE to 1492 instead of 1500 which reduce the speed a little bit). I was using previously an RT-AC3100 and it was supported. I contacted merlin from asuswrt and he told me that the internal driver from broadcom (BCM49408) need to be updated from Asus build to support RFC4638.

 

[dornadeluxe]

Quick update, I received another beta firmware (9.0.0.4_386_47642) and since a few days no more crashes (keep fingers crossed!)

 

[1p3op]

Puoi condividerlo? firmware beta (9.0.0.4_386_47642)

 

[icodehead]

Good news on Asus support solving 2 of my AX58U issues. Like many of you, II have been having crashing issues since back in July 2021. I opened a support case back in early October 2021 for this crashing issue. Later in November I also reported issues with DNS-Over-TLS (DoT) on the Guest WiFi networks that were experiencing video connection and timeout errors. The main Wifi worked fine.
Back in December I got the beta 9.0.0.4_386_46809 that fixed the crashing. Then on Feb 9th I installed beta 9.0.0.4_386_47757 which seems to have fixed the DNS-Over-TLS (DoT) Guest network issues. Fingers crossed that they release this very soon.

 

[Spartan]

Hi all,

I have some serious issues with my AX88U, which I hope someone will be able to help me with here. To be honest, I am so frustrated that I am happy to donate anyone 20€ via PayPal who's able to solve my issue.

To my configuration:
I am using an AX88U as my primary router, which sits behind an Arris TG3442DE - Vodafone Station. Unfortunately the Vodafone Station cannot be used in bridge mode in the area in Germany I live, therefore I have a double NAT configuration. WiFi on the Vodafone Station is disabled.
In addition to the AX88U, I currently also own an AX58U, which is configured as AI mesh node and connected to the AX88U via LAN.

To the problem:
My router is crashing on an regular basis, sometimes several times a day, sometimes once in two weeks. On average I would say it happens twice per week and the symptoms are always the same. By crashing, I mean that I will lose internet connection every time and approx. 50% of the time I will even not be able to connect to the router via WiFi or LAN any more at all (seems like it also depends on the timing, it will lose internet connection first and then slowly loose all other connections as well). The only thing that helps, is turning the router off and then back on again or if it still accepts local connections a soft restart will also do.
I can actually "force" the problem to happen by moving to a room in my house which has pretty bad WiFi reception and then start streaming video from my iPhone. After a few minutes, it will drop the internet and then all other connections as well - although sometimes it will continue to work just fine. Also, it is definitely not only related to streaming video, sometimes the router will just stop working during night time when everyone is asleep and there are various other scenarios as well.
Everything is working just fine when the router is not crashing, I have no performance issues or other problems.

What have I tried already:

• I have reset the whole system and started from scratch setting it up - problem persists
• I have installed both the latest Merlin and the latest official firmware on both ASUS routers - problem persists
• I have exchanged the AC87U, which I have been using previously to extend my WiFi range, against the AI mesh capable AX58U - problem persists
• I have now bought a brand new AX88U a few days ago, since in the end I believed it would be a hardware issue. I set it up as a completely new router - and the problem still persists!

Please find attached several logs that I downloaded after the crashes happened:

• June 13th, crash at approx. 20:10 (merlin) -> 1st AX88U
• June 14th, crash at approx 6:50 (merlin) -> 1st AX88U
• June 14th, crash at approx 8:24 (merlin) -> 1st AX88U
• June 14th, crash at approx 10:00 (merlin) -> 1st AX88U
• July 13th, crash at approx 7:12 (merlin) -> new AX88U
• July 17th, crash at approx 9:00 (original ASUS) -> new AX88U

Looking forward to your ideas on how to solve this!

Thank you and best regards

Oliver

Any new firmware after 384.xx (ie. 386.xx) gives me the same issue. Install firmware 3.0.0.4.384_9579 then factory reset your router, it should solve your issue.

 

[L&LD]

Suggesting to use such outdated firmware today on an internet facing device/router is preposterous.

 

[Spartan]

Suggesting to use such outdated firmware today on an internet facing device/router is preposterous.

True, but I had to do that on my AX88U otherwise the router is no good if it keeps disconnecting intermittently bringing all my attached devices down with no internet connectivity. At first I thought I have a lemon but there are a few threads on this on this forum too.

 

[L&LD]

There are many more examples of RT-AX88Us working properly with 386.7_0 than not. (There are an indicated 2,500 downloads per week on RMerlin's website, for instance).

You're the first I've heard of such issues lately, (and, that doesn't mean I haven't simply forgotten about those posts). What have you tried to get your network/router to a good/known state with the 386.7_0 firmware installed?

 

[Tech9]

I had to do that on my AX88U otherwise the router is no good

Your router may have hardware issues. Many AX88U users around with no much complaints on 386 code base firmware. The firmware you suggest is the last one on 384 code base, about 2 years old. It's missing quite a few security fixes and is not a good idea to use it in mid 2022.

 

[Spartan]

There are many more examples of RT-AX88Us working properly with 386.7_0 than not. (There are an indicated 2,500 downloads per week on RMerlin's website, for instance).

You're the first I've heard of such issues lately, (and, that doesn't mean I haven't simply forgotten about those posts). What have you tried to get your network/router to a good/known state with the 386.7_0 firmware installed?

I would have thought its a hardware issue if it wasn't for the fact that any firmware with the 384.xx works fine without those random disconnections as if someone pulled the LAN cable out. I tried every Merlin and ASUS firmware since the introduction of 386.xx and reset my router to factory many times. All settings are at default.

With that said, I have just moved to a new house and thus, changed my ISP so it's worth it I think to give 386.xx another try to rule out any issues that may have been from my previous ISP and/or the connections in my house.