I've had this router AX88U router for a couple years now with both stock firmware and Merlin on it.
I've been experiencing long-term (basically almost as long as I've had the router) intermittent disconnections.
For a long time, I thought it was Comcast, but after switching to a new fiber ISP, I saw the issue continue. I began analyzing ping floods between each part of the network (my PC to the router, from the router to the modem, from the router to the local google.com IP). This produced proof that the latency was being introduced between my PC and the router.
I tried this on multiple PCs at once, pinging the router locally -- and when the latency jumped, it jumped simultaneously for all three PCs (one of which was running Linux, and two of which were hardwired to the router). These latencies were anywhere between 15-800ms (again, between my PC and the router, where anything >1 is basically unacceptable). These dips occurred at all times of day. The outages appear to occur whether the firmware is stock or Merlin, so after testing that briefly on stock, I returned the router to Merlin for the extra tools. The latency also seemed more consistently low after a router reboot, so I scheduled a router reboot every morning.
I also looked at all the physical measurements of the router and noticed the temperatures were consistently over 75 C. From what I was able to find via google, this seems to be pretty normal for this router. However, in my experience, 80 C is pretty much the silicon upper threshold for processors, and it was occasionally dipping into that. So I bought an aftermarket fan that fits onto the router body, and since installing that the temperatures have dropped into the 45-55 C range pretty consistently now (holy crud they should install a fan on these things).
However, these modifications have not changed the behavior of the router. For about 10 weeks, I have continued to see the large latency spikes. However, starting this week, with no change in firmware, hardware, software, etc. that I'm aware of, the latency spikes have graduated to a full on disconnect.
My computer registers these periods as No-Internet, and then it quickly corrects itself.
I don't see how changing the firmware back to factory is going to help this issue. I assume if this issue is more widespread, others would have heard about it. I bought this very expensive router for its reputation, power and stability, but I've reached my breaking point.
Do I just have a dud? I don't really want to spend another $300 to find out they all have this issue.
I've been experiencing long-term (basically almost as long as I've had the router) intermittent disconnections.
For a long time, I thought it was Comcast, but after switching to a new fiber ISP, I saw the issue continue. I began analyzing ping floods between each part of the network (my PC to the router, from the router to the modem, from the router to the local google.com IP). This produced proof that the latency was being introduced between my PC and the router.
I tried this on multiple PCs at once, pinging the router locally -- and when the latency jumped, it jumped simultaneously for all three PCs (one of which was running Linux, and two of which were hardwired to the router). These latencies were anywhere between 15-800ms (again, between my PC and the router, where anything >1 is basically unacceptable). These dips occurred at all times of day. The outages appear to occur whether the firmware is stock or Merlin, so after testing that briefly on stock, I returned the router to Merlin for the extra tools. The latency also seemed more consistently low after a router reboot, so I scheduled a router reboot every morning.
I also looked at all the physical measurements of the router and noticed the temperatures were consistently over 75 C. From what I was able to find via google, this seems to be pretty normal for this router. However, in my experience, 80 C is pretty much the silicon upper threshold for processors, and it was occasionally dipping into that. So I bought an aftermarket fan that fits onto the router body, and since installing that the temperatures have dropped into the 45-55 C range pretty consistently now (holy crud they should install a fan on these things).
However, these modifications have not changed the behavior of the router. For about 10 weeks, I have continued to see the large latency spikes. However, starting this week, with no change in firmware, hardware, software, etc. that I'm aware of, the latency spikes have graduated to a full on disconnect.
My computer registers these periods as No-Internet, and then it quickly corrects itself.
I don't see how changing the firmware back to factory is going to help this issue. I assume if this issue is more widespread, others would have heard about it. I bought this very expensive router for its reputation, power and stability, but I've reached my breaking point.
Do I just have a dud? I don't really want to spend another $300 to find out they all have this issue.
