AX88U WiFi Dead

[Szadzik]

Hi All,

I know people have reported this issue in the past, and I have not found a solution.

Rt-AX88U keeps losing WiFi altogether. 2.4GHz LED goes off, but both bands no longer work.

Doing GUI reset, WPS reset, tyrnung either WiFi band off and on again does not help.

I have flashed original latest firmware and Merlin's Tomato, to no avail.

The 2.4GHz LED remains off. When I used another router to search for AI nodes it found the freshly reset AX88U's wireless signal, but the signal was too weak to use the 88U as a node, even though the routers were 1 meter apart.

Any ideas on what might be wrong with it? Broken WiFi card, broken antenna connector on the inside?

Any help will be greatly appreciated.

 

[Tech9]

Any ideas on what might be wrong with it?

Hard to tell for sure. I had an RT-AX88U with intermittent 2.4GHz radio, the GUI was showing Channel 0 when the radio was not working. There is no software fix, it was fixed by reflowing the radio IC. Perhaps common RoHS issue present in other consumer electronics. Thermal stress creates microcracks in solder balls under the chip and it stops working at some point. Reflowing is a temporary fix, reballing with leaded solder is permanent. Not worth doing it perhaps because a repair shop will charge more than the value of this router. I would say better look for replacement.

 

[Szadzik]

Exactly what I was afraid.

Thanks, will start looking for a replacement.

 

[Tech9]

The updated hardware and Asuswrt 5.0 compatible RT-AX88U Pro is popular model around.

 

[Szadzik]

Being torn between that and the BE88U, though double in price, BE has higher CPU/ more RAM and seems a bit more future proof assuming the 5-7-year lifetime and the fact that I upgrade my client devices quite often.

What is your opinion?

Devices:
RT-AX59U as AIMesh node
dual-link NAS
Printer
4 laptops
4 tablets
5 phones
up to 10 IoT devices

 

[Tech9]

My opinion - there is no much futureproofing with consumer electronics and don't count on 5-7 years support. All your phones/tablets and IoT devices will have no user experience improvements from Wi-Fi 7 or will never support it and this router is dual-band only with the same 5GHz band limitations. What you have on your network will be okay with $100 Gigabit dual-band router.

 

[Szadzik]

Shall I just make my AX59u my primary?

Even cosidering coverage of my 200sqm home?

P.S. I have an RP-AX56 I can useas an AIMesh node

 

[Tech9]

I wouldn't be surprised if your RT-AX59U + RP-AX56 deliver about the same user experience with normal everyday LAN/WAN activities. Both AX-class, both supported... test and see how it goes. You may not need anything else. Your NAS will be fine with Gigabit connection too. Keep it simple.

 

[Szadzik]

Any recommendations on how to test that?

 

[Tech9]

Just use it as usual. If similar as before - save your money. Speed test is not user experience. It’s just numbers.

 

[Szadzik]

Well. Left it for a couple of days without power, turned it back on and everything is back to normal

I have seen advice from people about waiting for 10 minutes after powering it off, but I waited for an hour and it was still not working ok. Now after 2 days I reflashed it back to stock firmware, reset to defaults via GUI and it continues operating as normal.

Any idea if I should continue using it and wait for another day when it dies - I work from home, so I need stable connectivity and dprefer not to spend time playing with router setup, so this is an important matter for me.

 

[Tech9]

Any idea if I should continue using it

You have a backup router. Save your RT-AX59U configuration as router and give it a chance. Replace on first signs of trouble.

 

[jksmurf]

One item I haven’t seen here is whether you have tried another PSU with the same Voltage, Amps Rating (and Polarity). Just borrow one.

I’ve seen quite a few folks with a dead PSU miraculously revive their routers. Worth a shot.

 

[Szadzik]

One item I haven’t seen here is whether you have tried another PSU with the same Voltage, Amps Rating (and Polarity). Just borrow one.

I’ve seen quite a few folks with a dead PSU miraculously revive their routers. Worth a shot.

I have not. Used the same PSU and it just started working.