Dual WAN issues RT-86ACU

[OJay]

Hi, I had been using dual WAN for the last month or so. I am on an RT-AC86U and had been on 386.3_2.

I have an fttp gigabit line setup with pppoe and a 500mb cable docsis line. It was in a load balancing setup to essentially stick most devices to the cable line and those that I chose were put onto the gigabit line.

The issue I was having was that I was getting random really bad latency spikes on the gigabit line, ( I'd usually notice while playing a game, I'd get a huge ping spike for 5-20 seconds then things would return to normal).

I had justassumed this was a problem with the gigabit line and for reasons ( I am in another country in which I don't speak the language and my partner is not very tech savvy, so speaking to tech support didn't really work. Though they said from what they could see everything seemed fine.) I couldnt do much troubleshooting on the ISP side. I was also getting oddly long buffering on YouTube videos above 1080p considering my download speed but I assumed that was some kind of throttling on the yt side

For the last week or so I removed dual lan and have been using only the gigabit line. Since then all of the issues have disappeared. Apologies for the wall of text but the question I want to ask is, was there something wrong with my setup? (Image attached) or is it more likely that I was just pushing my poor router too hard (I have a few things installed like diversion, connmon etc.)

Any insights would be much appreciated. Also if you need any more info just let me know.

Thanks

 

[Tech9]

was there something wrong with my setup?

Dual WAN doesn't work property in Asuswrt. Just use the better ISP connection in single WAN configuration. If you really need both ISP connections, you have to use different router with proper Multi-WAN. Many threads about Dual WAN issues and possible solutions on SNB forums, search around for ideas.

 

[OJay]

Ah fair enough, I did not realise. I had read a number of threads with problems but didn't really put 2 and 2 together to realise the pattern.

I don't really "need" to use both connections and since I noticed the correlation between single wa be and no connection issues I have been using it in single wan mode. But since I have both (and will continue to have both) I thought I could at least make use of both of them and horde the gigabit line (nobody else in my household would ever need such power).

If I did want to pursue the multi wan route though, are there any well regarded multi wan routers I should look at? Or should i maybe be using this as an excuse to look at pfsense.

Thanks for your answer!

 

[Tech9]

MikroTik (different models), Peplink Balance (multiple), Ubiquiti ER series, TP-Link SafeStream ER605/ER7206, Cisco RV34x series, Netgate firewalls... from SMB offers and on acceptable price. From home routers the best one I found is Synology rt2600ac. I personally use Cisco RV345P in Dual WAN in my business and Netgate 5100 at home (there is a better Netgate 6100 now). If your place is a business - get better equipment. If it's a home - use the better ISP. Dual WAN in Asuswrt just makes things worse. Failover is also not working reliably, in case you don't know yet.

 

[FernandoF]

Hi @OJay. I'm not an expert, but I've been running a similar set-up (RT-AC86U, 386.3_2, ISP1=Fiber, ISP2=Cable) for 2-3 months with very good results. I don't have anything such as Diversion, etc. installed though. If you're still willing to investigate, please let me highlight a few differences I see between your screenshot and mine (attached below):

1. It's not clear whether you've upgraded to 386.4. For now, I've decided to stay on 386.3_2 and wait for 386.5
2. My most reliable connection (Fiber) is set as the Primary WAN (connected to the WAN port), and Cable is set as the Secondary WAN (connected to the LAN port 1). From your description, I suspect you may be doing the opposite. Would you consider fully switching that? It shouldn't matter, but...
3. My Load Balance Configuration is set to 9:1. Would you consider changing that? It shouldn't matter since you're manually assigning each portion of your network to either the Primary or the Secondary WAN, but...
4. I don't have the "Auto Network Detection" section that is seen in your screenshot. I could be wrong, but my understanding is that's only displayed in Failover mode, and not in Load Balance mode. This is really strange and may indicate some corruption of your settings. Would you consider fully "Resetting to Factory Defaults with Initialize" and manually re-entering your settings from scratch? Or at least disabling, rebooting, and re-enabling Dual WAN/Load Balance to see whether that section goes away?
5. Could you please post the output of the following command over SSH?

ip rule

Thanks!

 

[OJay]

MikroTik (different models), Peplink Balance (multiple), Ubiquiti ER series, TP-Link SafeStream ER605/ER7206, Cisco RV34x series, Netgate firewalls... from SMB offers and on acceptable price. From home routers the best one I found is Synology rt2600ac. I personally use Cisco RV345P in Dual WAN in my business and Netgate 5100 at home (there is a better Netgate 6100 now). If your place is a business - get better equipment. If it's a home - use the better ISP. Dual WAN in Asuswrt just makes things worse. Failover is also not working reliably, in case you don't know yet.

Thanks for the suggestions, I'll take note of them if I decide to go down that root. I'm a home user so the use of both lines isn't critical. I just decided to attemp to use both as the cable line will be sticking around for the foreseeable future until the end of the contract.

Hi @OJay. I'm not an expert, but I've been running a similar set-up (RT-AC86U, 386.3_2, ISP1=Fiber, ISP2=Cable) for 2-3 months with very good results. I don't have anything such as Diversion, etc. installed though. If you're still willing to investigate, please let me highlight a few differences I see between your screenshot and mine (attached below):

1. It's not clear whether you've upgraded to 386.4. For now, I've decided to stay on 386.3_2 and wait for 386.5
2. My most reliable connection (Fiber) is set as the Primary WAN (connected to the WAN port), and Cable is set as the Secondary WAN (connected to the LAN port 1). From your description, I suspect you may be doing the opposite. Would you consider fully switching that? It shouldn't matter, but...
3. My Load Balance Configuration is set to 9:1. Would you consider changing that? It shouldn't matter since you're manually assigning each portion of your network to either the Primary or the Secondary WAN, but...
4. I don't have the "Auto Network Detection" section that is seen in your screenshot. I could be wrong, but my understanding is that's only displayed in Failover mode, and not in Load Balance mode. This is really strange and may indicate some corruption of your settings. Would you consider fully "Resetting to Factory Defaults with Initialize" and manually re-entering your settings from scratch? Or at least disabling, rebooting, and re-enabling Dual WAN/Load Balance to see whether that section goes away?
5. Could you please post the output of the following command over SSH?

ip rule

Thanks!

Thanks for the reply @FernandoF.

I'd be willing to give it another shot at some point, I'll try and find a good time over the next week or two to do some testing. The hardest part about it is that since the problems are intermittent, it's difficult to easily verify whether they are still occuring or not, it ends up being a case of just waiting around to see if they start again. It was also affecting my partner's work (she would complain of often being disconnected from zoom calls) while I didn't seem to have that same problem (though to be fair at that time I was transitioning to a new role at a new company so was serving out my notice at my old company i.e. doing pretty much nothing).

Some answers:

1. Yep I have upgraded to 386.4 recently.
2. You are indeed correct, I did have them switched (mostly because the fiber line came second.) I'd be willing to switch them ( in fact since I am using only fiber now, I suppose I already have)
3. As you say it should not matter, but yes when I test I will do that.
4. So for some context on this, I'm not sure if this is a new section with 386.4 because I've never seen it before (or at least never noticed it before). When I took the screenshot of the dual WAN section I flipped the switch to on and changed to load balancing just so that I could bring the IP addresses up, (it wasn't actually active, just pulling up my previous settings). I'm at least 90% sure this section was not there when I was actually using load balancing on my previous firmware.
5. Do you need this to be done while load balancing is active?

Do you have any idea of potential network tests I could run to have a chance of sniffing out a problem like that (intermittent prolonged latency spikes + even disconnects depending on the client). I had been using connmon but it doesn't really play nice with dual WAN so it wasn't really possible for me to be sure of exactly what I was seeing in the logs and graphs.

 

[Tech9]

I just decided to attemp to use both as the cable line will be sticking around for the foreseeable future until the end of the contract.

As I said, it only makes things worse. Test it and see for yourself. I have tested it on many Asus routers, with many different settings and configurations. Seems like the code is all the same between models and untouched for years. It's also unrelated to Asuswrt-Merlin. It comes from Asuswrt as it is.

 

[FernandoF]

I'd be willing to give it another shot at some point, I'll try and find a good time over the next week or two to do some testing. The hardest part about it is that since the problems are intermittent, it's difficult to easily verify whether they are still occuring or not, it ends up being a case of just waiting around to see if they start again. It was also affecting my partner's work (she would complain of often being disconnected from zoom calls) while I didn't seem to have that same problem (though to be fair at that time I was transitioning to a new role at a new company so was serving out my notice at my old company i.e. doing pretty much nothing).

Some answers:

1. Yep I have upgraded to 386.4 recently.
2. You are indeed correct, I did have them switched (mostly because the fiber line came second.) I'd be willing to switch them ( in fact since I am using only fiber now, I suppose I already have)
3. As you say it should not matter, but yes when I test I will do that.
4. So for some context on this, I'm not sure if this is a new section with 386.4 because I've never seen it before (or at least never noticed it before). When I took the screenshot of the dual WAN section I flipped the switch to on and changed to load balancing just so that I could bring the IP addresses up, (it wasn't actually active, just pulling up my previous settings). I'm at least 90% sure this section was not there when I was actually using load balancing on my previous firmware.
5. Do you need this to be done while load balancing is active?

Do you have any idea of potential network tests I could run to have a chance of sniffing out a problem like that (intermittent prolonged latency spikes + even disconnects depending on the client). I had been using connmon but it doesn't really play nice with dual WAN so it wasn't really possible for me to be sure of exactly what I was seeing in the logs and graphs.

Thanks for the reply @OJay. Here are a few additional comments on the same items 1-5:

1. I don't have any personal experience with 386.4, as I've decided to wait for 386.5. There are many reported connectivity issues which may or may not be truly related to 386.4. Switching back to 386.3_2 (ideally with a full factory reset/initialize) to remove that element of uncertainty is something you could potentially consider as well.
2. That's great.
3. Excellent.
4. I was very intrigued with this one... Let's see what you get when you re-enable the Load Balance mode.
5. The idea is just to confirm your manual GUI rules are being properly translated to the ip rules. So yes, that would need to be done while Load Balance is active.

Finally, I'm afraid I can't help you with recommendations for network tests. Hopefully more experienced forum members will chime in.

I look forward to your test results!

 

[tarzan2000]

Dual WAN doesn't work property in Asuswrt. Just use the better ISP connection in single WAN configuration. If you really need both ISP connections, you have to use different router with proper Multi-WAN. Many threads about Dual WAN issues and possible solutions on SNB forums, search around for ideas.

Not entirely true, I disagree with you.
My dual van works fine in combination with IPOE + usb connection with gsm operator

 

[Tech9]

Not entirely true, I disagree with you.

There are a few folks around reporting WAN + USB success, but zero with WAN + LAN. WAN + LAN takes 5+ minutes to realize the connection is lost and may or may not failback. This is why we see threads like this one:

Tutorial - Asus Dual WAN Router Load Balancing and Failover Router Problems and Fix

TLDR -> Do a Factory Reset using WPS button. Load Balancing and Failover working? NO Load Balancing Working? Yes but not Practical for real-world usage. [Timeouts, Connection Reset & Total Network BreakDown] Failover? YES if you spend some time on it. [Setup Static IP, Match MTU from your...

www.snbforums.com

The routers discussed there are switching WAN's in 30 seconds. Asus with Asuswrt - sometimes, often never.

How do you test?

 

[tarzan2000]

How do you test?

My wired provider is quite stable in operation and I have to turn off the power of their 5 port hub once a month (the provider and my router are inserted into it). Literally after 5-7 seconds, the router switches to the GSM channel and everything works successfully. That is, yes, I physically disable the VAN port for tests.

 

[Tech9]

Exactly. It works reliably only when you unplug the WAN/LAN cable or power off the modem. If you lose Internet connection, but the cable connection between your router and your modem is up, most of the time it doesn't failover/failback. Sometimes it does failover after minutes, but when the main connection is restored it doesn't failback. You have to test it thoroughly, before you disagree. Someone may buy an Asus router for the purpose of Dual WAN and we start the same discussions over and over again. There are multiple threads on SNB about the issue.

 

[DualWANer]

I am a noobie to this board. What a smart sounding crew here. Regarding ASUS dual WAN: I have a RT-AX88u, and what a fantastic home router. I want to enable Dual WAN for: AT&T fiber (300/300) and Charter cable (400/20). I have done a little bit of testing prior to getting Charter using a 4g BU, however that just involved unplugging the cat6 from ATT router into ASUS router. It seemed to work fine. HOWEVER, what I think I am hearing here is that when it's not simply a physical disconnect, the ASUS dual WAN doesn't really failover consistently. (I am only using for failover, not loadbalancing, which sounds problematic). Is that correct? What should I use for failover rules? Right now it's 3 fails each 5 seconds. (Failback is 40 tries). It's using the default ping and DNS query. What is best?
Is this going to work? Should I go buy the microtik router and put in front?
Thanks in advance.

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @DualWANer.

I wouldn't put too much stock from posters that don't use the routers for their own networks, nor test/configure them to work properly in their networks either.

I suggest not buying anything else until a problem exists. Even then, see if any of the members here can help, first.

If and when the router doesn't automatically failover, then come back with specifics and hopefully good advice.

 

[DualWANer]

thank you. much appreciated. I have charter spectrum getting installed next week, so I will know then.
What settings do you use for failover and fallback?

 

[Tech9]

HOWEVER, what I think I am hearing here is that when it's not simply a physical disconnect, the ASUS dual WAN doesn't really failover consistently.

This is correct. If you really need reliable and fast Dual WAN failover/failback, Asus home router is not going to work for you. I currently have 4x Dual WAN networks - 3x using Cisco RV345P routers and 1x with older Cisco RV320. Other cheaper router options are available. The user who replied to you first can't help you and the users who think it's working test with unplugged cables. I don't have an USB modem to test with, but I've spend hours with WAN + LAN settings and nothing gives satisfactory results. Test your luck and see what works for you. Browse SNB forums for Dual WAN issues. Many threads.

Should I go buy the microtik router and put in front?

MikroTik is only one possible option. See this thread for more:
(why do you think threads like this exist, if there was no issue?)

Tutorial - Asus Dual WAN Router Load Balancing and Failover Router Problems and Fix

TLDR -> Do a Factory Reset using WPS button. Load Balancing and Failover working? NO Load Balancing Working? Yes but not Practical for real-world usage. [Timeouts, Connection Reset & Total Network BreakDown] Failover? YES if you spend some time on it. [Setup Static IP, Match MTU from your...

www.snbforums.com

 

[L&LD]

And don't neglect to acknowledge that Mikrotik also has its problems right now (use Better Search, top of page).

Simply use the settings that make sense to you and your environment.

 

[Tech9]

What we Better Search for?

What settings do you use for failover and fallback?

What your customers are telling you?

 

[DualWANer]

This is correct. If you really need reliable and fast Dual WAN failover/failback, Asus home router is not going to work for you. I currently have 4x Dual WAN networks - 3x using Cisco RV345P routers and 1x with older Cisco RV320. Other cheaper router options are available. The user who replied to you first can't help you and the users who think it's working test with unplugged cables. I don't have an USB modem to test with, but I've spend hours with WAN + LAN settings and nothing gives satisfactory results. Test your luck and see what works for you. Browse SNB forums for Dual WAN issues. Many threads.



MikroTik is only one possible option. See this thread for more:
(why do you think threads like this exist, if there was no issue?)

Tutorial - Asus Dual WAN Router Load Balancing and Failover Router Problems and Fix

TLDR -> Do a Factory Reset using WPS button. Load Balancing and Failover working? NO Load Balancing Working? Yes but not Practical for real-world usage. [Timeouts, Connection Reset & Total Network BreakDown] Failover? YES if you spend some time on it. [Setup Static IP, Match MTU from your...

www.snbforums.com

Thank you. Have you filed a bug report to ASUS?
To be fair, this dual WAN issue many only exist in some setups. I doubt there's enough data on this board to state it's persistent in every set-up.

 

[DualWANer]

Hi, I had been using dual WAN for the last month or so. I am on an RT-AC86U and had been on 386.3_2.

I have an fttp gigabit line setup with pppoe and a 500mb cable docsis line. It was in a load balancing setup to essentially stick most devices to the cable line and those that I chose were put onto the gigabit line.

The issue I was having was that I was getting random really bad latency spikes on the gigabit line, ( I'd usually notice while playing a game, I'd get a huge ping spike for 5-20 seconds then things would return to normal).
hae
I had justassumed this was a problem with the gigabit line and for reasons ( I am in another country in which I don't speak the language and my partner is not very tech savvy, so speaking to tech support didn't really work. Though they said from what they could see everything seemed fine.) I couldnt do much troubleshooting on the ISP side. I was also getting oddly long buffering on YouTube videos above 1080p considering my download speed but I assumed that was some kind of throttling on the yt side

For the last week or so I removed dual lan and have been using only the gigabit line. Since then all of the issues have disappeared. Apologies for the wall of text but the question I want to ask is, was there something wrong with my setup? (Image attached) or is it more likely that I was just pushing my poor router too hard (I have a few things installed like diversion, connmon etc.)

Any insights would be much appreciated. Also if you need any more info just let me know.

Thanks

From what I've read, ASUS loadbalancing doesn't work a damn. However, Failover sounds like it could work, although many that is doesn't when you test it without a simple unplug.
With a gigabit line, you have to wonder why you even need load balancing. HA / Failover seems like a much better use case, and that's what i am trying to do.