Few questions about Asus RT-AX88U pro

[LeKeiser]

I believe you're misremembering, that or the ISP finally noticed and fixed the issue.

Absolutely not. Every user that I know and who are using the box as a bridge keep the same IP for months. It's always been this way with my provider.
We're discussing that on another forum, and nobody knows what's happening. I've talked to someone who works with this provider, he has no clue cuz nothing has changed on their side.

A constant IP address can usually only be relied-upon if you pay extra for that.

True. But not with this one. They're not saying we're going to keep the IP. It's just that that's how it goes.

So far as your "internet box" is concerned, nothing has changed. Why had you need to clone a MAC on the previous router? Was it because /it/ had replaced an ISP-provided-and-registered device?

Nope. I've been using this configuration for years. I think it's my 3rd router connected this way. I kept the first Mac Address and been using it since. And it works because if it didn't, then I wouldn't have an Internet connection
I could plug back my "old" R7800 to make sure the public IP doesn't change, but it will be a pain in the bottom. But I'm sure the IP wouldn't change. It's something with the config that I'm missing.

 

[glens]

Have you perused the router's log file? What's happening just prior?

 

[LeKeiser]

Have you perused the router's log file? What's happening just prior?

I have checked the log yet.
But I have removed the RT and plugged back my R7800 to see what's happening when I reboot the router.
Mr @kamoj added a WiFi script to his great add-on. I had to reboot a few times the router and I kept the same IP that it retrieved when I hooked it up to my internet box.
I'll reboot the router later today, just to see what's happening, and I'll let you know.
Again : same cloned Mac Address.

 

[LeKeiser]

Ok I rebooted the router today and the public IP is still the same one, it didn't change.
And the settings on the Netgear are quite simple as you can see :

I'm sure that when I plug back the RT, it will. get a new public IP when I reboot it.

 

[ColinTaylor]

I'm sure that when I plug back the RT, it will. get a new public IP when I reboot it.

I have an idea what might be happening. Try this:

1. Make a note of your current public IP address. Turn off your Netgear router and disconnect it from your network.
2. Connect up your Asus router (make sure its power switch is in the off position).
3. Turn on the Asus router and wait for it to boot up.
4. Has the public IP changed? If so make a note of it.
5. Turn off the power switch on the Asus router (DO NOT use the software reboot option).
6. After a few seconds turn on the Asus router and wait for it to boot up.
7. Is the public IP different than it was in step 4?

 

[LeKeiser]

I have an idea what might be happening. Try this:

1. Make a note of your current public IP address. Turn off your Netgear router and disconnect it from your network.
2. Connect up your Asus router (make sure its power switch is in the off position).
3. Turn on the Asus router and wait for it to boot up.
4. Has the public IP changed? If so make a note of it.
5. Turn off the power switch on the Asus router (DO NOT use the software reboot option).
6. After a few seconds turn on the Asus router and wait for it to boot up.
7. Is the public IP different than it was in step 4?

Hello,

So I did what you told me to do.
Step 1-3.
Step 4 : same public IP as before with the Netgear.
Then Step 5-6
Step 7 : same public IP as step 4 (and before)

Weird. Cuz I would think that a power off then a power on would start the same DHCP request that with a reboot, right ? Was that was you were thinking too ?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Hello,

So I did what you told me to do.
Step 1-3.
Step 4 : same public IP as before with the Netgear.
Then Step 5-6
Step 7 : same public IP as step 4 (and before)

Weird. Cuz I would think that a power off then a power on would start the same DHCP request that with a reboot, right ? Was that was you were thinking too ?

OK So the IP address hasn't changed at all from when you were using the Netgear. So finally,

Reboot the Asus router using the Reboot option in the GUI.
When the router comes back up has the IP address changed now or is it still the same?

 

[LeKeiser]

Oh, new Asus firmware : 3.0.0.6.102_32843-gad71435_295-g45475
I updated the firmware from the router (I didn't download from the Asus website to upload it to the router)
I didn't reset factory after the reboot. Tell me if I'm right ? This is an update from an Asus firmware to a new Asus firmware version.
Something changed : Administration / Firmware Upgrade :

Maybe there are some other changes but I haven't seen them yet.

Oh : I'm still using the same public IP after the reboot.

 

[LeKeiser]

OK So the IP address hasn't changed at all from when you were using the Netgear. So finally,

Reboot the Asus router using the Reboot option in the GUI.
When the router comes back up has the IP address changed now or is it still the same?

After the upgrade of the firmware, the router rebooted. And I kept the same IP.
Really weird.
Because the IP used to change every time I would reboot/turn off the router.

 

[glens]

I have an idea what might be happening.

Was it the notion that perhaps the first DHCP request got out before the cloned MAC got assigned, then another after?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Was it the notion that perhaps the first DHCP request got out before the cloned MAC got assigned, then another after?

No, it was that when you do a software reboot the router sends a DHCP release to the ISP's DHCP server as part of the shutdown process (as it should). Contrast that with just pulling the power, when the DHCP server is unaware that the client has gone offline.

There were a couple of other ideas I had depending on the results of his tests. But as the problem has disappeared there's nothing left to do.

 

[LeKeiser]

No, it was that when you do a software reboot the router sends a DHCP release to the ISP's DHCP server as part of the shutdown process (as it should). Contrast that with just pulling the power, when the DHCP server is unaware that the client has gone offline.

There were a couple of other ideas I had depending on the results of his tests. But as the problem has disappeared there's nothing left to do.

Good idea. Yet, the public IP never changed when I was rebooting the R7800.
I'm not sure the problem has disappeared. It used to happen all the time before. It didn't the last two or three times I rebooted the RT. Who knows, something with the new firmware ? I'll reboot the router eventually to see what happens then.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Good idea. Yet, the public IP never changed when I was rebooting the R7800.

That was my point. That the shutdown procedure is may be different on the Asus than it was on the Netgear.

It used to happen all the time before. It didn't the last two or three times I rebooted the RT.

Ah, my mistake. I thought it always happened when you rebooted the Asus.

 

[LeKeiser]

That was my point. That the shutdown procedure is different on the Asus than it was on the Netgear.

It might very well be indeed

Ah, my mistake. I thought it always happened when you rebooted the Asus.

It used to happen all the time before I hooked it up again today. And before I did the firmware update. So I did what you suggested and I kept the public IP. I upgraded the firmware and the public IP was still the same after the reboot. I'll reboot the router later tonight, and I'll let you know if the IP changed or not

 

[LeKeiser]

Couldn't wait, I rebooted after I posted
The public IP is the same again, it didn't change

 

[LeKeiser]

Little question again : the R7800 has 512MB RAM and 128MB of internal flash storage. The RT-AX88U Pro has twice the amount of RAM and of flash storage, 1GB and 256MB. What are the benefits of the size of the memory and of the flash ? The RT will handle more network connections ?

 

[ColinTaylor]

The RT will handle more network connections ?

No. The memory is sized appropriately for the device in question. The extra RAM is really only useful if you're running addon software, like ad-blockers, etc.

 

[LeKeiser]

No. The memory is sized appropriately for the device in question.

What do you mean exactly ? That the hardware of the RT needs that amount of RAM/Flash to function ideally ? That the hardware of the R7800 is less memory hungry ? But still as powerful and fast ?

The extra RAM is really only useful if you're running addon software, like ad-blockers, etc.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Sorry, I misread your post. I thought you said network clients rather than connections. But the answer is basically the same.

The flash memory is only used to store the firmware and it's settings. Asus also uses a small amount of this space to store logs files. So the flash memory only needs to be big enough for that.

For RAM it only needs to be big enough to run the firmware and any options you've enabled. Obviously over time Asus may add new features that increase the RAM usage. But for the most part RAM usage on stock firmware is fairly stable. For example on my RT-AX86U about 450MB of RAM is in use. The extra RAM is either wasted or used as a disk cache for the USB drive.

 

[glens]

Perhaps the larger memory chips are merely the cheaper commodity anymore, too.