GT-AXE16000 cant save Smart Connect settings

[HeeroYuy]

I'm trying to set up the ASUS Smart Connect feature on my GT-AXE16000. But after applying the settings, the router is reloading the previous settings.

Before changing:

After changing and before applying:

Now applying, waiting until the progress goes to 100%, the page is reloading... aaaand I have the same settings as before.
Merlin Firmware 388.1_0_rog

I tried a soft reboot and also a hard reboot. But nothing changes (literally). I also tried to load the default values and restart from the scratch.
Its not possible to set anything

Edit 2: Okay even with stock FW 3.0.0.4.388_22525 it's not working. Am I too stupid to understand a possible mistake here? Or is this a non-working feature. That would be absolutely sad for a €600 product...

And another "plus": I cant turn of the 6G band...

 

[bee144]

I’m having the same issues with the stock firmware. AXE16000 firmware has been nothing but bugs. Very frustrating.

 

[HeeroYuy]

Yeah... not really working... It was reloaded again to the old settings. Man... 600€ piece of sh*t. Going to send this to ASUS.

okay... the router is blocking “false settings” but is not saying, what is wrong, not working, and so on.
After reconfiguring(*) every single band, this setup is working right now:

But I'm not happy with the last VHT for band selection. Maybe I'm misunderstandig it.
Does it say, that coming from 6GHz and going to 2.4 or 5GHz, those target bands can handle a/b/g/n/ac? But at this point, I'm missing ax.
Or does ist say, that the 6GHz band can handle a/b/g/n/ac? That would be wrong, because every entry above says ax only.
So each case is wrong in my opinion.

(*) By reconfiguring, I mean every single entry. Disabling services that are only for a/b/g (like TX Bursting for g), setting the types to automatic, activating the ax support in every band, and so on.
Really frustrating, because the Smart Connect Page doesn't show any useful hints or information or errors and warnings.

 

[HeeroYuy]

FYI: Because it's also happening in the stock firmware, I contacted the ASUS support. I tested a lot (at the end resetting the router, updating the latest firmware from ASUS and not configuring anything beside needed items like passwords and WLAN SSIDs) and Smart Connect stays buggy. The exact same behavior. Even in another browser (Firefox 108 vs Chrome portable). Right now, the support in Taiwan is checking the config files and log files. But they cannot reproduce this problem nor can they understand this behavior. If they/I find something new, I will post it here.

 

[bee144]

Thank you! Much appreciated. Hoping for good news

 

[HeeroYuy]

Update: ASUS is still searching the problem. After all, I can say, the issue sticks only to the “audit” section. Everything else keeps saved in the GUI (but I don't know if the settings are accepted).
I even ordered a second AXE16000, set it up (admin account, SSIDs, passwords) and tested the Smart Connect Feature with the preinstalled FW 3.0.0.4.386_50168 (no updates).
Result: Same issues.
So after testing 2 stock FW and Merlin 388.1, two routers, 2 notebooks (one with 2 browsers – Firefox 108 with several add-ons and Chrome 110 portable w/o any add-ons) and even the myRouter ASUS app: every single time, the same behavior.

After all, it must be a general firmware bug that no one encountered or reported to ASUS yet, and the Merlin FW “copied” the same bug.

The next router will be a pfSense and openWRT server stack. But right now, I haven't the time or the space for that project. I must build up my NAS first.

 

[HeeroYuy]

Update: ASUS send me a Beta version (GT-AXE16000_9.0.0.4_388_22788-g23fdc28).
1. WireGuard is working as it should without massive speed limitations
2. Smart Connect is 50% working now. What does it mean? Well...

Settings will be saved now but target bands are missing here for 5.1, 5.2 and 6 GHz.

Another round and the problem should be fixed. After that, there should be a new version and also for Merlin.

For WireGuard (Measured by my speedtest server behind the router - connected via 10G):
1. 1383-1385 are measurements with Merlin 388.1_0 without active WireGuard
2. 1388-1391 are measurements with the new Beta version and WireGuard (small drop in downstream, massive drop in upstream and massive rise in ping)
3. 1392 with Merlin 388.1_0 and active Wireguard
5. 1394 same as 1.

 

[bee144]

Honestly, at this point I gave up on Smart Connect.

It’s ultimately up to the wifi client to determine the band it should connect to. While I would prefer to have a little control, I’ve just set all bands to the same SSID and password and called it a day. Too much headache, especially with a AIMesh system.

It’s great in theory but it’s holding back and seemingly causing numerous other bugs with my 750 USD router.

 

[HeeroYuy]

Great news everyone! It's done! ASUS has sent me a new Beta FW (GT-AXE16000_9.0.0.4_388_22989-gf7743fd_nand_squashfs) and it's working!
The Smart Connect system seems to be stable and the settings get saved without any reset.
And even the WireGuard VPN is working without any speed loss.

Nice! At this point: Where can I inform the devs from asuswrt-merlin? It would be great if they can fix the problems in the 388.1 version.

 

[L&LD]

@HeeroYuy, RMerlin will probably see your post, so consider it 'reported'.

But 388.1 is baked and served, there won't be any fixes to that firmware going forward.

And, RMerlin requires the GPL drop to use those fixes and incorporate them into future firmware.

 

[jerry6]

do you really need smart connect ? I have never used it in 12 years now . It has never really worked well , I always set things up manual , with 3 radios you should not have a problem . I never trust anything with smart in its name

 

[HeeroYuy]

So should I use the same SSID name for all bands and let the devices decide? Or is it better to use different names like "bla 2.4" "bla 5.1" "bla 5.2" and so on?

 

[OzarkEdge]

So should I use the same SSID name for all bands and let the devices decide? Or is it better to use different names like "bla 2.4" "bla 5.1" "bla 5.2" and so on?

Try it both ways and see how it goes with your clients. I eventually settle on same SSIDs and no Smart Connect. If you can't tame a troublesome client or want to segregate clients to specific WLANs, use different SSIDs and only connect those clients to the preferred WLAN/SSID.

OE

 

[caguerrero]

I had the same issues, I am using AXE16000 10GBe, AX1100 2.5GBe, AC5300 5Ghz backhaul, ax92U 5Ghz Backhaul, ac86U 1GBe, in mesh configuration. I am using firmware
9.0.0.6.102_4856 on the axe 16000, and 3.0.0.4.388/386 on the other APs which is reporting to be the latest as of 8/26/23

I have been playing around for a few days with the setup and was experiencing multiple issue on the APs using a wireless backhaul. Wired client APs working fine.

I had disconnecting issues with wireless clients that I am still trying to nail down what the issue is, I have also had SMART CONNECT rules not saving issue with this firmware until I disabled the 6ghz band. With the 6Ghz band disabled smart connect settings will save. If you enable the 6Ghz band no setting will save in smart connect. I called ASUS and opened a ticket to their level 2 support via email.

The issue I was having with the wireless backhaul APs was that after a while they would switch to a 2.4ghz backhaul instead of using the 5ghz. I am not sure if this is related to the smart connect rules not being able to save or not. I am currently testing connectivity now that I have the 6ghz band disabled..

 

[Sauron]

I had the same issues, I am using AXE16000 10GBe, AX1100 2.5GBe, AC5300 5Ghz backhaul, ax92U 5Ghz Backhaul, ac86U 1GBe, in mesh configuration. I am using firmware
9.0.0.6.102_4856 on the axe 16000, and 3.0.0.4.388/386 on the other APs which is reporting to be the latest as of 8/26/23

I have been playing around for a few days with the setup and was experiencing multiple issue on the APs using a wireless backhaul. Wired client APs working fine.

I had disconnecting issues with wireless clients that I am still trying to nail down what the issue is, I have also had SMART CONNECT rules not saving issue with this firmware until I disabled the 6ghz band. With the 6Ghz band disabled smart connect settings will save. If you enable the 6Ghz band no setting will save in smart connect. I called ASUS and opened a ticket to their level 2 support via email.

The issue I was having with the wireless backhaul APs was that after a while they would switch to a 2.4ghz backhaul instead of using the 5ghz. I am not sure if this is related to the smart connect rules not being able to save or not. I am currently testing connectivity now that I have the 6ghz band disabled..

Noticed the same behavior with my setup in regard to randomly switching to the 2.4ghz backhaul. To fix it, i turned off the 2.4ghz band in the node. Not an optimum fix, but in my setup i didnt need it.

 

[blackfireball5]

This still appears to be an issue, at least for me. I have my 2.4ghz on its own SSID, then I'm trying to combine my other 3 bands into a single SSID that Smart Connect can manage.

The main issue I'm trying to solve is band steering my S22 Ultra to use 6ghz band instead of staying on 5ghz.

So with Smart connect enabled and both 5ghz bands and 6ghz band selected, I am completely unable to make changes to the rules page.

The apply button does nothing. I submitted a feedback request but haven't heard anything yet.

Is this still an issue for anyone else? I would love to just not use Smart Connect at all, but I want a little more control over steering my clients.

 

[bee144]

This still appears to be an issue, at least for me. I have my 2.4ghz on its own SSID, then I'm trying to combine my other 3 bands into a single SSID that Smart Connect can manage.

The main issue I'm trying to solve is band steering my S22 Ultra to use 6ghz band instead of staying on 5ghz.

So with Smart connect enabled and both 5ghz bands and 6ghz band selected, I am completely unable to make changes to the rules page.

The apply button does nothing. I submitted a feedback request but haven't heard anything yet.

Is this still an issue for anyone else? I would love to just not use Smart Connect at all, but I want a little more control over steering my clients.

Firmware hasn’t been updated since April and this was not fixed in the April firmware.

As much as I wanted to use smart connect, it’s too buggy for production use and I shut it off. I advise you do the same until we get a new firmware(which is a wild it’s been 8 months since their top of the line router got an update and it has plenty of bugs in the firmware)

 

[blackfireball5]

Firmware hasn’t been updated since April and this was not fixed in the April firmware.

As much as I wanted to use smart connect, it’s too buggy for production use and I shut it off. I advise you do the same until we get a new firmware(which is a wild it’s been 8 months since their top of the line router got an update and it has plenty of bugs in the firmware)

Pretty frustrating. I'm not sure how else I can band steer without it.

 

[glens]

So the router sends suggestion packets to the client attempting to steer it to the other band. It's up to the client to ignore, deny, or comply. Damn! Still won't switch over. Okay, I'll set rules to kick the client off this band. Client reconnects back to the same band, then gets kicked again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

A rope only works for pulling, not pushing.

 

[blackfireball5]

So the router sends suggestion packets to the client attempting to steer it to the other band. It's up to the client to ignore, deny, or comply. Damn! Still won't switch over. Okay, I'll set rules to kick the client off this band. Client reconnects back to the same band, then gets kicked again. Wash, rinse, repeat.

A rope only works for pulling, not pushing.

Not sure who your comment is directed at or what your point is.

I have a device that I want to be on the 6ghz Wifi 6E band the majority of the time, and fall back to the 5ghz Wifi 6 band when out of range of 6ghz, and back and forth without having to manually intervene.

That doesn't seem like a very unique or uncommon request. But it has seemingly been impossible for me to solve reliably.

I've tried having separate SSID's entirely, combining the SSIDs without Smart Connect, and I am seemingly unable to even test whether Smart Connect with steering configured would do the trick since the Smart Connect rules page is bugged.

There's no control on the phone side to prioritize 6E, so what other options do I have other than telling my router to send suggestion packets via Smart Connect rules?