I am having stability issues with the Asus AX88U router

[jusjohn55]

I recently bought an AX88U and I was dumb and tried to update it even though the firmware was working just fine. That update made it hella buggy. So, I tried to download the previous version, hard reset the router(holding the WPS for it to turn off), flash the previous version. Idk if the hard reset did not work as intended, but whenever I hard reset the firmware that was buggy stayed. So I am not sure if I am resetting it properly. The previous firmware works great like last time except that it gets way more stability issues than before I tried updating it. How can I fix this and what are some good settings for this router to be a bit faster/not as unstable?

Also, a side question that is not really apart of this but I would like to know: My motherboard has built in wifi. It kinda sucks so I tried buying a PCI e wifi card. Any PCI e wifi card that plug in just does not work. It works but then it just shuts off. Does not matter which wifi card I use. The motherboard is the Asus ROG strix z270e. It is quite old. I would like to know why PCI e wifi cards do not work on it.

 

[L&LD]

What OS (be specific) are you using on that old motherboard? What Wi-Fi adaptor module does it have built-in? What drivers have you tried to make it work?

How old are the drivers and the OS? If you're running Windows 10, hit the Windows key and type 'winver' and select to run the winver.exe program. What version does that say?

Do you have any USB devices plugged into the router? Safely remove them all (via the GUI) and then try flashing the firmware you want to use.

Btw, what firmware versions are we talking about?

Try the suggestions in the following link to get your router back to a good/known state.

Fully Reset Router and Network

 

[jusjohn55]

What OS (be specific) are you using on that old motherboard? What Wi-Fi adaptor module does it have built-in? What drivers have you tried to make it work?

How old are the drivers and the OS? If you're running Windows 10, hit the Windows key and type 'winver' and select to run the winver.exe program. What version does that say?

Do you have any USB devices plugged into the router? Safely remove them all (via the GUI) and then try flashing the firmware you want to use.

Btw, what firmware versions are we talking about?

Try the suggestions in the following link to get your router back to a good/known state.

Fully Reset Router and Network

@L&LD Not sure what OS it is. The wifi adapter is a Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4A Wireless Network Adapter. The most updated version of Windows 10 is on this PC. I have no USB device plugged into the router. I am using firmware version 3.0.0.4.384_6436. This was the version that used to work before I updated to the most updated Asus firmware. I also tried the most recent Merlin firmware and that was buggy as well. The wifi driver I have is so barebones and it is AC not AX.

 

[dosborne]

I'm sticking with 384.18 with my AX88U as too many people seem to have issues with 384.19.

Once you get that firmware version loaded, do a full reset to factory defaults, then *manually* reconfigure it. Do not use a saved configuration file. This generally restores a lot of the stability by starting a fresh configuration file.

Once you get things stable, with every firmware update or significant configuration change, I save the jffs partition and the standard configuration file, *BUT* I rename them to include the date and firmware version in the file name. This makes it easier to manage new fw and settings moving forward and ensures you have the necessary configuration file to match a specific older firmware version too if you roll back. A bit overboard, but I will also create a text file, using the same naming structure, that describes the settings I changed or I print the screen captures to a pdf file.

 

[jusjohn55]

@dosborne What do you mean by manually reconfigure? How do I keep it as a fresh configuration file?

 

[Dex10]

Yesterday I received my RT-AX88 (and I can already tell you, it sucks for me).

- replaced my WRT3200ACM that I used with DD WRT and the APP ExpressVPN;

- with DD WRT, the performance of WRT3200 on the 5GHz wireless network is fantastic, a distance of 8m with a barrier, I can receive the 400 Mbs that I have to provide bandwidth and, without a client, I see this spike in speed in a moment ;

- WHEN I received the AX88 I had an expectation that it would be 'something out of this world', given its hardware, but, how much frustration;

- I installed the Merlin (latest version) and the performance of the AX88 is terrible, compared to the WRT3200. Under the conditions, the AX takes forever to increase the speed of the band observed on the client and, worse, never reaches 300 Mbs, generally, I observe oscillation between 260 Mbs and 283 Mbs, peak variations being observed only at the end of the test (never without beginning);

- With Merlin, I tried to use the 'OpenVPN' Client, it doesn't work (it doesn't connect). If selecting the 'rules policy' also doesn't work, the devices are all misconfigured;

- I disabled many things, QoS, Mu-mimo, etc. and nothing, rotten performance; and

- I saw no difference in performance between the shares of Merlin and Asus.

* For a first experience, I would say that the router is not worth half the price. and nothing, rotten performance

 

[1ceLaz0r]

This is why I gave up on my second AX88U and went to AX86u

 

[dosborne]

What do you mean by manually reconfigure?

Do not "load" or restore a saved configuration file. Enter all the information through the GUI.

 

[Spartan]

I recently bought an AX88U and I was dumb and tried to update it even though the firmware was working just fine. That update made it hella buggy. So, I tried to download the previous version, hard reset the router(holding the WPS for it to turn off), flash the previous version. Idk if the hard reset did not work as intended, but whenever I hard reset the firmware that was buggy stayed. So I am not sure if I am resetting it properly. The previous firmware works great like last time except that it gets way more stability issues than before I tried updating it. How can I fix this and what are some good settings for this router to be a bit faster/not as unstable?

Also, a side question that is not really apart of this but I would like to know: My motherboard has built in wifi. It kinda sucks so I tried buying a PCI e wifi card. Any PCI e wifi card that plug in just does not work. It works but then it just shuts off. Does not matter which wifi card I use. The motherboard is the Asus ROG strix z270e. It is quite old. I would like to know why PCI e wifi cards do not work on it.

Install firmware 3.0.0.4.384_9107 then reset the router to defaults and re-configure it. it's the MOST stable in my experience!

 

[TehNext]

This is why I gave up on my second AX88U and went to AX86u

Yup, I went through two AX88U units also before giving up on it. Swapped for a AX86

 

[Kingp1n]

Yet the AX88U and AX86U use the same CPU. They have the same Broadcom BCM4908 1.8Ghz Quad Core SoC. The only slight difference i believe is in the 2.4ghz radio giving a slight advantage to the AX86U.

No issues with my AX88U and its been running nonstop for 11 days straight now. Good luck!!

 

[1ceLaz0r]

Yup, I went through two AX88U units also before giving up on it. Swapped for a AX86

I rest my case

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Idk if the hard reset did not work as intended, but whenever I hard reset the firmware that was buggy stayed. So I am not sure if I am resetting it properly.

Setting the router back to factory default does not erase the firmware that is currently on the router. You must manually change the firmware then reset to default and reconfigure.