“Incorrect password” (WiFi) following reboot

[mrcross]

Odd behaviour. I have a pair of RT-AC66U B1 as a mesh network. They sit behind a Soyealink (Huawei) mobile router in Bridge Mode acting as a modem which provides the Internet connectivity. The Asuses are set for automatic reboot in the small hours because the location is often unattended and I want the automatic reset in case any problems develop. Of late the WiFi has started to fail following the auto reboot. An attempt to login to WiFi produces an error message “Incorrect Password”. Manual reboot of the main Asus router brings everything back to normal. The mobile router and the AIMesh node are NOT rebooted. The purpose of the auto reboot is to reset issues like this but in this case the auto reboot seems to cause the problem. Probably now happening 20% to 30% of the time following a reboot. I’ve verified that the firmware on both routers is the latest version. Ideas anyone?

 

[wouterv]

Maybe it relates to the sequence of booting or some dead lock during start up.
My first guess would be: auto reboot the main router first and say 1 hour after auto reboot the other node(s).

 

[mrcross]

Maybe it relates to the sequence of booting or some dead lock during start up.
My first guess would be: auto reboot the main router first and say 1 hour after auto reboot the other node(s).

Not tried that but I’ll give it a go thaks.

 

[mrcross]

Seems not to be possible to set the routers to reboot at different times. The main Administration/System tab allows reboot day and time to be set but go to AIMesh and there’s no option to set a different time for the node.

 

[L&LD]

You don't need to have the routers and nodes 'auto-reboot'. Do it manually. Or, use a timer plug to do it 'automatically' (at least for the nodes).

 

[mrcross]

Thanks for the suggestion. I did previously have that setup but the smart plug (Tapo) failed to OFF leaving me with no access and no monitoring at the remote site. I was trying to reduce potential failure points. Last night I had a variation. No Intenet but WiFi still working so I logged in to Asus, rebooted and it all came up working (I’m on site at the moment). No reboot of the mobile router, that stayed working so the problem’s definitely with the Asuses.

 

[L&LD]

If you're using a reboot scheduler without any good reason (and if there is a good reason, you should fix that issue instead), then you're creating your own issues here.

Auto reboot is a Band-Aid, not a fix, for anything network related.

 

[mrcross]

I’m not using it as a band-aid and it’s not a network issue. Nothing wrong with the network. It’s a remote site in a different country and can be unattended for months. Loss of connectivity can be caused by a variety of things, including mobile network and power outages and electrical storms. The reboot scheduling used to work fine, if it went down it would reset within 24 hours. Now it seems that it’s the Asus kit that’s causing the problem. Manual reboot of the Asus brings if up again but if the site’s not manned for a couple of months that’s nof possible. As no-one seems to have had a similar issue I’m stsrting to think it’s temperature related. Abt 38deg C in the shade today and probably a degree or two warmer in the equipment closet. The Asus fails but if manually rebooted it comes back on line. I haven’t had the will to wait for the next auto reboot to see A If it happens and B If restores connectivity. Will find out next week when the site is once more unmanned.

 

[L&LD]

Still sounds like a band-aid solution to me. A network is meant to work 24/7 indefinitely, rebooting on a schedule is not the norm and can only introduce issues like you see, not to mention putting much more stress on the devices.

A quality UPS is always highly recommended. Particularly when power fluctuations (brownouts, blackouts, and storms are the norm).

Also, with temperatures that high, a reliable cooling solution seems needed more than the rebooting schedule is.

Should have tested your auto reboot while you were there. Very little you can do when the site is unmanned and an auto-reboot finally doesn't work anymore.

 

[mrcross]

Still sounds like a band-aid solution to me. A network is meant to work 24/7 indefinitely, rebooting on a schedule is not the norm and can only introduce issues like you see, not to mention putting much more stress on the devices.

A quality UPS is always highly recommended. Particularly when power fluctuations (brownouts, blackouts, and storms are the norm).

Also, with temperatures that high, a reliable cooling solution seems needed more than the rebooting schedule is.

Should have tested your auto reboot while you were there. Very little you can do when the site is unmanned and an auto-reboot finally doesn't work anymore.

 

[mrcross]

I'm not arguing. In an ideal world nothing would ever go wrong but we don't live in an ideal world, which is why UPS's, backups and all the rest of the fallback systems exist. I wouldn't for example say that "A UPS is a "band aid" solution, you should have dual or triple diversity mains power feeds." I was in NYC 20 years ago when they had the big power cut and no amount of diversity, UPS or standby generators would have prevented what happened. No power to pump gas, to supply water, to run the subway, to power elevators, pump sewage, provide refrigeration etc etc. My hope was that someone might say "Oh yes V xyz.0 firmware intruduced a bug but it should be fixed in the next issue." but no such luck, I'm working on what's possible without the expenditure of a lot of time and effort. Rather hot here in France 31 C in the shade at the moment but we're moving towards cooler temperatures. I agree a UPS and aircon would be great but there's no way the expenditure of time and money is justified, nor is there space. We're on the build schedule for fibre but don't have an install date. In the meantime I'm stuck with CG-NAT on a 4G router in Bridge Mode, which is a bit limiting for remote access. The auto reboot has been on for months and seems not to be the problem. The 4G router is coping fine. The Asus, which is in the same closet, is what's failing. I'm pretty confident that if it does lose connectivity then the auro-reboot will bring it back on line within 24 hrs. I don't pretend to be a network professional by any stretch of the imagination. Thanks for your input.

 

[ColinTaylor]

As I understand it, after the auto reboot you cannot connect to Wi-Fi (password incorrect) but you can login to the main Asus router using an ethernet cable. Correct?

Do you get the same Wi-Fi password error whether the client is connecting to the main Asus router's Wi-Fi vs. connecting to the AiMesh node's Wi-Fi?

The next time this problem occurs login to the main Asus router (using ethernet) and go to System Log - General Log and Save the log file. Then upload the log file to pastebin.com and provide a link to it for us to look at.

 

[L&LD]

Key points:

No, a UPS isn't a Band-Aid solution. It is a smart addition for network devices that are 'important' to keep running (if possible). They offer additional protection other methods can't. Even if you had dual or triple diversity mains power feeds.

I didn't mean AC to keep temps in check, I was thinking more like a fan or similar.

Yes, there are catastrophic events that we can't account for. But that shouldn't stop us from doing what we can.

Your logic of why it's the Asus/firmware is a little flawed. You're only rebooting the Asus, correct? Combined with the heat, you're definitely contributing to the reliability of the unit with the daily reboots. Maybe it just took months to show itself.

Hope you're able to find a solution to this soon.

When you're next down at that location, you may consider a full system reset and not enabling the reboot scheduler. And get further input from this forum if things seem not as you expect then (when you're able to physically be near the hardware and do further testing/troubleshooting).

 

[mrcross]

As I understand it, after the auto reboot you cannot connect to Wi-Fi (password incorrect) but you can login to the main Asus router using an ethernet cable. Correct?

Do you get the same Wi-Fi password error whether the client is connecting to the main Asus router's Wi-Fi vs. connecting to the AiMesh node's Wi-Fi?

The next time this problem occurs login to the main Asus router (using ethernet) and go to System Log - General Log and Save the log file. Then upload the log file to pastebin.com and provide a link to it for us to look at.

Not quite right. The behaviour is difficult to pin down and as far as I can see the lack of connectivity is not connected to the reboot. I have had the following situations
1. WiFi clients cannot access Internet. They are showing as connected to WiFi but have no Internet access. Power cycle of the Asus brings connectivity back. (No need to reboot the Soyealink (Huawei) 4G router in Bridge Mode.
2. WiFi clients cannot log in (Incorrect Password message). Normally these clients would remain connected but I'm guessing that maybe the auto reboot has taken place and something's gone wrong so when the client sees the WiFi is back up it tries to auto-connect but fails. Again power cycle of the Asus restores normal operation.

The main Asus is in a closet up near the roof (to provide better WiFi coverage and also to connect to a roof mounted LTE antenna) so I've not as yet tried to see if cable connection works when WiFi is out.

Anyway I'm out of here tomorrow morning and back to UK so further investigation will have to wait. It may be that the problems disappear with lower temperatures. Many thanks all for your helpful suggestions.

 

[wouterv]

1. What firmware version is running in the router and nodes?
2. Do not put routers and nodes inside a closet, this will cause wireless range issues and maybe also temperature issues.
3. Prior to decide for auto reboot it is better to try to find the reason for the reboots, the first place to look is at Network Map > Status for the CPU and RAM utilization. Is is quite stable or does it creep up over a time period of days / weeks?