Losing WiFi and dropouts

[dalla]

Hi,
I have a RT-AC2900 with Merlin 386.7_2 in a AiMesh with one RT-AC68U. I frequently get lost network connections. Not so frequently missing WiFi but more dropped or slow internet. Especially my Google devices does not like this and my Chromecast and Google Home is sometimes not reachable. I ran a NetSpot Signal & Noise analysis this night and found out that the 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz WiFi signal drops. Sometimes at the same time and sometimes individually. Is this a common thing or could something misconfigured?

Thanks in advance.

 

[djbrad]

Is the RT-AC68U on original firmware or merlin?

 

[Tech9]

I have a RT-AC2900 with Merlin 386.7_2 in a AiMesh with one RT-AC68U.

Use stock Asuswrt firmware on the node. You don't need Asuswrt-Merlin on it.

 

[dalla]

Is the RT-AC68U on original firmware or merlin?

It's also on latest stable merlin.

 

[dalla]

Use stock Asuswrt firmware on the node. You don't need Asuswrt-Merlin on it.

could that be the reason of unstable network?

 

[L&LD]

No.

 

[djbrad]

I had problem with aimesh if the node is not on asuswrt original firmware.

Install the most recent asus firmware on the RT-AC68U and see if that helps.

You could have some interference on your wifi band, you can scan from the router and see around what channels are used (don't use auto, fix them).

 

[Tech9]

could that be the reason of unstable network?

Most folks with main router running Asuswrt-Merlin and AiMesh found stock Asuswrt works best on nodes. If AiMesh stability is your main goal, run stock Asuswrt on both routers. If Asuswrt-Merlin features are needed, you'll have to find the balance and find what works best for you.

 

[dalla]

I had problem with aimesh if the node is not on asuswrt original firmware.

Install the most recent asus firmware on the RT-AC68U and see if that helps.

You could have some interference on your wifi band, you can scan from the router and see around what channels are used (don't use auto, fix them).

Thanks Ill try that.

 

[Rbk_3]

Hi,
I have a RT-AC2900 with Merlin 386.7_2 in a AiMesh with one RT-AC68U. I frequently get lost network connections. Not so frequently missing WiFi but more dropped or slow internet. Especially my Google devices does not like this and my Chromecast and Google Home is sometimes not reachable. I ran a NetSpot Signal & Noise analysis this night and found out that the 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz WiFi signal drops. Sometimes at the same time and sometimes individually. Is this a common thing or could something misconfigured?

Thanks in advance.


View attachment 44047

Did you fix this? I have the same problem on my AX86U. Both bands I lose internet access but I am still connected to the wifi. It happens almost daily and reboot doesn't even fix it I need to wait and it eventually fixes itself.

 

[dalla]

Did you fix this? I have the same problem on my AX86U. Both bands I lose internet access but I am still connected to the wifi. It happens almost daily and reboot doesn't even fix it I need to wait and it eventually fixes itself.

I did a fresh install of the router and it seems like that solved the problem for me. At least for a while.

 

[TrebleTA]

I use a mobile app called WiFi analyser, this will check for interference. For me this helped a lot as neighbor's all around using wifi, also will show if say a device has wifi direct enabled, that should be disabled.

Also I found that smart connect would not trigger correct on some devices, sticking to 2.5ghz work around was wifi block list and added to block the 2.5ghz to force 5ghz.

Also a problem with QOS if you use bandwidth and then not set all devices up.
1 will hog the wifi bandwidth if downloading and not set, and it will make other wifi stall, untill the download is complete.

 

[kohjb]

I am also facing a similar problem and tearing my hair out. Anyone can help explain WHY a wifi signal would regularly drop out then back on again (looks like once every 10 seconds or so?). Is it because it detected a collision in the channel or is the firmware trying to do something else? This isn't normal to drop out like this correct? Here's the wifi analyzer signal of my 2.4GHz :

 

[heywire]

Try setting "Channel bandwith" to 20mhz under "Advanced/"Wireless settings"".

If that doesn't work, try updating to the latest firmware and then do a WPS-reset of the router. Then type in the settings manually, don't recover from file.

If that doesn't work, try the official firmware and see if your issue disappears. If that works, report back in the official thread for the latest Merlin firmware (currently 386.11) and describe the issue there.

If the official firmware is still giving the same issue, file a report in the WebGUI with the firmware in issue before you revert to an older one, so that we have hopes of Asus actually fixing the issue downstream.
The report feature is under "Administration/Feedback" - describe what you did and what the problem is- in the free-text field, and remember to check "attach logs" so they can use it to problem-solve. That's the best hope we have of getting the issue resolved downstream.

 

[kohjb]

Try setting "Channel bandwith" to 20mhz under "Advanced/"Wireless settings"".

If that doesn't work, try updating to the latest firmware and then do a WPS-reset of the router. Then type in the settings manually, don't recover from file.

If that doesn't work, try the official firmware and see if your issue disappears. If that works, report back in the official thread for the latest Merlin firmware (currently 386.11) and describe the issue there.

If the official firmware is still giving the same issue, file a report in the WebGUI with the firmware in issue before you revert to an older one, so that we have hopes of Asus actually fixing the issue downstream.
The report feature is under "Administration/Feedback" - describe what you did and what the problem is- in the free-text field, and remember to check "attach logs" so they can use it to problem-solve. That's the best hope we have of getting the issue resolved downstream.

Thanks so much for the suggestions! Am currently on 20MHz bandwidth already, and I've also done a factory reset with manual settings (not from file). And also using the official firmware already. Will certainly give feedback to Asus once I've gathered all the data.

One new finding I've made is that the signal appears stable IF I'm connected to the same signal. The above with all the dips was monitoring a 2.4GHz signal while my phone was on a 5GHz connection. When I switched my phone's wifi to be on the same 2.4GHz connection, the graph smoothed out and didn't drop out! So it could be red-herring - problem with the phone measuring the signal as opposed to a true problem with the Wifi? May be back to the drawing board for me to find why my wifi seems to lose connection so frequently. :-( Is there a more reliable app or device that can monitor the wifi signals? I'm losing a lot of trust in my android since it has started doing things like throttling Wifi (the above graph can't be obtained unless I turn on developer mode and turn OFF wifi scan throttling) and also the above observed "fake news" dips?

Thanks in advance!