Major Issues w/RT-AC86U

[Wildman]

Hi!

Thank you, I am new on this forum and did not knew. I have created a new post under :

HomeForums>Wireless Networking>ASUS Wireless>ASUS N Routers & Adapters

 

[hokiez97]

Argh, looks like the 5G band on my 86U is dying. To add insult to injury, this unit is the one that Asus sent me as a replacement for my last one, which had the 2.4G band die. Here are my new symptoms: I usually use SmartConnect and noticed lower speeds on some of my devices - checked the router and saw that all devices were using 2.4G, none on 5G. Ran one of those network analyzer apps on my phone - no 5G network present. Split the 2.4/5G SSIDs on the router and rebooted. The 5G network works, but just barely. I am getting <10mbps on 5G in the same room as the router, ~100mbps on 2.4G (using testmy.net).

I have a bad feeling this unit is going to be out of warranty.

 

[L&LD]

@hokiez97, that doesn't indicate 5GHz is dying to me. What it points to is SmartConnect is doing dumb things (once again).

To test for your hardware, the following link may be helpful.

ax88 packet loss

Hi, I recently upgraded to the ax88 router and have been having connectivity issues (laggy, jittery connections). i checked, and see anywhere from 20% to 50% packet loss, when measured with ping 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1 from multiple clients. this happens if client is connected to router via wifi...

www.snbforums.com

In addition to doing the above, the M&M Config and ideally, the Nuclear Reset guides may also help to get your router/network back to a good/known state.

Please see the link in my signature for those guides (and more).

 

[hokiez97]

@hokiez97, that doesn't indicate 5GHz is dying to me. What it points to is SmartConnect is doing dumb things (once again).

To test for your hardware, the following link may be helpful.

ax88 packet loss

Hi, I recently upgraded to the ax88 router and have been having connectivity issues (laggy, jittery connections). i checked, and see anywhere from 20% to 50% packet loss, when measured with ping 8.8.8.8 or 1.1.1.1 from multiple clients. this happens if client is connected to router via wifi...

www.snbforums.com

In addition to doing the above, the M&M Config and ideally, the Nuclear Reset guides may also help to get your router/network back to a good/known state.

Please see the link in my signature for those guides (and more).

Thanks for the feedback, but I currently have SmartConnect turned off. When connected to 5G my speeds are abysmal, and everything is fine on 2.4G.

Edit: or are you saying that because I was using SmartConnect before, it may have corrupted something that is still lingering even after disabling SmartConnect and reverting to separate 2.4/5G SSIDs?

 

[L&LD]

Without fully resetting the router and your network client devices, simply toggling settings won't help in my experience.

The router is unstable (fact) right now. Getting it back to a good/known state is required before any real troubleshooting can begin.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Argh, looks like the 5G band on my 86U is dying. To add insult to injury, this unit is the one that Asus sent me as a replacement for my last one, which had the 2.4G band die. Here are my new symptoms: I usually use SmartConnect and noticed lower speeds on some of my devices - checked the router and saw that all devices were using 2.4G, none on 5G. Ran one of those network analyzer apps on my phone - no 5G network present. Split the 2.4/5G SSIDs on the router and rebooted. The 5G network works, but just barely. I am getting <10mbps on 5G in the same room as the router, ~100mbps on 2.4G (using testmy.net).

I have a bad feeling this unit is going to be out of warranty.

What firmware version are you using and did you reset it first before configuration from scratch?

OE

 

[hokiez97]

What firmware version are you using and did you reset it first before configuration from scratch?

OE

Current Asus (non-Merlin) firmware. I did not reset, will try that next once I can afford to be offline for an hour or so!

 

[OzarkEdge]

Current Asus (non-Merlin) firmware. I did not reset, will try that next once I can afford to be offline for an hour or so!

Might help.

I don't want to beat the drum about the current 81992 firmware, but I did have an irreconcilable issue with it:
=https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac86u-poor-wifi-range.65335/post-604382

OE

 

[hokiez97]

Just followed L&LD's instructions above in post #123 (the quoted ax88 post) and nothing has improved. Download speed on the 5G band <1, on 2.4G ~50. I haven't tried the nuclear option yet but am not feeling optimistic. I checked the warranty status and of course it ended 5 days ago. Emailed Asus to see what they say. This may be the last straw for me and Asus routers if I can't get a fair resolution.

Edit: is it also normal that my IPs have changed from what they were - eg my NAS used to be 192.168.2.34, now it's 192.168.2.35. Not a big deal, just curious.

 

[brec]

Buy the RT-AC86U and test it fully within the return period to ensure it works as needed.

My 86U was delivered three days ago! I reset, loaded Merlin 384-18, and went through the minimal-and-manual set up that you recommended. I added enabling SSH from LAN only, and haven't yet tested to find the best channels. I'm about to start a separate thread asking how to do that.

What I'd like to ask here, though is: how would I test it fully? It seems to be working OK except possibly for a couple of momentary dropouts, but I haven't done any systematic testing except for vanilla speed tests which seem at least as good as with my previous router, which was an AC1900 (my cable service, based on ethernet-to-Mac results, is 190mbs down, 10 up).

Is there a test procedure somewhere? If not, any advice? Thanks for all your help on this forum!

 

[OzarkEdge]

My 86U was delivered three days ago! I reset, loaded Merlin 384-18, and went through the minimal-and-manual set up that you recommended. I added enabling SSH from LAN only, and haven't yet tested to find the best channels. I'm about to start a separate thread asking how to do that.

What I'd like to ask here, though is: how would I test it fully? It seems to be working OK except possibly for a couple of momentary dropouts, but I haven't done any systematic testing except for vanilla speed tests which seem at least as good as with my previous router, which was an AC1900 (my cable service, based on ethernet-to-Mac results, is 190mbs down, 10 up).

Is there a test procedure somewhere? If not, any advice? Thanks for all your help on this forum!

You should reset after loading new firmware.

You can inspect client connections to be see that their link rate speed is reasonable for their connection technology, and for WiFi signal power/distance. A WiFi Analyzer app can give you a rough idea of signal strength at various locations. For example, Ethernet connections (noted under Status in the router webUI) are typically 1 Gbps full-duplex. An AC WiFi client typically connects at 433 or 866 Mbps half-duplex depending on number of client antennas/streams.

Then conduct various Internet speedtests such as speedtest.net and iPerf.com to see that your clients can achieve what you are paying your ISP for.

Asuswrt-Merlin may have some useful analysis tools, also.

OE

 

[brec]

Yes, I reset before and after I loaded Merlin.

The app you mentioned is for Android, and my mobile devices are iOS. But I think I have something similar called Wi-Fi SweetSpots which continuously reports Mbps for whichever band I'm connected to.

 

[L&LD]

The 'test procedure' I use for myself and for my customers is to simply use the network as needed and see if the router is limiting that use in any way.

With so few discrete channels to use, simply pick one, reboot the router and test for a day or so keeping notes of how the network operates with those settings. Change channels, reboot, and repeat. When all channels have been tested, use the notes to choose the best then.

For the 2.4GHz Band, only use channels 1, 6 and 11. For the 5GHz Band, try each channel you have available (use/ignore DFS channels depending on the proximity of airports, radar, or weather stations nearby). Be sure to use 20MHz bandwidth for the 2.4GHz Band if there are other AP's around. Use 80MHz bandwidth for the 5GHz Band.

The process above may seem simple, but it takes everything into account and is usually the only method needed to get a good channel with a responsive, fast, and stable connection for your client devices.

Edit: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/new-86u-how-to-find-best-channels.65363/post-604868

Added a few more points to the dedicated thread in the link above.

 

[L&LD]

Did you try another power supply? Preferably, one with the same voltage and connecting plug, but with higher amperes able to be delivered?

 

[L&LD]

I don't understand how you're determining the power supply isn't a possible issue?

 

[Tech9]

Mine died suddenly yesterday. Tried switching it off and on, but no lights were coming on. Thinking that the plug point was faulty, I tried it at other plug points but no joy. Quite sad as the AC86u served me quite faithfully for almost 3 years.

Perhaps the main VRM right next to the power plug. I had one of those with the same defect. What fails more often I have described here. Upgrade the router and hope for the best with the new one. Consumer products are getting cheaper and don't last as long as they used to.

 

[L&LD]

That isn't a good test. The RT-AC86U is more power-hungry than the much older RT-AC68U.

 

[L&LD]

It may not be the power supply. However, the PS working for the past 3 years doesn't mean it is still capable of properly powering the RT-AC86U today.

 

[Tech9]

I plan to purchase the AX86u later this month. I'm hoping that it's better constructed.

No hardware issues reported so far.

 

[dougg3]

I’m new here. I wanted to add my experience to the thread. I have been bitten by the failing 2.4 GHz problem on two separate RT-AC86U units. I’m happy to see that at least some people are unaffected by it. I guess I’m super unlucky. I love the router other than the 2.4 GHz failure issue.

Last year, I noticed that even though the 2.4 network was showing up on my devices as an available network, all devices connected to it had no connectivity. 5 GHz was fine. Rebooting the router would fix the issue for a short time, and then it would come back. Leaving the router powered off for longer meant the problem took longer to reappear again. I went through the whole troubleshooting process with Asus. I reset to defaults, tried Merlin firmware, dinked around with WiFi settings, everything. Nothing fixed it.

The only thing that fixed it was replacing it. I bought a new unit on Amazon because Asus’s RMA process is ridiculous and I couldn’t afford to be without a router for weeks. That brand new RT-AC86U from Amazon, with the exact same firmware and settings, with the exact same connected devices, worked fine (and still works fine to this day). In the meantime, I RMAed the problematic unit. Asus sent me a brand new replacement with a 2020 manufacture date. That new unit has been fine for about a year and a half acting as an AiMesh node. Now out of nowhere, the 2.4 GHz band is starting to fail on it. Same symptoms. Rebooting the AiMesh node fixes it…for a while.

If I didn’t have several 2.4-only devices, I wouldn’t have even noticed there was a problem. The Amazon reviewers aren’t all idiots. I suppose I might be part of the vocal minority, but I’ve seen it twice. I suspect it’s heat-related because of how the problem takes longer to come back the longer it’s powered off. other than that, I love the router though. I’m an electronics geek. My warranty is expired now. Maybe I’ll tear this unit apart and try to see if adding better cooling fixes it. Otherwise, I suppose the RT-AX86U is looking good! As frustrating as this router model has been for me, I still love it.