My RT-AC5400 is requiring more frequent reboots should I do the M&M or nuclear reset?

[Williamthe5thc]

So in the following diagram SSID1 needs to be turned off. It’s not the router, that needs turning off it’s the radio/SSID that needs to be turned off which means that Ethernet can work because Ethernet is “safe” eye roll.

So to diagram:

ISP -> RT-AC5300 -> ax1000 ( AP)

| |

SSID_1 SSID1. Guest network (tied to ax100, and ax100 as an AP is tied to the ssid1)
devices devices

 

[Tech9]

So both routers turn Wi-Fi off between 6-11? All radios?

Forget about this Guest Network for now. We'll get to it later.

 

[Williamthe5thc]

So both routers turn Wi-Fi off between 6-11? All radios?

Forget about this Guest Network for now. We'll get to it later.

Currently only the ac5300 radios (all bands) turns off, ax1100 stays on, they think it’s a neighbors network, because they don’t have the password I may have turned on MAC filtering though in case they did, but they’re not technically equipped to figure it out.

still with me?

 

[Tech9]

Okay, so... AC5300 is the main router and it serves Wi-Fi between specific hours. AX1500 is your own router (upstairs?) wired with Ethernet cable to AC5300 (LAN port on AC5300 to WAN port on AX1500) and you have "illegal" Wi-Fi all the time. Someone downstairs complaints Ethernet connected device is going down from time to time and you complain your phone is saying "no Internet" from time to time. Is this the situation and what is happening?

 

[Williamthe5thc]

Okay, so... AC5300 is the main router and it serves Wi-Fi between specific hours. AX1500 is your own router (upstairs?) wired with Ethernet cable to AC5300 (LAN port on AC5300 to WAN port on AX1500) and you have "illegal" Wi-Fi all the time. Someone downstairs complaints Ethernet connected device is going down from time to time and you complain your phone is saying "no Internet" from time to time. Is this the situation and what is happening?

Essentially except you flipped the locations it’s upstairs the main router (ac5300) connected to the ONT and downstairs is the ax100 besides that yes everything is right! (The Ethernet complaint, my phone WiFi complaint; the times radios are on)

 

[Tech9]

This is the description of your problem and you had to start with it in post #1.

Do you know if no Internet issue happens at the same time for both routers?

How long you have no Internet and does it fix itself without touching anything?

 

[Williamthe5thc]

Do you know if no Internet issue happens at the same time for both routers?

No, but I assume so… I’ve just assumed someone pulled a plug or something. I do get a “network unstable” sometimes and assumed it was because of not enough bandwidth or something….

How long you have no Internet and does it fix itself without touching anything?

sometimes…. Other times I reboot the router; but maybe the reboot just gives enough time to fix the issue… however it has happened at night several times which is not a peak hour I imaginez…

 

[Tech9]

This is what I would do to investigate further:

- restore latest available stock Asuswrt on RT-AC5300, reset and configure manually
- don't enable anything TrendMicro related for now, bare bone configuration
- use for DNS servers something like Google or OpenDNS, they don't go down
- leave settings you know little about at default values, don't copy someone else's settings
- unplug all the cables, inspect connectors, clean or replace cables if needed
- inspect the WAN/LAN ports, clean if needed with soft brush or compressed air (old router)
- run the system and watch System Log for WAN or LAN related messages
- watch for crashlog messages or something coming up often and unusual
- make sure the router doesn't overheat, has to have some air circulation around
- convert AX1500 to Access Point only (instead of cascaded routers in double NAT)

If you have nothing in RT-AC5300 System Log and both routers still lose Internet and at the same time - turn your attention to the ISP equipment.

 

[dave14305]

restore latest available stock Asuswrt on RT-AC5300

That would be 3.0.0.4.386.48377 from April 2022. Just saying it’s old.

 

[Tech9]

Yes, I know. Testing with 3rd party firmware released few weeks ago on never officially released GPL and with 2 people reporting it's running on RT-AC5300 though... doesn't sound like right troubleshooting procedure to me. Let's see if the hardware is okay first and we'll go from there. If it doesn't work well on stock firmware - no point wasting time.

 

[Williamthe5thc]

That would be 3.0.0.4.386.48377 from April 2022. Just saying it’s old.

Oh ok, I just upgraded the firmware I believe it was happening before however.

One second I’ll respond to other post

 

[Williamthe5thc]

convert AX1500 to Access Point only (instead of cascaded routers in double NAT)

How to solve the SSID issue (having the primary SSID stop ant night) and turning them off…? (Would perhaps turning off smart connect, and running one of the dual 5G bands under a different name work…?)

 

[Tech9]

How to solve the SSID issue

What SSID issue? Your "illegal" Wi-Fi from AX1500 has to have different SSID anyway. It's neighbor's and you know nothing about it, right?

 

[Williamthe5thc]

don't enable anything TrendMicro related for now, bare bone configuration

Ok

use for DNS servers something like Google or OpenDNS, they don't go down

that may have been the problem! Was running through a different one… what I’m using right now.. probably default.

leave settings you know little about at default values, don't copy someone else's settings

Uhhhhh so I changed them to the M&M ones I can change the ones I don’t know about to auto or default.

inspect the WAN/LAN ports, clean if needed with soft brush or compressed air (old router)

It does get a bit dusty lol

run the system and watch System Log for WAN or LAN related messages

Do this if it crashes again…? Do I need to toggle anything ato get this?

make sure the router doesn't overheat, has to have some air circulation around

oooo this could be an issue
lt does get hot in the summer upstairs, but they have a swamp cooler so it’s somewhat cooler.

Concerning the ONT that’s the ISP equipment and we’d need them to check it out right…?

 

[Williamthe5thc]

What SSID issue? Your "illegal" Wi-Fi from AX1500 has to have different SSID anyway. It's neighbor's and you know nothing about it, right?

Oh, so put it in AP mode and broadcast as a different SSID? And that’ll solve the issue ?

 

[Williamthe5thc]

That would be 3.0.0.4.386.48377 from April 2022. Just saying it’s old.

Oh, wow that is old I have 386.12

Oh no I just read it again and it says reset which means I have to redo it haha sooo much fun.

386.48377 is on the Merlin website right? Just look for that version….?

 

[dave14305]

Oh, wow that is old I have 386.12

Oh no I just read it again and it says reset which means I have to redo it haha sooo much fun.

386.48377 is on the Merlin website right? Just look for that version….?

You have Merlin now. Tech9 suggests going back to Asus stock firmware for now.

 

[Tech9]

Do this if it crashes again…?

I don't know if it crashes or not. When it happens look at the logs. I don't have any Asus routers running at the moment, but from the online demo:

See the "WAN Connection: Ethernet link down" message as an example?

Oh, so put it in AP mode and broadcast as a different SSID? And that’ll solve the issue ?

An Access Point connected to this very same system can have different SSID, whatever you want it to be.

Just look for that version….?

This is the official Asuswrt firmware. My suggestion is to test the router with official firmware only. If this router has issues with official firmware, perhaps it's time to replace it. Asuswrt-Merlin releases may be newer, but won't fix failing hardware. Witchcraft and black magic won't fix it either.

RT-AC5300 - Support

www.asus.com

 

[Williamthe5thc]

Ok I’m going to hold off on changing the firmware till tonight or tomorrow. Because people need it etc. I’m going to plug the Ethernet cords in, and switch the ax1100 to AP mode though

 

[Tech9]

If you want to find the issue quicker - do one change at a time and observe the behavior. If you change 5 things at once you'll never know what made it better or worse. Intermittent issues are harder to diagnose and require some patience. I would also connect this newer AX1500 temporary to the ONT and see if the issues continue. Or get another router from Amazon (if available and possible). You have 30-day return period usually.