New AX86U node and IOT devices

[dbell]

I am coming from a pair of AC5300 in aimesh setup hardwired backhaul; one in office space over 3 car garage where Internet connection comes in (zone 1) and one in basement for rest of house where most mobile device usage occurs (zone 2). Both latest merlin alpha 2 fw.

I purchased an AX86U (latest stock beta fw) for better performance in the main house and originally set it up as the node. My IoT devices (Nest / Ring) now fail to connect on 2.4Ghz guest network and I expect this is wifi 6 compatibility.

Since the AC5300 is the brains of the operation, the AX86U specific settings are not exposed in the UI.

I assume that I could disable the wifi 6 settings for 2.4ghz band only in the node via nvram but don't know exactly all the relevant values.

wl0_11ax=1 seems pretty obvious but what about wifi agile multiband and others ? Anyone else tried this ?

Looks like the prudent thing to do is to make sure the router is at least as capable (as in UI settings) as the nodes it is driving.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I am coming from a pair of AC5300 in aimesh setup hardwired backhaul; one in office space over 3 car garage where Internet connection comes in (zone 1) and one in basement for rest of house where most mobile device usage occurs (zone 2). Both latest merlin alpha 2 fw.

I purchased an AX86U (latest stock beta fw) for better performance in the main house and originally set it up as the node. My IoT devices (Nest / Ring) now fail to connect on 2.4Ghz guest network and I expect this is wifi 6 compatibility.

Since the AC5300 is the brains of the operation, the AX86U specific settings are not exposed in the UI.

I assume that I could disable the wifi 6 settings for 2.4ghz band only in the node via nvram but don't know exactly all the relevant values.

wl0_11ax=1 seems pretty obvious but what about wifi agile multiband and others ? Anyone else tried this ?

Looks like the prudent thing to do is to make sure the router is at least as capable (as in UI settings) as the nodes it is driving.

Maybe the issue is too many/too much 2.4 WiFi signals for a given IoT client, not AX compatibility. Try raising (less negative) the 2.4 Roaming Assistant RSSI threshold to -55 dBm.

OE

 

[dbell]

Thanks for the response. It was disabled; set to -65 for now but from a topology point of view nothing has really changed. Switched out one router for another with the same 2.4Ghz channel, ssid and password.

 

[dbell]

I'm thinking this is not AX specific. I switched the AC5300 back in place instead of the AX86U and my nest / ring devices still won't connect to either the guest or main 2.4ghz ssid. My ring cams were last online on the 7th so I'm wondering if maybe alpha 2 introduced the problem.

It is odd that the nest therm and one of the ring cams show up in list of connected devices but their respective apps say they are offline.

 

[dbell]

Yup went back to 386.2_alpha1-ga84fed8777 and they reconnected to the guest network.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Maybe the issue is too many/too much 2.4 WiFi signals for a given IoT client, not AX compatibility. Try raising (less negative) the 2.4 Roaming Assistant RSSI threshold to -55 dBm.

OE

If this were a concern, I'd suggest a larger change from the default -70 dBm. I had to do this for 2.4 starting with the RC2-7 40577 beta that introduced a new SDK.

Using Asuswrt-Merlin, its not simple to know which stock Asuswrt is being used without doing some research. So, I'll leave this to the Merlin alpha users.

OE

 

[dbell]

@OzarkEdge

Looks like the fix for corrupted firewall rules in 386.2_beta2-g1e6831e65a has solved this problem. My IoT devices remained connected overnight with allow intranet access disabled.

 

[Gustovier]

@OzarkEdge

Looks like the fix for corrupted firewall rules in 386.2_beta2-g1e6831e65a has solved this problem. My IoT devices remained connected overnight with allow intranet access disabled.

I’ve been experiencing this issue as well where my nest will not stay connected. I’ll give updating to the new beta a try

 

[Gustovier]

I’ve been experiencing this issue as well where my nest will not stay connected. I’ll give updating to the new beta a try

Looks like the beta has not fixed it for me. I can’t get my nest thermostat to get connected at all now. The thermostat itself says it’s connected but when the Web client and iOS nest client says it’s disconnected. I also can’t check for a software update on the nest itself which indicates that it can’t really make proper internet connections

 

[kibosh]

Try disabling Wi-Fi Agile Multiband, Target Wake Time, and Protected Management Frames on the wireless tab if any are enabled. These are the new default values after I factory reset the latest official version. I have not seen the disconnects I was seeing previously.

 

[Gustovier]

Try disabling Wi-Fi Agile Multiband, Target Wake Time, and Protected Management Frames on the wireless tab if any are enabled. These are the new default values after I factory reset the latest official version. I have not seen the disconnects I was seeing previously.

those are already disabled. Same situation nest thermostat says it’s connected to the network but it can’t really reach any services , so checking for a nest upgrade fails and I can’t control it via the nest app or best website

 

[MatynK]

I have the same problem with a AX88U as the main router and a AX56U as the Node. Previously I had a AC68U as the node and everything worked fine.

 

[bgski]

I have the exact same setup as MatynK except I have two AX56U nodes. I have 4 Ring chimes that were once connected to this aimesh system and now I have none. I was running factory firmware and changed to Merlin 386.2_4. Problem still exists. Interestingly, all my Ring cams and Doorbell stay connected without issue. Any suggestions?

 

[dbell]

I don't know that a firmware flash replaces or updates existing rules if you don't accompany it with a factory reset. If they got corrupted while using a previous version of the firmware you might try factory reset and allow the default set of rules to be put back in place. My devices were specifically connected to the guest 1 wifi slot, where the rules are used to isolate the traffic from the Intranet, and didn't exhibit the issue if connected to the regular 2.4ghz SSID.

 

[bgski]

I have performed a factory reset before with no change. The devices that won't connect are A,G,N legacy whereas the other Ring devices are AC compliant. I'm thinking that the AX88U (or it's firmware) isn't totally backwards compatible hence the dropping of devices and failure to reconnect.

 

[bgski]

Anyone have a comment or better, a recommendation to remedy this?

 

[dbell]

I have performed a factory reset before with no change. The devices that won't connect are A,G,N legacy whereas the other Ring devices are AC compliant. I'm thinking that the AX88U (or it's firmware) isn't totally backwards compatible hence the dropping of devices and failure to reconnect.

As far as I know only the ring doorbell pro is AC compliant. The others are G, N I think. Are you saying they don't associate with the router or that they cannot connect to the internet even if they look connected to the router ?

 

[bgski]

dbell, The setup fails at the point where internet connection through the router should begin. Right now I have them connected using the Frontier supplied Router/Modem made by Arris without any problems. I have the two routers set to different channels and bandwidths but I'm sure they're stepping on each other. The interesting part is all these devices were connected to my aimesh network for months. Somehow, updating the router firmware has knocked just these Ring chimes out. Could this be an issue with the Firewall?

 

[New2This]

Mine wouldn’t connected when security was set for WPA3 personal. Had to change it to WPA/ WPA2 Personal

 

[bgski]

Thanks New2This. I checked my security settings and can confirm that it's set to WPA/ WPA2 Personal.