Solved Node does not reconnect to AiMesh after reboot

[BeachGuy]

Node does not reconnect to AiMesh after reboot. No matter if I reboot it through AiMesh (Management: Reboot) or manually. It does reconnect through AiMesh: System Settings: System Reboot. Any help would be appreciated. Running Merlin 3004.388.4_0.

 

[L&LD]

What routers are we talking about? When was the last time this worked? When was the last time you performed a full reset of the routers after upgrading to the latest firmware?

Try an electrical reset on your routers. Do the following to both at the same time.

Unplug the power from the router and the AC wall plug. Leave the power button on.

Leave like this for a minute or two.

Plug everything in and power them up. Wait for a good 10 minutes or so after you have WiFi signal available on the node, then, test again.

 

[BeachGuy]

What routers are we talking about?

GT-AX6000 (main), RT-AC68W (node). I know you and others have said don't mix AX/AC but when the mesh is working it works good. And I can reboot through AiMesh: System Settings: System Reboot, just not reboot the node itself.

When was the last time this worked?

Never

When was the last time you performed a full reset of the routers after upgrading to the latest firmware?

Each time after upgrading (per your and others instructions) but never after AiMesh

Try an electrical reset on your routers. Do the following to both at the same time.

Unplug the power from the router and the AC wall plug. Leave the power button on.

Leave like this for a minute or two.

Plug everything in and power them up. Wait for a good 10 minutes or so after you have WiFi signal available on the node, then, test again.

Others are using the internet. I will try this tomorrow and report back. Thanks

 

[BeachGuy]

BTW, I think I saw some posts that said if the system is setup correctly and stable you should never have to reboot the system. Is that correct? Maybe I shouldn't be rebooting, although when I do it seems to reset/clear some IPs (and memory?).

 

[bbunge]

It is recommended to run Asus firmware on the node.

 

[BeachGuy]

It is recommended to run Asus firmware on the node.

I flashed the latest ASUS-WRT (factory firmware) but same result. After rebooting it won't connect to AiMesh.

 

[L&LD]

Yes, rebooting without reason can be a source of problems in itself.

Not only are you running different classes of routers, you are also running vastly different firmware versions too. Bugs and glitchy network experience is too be expected, imo.

I still recommend running (as close to the same) RMerlin firmware on all routers when possible. This is the most stable setup possible, IME.

 

[BeachGuy]

Thanks all. I think I'll run RMerlin on both and not reboot and see how things go for a while.

I might replace the RT-AC68W with an "extender". L&LD, you recommended the GT-AX6000 to me and it's great. Any recommendations on an extender? 2 story ~3500 sq ft house.

 

[BeachGuy]

Try an electrical reset on your routers. Do the following to both at the same time.

Unplug the power from the router and the AC wall plug. Leave the power button on.

Leave like this for a minute or two.

Plug everything in and power them up. Wait for a good 10 minutes or so after you have WiFi signal available on the node, then, test again.

Tried this and node did not reconnect.

 

[bbunge]

Do you have WPS enabled?

 

[BeachGuy]

no. From everything I've read you never want that enabled (security risk).

 

[L&LD]

At this point, this seems like unwelcome/unintended interactions from the vastly different firmware between the two routers being used.

You have your workarounds and know what to expect. More than many others with unexplainable glitches in their network experience.

 

[BeachGuy]

Yes it is very stable and working good now. I can restart the mesh system if needed. Thanks for all your help.

 

[Morris]

Merlin and factory use the same AI mesh code. Have the main router forget the node. Then reset the node and connect as if new.

 

[BeachGuy]

Merlin and factory use the same AI mesh code. Have the main router forget the node. Then reset the node and connect as if new.

Done that 100 times.

 

[Morris]

Your node and router probably have a marginal WiFi connection. This could be interference, distance, materials separating them. Try moving them closer or add an intermediate node. An extender uses the same WiFi principles as a wireless node. There is a good chance an extender will also have connection issues.

 

[BeachGuy]

Actually have good connection. RT-AC68W is a 1300Mbps (5 GHz band 802.11ac) router and the connection between the main router and node is usually around the 1000Mbps range.

 

[Morris]

That is the speed when things are going well. How many DB is the connection and what is the noise level in DBs? Any microwaves, florescent lights, motors or other common sources of interference in the area? If you are configured 160 wide or are permitting DFS channels go to 80 wide and disable DFS. You are also using dule band routers and this means that the backhaul is on the same link as all traffic. Heavy traffic in the form of heavy bandwidth use and/or high packet rates can cause issues. Any way to get a ethernet cable to the node? You could also try a powerline connection.

 

[BeachGuy]

Speed is around 1000Mbps (connection to main router), -59 dBm, no major interference in the area (3500 sq ft single family home). I've tried 160 wide with dfs but I find 80 is better as most of my devices are AC not AX. Yes backhaul is on the same link as traffic but I'm getting 3-4 bars on devices on the node and they're running around 500Mbps Tx/Rx. Would love to have ethernet backhaul. When we built the house they asked if we wanted to wire ethernet and I thought no I'll do wireless (2005). Maybe prescient, maybe stupid. But the ethernet cable back then was cat 5.

But I don't think any of this has anything to do with the node not being able to connect to mesh after separate reboot. As I said, it does reconnect when I do system restart from AiMesh.

 

[Morris]

It's disconnecting for a reason and as the backhaul is WiFi, the reason is likely one of the many common WiFi issues. Also, is your node running the latest Ausus code? That might help as there have been some fixes though the AC routers are not being supported as well as the AX routers. Recovery is much better in the AX routers. Replacing the node with a modern AX router might recover when the backhaul becomes unstable. Your backhaul is clearly glitching and by the time you check it all is fine again.

Post #13 you stated it's stable now. What made the deference and is it still stable?