ROG Rapture GT-AX6000 Drops Arduino ESP8266 connections on 2.4 GHz

[jaizan]

Router: ROG Rapture GT-AX600
I have 3 ESP8266 Arduino type devices logging data to Thingspeak. Using 2.4 GHz WiFi.
These have worked very reliably for the last 5 years, when connected to the router provided by the ISP. I've had 3 different ISPs & 3 different routers in that time and they worked reliably, almost 24-7.
I switched to using the Asus router in July.

Today, I notice none of the 3 are uploading data to Thingspeak.
I only occasionally check the Thingspeak data, but checking the Thingspeak site, I've had other days when one or more ESP8266 devices have dropped out recently.

The ASUS router shows the devices disconnect after a period of time (EDIT)
I tried rebooting the ESP8266 devices & no change.
I rebooted the ASUS router and all 3 are uploading data again.



I think this problem is related to the Asus router because:
1 I've had excellent reliability with the other 3 routers, over 5 years.
2 The devices all started working after rebooting the Asus router.
3 Three Thingspeak devices are unlikely to simultaneously become unreliable.
The item I know has changed is the router.

The three ESP8266 devices are close enough to the router. One is on the same shelf, another is about 1m away and the third is about 2.5m away. I do have a fourth which is about 6m away, behind a solid wall which has always had an intermittent connection. So I think that is about the limit of range.

At this point, I realize I haven't personally tested the Asus 2.4 GHz WiFi with other devices, although other people in the house have used it.
I get 120 Mbps on 2.4 GHz and 896 Mbps on 5 GHz, on my Pixel, in the same location.

1 Any ideas on how I might make this work reliably with the ASUS router ?
2 Any ideas about how I might troubleshoot ?
3 Whilst orders of magnitude faster than what the ESP8266 needs, shouldn't 2.4 GHz be faster than this ?

[Post edited: To add router in main body of post. Was already in title.

 

[Crimliar]

We'll probably need to know what the router is, as it could be an issue with one particular model. However, I'd suspect that many users on here are using multiple ESP devices including the 8266 and not experiencing any more problems than with any device that is hidden away, sometimes in metal back boxes! I'd probably start by powering down the ESP8266 devices for a few seconds to see if that fixes the issue. Also check for firmware updates to them, and that they are properly querying a DNS server.
Actually a connection speed of 120Mbps on 2.4Ghz is high, 72Mbps and 65 Mbps are much more common, suggesting that you may have the channel width on the 2.4GHz band set to 40MHz - While I'm not aware of this being an issue with the ESP8266 it can be for a few older devices.
So yeah, I really am suggesting switching them off for a few seconds before switching them back on!

 

[jaizan]

Thank you.
The Router is an ASUS GT-AX6000, as mentioned in the title.
I've already tried rebooting the ESP devices, which did not work. Only rebooting the Asus or changing a setting on the ASUS fixes this. Temporarily.

These ESP devices have reliably for about 5 years with various other routers. That's 3 ISP routers and I think there was a short & successful period with an older Asus router.

I'm trying various things. Next is the 20 MHz bandwidth, following your suggestion.

 

[jaizan]

To recap: I have 3 ESP8266 devices that have worked reliably for 5 years before getting my GT-AX600.

To increase my sample size for diagnostics, I also did some work on the 4th, which is further away & always used to drop connections occasionally.

I then rewired the third so it sits near to the router, like 1&2. I had problems getting this to reconnect. I rebooted the router. This number #3 connected, but the other 3 which were connected before the reboot ceased to function. The ASUS router claimed they were connected, but the devices which WERE working reliably are no longer uploading data.
I rebooted the 3 disconnected ESP8266 devices and it did not fix the issue.

I then rebooted the router again. After this, only 2 ESP8266 devices appear connected. Only one is uploading data.

ASUS UK said I should return the router.
I like the router in all other respects, but my ESP8266 device absolutely MUST run reliably.

Here are my settings is there anything else I should try before returning this router ?