RT-AC66U Instability - hardware or software?

[MikeInNJ]

Hi,

I purchased an RT-AC66U a couple of months ago and it has been fairly unstable. It was dropping connections and/or rebooting fairly often (1x daily or more).

I switched to the Merlin firmware in order to see if it helped. I like the additional features, but it doesn't seem to be helping with the instability.

The latest issue I'm facing is a loss of Internet connectivity to all devices, and when I go to the router web page I get this message:

Settings have been updated. Web page will now refresh.
Changes have been made to the IP address or port number. You will now be disconnected from RT-AC66U.
To access the settings of RT-AC66U, reconnect to the wireless network and use the updated IP address and port number.

(I haven't made any changes that would have caused this.)

The only way I have found to clear it is to power cycle the router. This has happened twice in the last week.

I'm not using any USB functionality but I do have the JFFS partition turned on to enable me to add a port forward that I cannot add from the web UI. I'd like to move the logs to a USB drive so that I can get a better sense of what happens pre-reboot or pre-hang, but from what I have read here USB can be a source of instability so it seems I'm in somewhat of a catch-22.

I did some searching for this situation but I haven't come up with much of anything. Does this sound like something I should consider swapping the hardware in order to resolve?

Thanks,
Mike

PS I'm currently running 3.0.0.4.372.32

 

[seth_space]

some thoughts come to mind..
Loosing internet connection can have a lot of reasons.
Did you used a tool like inssider http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/ ?
Use this to see what is goiing on in your environment. There can be other reasons for a dropped connection.

Did you followed the tips in several topics here, to choose a free frequency for your router.
Do you use 2,4Ghz of 5Ghz ( or mixed)

Did you do a clean install including a reset of the JFFS partition?
https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/Installation

a spontaneous eboot every day seems to point in a bad router.. or: is there possible a heat problem. Is there enough ventilation around the router?

Can you give us the working temperature of the router ( in the firmware administration, tab: performance tuning)

 

[MikeInNJ]

Did you used a tool like inssider http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/ ?
Use this to see what is goiing on in your environment. There can be other reasons for a dropped connection.

I did, and I don't seem to have an conflicting networks nearby. I generally notice an issue when my streaming audio device stops playing. If I jump onto my computer at that point, frequently I will notice no wifi connectivity for a few seconds and then it comes back. Sometimes I can see from uptime that the router rebooted, sometimes not.

By itself, that's annoying. But this latest behavior - the one with the "settings changed" message in the browser (see my original post) is a dealbreaker. Once whatever this is happens, it requires a manual power cycle to fix, and everything loses connectivity until I do it (potentially many hours).

Did you followed the tips in several topics here, to choose a free frequency for your router.
Do you use 2,4Ghz of 5Ghz ( or mixed)

Mixed environment, separate SSIDs. No nearby networks on conflicting frequencies.

Did you do a clean install including a reset of the JFFS partition?
https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin/wiki/Installation

I may have when I first installed asuswrt-merlin, but not when I did the most recent version upgrade. I don't remember for sure. I was considering doing an nvram reset and then setting up the router again as a possible next step.

a spontaneous eboot every day seems to point in a bad router.. or: is there possible a heat problem. Is there enough ventilation around the router?
Can you give us the working temperature of the router ( in the firmware administration, tab: performance tuning)

2.4 and 5 GHz temps are 54 and 62 degrees C respectively right now. I haven't noticed them getting much hotter than that.

 

[MikeInNJ]

I don't know whether it is relevant, but I also am experiencing the perpetually spinning refresh cursor on the client list issue.

 

[iAirJordan]

Hi,

I purchased an RT-AC66U a couple of months ago and it has been fairly unstable. It was dropping connections and/or rebooting fairly often (1x daily or more).

I switched to the Merlin firmware in order to see if it helped. I like the additional features, but it doesn't seem to be helping with the instability.

The latest issue I'm facing is a loss of Internet connectivity to all devices, and when I go to the router web page I get this message:
(I haven't made any changes that would have caused this.)

The only way I have found to clear it is to power cycle the router. This has happened twice in the last week.

I'm not using any USB functionality but I do have the JFFS partition turned on to enable me to add a port forward that I cannot add from the web UI. I'd like to move the logs to a USB drive so that I can get a better sense of what happens pre-reboot or pre-hang, but from what I have read here USB can be a source of instability so it seems I'm in somewhat of a catch-22.

I did some searching for this situation but I haven't come up with much of anything. Does this sound like something I should consider swapping the hardware in order to resolve?

Thanks,
Mike

PS I'm currently running 3.0.0.4.372.32

I get this on latest ofw. Pisses me off so bad. Happens 10 times or more within 2 day period. Only does it to my tablet tho not my other devices. So it has to be Asus if it does it on merlin also.

 

[iAirJordan]

Hi,

I purchased an RT-AC66U a couple of months ago and it has been fairly unstable. It was dropping connections and/or rebooting fairly often (1x daily or more).

I switched to the Merlin firmware in order to see if it helped. I like the additional features, but it doesn't seem to be helping with the instability.

The latest issue I'm facing is a loss of Internet connectivity to all devices, and when I go to the router web page I get this message:
(I haven't made any changes that would have caused this.)

The only way I have found to clear it is to power cycle the router. This has happened twice in the last week.

I'm not using any USB functionality but I do have the JFFS partition turned on to enable me to add a port forward that I cannot add from the web UI. I'd like to move the logs to a USB drive so that I can get a better sense of what happens pre-reboot or pre-hang, but from what I have read here USB can be a source of instability so it seems I'm in somewhat of a catch-22.

I did some searching for this situation but I haven't come up with much of anything. Does this sound like something I should consider swapping the hardware in order to resolve?

Thanks,
Mike

PS I'm currently running 3.0.0.4.372.32

When did u start getting that error? Did u just upgrade ur fw or

 

[MikeInNJ]

I'm not positive, but it is indeed possible that this latest issue started with the upgrade to Merlin .32. Seems like this is a recent thing that several folks are experiencing.

 

[iAirJordan]

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=11862

This problem started way back. Confusing thing is that only one of my devices does it. U said all urs do it. I have many people connect to my router at a business im managing and get no complaints. So idk if its mt static ip that's doing it or what. Confusing and frustrating tho

 

[kche3572]

I have the exact same issue.
It happens when I am streaming video.
the video streaming will suddenly stop and when I try to go to router website, the following msg comes up
"Settings have been updated. Web page will now refresh.
Changes have been made to the IP address or port number...."

I didn't change any setting before all that happen and it happens every 10 minutes or so when I stream video.

 

[steve23094]

FWIW I get the exactly same thing on the N66U.

I have a mid-2012 rMBP and was running Merlin 270.26b (hope I remember that version number correctly, I'm pretty sure that was the last acknowledged stable one) for ages because of all the wireless driver issues. Something between my MacBook and router would cause a freeze on 5Ghz once a day or so. 2.4Ghz was always solid. After a freeze if I switched from 5Ghz to 2.4Ghz and then back to 5Ghz the connection would pick up again.

I upgraded to 374.33 a couple of days ago and things have got dramatically worse. After the upgrade I performed a factory reset and re-keyed in all my settings (not from a restore). Now I freeze on 5Ghz every couple of hours and get the same error message as you:- 'Settings have been updated. Web page will now refresh. Changes have been made to the IP address or port number etc'. On 270.26b I never got that particular error message after a lock up. But the sucky thing is that I'm now freezing on 2.4Ghz too.

When I'm hooking off my Airport Express in another room, no freezes.

There seems to be something seriously wrong with the wireless drivers in this thing.

 

[RMerlin]

There seems to be something seriously wrong with the wireless drivers in this thing.

Or with your particular router/environment, since you are experiencing issues with two totally different drivers (5.100 in 270.26b and 6.30 in 374.33).

You mention having an Airport - make sure your channels aren't overlapping.

 

[steve23094]

Or with your particular router/environment, since you are experiencing issues with two totally different drivers (5.100 in 270.26b and 6.30 in 374.33).

You mention having an Airport - make sure your channels aren't overlapping.

Hi Merlin,

Thanks for your input.

Yes, I had thought of that. My N66U runs off Channel 1 and 48 at 40Mhz, my airport on 11 and 36. BTW since I upgraded, router channels in the 2.4Ghz band pull down menu have an extended ASCII character after all of them, I assume that is just a graphical glitch?

Because I don't drop off my Airport I think I have to assume there is a bug in my N66U or there is a problem in the interaction between a rMBP and a N66U.

If you have any other suggestions I'm happy to try them out.

 

[PrivateJoker]

Hi Merlin,

Thanks for your input.

Yes, I had thought of that. My N66U runs off Channel 1 and 48 at 40Mhz, my airport on 11 and 36. BTW since I upgraded, router channels in the 2.4Ghz band pull down menu have an extended ASCII character after all of them, I assume that is just a graphical glitch?

Because I don't drop off my Airport I think I have to assume there is a bug in my N66U or there is a problem in the interaction between a rMBP and a N66U.

If you have any other suggestions I'm happy to try them out.

If you want to compare notes, I'm not sure if this helps but I have an N66U on .32MW as my primary router, and the current gen APexpress as an auxiliary AP on my WLAN. I have a mid 2009 MacBook Pro (dual stream N) and a mid 2012 non-R MacBook Pro (3 stream N) as well as a typical mix of other wired & wireless clients.

Performance & stability have thus far set the bar of all routers and network setup I've had in last 10+ years. I've got semi extensive stats on RSSI & throughput from many locations in my home.

If I can help with any more particular settings or stats let me know. I intend to upgrade to next stable iteration MW, just haven't gotten around to it yet.

 

[RMerlin]

Hi Merlin,

Thanks for your input.

Yes, I had thought of that. My N66U runs off Channel 1 and 48 at 40Mhz, my airport on 11 and 36.

Maintaining a stable 40 MHz connection on the 2.4 GHz band will always be difficult, as you are overlapping no less than 5 channels that way. You should stick to 20 MHz for increased stability. 5 GHz band should be fine.

BTW since I upgraded, router channels in the 2.4Ghz band pull down menu have an extended ASCII character after all of them, I assume that is just a graphical glitch?

At 40 MHz, your router uses two channels. The letter determines if the selected channel will be the lower (l) or upper (u) channel.

 

[bobfandango]

Similar issue... same time...

I'm not positive, but it is indeed possible that this latest issue started with the upgrade to Merlin .32. Seems like this is a recent thing that several folks are experiencing.

I've had nearly the same issue since the upgrade to .32... Never had the problem until then. I get the same message saying settings have changed and need to reconnect... but only on the 2.4 Ghz band. Once that goes down, I can connect to the 5Ghz band with capable devices and reboot the router. That is the only thing that brings back the 2.4 side. I have no idea what is causing the problem and I've gotten nothing but silence here on the forums regarding the issue. Even though I didn't have the issues on older Merlin firmware, I'm about to try reverting to stock Asus firmware to see if the problem goes away... if it doesn't, I'm going to assume I have a lemon. If it does, well, I will have to stop using Merlin.

I note you mention in another post that it can sometimes be hours until you can reboot the router. I'm assuming that may be because you are not able to physically get to the router. At least in my case, I can still connect to the router via ssh over the WAN (via my phone) even when the 2.4 band is down. From there, I just issue: reboot

You might give that a try if you need to reset the connection remotely.

 

[cmd]

Pay attention to the uptime. Your router might be reloading. They reload pretty quick so it's not completely apparent.

My issues may not be related, but at one point last night I could reliably cause my router to reload by opening my macbook and I'd occasionally see that screen. The reload was 100% reproducible. I spent several hours trying different firmware versions and basically pushing random buttons but I couldn't change anything.

This condition started immediately after enabling jumbo frames on my gateway device and a NAS box. I've had the MTU jacked up on my switches for a while and apparently it was also enabled on a wired desktop but nothing else. After normalizing all that and reapplying merlin's 374.33 code, my router's been up for about 8 hours now and rock solid so far. I've seen an occasional reload in the past but they were fairly uncommon. I'm hoping they were related to that desktop's MTU but we'll see.

It's something about how the packets fragment, I suppose, but I didn't span off the port and analyze the traffic. So, you guys might want to double check any sort of mtu inconsistencies that could lead to fragmentation on the off chance that your issue is related to mine.

 

[MikeInNJ]

FWIW, since I'm the OP, just an update: I'm running Merlin .33 beta 5 and my RT-AC66U is now rock solid. I haven't seen that "settings have changed" page in a long time and the router isn't spontaneously rebooting anymore. I've had as much as 14 days of continuous uptime prior to a manual reboot.

I'll probably upgrade to .33 final one of these days, but I'm not in any rush as it is working perfectly for me as is on the beta.

 

[ChrisNow]

Network adapter Marvell Yukon 88E8056 Windows 8

I was suspicious why I have this message after broken connection with my storage Vista computer when I upload-download files or sync. My investigation did not stop on my AC66U, because I had also broken connections with my past router DIR-655. Also when I was loosing my wired connection with the router I could connect the router from other devices what mean that only my computer had no conection. So I went to Marvell drivers section online and downloaded drivers for my dual LAN adapter which is embedded to the Asus motherboard, and then removed drivers which were chooses in past by Windows itself and replaced with downloaded drivers. And Bingo- no more weird message from my router so broken connections and I could finish my 600GB sync without interruption.

 

[aj203355]

If you want to fix the issue, all you have to do is clear cache =)