RT-AC86U (386.11) in Repeater Mode only allowing 4 Wifi Clients at a time?

[elorimer]

Heat is definitely a possibility to check. When my 86U would go into the 90s things would slow down and misbehave. I redid the thermal pads and that brought me down into the 70s. With a fan strapped on I'm in the 40s and forgot about the heat problem.

I'm also puzzling about the routers IP address. When it is working, reserve that address on the main router to fix it there and prevent anything else from getting the address. Don't fix it just on the 86U.

 

[Futuristic]

AP mode doesn't need DNS other than checking for firmware updates.

Ok, thanks you for that info. I didn't know that!

It is possible it was just a distance issue, did you try the 86 somewhere closer to the ISP router? Understood that hardwired devices are needed, just curious as a test. Seems unlikely though based on the symptoms you're describing, but these things don't always make sense. The N router with smaller channel width is going to have better range than AC typically, but probably not much difference (and AC has some newer features to increase range which should mostly cancel it out).

Unfortunately that AC86U router is known for hardware problems, so I think yours may be dying or you got a bum one to start with. If the N is getting you the performance and speed you want, sounds like you're set. But you could test the 86 more if you want to see if it can be used for something else, probably drop it back to 386.7_2, factory reset with WPS, and see if it works as a standard router or AP reliably. If not, probably time for the bin.

I believe this is one of the models prone to heat issues so possibly wherever it was it wasn't getting good enough ventilation etc. Once the thermal pads/paste degrade it will only work for short periods without issues.

It actually picks up the signal from the router at full bars, actually better then the N66U does, so it doesn't seem like that is an issue. The 66U has less distance for sure as a repeater, but for their needs its fine. They're old and they sit by the TV most of the time, and the N66 is right there, so no big deal with that.

Yeah its been a day or more now and the N66U hasn't shown any of the issues I was having and its been working great so far, so I definitely think you guys are right about the heat issues or some odd hardware issue with it. He did tell me that they had to reset it every time they had a power outage and some times he would have to turn it off and on several times for it to finally work, so it sounds like this has been going on for awhile now. They just failed to tell me that detail while I've been trying to figure it out, lol... So I agree, I think they may have had a bunk one to begin or one of the power outages did something to it. I don't really care to get into testing it anymore after spending 3 days on it, it seems there's a problem with it for sure. I may take it home with me and mess around with it some more, but the N66U is working great for their needs, so I'm just gonna leave it at that. I asked them if they wanted to get a newer one that will have firmware/security updates and they don't sound interested in that. so I guess it's the N66U for now. I did load johns last firmware on it. 53D7, so its as up to date as its gonna get. He hasn't logged on here for over a year, so I guess that's it for it unless I do the fresh tomatoes thing, but I hear that has worse wireless range and performance.

Oops missed this one. It really does sound like 1 of 2 things:

Heat - when it is dormant at night and potentially cooler in the house, it cools down and starts behaving better, until heavy use and daytime temps go up.
Distance - Less stuff going on at night, less neighbors on wifi, less microwaves running, etc, i.e. less noise to interfere with that wireless backhaul.

My guess is probably #1. Not that it is exceeding its rated temperature necessarily, but that whatever is dying (probably wireless radio or the CPU) is no longer able to handle anywhere near its rated temps.

Ok, that actually makes sense. That is probably most likely what is happening. After a day of messing with it and resetting it, it seemed to get worse and worse as time went on... until I went to sleep and everything was quick again in the morning... So all that messing about was heating it up and it was just crapping out or acting strangely more frequently. I agree with your assessment. It will probably end up in electronic recycling, sadly...

Thank you again for your time and expertise. I really do appreciate it! You're a gentleman and scholar!

 

[Futuristic]

Heat is definitely a possibility to check. When my 86U would go into the 90s things would slow down and misbehave. I redid the thermal pads and that brought me down into the 70s. With a fan strapped on I'm in the 40s and forgot about the heat problem.

I'm also puzzling about the routers IP address. When it is working, reserve that address on the main router to fix it there and prevent anything else from getting the address. Don't fix it just on the 86U.

Yeah, when I reserved it on the main router it would just change at random every time I refreshed the main routers client list even though it was manually set on the 86U and put into the reserved client list on the main router... super strange.

 

[drinkingbird]

He did tell me that they had to reset it every time they had a power outage and some times he would have to turn it off and on several times for it to finally work, so it sounds like this has been going on for awhile now.

If they have semi-frequent power outages invest in a cheap UPS whatever router you end up sticking with. These routers are very sensitive to outages and surges. Not saying that is what killed it (given the other known issues with that model) but I've seen many from various brands partially or fully fried by power outages.

 

[Futuristic]

If they have semi-frequent power outages invest in a cheap UPS whatever router you end up sticking with. These routers are very sensitive to outages and surges. Not saying that is what killed it (given the other known issues with that model) but I've seen many from various brands partially or fully fried by power outages.

Yeah, its plugged into a decent power strip, not a UPS of any sort though. This would make sense why mine has never suffered these issues I would guess. The power at my house NEVER goes out.. I can't even remember the last time it went out.. Maybe like 7 or 8 years ago at a minimum. Mine also sits in a dark basement on a wooden shelf I made for it where all the house ethernet/cable lines are at, so it gets plenty of airflow around it and it stays a nice 65-70 degrees down there at all times. They keep their house at like 77 degrees with AC on because my mother gets too cold with anything lower.. That's already kinda high in my view. I'm having a hard time sleeping in it as we speak, so I imagine it wasn't helping the router much either.

Anyway, thanks again my friend. I appreciate all the useful info you provided!

 

[Futuristic]

Just a little update - I convinced the old folks that running the N66U probably wasn’t a good idea to use at this point for security reasons and it’s age. Ended up getting them a RT-AX58U and it works great. I had it up and running in 5-10 minutes, although the range is kinda weak for this model and not what I was expecting. In any case, thanks to everyone again. The problem was most definitely with the 86U. Cheers!

 

[drinkingbird]

Just a little update - I convinced the old folks that running the N66U probably wasn’t a good idea to use at this point for security reasons and it’s age. Ended up getting them a RT-AX58U and it works great. I had it up and running in 5-10 minutes, although the range is kinda weak for this model and not what I was expecting. In any case, thanks to everyone again. The problem was most definitely with the 86U. Cheers!

There are various things that will impact range/signal - i.e. wider channels like 160 will be less range than 80. If it is an issue there are some things you can check/tweak. But it is a lower end one maybe just not quite as good radio hardware. Keep in mind the N66 was 40mhz channel so that will appear stronger signal than 80 or 160. I'd expect it to be on par with the AC86 when set to 80mhz though. Unless you've been using 2.4ghz all along and not realizing it and now 5ghz is working?