RT-AC87R Wifi 5 webui error Merlin

[RMerlin]

Eventually the webgui will not show the wifi config page properly, it only displays half the screen...

That piece just caught my attention... Are you using https to access the router? If yes, try doing a forced refresh (shift-f5) of the page. For some reason, the self-signed certificate generated by the router sometimes have issues with browsers (Firefox is the most problematic, but I have it appear from time to time with Chrome as well). I suspect it's the browser trying to establish a path of trust, and since the router's web daemon is single-threaded, it sometimes gets stuck, requiring a page reload.

I generate the certificate differently from Asus (to resolve various issues like the lack of SANs, which are now required by modern browsers as the CN field is being deprecated).

One fix that definitely works is using a certificate with a complete trust path (i.e. generating and installing your own CA in your browser). You can do that manually using a tool like XCA (what I use), or a simpler aemi-automated method with pixelsrv.

 

[Steven Reid]

You said the problem appeared after moving from 384.10 to 384.10_2. There was no change to the wifi portion in 384.10_2, which is why I doubt it's firmware-related. One thing to try if you haven't done so yet is a complete electrical reset:

1) Turn off the router
2) Unplug the power
3) While still unplugged turn it on, wait 5 secs, then turn it back off (to drain any residual charge)
4) Plug the power back in, then turn it on

See if it's more stable then.

That was just this time... I have run into the problem multiple times of the last year of having this router. The 384.10 was my last ditch effort where I hard reset and it was working fine since then without any issue. However I got the notice the new version was out so I updated. Upon reboot it worked fine for a day, then today I noticed no 5ghz, logged in and seen the same problem back again.

Unfortunately I can't provide further info since I already went back to stock firmware and I am not going to bother with it anymore. It's just not worth it to me.

I do appreciate the efforts and I have run Merlin on other Asus router successfully for years. However this RT-AC87R has just been the worst experience.

 

[RMerlin]

I do appreciate the efforts and I have run Merlin on other Asus router successfully for years. However this RT-AC87R has just been the worst experience.

Trust me, you're not the first one to have a bad experience specifically with that model. Never again would I touch a home router based on Quantenna...

 

[Steven Reid]

That piece just caught my attention... Are you using https to access the router? If yes, try doing a forced refresh (shift-f5) of the page. For some reason, the self-signed certificate generated by the router sometimes have issues with browsers (Firefox is the most problematic, but I have it appear from time to time with Chrome as well). I suspect it's the browser trying to establish a path of trust, and since the router's web daemon is single-threaded, it sometimes gets stuck, requiring a page reload.

I generate the certificate differently from Asus (to resolve various issues like the lack of SANs, which are now required by modern browsers as the CN field is being deprecated).

One fix that definitely works is using a certificate with a complete trust path (i.e. generating and installing your own CA in your browser). You can do that manually using a tool like XCA (what I use), or a simpler aemi-automated method with pixelsrv.

I was just using unsecure http with local access only.

 

[RMerlin]

I was just using unsecure http with local access only.

Ok, so not SSL releated then. Probably the Quantenna sub-system dying.

Asus added a watchdog specifically to monitor that sub-system after a while, but I don't know how effective that watchdog is.

 

[Steven Reid]

Thank you for trying to figure it out, but as I am experiencing such a rare issue, I don't think it's worth worrying about. I am not longer using the router as my main one since I went back to using the ISP modem. I am simply using it as an AP now with no need for any custom setup. If Asus had any wisdom they would release all source so their hardware could be fully utilized properly by Wizards like yourself.

 

[L&LD]

Asus isn't in the position to release all the source files. They have rules and agreements to follow too.

Use the ISP modem in front of my network? Shudder!

 

[Steven Reid]

Well I am supposed to have 1.5 GB service, however I am not getting anywhere near that speed. My ISP technicians have been here three times and kept saying it was my equipment. So that's why I switched it out. I actually want to remove the ISP modem completely but don't think it's possible with my particular ISP.

 

[L&LD]

Well I am supposed to have 1.5 GB service, however I am not getting anywhere near that speed. My ISP technicians have been here three times and kept saying it was my equipment. So that's why I switched it out. I actually want to remove the ISP modem completely but don't think it's possible with my particular ISP.

1.5Gbps up/down? That sounds great!

Does the modem/ONT? give you output in a normal GbE Ethernet port? Or, two? Either way, it should still be bridgeable, correct?

I would still have my router between my equipment and them.

 

[Vexira]

Well I am supposed to have 1.5 GB service, however I am not getting anywhere near that speed. My ISP technicians have been here three times and kept saying it was my equipment. So that's why I switched it out. I actually want to remove the ISP modem completely but don't think it's possible with my particular ISP.

Question what modem is it that you are using?

 

[AndreiV]

Steven , the AC87U router is a weird piece of equipment.
You either have a rock solid , stable device that never falters, as many here will attest , or you have a router that is hopelessly unreliable and the Quantenna issues will drive you insane.
4 years ago I bought an AC87U , on stock firmware I had constant 5Ghz issues and also constant issues with the system freezing after a change of settings.
The retailer changed the unit and the new device was the same. After 4 changes of unit the retailer refused to supply another 87U , they had the same problem with many customers and simply stopped supplying them.
At that time Amazon UK/Poland/Germany and Spain were issuing refunds , even on 2+ year old 87U's because so many users were complaining about the failures.
The Quantenna Wifi was flakey at best and the hardware frequently died within a few weeks /months of purchase.
I ran Acrylic Wifi analyzer from a laptop and captured on the graphs the constant 5Ghz failures till the hardware stopped working completely.

 

[TonyK132]

Is this what you are talking about? I see this all the time on some Merlin WebGui pages going back many versions. The WAN page seems to be the worst. I'm using the Vivaldi browser. In reading posts of some browsers, those guys had to modify their code slightly to accommodate web pages from some routers that did not render correctly. Also this is only occurs 1 out of 3 times for me on this page, so it is not completely repeatable. Sorry for being so nebulous but this seems to be that kind of problem.

This problem had never caused me any router operational problems including WiFi. I suspect you are reporting 2 problems: the Quantenna problem and this rendering problem.

 

[JIPG]

Steven , the AC87U router is a weird piece of equipment.
You either have a rock solid , stable device that never falters, as many here will attest , or you have a router that is hopelessly unreliable and the Quantenna issues will drive you insane.
4 years ago I bought an AC87U , on stock firmware I had constant 5Ghz issues and also constant issues with the system freezing after a change of settings.
The retailer changed the unit and the new device was the same. After 4 changes of unit the retailer refused to supply another 87U , they had the same problem with many customers and simply stopped supplying them.
At that time Amazon UK/Poland/Germany and Spain were issuing refunds , even on 2+ year old 87U's because so many users were complaining about the failures.
The Quantenna Wifi was flakey at best and the hardware frequently died within a few weeks /months of purchase.
I ran Acrylic Wifi analyzer from a laptop and captured on the graphs the constant 5Ghz failures till the hardware stopped working completely.

In my case, the experience is just the opposite: I have had it for about 5 years without any glitch. It is always under high work load and also suffers high temperatures, with no failures up to now.

And with the Merlin FW, we have even better support than with Official FW, because latest official was nearly a year ago, while last available for our router from Merlin has been few days ago (with the courtesy from ASUS for the Binary blobs, for sure ...)