RT-AC88U, 4 ports not working

[hakster]

I also have a RT-AC88U. My LAN ports 1 - 8 are all fine, other than 5. I don't have anything plugged into 5, but noticed under system status on the main screen the router was showing 100Mbps! Plugged something in, didn't work. All other ports reflected the status correctly immediately on that web page, and passed traffic. SSH into the cmd line, and robocfg show also stays down on port 5. BTW, I am running the latest stock 3.0.0.4.385_20631 firmware. Very happy with the router, and with this firmware, rock solid, apart from the annoying syslog spamming that has been there for a few firmware versions (I've reported it, let's see): https://www.snbforums.com/threads/portslinkstaus-0-after-ac88u-3-0-0-4-385_20585-update.64755/ I believe this bug is fixed in the Merlin firmware. Interestingly, this spamming is I believe linked to debug checking the status of the Ethernet ports (I think I read that somewhere, cannot be 100% but thought I would mention it), so wonder if Asus are aware they are flaky? My entries were: kernel: portsLinkStaus=0 but now they are: kernel: portsLinkStaus=1 Not sure if that is picking up the now dead port - cannot be sure of timing. If I move the Ethernet cables to other ports, I can also get it to a value of 3 - anyone know what the numbers mean?

 

[hakster]

Just an update - after a day or so with my LAN port 5 not working, with the GUI main status page (the one showing CPU) flagging it as 100Mbps even with nothing connected, and with portsLinkStaus=1 in the syslog every 4 seconds, this morning, without me doing anything, and with no reboot either, the GUI is now showing it working (as in Unplugged) and portsLinkStaus=0. So those spamming syslog messages are to do with LAN NIC port status, and 0 seems to be "all fine". Seems ASUS knows something is up with the LAN ports, hence why they added this debug - hopefully they will address the spamming log messages AND the NIC ports ghosting in and out (and failing entirely).

 

[stari4ek]

I'm having this issue with my AC88U every 3-5 months. 5-8 lan ports become non-working.

Switching off device and removing AC power for 1-3 minutes fixes the issue. Disconnecting AC plug is the only fix for me, just powering it off didn't help

 

[Lorie3001]

Hi.
Same problem here

 

[AsusRtUser]

Im very disappointed. I have posted here in 2017 that I have this bug with ports 5-8 and now is 2021 and tens of firmware updates released but bug is still not fixed. Shame on ASUS. Support is terrible, I will never buy networking device from ASUS. I have to turn router off and turn on again each 3-5 months to get ports 5-8 working.

 

[killeriq]

upgrade and switch to AX88, more powerful HW and port issue is gone.
I sold AC88 , paid 50e extra for used AX88 and no issues

 

[ddaenen1]

Im very disappointed. I have posted here in 2017 that I have this bug with ports 5-8 and now is 2021 and tens of firmware updates released but bug is still not fixed. Shame on ASUS. Support is terrible, I will never buy networking device from ASUS. I have to turn router off and turn on again each 3-5 months to get ports 5-8 working.

The RT-AC88u was the first Asus device i ever bought and in the beginning, i was very happy with it as i was a Linksys user before that and i constantly had issues so the Asus was a great improvement in terms of stability, speed and functionality. It was so good, that i bought an additional access point (EA-AC87) but slowly the issues started creaping in - in fact, firmware updates made things worse in many cases. The port 5-8 issue popped up on the 88u, together with some other insignificant things like log flooding and the AC87 rebooted spontaneously and did that frequently (they actually never published a firmware update for the EA-AC87). It got very annoying so i get rid of the AC87 and bought an Netgear R7000 instead to function as an AP with which i actually never had any big issues. Bought another Netgear R7800 configured as an AP which also ran pretty much flawless. I did have issues connecting 2 devices that were connected to different access points but that was only with the printer. Eventually i threw everything out and built the config i have now which is a blessing, especially now, with home office and remote education.

 

[JemTheWire]

Im very disappointed. I have posted here in 2017 that I have this bug with ports 5-8 and now is 2021 and tens of firmware updates released but bug is still not fixed. Shame on ASUS. Support is terrible, I will never buy networking device from ASUS. I have to turn router off and turn on again each 3-5 months to get ports 5-8 working.

AFAIK is a hardware issue and will not be fixed with software updates. Just get a cheap switch as mentioned here many times.
Move on.

 

[dginuk]

having same issue on my RT-AC88U, tried latest Asus firmware and Merlin also.....ports 5,6,7 and 8 will just stop working (connection light still lit). if i reboot/power cycle the router it comes back.... so car caused me to ditch some power line adapters and also replaced my CCTV recorder!!!!

logged a support call with Asus and they said install latest firmware, factory reset and manually enter in the settings again (do not use config back). this is a little disappointing but i guess i will need to try it if i want the unit swapped under warrantee :S

while issue was present I had a look around and I ssh'ed on to the router run

service restart_lan

2 seconds later devices that were connected (and lit) could function again....... so I will try resetting router and adding all settings manually BUT i might just use the wan check script on this forum and make it ping a device on port 8 and if the ping fails..... run the command above

 

[Pergola Fabio]

sorry to hijack, bought a ac88u too, now i was using port 5 , all other 4 ports are used
i have same issue , they die
also seems port 7 telling me something is connected with 100mbit, while there is no cable in that port
is this still not fixes with FW?

 

[JemTheWire]

No because it is a hardware issue.

 

[Pergola Fabio]

thats too bad, gonna contact asus, still warranty on it
then they need to replace with an ax88u

 

[L&LD]

That's not how it works. But good luck.

 

[Pergola Fabio]

How are they going to fix it then? If all units are defect?

 

[L&LD]

All units are not defective. Just the ones we read about.

They won't replace an AC class router from 2015 with a newer AX class router. At least, not 'easily', or 'by default'.

Sell what doesn't work for you and buy something that does. An RT-AX86U plus a $10 NetGear switch is what I recommend. Or, for 2.5GbE Ports, a QNAP QSW-1105-5T 5-Port Unmanaged 2.5GbE Switch.

 

[Tech9]

How are they going to fix it then? If all units are defect?

Easy - you'll get a new, repaired or refurbished RT-AC88U router. Not all units are defective.

 

[Pergola Fabio]

Hmm , some serial batch then?

 

[Tech9]

Unlikely. When hardware failure happens, it happens.

 

[Pergola Fabio]

Got confirmation from Asus, that's indeed a known issue and no solutions, now need to contact the store where I bought it from, let's see what happens

 

[follower]

AC88U. The worst router I've ever had. What a trash.