RT-AC88U : no 2.4 wifi, no AiMesh icon and router super slow

[michelb]

Hi,
Last week I setup an AiMesh on my RT-AC88U (with the AC88 as the AiMesh router and using one RC-AC3100 as one AiMesh node with wired connection) and it had been working fine. Yesterday when I got back from work, the WiFi was down in the house. I looked at the AC3100 node and the both WiFi LEDs were one and I could see my WiFi but I just couldn't connect to it. I looked at AC88 and the 2.4 WiFi LED was not on. Both routers have the latest firmware.
I thought the easiest thing to do was simply reboot both routers but it took a very long time for the AC88 to come back online (basically the WAN LED would keep blicking and I wouldn't connect (even wired) or it would blink red/white). When it finally did, the 2.4 LED was still off (5 LED is on and that works) and the router works but is SUPER slow and very choppy (tried internet access from a wired PC and from a 5ghz WiFi connection). Also loading the router admin page is SUPER slow from wired PC (It probably takes at least 30-60 seconds to load up the first page and it takes another 30-60 seconds to load up the wireless settings tab. Also, when it was working fine, from the AC88 router admin page, I would see the "AIMesh button" below the "Clients button" - now the "AIMesh button" is no longer there. From the AC88 admin page, clicking on the "Clients button" brings up an empty list (even though I've got several connected devices). Interestingly enough, the AC3100 is still in "AIMesh Node" so I can access the internet from it (from wired - not sure if 5ghz WiFi is going through AC88 or AC3100. 2.4 LED is on on the AC3100 node but I cannot connect to it (gives a vague error). When I try to connect to the AC3100 IP (to get to config page), it gives me an error "Unable to connect to Parent AP. Make sure AiMesh router power is on (which it is). Reboot AiMesh router and try again (which I did with no success)."

Any suggestions? I really want 2.4 WiFi to work as we have multiple devices that don't have 5ghz WiFi? Also I would really like the AC88 to work properly.

With the time it took to first reboot the AC88 when I noticed the problem, it does seem like it tried to apply an update or something (although I certainly didn't try to do it).

My next step will likely be to rollback the FW on the AC88 (possibly to a "pre-AiMesh" version) and see if that resolves it. Otherwise, I'll probably remove the AC88 and go back to just the AC3100 (and no AiMesh) but that seems like a waste and I do like having the 8 RJ45 ports and having a mesh setup.

Let me know. Thanks,
Mike

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hi,
Last week I setup an AiMesh on my RT-AC88U (with the AC88 as the AiMesh router and using one RC-AC3100 as one AiMesh node with wired connection) and it had been working fine. Yesterday when I got back from work, the WiFi was down in the house. I looked at the AC3100 node and the both WiFi LEDs were one and I could see my WiFi but I just couldn't connect to it. I looked at AC88 and the 2.4 WiFi LED was not on. Both routers have the latest firmware.
I thought the easiest thing to do was simply reboot both routers but it took a very long time for the AC88 to come back online (basically the WAN LED would keep blicking and I wouldn't connect (even wired) or it would blink red/white). When it finally did, the 2.4 LED was still off (5 LED is on and that works) and the router works but is SUPER slow and very choppy (tried internet access from a wired PC and from a 5ghz WiFi connection). Also loading the router admin page is SUPER slow from wired PC (It probably takes at least 30-60 seconds to load up the first page and it takes another 30-60 seconds to load up the wireless settings tab. Also, when it was working fine, from the AC88 router admin page, I would see the "AIMesh button" below the "Clients button" - now the "AIMesh button" is no longer there. From the AC88 admin page, clicking on the "Clients button" brings up an empty list (even though I've got several connected devices). Interestingly enough, the AC3100 is still in "AIMesh Node" so I can access the internet from it (from wired - not sure if 5ghz WiFi is going through AC88 or AC3100. 2.4 LED is on on the AC3100 node but I cannot connect to it (gives a vague error). When I try to connect to the AC3100 IP (to get to config page), it gives me an error "Unable to connect to Parent AP. Make sure AiMesh router power is on (which it is). Reboot AiMesh router and try again (which I did with no success)."

Any suggestions? I really want 2.4 WiFi to work as we have multiple devices that don't have 5ghz WiFi? Also I would really like the AC88 to work properly.

With the time it took to first reboot the AC88 when I noticed the problem, it does seem like it tried to apply an update or something (although I certainly didn't try to do it).

My next step will likely be to rollback the FW on the AC88 (possibly to a "pre-AiMesh" version) and see if that resolves it. Otherwise, I'll probably remove the AC88 and go back to just the AC3100 (and no AiMesh) but that seems like a waste and I do like having the 8 RJ45 ports and having a mesh setup.

Let me know. Thanks,
Mike

Have you performed a factory default reset on the updated routers?

OE

 

[michelb]

Yes, I forgot to mention that when it wasn't fixed after the reboot and I couldn't see anything wrong, I ran 'Initialize' on the AC88 (which unless I'm mistaken is a more thorough version of "Reset to Factory" defaults (but I can certainly try this tonight).

 

[OzarkEdge]

Yes, I forgot to mention that when it wasn't fixed after the reboot and I couldn't see anything wrong, I ran 'Initialize' on the AC88 (which unless I'm mistaken is a more thorough version of "Reset to Factory" defaults (but I can certainly try this tonight).

Yes, Initialize is a bit more thorough. Also, don't restore a backup; reconfigure the router from scratch.

If you repeat this and the standalone router does not boot/behave normally, and you feel the firmware install was good, then maybe there is a hardware fault... the ones you can investigate are bad cabling and bad/failing DC power adapter.... and expected LED illumination.

If the router seems healthy, perhaps leave it standalone for a few days to observe it before adding the Aimesh node.

OE

 

[michelb]

Thanks for the suggestions.

I'll try the power adapter (since I think it's the same as the AC3100). Cable is easy enough to check (although I'd be really surprised if it was that; evertything is between the wall and the desk so it's not somewhere accessible so I'd be surprised if the cable would just go bad one day.

Having it in standalone is more problematic as I don't see the AiMesh button (it's like if it was running a FW before AiMesh was introduced but the version number says it's the latest ...) Maybe I'll try to rollback and then re-apply the latest version.

During my attempts to get it to work yesterday, I did initially have it disconnected from the AC3100 and it made no difference if they were connected or not - still ran very slowy and no 2.4.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Having it in standalone is more problematic as I don't see the AiMesh button (it's like if it was running a FW before AiMesh was introduced but the version number says it's the latest ...) Maybe I'll try to rollback and then re-apply the latest version.

Given this, it sounds like the firmware is not installed properly. I'd reset, re-install, reset again, and give it a try. If no AiMesh 'button' then something is screwed up.

OE

 

[Pierino]

You have a faulty router. I have an rt-ac31oo with a misding 5ghz band. I also can't get aimesh to work on it. I suspect it's because for all intents and purposes it is now a single band router.
I've had a few of these and rt-ac5300, r8500 with one or more defective radio.
Seems to be a higher failure rate than older radio chips.
Get an rma if you can.

 

[michelb]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Even after multiple 'reset to factory', rolling back and re-applying fw, etc I still don't have 2.4 radio and AiMesh button isn't showing up (maybe because 2.4 radio isn't working as Pierino suggested?). Hopefully I can RMA.

Thanks,
Mike

 

[OzarkEdge]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Even after multiple 'reset to factory', rolling back and re-applying fw, etc I still don't have 2.4 radio and AiMesh button isn't showing up (maybe because 2.4 radio isn't working as Pierino suggested?). Hopefully I can RMA.

Thanks,
Mike

Yes, I believe you need both radios working for AiMesh to operate.

OE

 

[Sharjeel Khan]

I had the exact same issue, had to get in touch with Asus, they had to do a RMA on the router, u would have to pay shipping for RMA tho.