RT-AX86u Wifi Stopped working Questions.

[Sparkytech]

Hello,
First off I would like to say hello new to this forum but have done a lot of research on this forum for answers and more. Thanks

So here we go, I have a RT-AX86u running as my primary router, I have 2 RT-AC68U's running as wired access points off the primary router the AX86u.
The other day I could not log into the primary router the AX86U. So I had to do a hard reset.
Once I did the hard reset my wifi light never came back on but on the router homepage showed it running as normal with the correct SSID.
So tried to use the recovery rescue software from Asus still didn't work.
So after a lot of messing around found by looking in my log that my MTD10 partition was not present.
I read on other threads in the forum this has happened to others and mention someone who could maybe sort it out. I however decide to buy another router. We'll that was the plan.
Decided to set the AX86u up again this time after I setup the wireless information and the SSID I disabled both the 2.4ghz and the 5ghz wifi radios. I the connected my access points backup to the AX86U. Surprisingly everything worked with the wifi disabled on the AX86U. What I don't understand is why?
When you set up access points you match everything to the primary router except the wifi channels need to be different but if the wifi doesn't work as in my case how do the access points work? I also was very impressed the primary router wasn't so stressed as it was when the wifi worked. I would see spikes go really high where at some points the memory was maxed out. Any feedback would be great.
Also forgot to mention currently running Merlin RT-AX86U_3004_388.8_2.

 

[Tech9]

When you set up access points you match everything to the primary router except the wifi channels need to be different but if the wifi doesn't work as in my case how do the access points work?

You already know from other threads your router was hit by malware. Wi-Fi on it won't work because of deleted and missing files. The AP is a separate device with good radios. It works properly as expected to a wired (in your case) router. APs don't have to have different SSID or channels. They can be the same as your main router (like the way wired AiMesh works, nodes are APs).

 

[Sparkytech]

So it never does matter then if they never match the primary router SSID as long as the wifi is turned off on the main router. Correct?
In your opinion should I keep the setup I have or replace the AX86u?

 

[Tech9]

Your main router doesn't have Wi-Fi at the moment. Whatever is set on the AP is independent. Main router's CPU was previously partially involved in wireless traffic processing. Now all the processing is done on the AP - the reason you see less CPU load on the main router.

Keep or replace - up to you. If the workaround with additional AP works well for you - perhaps all good. One thing I don't know is if the malware is still present on your router. Factory reset may have removed it, but unless we know more details about how it works - mostly guessing.

 

[Sparkytech]

Not sure if it was malware may have been caused by a bad firmware, I was running factory firmware updates before I switched over to Merlin. Was hoping the
Merlin firmware would have corrected my issues. I was wrong. The router seems fine working with this current setup, however still undecided the AX86U is such a good router. I did buy though in 2020 maybe it's time.

 

[Tech9]

Not sure if it was malware

You are not the only one reporting the same symptoms.

Solved - RT-AX86U dead WiFi asking for country code?

Hey everyone So a friend of mine bought an used RT-AX86U and asked me to take a look at it because the wifi led are not lighting up and the SSIDs wont show up. Installing merlinWRT didn't fix it either. Looking at the wifi settings opens a popup asking for a country code and the channels are...

www.snbforums.com

 

[Sparkytech]

Thanks, I did read that post the other day.

 

[Tech9]

Can't be firmware because 388.8_2 was available long before the issue started to appear. Stock Asuswrt for this model is from May 2024.