RT-AX88U New official firmware Version 3.0.0.4.384.7977

[L&LD]

Nice dodge, Fire Chief. You’re out of your depth.

Nah, your google-fu is whacked.

If you want to be hand-fed knowledge, this is the wrong forum. You're capable, pick up a spoon.

Or, just look in my link in my signature below.

 

[JohnB_123]

Nah, your google-fu is whacked.

If you want to be hand-fed knowledge, this is the wrong forum. You're capable, pick up a spoon.

Not surprisingly all I find is you sending people on wild goose chases after pointing them to your signature - and lots of wasted time by those who don’t see the pattern of failure.

start another fire, chief!

 

[L&LD]

What was the recent saying here? We can lead a horse to water... sigh.

 

[sanke1]

Not surprisingly all I find is you sending people on wild goose chases after pointing them to your signature - and lots of wasted time by those who don’t see the pattern of failure.

start another fire, chief!

Relax dude. Just export Let’s Encrypt certificate from current firmware if you are using it and revert to 6436 firmware. Instant profit. You have an extremely stable RT-AX88U + Use same DDNS domain and import the previously saved Certificate. Enjoy full Let’s Encrypt functionally for 3 months. (which was broken in that firmware)
Then wait till Asus releases newer firmware.

Alternatively try Merlin 384.15 which is also equally stable but extremely slow to boot. But it will offer additional functionality in return. So still plenty of choices remain.

 

[RMerlin]

Has your “SSID change” ever fixed a single user who has issues post-firmware upgrade?

It did for me, once.

Back in 2012, Asus upgraded the RT-N66U driver to a new version (going from 5.100 to 5.110), which caused serious issues with Intel-based clients. Asus fixed it by upgrading to a much newer version (going from 5.110 to 6.xx). After doing so, my laptop was still having connectivity issues. Changing the SSID resolved the issue, which allowed me to track down the real cause: when Windows had saved the wifi profile, it also apparently saved some low-level information with it, which were not fully compatible with the new fixed router driver. Changing SSID allowed me to find this out, by starting with a new clean profile on Windows.

Ultimately, having discovered that, I simply told Windows to "Forget" the old SSID, switched the router back to the old SSID, and connected back to it. After that, everything was fine.

So, as troubleshooting steps, you sometimes need to either have all of your devices forget any saved network, or you can do a quick test by changing SSID and see if it helps.

 

[sanke1]

It did for me, once.

Back in 2012, Asus upgraded the RT-N66U driver to a new version (going from 5.100 to 5.110), which caused serious issues with Intel-based clients. Asus fixed it by upgrading to a much newer version (going from 5.110 to 6.xx). After doing so, my laptop was still having connectivity issues. Changing the SSID resolved the issue, which allowed me to track down the real cause: when Windows had saved the wifi profile, it also apparently saved some low-level information with it, which were not fully compatible with the new fixed router driver. Changing SSID allowed me to find this out, by starting with a new clean profile on Windows.

Ultimately, having discovered that, I simply told Windows to "Forget" the old SSID, switched the router back to the old SSID, and connected back to it. After that, everything was fine.

So, as troubleshooting steps, you sometimes need to either have all of your devices forget any saved network, or you can do a quick test by changing SSID and see if it helps.

Hi dude. Have you tried this topic’s firmware? If yes, can you try to see why port forwarding fails with slight change in any setting? Especially changing LAN, WAN and Wifi settings? I have reported it but you reporting to Asus might bear more weightage I believe.

 

[RMerlin]

Have you tried this topic’s firmware?

I don't run the stock firmware (for obvious reasons), so I can't comment on that.

I can't see any reason why it would be broken however, since port forwarding in itself is a fairly straightforward feature. The only thing I can think of would be hardware acceleration related incompatibility (unfortunately there is no option to force it disabled on the RT-AX88U, you could test by temporarily enabling Traditional QoS), or something else wiping out the firewall rules (check under System Log -> Port Forwarding if the port forwards are still there - this is taken directly from the firewall rules).

 

[Tommy Grace]

This has escalated quickly!

 

[bsdsource]

It would be beneficial if those you have tried this firmware version to provide the following information:

1. Did you upgrade the firmware from the webgui?
2. If not, how did you install the firmware?
3. Did you do a complete factory reset before installing the firmware?
4. Did you import a saved configuration file or did you manually configure router settings after a factory reset?
5. What type of internet connection do you have (Fiber, Cable, DSL, etc)?
6. How is your router setup (Router, Access Point, Bridge, etc)?
7. Are you still having problems with a minimal setup, having completed a factory reset and manually setting up the router (No VPN's, no IA Protection, no port forwarding, etc?
8. If you had no issues with a minimal install/config at what point did you start experiencing issues?
9: Attach your log file if you can. This applies to those who have no issues and those who do have issues.

I have this router and I'm currently using firmware version 3.0.0.4.384_6436. Stability issues are good. I'm reluctant to install the newer firmware until I figure out if it's worthwhile. Typically I wait to update my firmware to a known stable version or one that has patched exploits. Those who provide minimal information about their setup and issues really don't add much weight to the validity of their concerns. Many problems can be narrowed down to simply not completing a legitimate factory router reset. I know this is not the case in a many situations so I propose proving at a minimum the above information.

I'm actually looking forward to installing a newer version of the AX86U firmware that is stable, although I would appreciate those who have don't have problems and those who do have problems answer the above questions. Also. stability can still be achieved by some while others have stability issues. Typically comes down how things are configured in the router, what services are running, etc.

 

[Tommy Grace]

It would be beneficial if those you have tried this firmware version to provide the following information:

1. Did you upgrade the firmware from the webgui? - YES
2. If not, how did you install the firmware?
3. Did you do a complete factory reset before installing the firmware? - YES and i tried the other way round with a factory reset afterwards.
4. Did you import a saved configuration file or did you manually configure router settings after a factory reset? - Manual configuration.
5. What type of internet connection do you have (Fiber, Cable, DSL, etc)? - FTTC (UK)
6. How is your router setup (Router, Access Point, Bridge, etc)? - Router (I also have Lyra Mini as a Mesh node but this works fine even when having issues with the router)
7. Are you still having problems with a minimal setup, having completed a factory reset and manually setting up the router (No VPN's, no IA Protection, no port forwarding, etc? - Yes, still having issues with no AI, VPNs or Port forwarding configured.
8. If you had no issues with a minimal install/config at what point did you start experiencing issues? - I ad issues even with a minimal configuration.
9: Attach your log file if you can. This applies to those who have no issues and those who do have issues. - May add this later.

I have this router and I'm currently using firmware version 3.0.0.4.384_6436. Stability issues are good. I'm reluctant to install the newer firmware until I figure out if it's worthwhile. Typically I wait to update my firmware to a known stable version or one that has patched exploits. Those who provide minimal information about their setup and issues really don't add much weight to the validity of their concerns. Many problems can be narrowed down to simply not completing a legitimate factory router reset. I know this is not the case in a many situations so I propose proving at a minimum the above information.

I'm actually looking forward to installing a newer version of the AX86U firmware that is stable, although I would appreciate those who have don't have problems and those who do have problems answer the above questions. Also. stability can still be achieved by some while others have stability issues. Typically comes down how things are configured in the router, what services are running, etc.

My Answers above. To notes that i have also raised a ticket with ASUS support although i am not confident they will resolve it.

 

[sanke1]

So I set up the router again from scratch after nvram erase and this is the result.

• I don's use VPN.
• I have separate SSIDs for wifi
• I have set 40 as 5Ghz control channel and 3 as 2.4Ghz control channel
• Rest of the wifi settings are as per defaults with ax enabled
  
• Set up another RT-AX88U as mesh node.

Quite happy with stability even after 12 days (The longest I have run RT-AX88U without any problems for the 1st time). AI mesh is working without dropping any clients and RAM usage is at 47%.
My port forwarding issue somehow disappeared after 2nd nvram erase.
I am seeing all 23 hrs WAN DHCP sessions with my ISP on their FTTH usage checking portal. This means that WAN has not disconnected even once by itself during this period.

 

[Tommy Grace]

I am seriously at a loss here. Done another re-flash to 7977 and then a factory reset and started from scratch with a manual config including new SSID's. Tried with .ax enabled and disabled and doesn't seem to make a difference. Manual channel selection too. Driving me mad. Still seeing packet loss and latency on both 2.4 and 5ghz.

 

[Tommy Grace]

I am seriously at a loss here. Done another re-flash to 7977 and then a factory reset and started from scratch with a manual config including new SSID's. Tried with .ax enabled and disabled and doesn't seem to make a difference. Manual channel selection too. Driving me mad. Still seeing packet loss and latency on both 2.4 and 5ghz.

Well this is a little strange. Changed the 5Ghz channel from 48 to Auto (Selected 36) and it appears to be much better. Will keep an eye on this.

 

[Tommy Grace]

Well this is a little strange. Changed the 5Ghz channel from 48 to Auto (Selected 36) and it appears to be much better. Will keep an eye on this.

Apologies for the running commentary on this but this is really strange. I noticed that even though i had hard set the channels on both 2.4 and 5Ghz, they weren't actually setting the correct channels. I did a reboot and the latency and packet loss returned so i have set channels to Auto and everything is now stable. What on earth is going on?

 

[arrow201]

Apologies for the running commentary on this but this is really strange. I noticed that even though i had hard set the channels on both 2.4 and 5Ghz, they weren't actually setting the correct channels. I did a reboot and the latency and packet loss returned so i have set channels to Auto and everything is now stable. What on earth is going on?

Sorry if i'm stating the obvious but do you run a "WiFi Analyzer" app from your phone to check your surrounding area? I read it's best use the lower channels (36 up - UNII1 band) if possible, but for me running a analyzer app, saw 2 of my close neighbors taking up channels in this band and some taking the upper (UNII3) band. So i took unused channel 108, and running 80 Mhz bandwidth. I set this up in mid Jan when i got the router, working well for me with no hiccups ...so far...

 

[Tommy Grace]

Sorry if i'm stating the obvious but do you run a "WiFi Analyzer" app from your phone to check your surrounding area? I read it's best use the lower channels (36 up - UNII1 band) if possible, but for me running a analyzer app, saw 2 of my close neighbors taking up channels in this band and some taking the upper (UNII3) band. So i took unused channel 108, and running 80 Mhz bandwidth. I set this up in mid Jan when i got the router, working well for me with no hiccups ...so far...

Yes i do, and i keep checking. I have found the best results with using Channel 11 on the 2.4 and 100 or 48 for the 5Ghz. I stuck with channel 48 as it also allowed me to connect my Amazon devices to the 5Ghz channel, they won't connect to Channel 100. From what i can see, having the Channel selection set to Auto makes it stable and any kind of manual setting causes issues.

 

[arrow201]

Yes i do, and i keep checking. I have found the best results with using Channel 11 on the 2.4 and 100 or 48 for the 5Ghz. I stuck with channel 48 as it also allowed me to connect my Amazon devices to the 5Ghz channel, they won't connect to Channel 100. From what i can see, having the Channel selection set to Auto makes it stable and any kind of manual setting causes issues.

Before the AX88U, i had the AC87U (and kept it for backup purposes), it's 5Ghz band wouldn't reach my Amazon devices, so they're on 2.4. When i got the AX88U, I moved almost everything to 5Ghz, but I left my Amazon Echo devices on the 2.4 band, the ASUS app shows 72 Mbps Tx/Rx speed for them, which i think is more than enough for these devices. I also have 2 security camera that connect to 2.4(the only option) (Tx/Rx @ 65Mbps) and they work fine as well.

 

[Tommy Grace]

Before the AX88U, i had the AC87U (and kept it for backup purposes), it's 5Ghz band wouldn't reach my Amazon devices, so they're on 2.4. When i got the AX88U, I moved almost everything to 5Ghz, but I left my Amazon Echo devices on the 2.4 band, the ASUS app shows 72 Mbps Tx/Rx speed for them, which i think is more than enough for these devices. I also have 2 security camera that connect to 2.4(the only option) (Tx/Rx @ 65Mbps) and they work fine as well.

Yeah it was just that I wanted as many devices on the 5Ghz as possible due to the bandwidth, however it isn’t really necessary. Both networks cope fine with all my devices. I’ve just gone back to channels 11 and 100 and it’s working really well now. Going to leave it as is.

 

[Tommy Grace]

Apologies for the running commentary on this but this is really strange. I noticed that even though i had hard set the channels on both 2.4 and 5Ghz, they weren't actually setting the correct channels. I did a reboot and the latency and packet loss returned so i have set channels to Auto and everything is now stable. What on earth is going on?

So just a further update on this, still got my channels hard set to 11 and 100 and it has been totally stable since. Not a single dropped packet from my testing and better signal strength between the AX88U and Lyra Mini AiMesh set up. WAN has been rock solid also so fingers crossed it remains. Still frustrating to have to have gone through all of this but hey. So it appears that the factory reset and some channel tweaking sorted it.

 

[Danhill76]

7797 was stable for a day, today random drop outs have occured on 1 ax client. That client is now running 2.4 ghz. I want to go back to the rock solid 7756. Is it difficult to go back to older fw?