RT-AX88U router randomly dropping connectivity

[bier0711]

Problem:

Every few hours (16 - 36 hours), all of a sudden all connected wireless clients drop their connection with the router. Wired connections can't access the internet, but I can access the router GUI. The Router GUI WAN status still says connected and the LED lights indicate its connected as well, but that can't be true. The router log has no obvious errors or WAN down messages, however, I can see multiple wireless clients being denied access due to failed password authentication while this is occurring. From my ISP Modem/Router perspective, its admin page shows that my router is not connected, however, if I plug in a computer directly to the modem, it will obtain an IP and can access the Internet. The only fix is to reboot the router, but this is getting tiresome having to do this every day or so. I have tried other options such as turning off my Internet access (toggle) and back on, but if I do that I get the error saying there is a problem with my ISP's DHCP. However, if I toggle this switch any other time (when things are working), it reconnects just fine.


Current setup:

I currently have a cable model XB7 from my ISP. I have tried it in both bridged and un-bridged mode (yes I know this is a double NAT), but the result is always the same. My main router is an RT-AX88U with an RT-AX58U AIMesh node, with ethernet backhaul. I run a single wifi network with smart connect (default) plus one guest network for my IoT devices. I have standard/default DHCP WAN access setup with ISP provided DNS servers. I have tried "Special Requirements from ISP" options such as MAC Address clone and I have played with my DHCP query frequency (e.g., Aggressive, Normal, etc.), but to no affect. I am also on stock Asus firmware running the latest version (as of Jan 2023 - 3.0.0.4.388_22237-g9120e16). I have also tried a hard reset on a couple of occasions but the problem always returns.

Any thoughts or ideas on how this could be fixed?

 

[Treadler]

Problem:

Every few hours (16 - 36 hours), all of a sudden all connected wireless clients drop their connection with the router. Wired connections can't access the internet, but I can access the router GUI. The Router GUI WAN status still says connected and the LED lights indicate its connected as well, but that can't be true. The router log has no obvious errors or WAN down messages, however, I can see multiple wireless clients being denied access due to failed password authentication while this is occurring. From my ISP Modem/Router perspective, its admin page shows that my router is not connected, however, if I plug in a computer directly to the modem, it will obtain an IP and can access the Internet. The only fix is to reboot the router, but this is getting tiresome having to do this every day or so. I have tried other options such as turning off my Internet access (toggle) and back on, but if I do that I get the error saying there is a problem with my ISP's DHCP. However, if I toggle this switch any other time (when things are working), it reconnects just fine.


Current setup:

I currently have a cable model XB7 from my ISP. I have tried it in both bridged and un-bridged mode (yes I know this is a double NAT), but the result is always the same. My main router is an RT-AX88U with an RT-AX58U AIMesh node, with ethernet backhaul. I run a single wifi network with smart connect (default) plus one guest network for my IoT devices. I have standard/default DHCP WAN access setup with ISP provided DNS servers. I have tried "Special Requirements from ISP" options such as MAC Address clone and I have played with my DHCP query frequency (e.g., Aggressive, Normal, etc.), but to no affect. I am also on stock Asus firmware running the latest version (as of Jan 2023 - 3.0.0.4.388_22237-g9120e16). I have also tried a hard reset on a couple of occasions but the problem always returns.

Any thoughts or ideas on how this could be fixed?

No issue seen here.

FWIW, My config:

Admin - Network Monitoring
Dns query = y
Ping = y

Resolve host name = dns.quad9.net
Ping target = 9.9.9.9

DHCP query = aggressive.

Might work for you?

 

[tgl]

... I am also on stock Asus firmware running the latest version (as of Jan 2023 - 3.0.0.4.388_22237-g9120e16). I have also tried a hard reset on a couple of occasions but the problem always returns.

Any thoughts or ideas on how this could be fixed?

There are a lot of people reporting problems with the 388 firmware series --- in particular, it seems pretty well established that there's a nasty memory leak in there somewhere. You might try keeping an eye on the router's free memory and seeing if it goes down to nothing around the time the trouble starts. In any case, reverting to 386-something is worth a try. (There are mixed opinions about whether to do a hard reset after reverting to an older firmware version; I'd say be prepared to do one if you observe odd behavior.)

 

[Spartan]

Problem:

Every few hours (16 - 36 hours), all of a sudden all connected wireless clients drop their connection with the router. Wired connections can't access the internet, but I can access the router GUI. The Router GUI WAN status still says connected and the LED lights indicate its connected as well, but that can't be true. The router log has no obvious errors or WAN down messages, however, I can see multiple wireless clients being denied access due to failed password authentication while this is occurring. From my ISP Modem/Router perspective, its admin page shows that my router is not connected, however, if I plug in a computer directly to the modem, it will obtain an IP and can access the Internet. The only fix is to reboot the router, but this is getting tiresome having to do this every day or so. I have tried other options such as turning off my Internet access (toggle) and back on, but if I do that I get the error saying there is a problem with my ISP's DHCP. However, if I toggle this switch any other time (when things are working), it reconnects just fine.


Current setup:

I currently have a cable model XB7 from my ISP. I have tried it in both bridged and un-bridged mode (yes I know this is a double NAT), but the result is always the same. My main router is an RT-AX88U with an RT-AX58U AIMesh node, with ethernet backhaul. I run a single wifi network with smart connect (default) plus one guest network for my IoT devices. I have standard/default DHCP WAN access setup with ISP provided DNS servers. I have tried "Special Requirements from ISP" options such as MAC Address clone and I have played with my DHCP query frequency (e.g., Aggressive, Normal, etc.), but to no affect. I am also on stock Asus firmware running the latest version (as of Jan 2023 - 3.0.0.4.388_22237-g9120e16). I have also tried a hard reset on a couple of occasions but the problem always returns.

Any thoughts or ideas on how this could be fixed?

Same thing used to happen to me when I had that router, only old firmware would fix this based on 384.XX, anything newer and the router would randomly disconnect I was so fed up of it and didn't want to stay on older firmware so I sold it. If you search on this forum for AX88U disconnection you will see so many similar threads.

 

[Mattias]

Yes, I have same issue. The only fix I have, as you mentioned is to restart it. I have seen this on a few different Asus routers(ac68u ax82u and ax88u).
Workaround I have is a zibgee plug connected to it and will restart if internet goes down for 10 min.
But I guess there is a possibility to have some script running on the router and do the same thing.

I wonder do asus have sw issue or is it a hw issue with some internet isps? I had few years ago an router from my isp: Technicolor TG799vac Xtream
That one did not drop wan at all, only if there really was a problem.

My setup is fiber - media converter - RT-AX88U.

No settings has ever fixed the issue, tried them all more or less.

I love otherwise asus routers, but I'm not sure what I should do. Buy a newer one and hope it will be fixed or go for another brand.
Can mention that I have sent logs to Asus many times...no response or fixes.

 

[Tech9]

This sounds like failing hardware because AX88U is popular and many folks are using it with no issues.

 

[bier0711]

There are a lot of people reporting problems with the 388 firmware series --- in particular, it seems pretty well established that there's a nasty memory leak in there somewhere. You might try keeping an eye on the router's free memory and seeing if it goes down to nothing around the time the trouble starts. In any case, reverting to 386-something is worth a try. (There are mixed opinions about whether to do a hard reset after reverting to an older firmware version; I'd say be prepared to do one if you observe odd behavior.)

Thanks for the input. Perhaps that is something to try.

 

[bier0711]

Same thing used to happen to me when I had that router, only old firmware would fix this based on 384.XX, anything newer and the router would randomly disconnect I was so fed up of it and didn't want to stay on older firmware so I sold it. If you search on this forum for AX88U disconnection you will see so many similar threads.

That is not very encouraging. But thanks for pointing this out.

 

[Tech9]

Just on time:

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[Baf]

Those with reconnects: do you have a Chromecast in your network? I had one and it turned out to be the culprit of random disconnects on my RT-AX92U.

 

[LazyPawn]

I have a different router, RT-AX58U v2, with the latest official firmware 3.0.0.4.388_22237-g912e16. There is no Merlin firmware for this particular model.

I am experiencing the exact same problem as the original poster. It happens roughly once a day and it is completely random as far as I can tell. All LAN clients (ethernet and wifi) lose their internet connection. The problem doesn't go away on its own, no matter how much I wait - the only solution is to reboot the router.
When it happens, the router GUI shows nothing special on the Status page - there is low CPU usage and plenty of free RAM. What I find most interesting is that on the Network Tools tab of the router page I can run pings and traceroutes to any of the listed sites, and they work perfectly fine - meaning that the router does "see" the internet. Another weird thing is that if I am watching a stream (e.g. on Twitch), that one keeps running normally for several minutes, but if I try to refresh the page it instantly dies.

Nothing special shows in the syslog. Similar to other users, I have tried all possible settings - same outcome. Restoring to factory didn't solve the problem either.

@bier0711, have you tried downgrading to an earlier firmware version?

 

[bier0711]

Hello, no, I have not tried an earlier firmware version just yet, but its on my list to try. I was thinking of going back to a 386.x version.

 

[bier0711]

Those with reconnects: do you have a Chromecast in your network? I had one and it turned out to be the culprit of random disconnects on my RT-AX92U.

Actually, I do have a Chromecast, I can try disconnecting it to see if it has any impact.

 

[LazyPawn]

Quick update - using the 386.x version for 3 days - no disconnections, looks rock solid. So I guess it's something related to the firmware (the 388.x branch).

 

[lindros2]

So I'm on my THIRD AX11000 (sorry, it's different, but similar). I use it as an EXTENDER with my main GT-AC5300. AX11000 running 388 (Asus official). AC5300 running 386 (can't go to 388).
I've had battles with Asus (escalation) support, including asinine questions around signal strength, antennas, and wireless positioning. They want logs when I've factory reset it 20x. I've configured as main, extender, AND AiMesh. Merlin code AND Asus production code (now running 100% Asus, no Merlin).

In any case, after 6-9 months, EVERY AX11000 (running 386 up until now) would disconnect. Power outage on main router? Disconnect. Issue with AX11000 extender? Disconnect.

I've "traced" it (not scientifically) to the wireless radio code in the AX-series.

Unfortunately for this thread, 388 actually has FIXED it - for now. It's been a week.

Not sure if the AX88 has the same wireless radio code. And if using the AX as main vs. extender (AiMesh) would make a difference.

 

[bier0711]

I have a different router, RT-AX58U v2, with the latest official firmware 3.0.0.4.388_22237-g912e16. There is no Merlin firmware for this particular model.

I am experiencing the exact same problem as the original poster. It happens roughly once a day and it is completely random as far as I can tell. All LAN clients (ethernet and wifi) lose their internet connection. The problem doesn't go away on its own, no matter how much I wait - the only solution is to reboot the router.
When it happens, the router GUI shows nothing special on the Status page - there is low CPU usage and plenty of free RAM. What I find most interesting is that on the Network Tools tab of the router page I can run pings and traceroutes to any of the listed sites, and they work perfectly fine - meaning that the router does "see" the internet. Another weird thing is that if I am watching a stream (e.g. on Twitch), that one keeps running normally for several minutes, but if I try to refresh the page it instantly dies.

Nothing special shows in the syslog. Similar to other users, I have tried all possible settings - same outcome. Restoring to factory didn't solve the problem either.

@bier0711, have you tried downgrading to an earlier firmware version?

Recently, I noticed that there was a new 388 version released and I though, why not try this out first. I did upgrade to 3.0.0.4.388_22525 and I have been running now for days with no connection or WAN drops. Looking like bad code in one of the Asus firmware releases.

 

[hemandk]

I'm running something similar:

AX88U as main router with 388.22525
AX86S as node on 388.22525

Both where factory reset after flashing.

I also experience the same issue, suddenly all devices loose internet connection and I need to reboot the router to get it going again.

The only thing I see in the logs are Iphones connecting/disconnecting from the 5G network.

Close to throwing the bloody thing out the window

Maybe I should try the last 386 release instead.

 

[akobet]

Problem:

Every few hours (16 - 36 hours), all of a sudden all connected wireless clients drop their connection with the router. Wired connections can't access the internet, but I can access the router GUI. The Router GUI WAN status still says connected and the LED lights indicate its connected as well, but that can't be true. The router log has no obvious errors or WAN down messages, however, I can see multiple wireless clients being denied access due to failed password authentication while this is occurring. From my ISP Modem/Router perspective, its admin page shows that my router is not connected, however, if I plug in a computer directly to the modem, it will obtain an IP and can access the Internet. The only fix is to reboot the router, but this is getting tiresome having to do this every day or so. I have tried other options such as turning off my Internet access (toggle) and back on, but if I do that I get the error saying there is a problem with my ISP's DHCP. However, if I toggle this switch any other time (when things are working), it reconnects just fine.


Current setup:

I currently have a cable model XB7 from my ISP. I have tried it in both bridged and un-bridged mode (yes I know this is a double NAT), but the result is always the same. My main router is an RT-AX88U with an RT-AX58U AIMesh node, with ethernet backhaul. I run a single wifi network with smart connect (default) plus one guest network for my IoT devices. I have standard/default DHCP WAN access setup with ISP provided DNS servers. I have tried "Special Requirements from ISP" options such as MAC Address clone and I have played with my DHCP query frequency (e.g., Aggressive, Normal, etc.), but to no affect. I am also on stock Asus firmware running the latest version (as of Jan 2023 - 3.0.0.4.388_22237-g9120e16). I have also tried a hard reset on a couple of occasions but the problem always returns.

Any thoughts or ideas on how this could be fixed?

I had something similar, but it would drop every few minutes to specific devices, and all the other clients would all drop "now and then" all of a sudden. I traced my problem to it being too many new AX "beaming clients". What I mean by Beaming clients is an AX client device with 2 or more antennas that are already beaming to the router. I have a large house, and started spending more time at the far end, and the one slave mesh router was 180 degrees in the other direction serving the other side of the house. I fixed the dropping issue by going into Asus menu --> Wireless --> Professional --> Explicit Beam Forming = Disable, but keep the Universal Beam Forming = Enabled. My non-technical rational was that the Router is trying to explicitly focus on those clients, at the expense of other conflicting clients, then I think the router starts doing "round robin" beaming / sometimes dropping wireless clients. There were too many clients with beaming technology. After disabling the Explicit Beam forming, but keep the one "Universal Beaming" enabled, I noticed ALL my clients started getting better speed tests, even if they didn't have the bigger antennas - and the network has been up rock solid since. Even at the far end of the house, now I don't even need the bigger antenna clients to get good speeds. BTW, my network has around 40 client devices, and one wireless slave mesh node handling about a dozen devices on that side of the house.

 

[mgiddey]

I had something similar, but it would drop every few minutes to specific devices, and all the other clients would all drop "now and then" all of a sudden. I traced my problem to it being too many new AX "beaming clients". What I mean by Beaming clients is an AX client device with 2 or more antennas that are already beaming to the router. I have a large house, and started spending more time at the far end, and the one slave mesh router was 180 degrees in the other direction serving the other side of the house. I fixed the dropping issue by going into Asus menu --> Wireless --> Professional --> Explicit Beam Forming = Disable, but keep the Universal Beam Forming = Enabled. My non-technical rational was that the Router is trying to explicitly focus on those clients, at the expense of other conflicting clients, then I think the router starts doing "round robin" beaming / sometimes dropping wireless clients. There were too many clients with beaming technology. After disabling the Explicit Beam forming, but keep the one "Universal Beaming" enabled, I noticed ALL my clients started getting better speed tests, even if they didn't have the bigger antennas - and the network has been up rock solid since. Even at the far end of the house, now I don't even need the bigger antenna clients to get good speeds. BTW, my network has around 40 client devices, and one wireless slave mesh node handling about a dozen devices on that side of the house.

This response was a real life saver! I too, have been experiencing the total loss of connectivity on all three radios and hardwired connections on a sporadic basis. The original post in this thread perfectly described my problem.

For those of you considering a downgrade of your firmware as mitigation for this problem, you might what to hold off on that. I’m running an RT-AC3200 tri-band with firmware release (3.0.0.4.382_52651-g22bb56a) - the latest for such a vintage router and yet I have been experiencing the same /similar problem as those of you running .388xx.

Some time back, in an attempt to improve connectivity to one of the rooms in my home, I enabled “Explicit beamforming” on the 2.4Ghz radio. “Universal Beamforming” was enabled by default! I found a marginal improvement so I left the setting enabled. I also happen to have an older TV set in one of the rooms with an Apple TV and a Chromecast attached. The Chromecast is used occasionally and then left running until the TV set timed out. I’ve subsequently concluded that the sporadic failure of all clients coincides with the enabling of the “Explicit Beamforming” and the occasional use of the Chromecast. Occasional use of the Chromecast has always been happening, but when it coincided with enabling of “Explicit Beamforming” that’s when the problems would occur - but only after some time.

I’ve disabled the “Explicit Beamforming” setting and all has been stable since.

A big thank you to “bier0711" for being so explicit in describing the problem and “akobet” for postulating the ‘round robin’ beaming and proposing a solution which has definitely worked for me.

 

[Srekcus49]

This response was a real life saver! I too, have been experiencing the total loss of connectivity on all three radios and hardwired connections on a sporadic basis. The original post in this thread perfectly described my problem.

For those of you considering a downgrade of your firmware as mitigation for this problem, you might what to hold off on that. I’m running an RT-AC3200 tri-band with firmware release (3.0.0.4.382_52651-g22bb56a) - the latest for such a vintage router and yet I have been experiencing the same /similar problem as those of you running .388xx.

Some time back, in an attempt to improve connectivity to one of the rooms in my home, I enabled “Explicit beamforming” on the 2.4Ghz radio. “Universal Beamforming” was enabled by default! I found a marginal improvement so I left the setting enabled. I also happen to have an older TV set in one of the rooms with an Apple TV and a Chromecast attached. The Chromecast is used occasionally and then left running until the TV set timed out. I’ve subsequently concluded that the sporadic failure of all clients coincides with the enabling of the “Explicit Beamforming” and the occasional use of the Chromecast. Occasional use of the Chromecast has always been happening, but when it coincided with enabling of “Explicit Beamforming” that’s when the problems would occur - but only after some time.

I’ve disabled the “Explicit Beamforming” setting and all has been stable since.

A big thank you to “bier0711" for being so explicit in describing the problem and “akobet” for postulating the ‘round robin’ beaming and proposing a solution which has definitely worked for me.

Hello all,

I recently got myself a RT-AX88U, and i am experiencing the same symptoms.
Even with Merlin 3004.388.8, with hard reset done.
I have paired the RT-AX88U with a ZENWIFI XD6 as a mesh node (eth backhaul)

So far what i have done/tried:
I have disabled 2.4 Ghz: explicit beamforming and universal beamforming and still the issue happens.
Turned on verbose logs "all" and dont see anything unusual in the logs.

I've noticed this behavior usually triggering after 36hrs, and the usual symptoms are:
1) All clients cannot hook up wifi, router logs show deauth for the clients.
2) If i hook up client via LAN to the AX88U, i can access GUI - dont see any high CPU/memory.
3) When in GUI or SSH, i cannot do nslookup.
5) Strangely, my IP CCTV cameras (TAPO/DLINK) are still accessible from the external network. Which means somehow the IP CAMERA still has connectivity in/out the network.

I am at a lost, even considering to downgrade to 386 as there seems to have folks who have stability with the older version.
Any Ideas what else can i do?