RT N66U Client list bug?

[clvk07]

Hi

It seems that with the latest firmware the network map doesn't show an updated list of clients connected:

myiHome Media S 192.168.1.4
C8:6C:87:6F:58:8A192.168.1.36
00:19:70:0A:41:27 192.168.1.12
iPhone 192.168.1.29
android-a9fea... 192.168.1.142
50300-PC 192.168.1.160

However if I go into wirelss log:

Mode : AP Only

Stations List Rx/Tx Speed RSSI State
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4C:8B:EF:B2:1C:7B 192.168.1.142 android-a9feaf8 ??/72 Mbps -34 dBm assoc auth
98:FE:94:34A:30 192.168.1.29 iPhone ??/72 Mbps -52 dBm assoc auth
1C:65:9D:0D:6E:27 192.168.1.160 50300-PC ??/130 Mbps -34 dBm assoc auth
00:C0:02:5C:E9:BE 192.168.1.11 ??/19 Mbps -52 dBm assoc auth
00:19:70:0A:41:27 192.168.1.12 11/11 Mbps -49 dBm assoc aut


This time the wireless client .11 is not showing, even though is accessible from the network. I also had an issue with a wired devices. Is this a bug?

I am running the latest merlin firmware 374.33. I remember to had a similar issue with another merlin firmware, and when I tried the standard asus firmware the issue was resolved. I refreshed few times no joy.

 

[RMerlin]

The only thing I notice is that device has no hostname. What type of device? Is it set with a static or DHCP IP?

 

[clvk07]

Hi

Its static IP address and the device is an eyespy247 IP camera.

Also I just recreated the issue with the popcorn hour syabas A210 media streamer. It has a wired dhpc IP address, it doesn't show up in the attached devices:

myiHome Media S 192.168.1.4
C8:6C:87:6F:58:8A 192.168.1.36
00:19:70:0A:41:27 192.168.1.12
iPhone 192.168.1.29
android-a9fea... 192.168.1.142
50300-PC 192.168.1.160


but does show up in the lease: 192.168.1.150

System Log - DHCP leases

This page shows the device's related settings such as MAC, IP, and lease time settings.
Hostname IP Address MAC Address Expires
* 192.168.1.150 00:06:dc:82:7a:02 23:48:49
50300-PC 192.168.1.160 1c:65:9d:0d:6e:27 23:49:06
* 192.168.1.4 00:06:dc:82:20:65 22:35:29
android-a9feaf812792b30d 192.168.1.142 4c:8b:ef:b2:1c:7b 22:39:00
iPhone 192.168.1.29 98:fe:94:34:da:30 23:54:17


it seems also the the popcorn has no device name as you said. Why if there is no device name the asus doesn't recognize it?

 

[clvk07]

After some test, it seems that the issue is the refresh button, If I restart the router it sees all devices. Also If I turn off a device and refresh it still shows up.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Same issue here I have had this bug in a lot of the recent Merlin builds. Hit the refresh button and sometimes it loads all the clients and sometimes it wont. Stock Asus does not have the issue. As stated when you first go to the client list all will show including devices that were connected but now are not that's why I need to refresh but its hit and miss and the spinning wheel just spins forever.

 

[Sky1111]

I confirm the same problem here. 33Beta1 did not have this issue, and 33 final does.

Out of 13 clients, it only shows 4 - and practically all are on static IP address list.

 

[HawkInOz]

See my previous report in the main .33 release thread:

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=84729&postcount=26

PrivateJoker was the only one to respond, but I just can't accept this as being "just the way it is" and have no intention of setting up static assignments for anything currently using DHCP. I like the flexibility that using DHCP gives me.

The additional problems that this causes is that any devices not appearing or appearing incorrectly (mismatched Name/IP) in the main Client Status list on the Network Map page also do not appear or appear incorrectly everywhere else that a drop-down client list is present (Traffic Manager - QoS, Parental Control, Yandex.DNS, LAN - DHCP Server, LAN - Route, WAN - Port Forwarding, etc.)

I also stand by the fact that although the Client list did often get stuck for me using 26b, when it did successfully complete (which was the case most of the time) it always included ALL of my clients - whether or not they were behind my two wireless bridges. Versions prior to 26b just seemed to work reliably when it came to resolving the Names, MAC addresses and IP addresses of all the clients. Things seem to have gotten progressively worse with respect to the Client Status list with the newer versions of the firmware.

Another oddity that has been introduced with .33 (I skipped from 26b, so it could have been around longer than that), is the fact that my QNAP NAS is now misidentified in the Client Status list as an "Access Point". This of course doesn't cause any problems - and I probably should just be happy that it shows up with the right name and IP address in the list every time.....

 

[Deleted member 22229]

There is a issue and it needs to be fixed the Client list to me is a important feature that I want to work correctly. Hope Merlin can fix this, as stated the Asus stock firmware does not have the issue but with no V6 firewall there is no point using stock firmware.

I wanted to add i have reformatted both my computers because they needed it and the issue is still there so its not anything Pc related. My Android tablet also confirms the issue as well.

 

[RMerlin]

Nothing has been changed to the networkmap code in months, so it doesn't make much sense that it would work differently in the recent betas than in the current release.

Keep in mind that it can take time before clients start to properly appear and get their name resolved on that list. If you try immediately after a router reboot, then the router might not see the existing clients until they renew their leases. This has always been the case. I have seen people complain about this as far back as last year.

Clicking on the refresh button also takes a long time to complete. This is why I added a spinner, as people were expecting the results to immediately appear. The router can spend a minute or two trying to contact each client as it checks if it has any known services responding, before moving to the next one.

So far in all my tests, my router have never failed to display all my clients here. I can have up to 11 different clients listed at times after I connect all my various devices. If there is something particular to someone's setup, you will have to describe it.

I cannot fix what I can't reproduce.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

I know this, the stock firmware does not have the issue and as far as the spinning wheel it spins forever and never stops. Love your builds but this is a issue at least for me and a few others.

 

[HawkInOz]

Nothing has been changed to the networkmap code in months, so it doesn't make much sense that it would work differently in the recent betas than in the current release.

Keep in mind that it can take time before clients start to properly appear and get their name resolved on that list. If you try immediately after a router reboot, then the router might not see the existing clients until they renew their leases. This has always been the case. I have seen people complain about this as far back as last year.

Clicking on the refresh button also takes a long time to complete. This is why I added a spinner, as people were expecting the results to immediately appear. The router can spend a minute or two trying to contact each client as it checks if it has any known services responding, before moving to the next one.

So far in all my tests, my router have never failed to display all my clients here. I can have up to 11 different clients listed at times after I connect all my various devices. If there is something particular to someone's setup, you will have to describe it.

I cannot fix what I can't reproduce.

I have tried to be very descriptive in my reports of the problem. I have waited hours and even days (with 26b) for the list to complete. Even when the spinner finally stops, I am now missing clients connected to two wireless bridges, or have the client name mismatched with another IP (for the bridge itself, or one of the other clients connected to it). I have used Merlin builds exclusively since getting my RT-N66U, and have never used any of the betas. So I can't speak to whether the betas had the problem or not. I also did not use any full versions between 26b and 33, so I can't speak to where exactly the current broken state was introduced. But it certainly does exist in the current version.

Having information in the Client Status list inaccurate (missing or mismatched name/IP), including the actual number of clients connected, is now very frustrating. I typically have between 15 and 30 connections at any given time. With .33, there are always several of those missing even when the spinner stops. Clearly, a change between 26b and 33 final has mucked up the router's ability to deal with my wireless bridges and the clients connected to them. This is a new wrinkle to the previously existing problem. FWIW, all other clients appear as they should for me, if/when the list actually completes resolving their names and IP addresses. Too often it does not.

 

[PrivateJoker]

If this information in the client list is critically (or diagnostically) important to you I don't know why you'd take the router's word for what it thinks is connected instead of using a network scanning app from an Android/iOS device like Fing, inet scan, net analyzer, etc. They can all look at "MAC-less" devices behind bridges, show you what devices connect to the router, friendly names, pings, limited connection history of a device, WOL, and even zero-config services inventories.

That way you are freed from the peculiarities that can happen when you solely rely on router for its UI to report back the status of clients and when the router and/or device has last rebooted, renewed a lease, etc. I'd rather verify that info from something that doesn't have a role in negotiating the info it's reporting to you - it's just faster & easier too.

This is a TiVo behind a bridge, it makes me plainly aware that at this level it cannot see a MAC behind the bridge but it verifies it has a working IP, has automatically pinged it for me to prove its alive, and also breaks out the actual Bonjour services for me that device is advertising. This is info that helps me diagnose functionality a lot faster, and more effectively than a router telling me it has a confusion of IPs & MACs behind something it can't totally get explain to me. This is from iOS iNet scan app.

 

[clvk07]

I do not think this problem is related to the last merlin firmware as I had this problem before with another merlin firmware and once reverted back to standard asus it was fixed.
There is no issue in terms of time delay, as I waited for few hours nothing happens, and the router shows devices which have been powered off few hours before as well.
Once you reboot the rooter, it picks up all the updates. I also did a factory reseat and put all config from scratch no joy. The wheel just keep spinning and nothing updates. It’s no an issue of DHCP, Static or dynamic as I had troubles with all kind of devices. No switches, all devices connect directly to the outer wither via wifi or lan cable. It would be a nice feature to get working, it is a basic feature and it shouln't require any third party software to scan what is on the network.

 

[HawkInOz]

If this information in the client list is critically (or diagnostically) important to you I don't know why you'd take the router's word for what it thinks is connected instead of using a network scanning app from an Android/iOS device like Fing, inet scan, net analyzer, etc.

For starters, I do not have any Android or iOS devices.

Secondly, as has been reported by numerous others, the number of connected clients and the Client Status list is apparently accurate with ASUS firmware releases (though I haven't used any of them since getting my RT-N66U router). I greatly value the other additions that Merlin has skillfully added to his custom firmwares, and will continue to use them exclusively for that reason. Really, this is the only thing that I use regularly which is, and has been, 'broken' for me and others in recent firmware releases. I was reporting it in the hopes that it can be fixed. Nothing more, nothing less.

I appreciate your thinking outside the box, PrivateJoker, but doing so is not fixing anything. The features that are available are only useful if they work properly. And the only way that Merlin will know that they don't, is if we report them to him. The fact that the client info is used in so many other places throughout the web interface makes its accuracy all the more critical.

Mucho Appreciato, Merlin! I'll definitely be using that PayPal link of yours if this issue gets fixed. Let me know if I can assist further in reaching that goal. Thank you!

 

[clvk07]

It also seems that the sysinfo page works as expected

http://192.168.1.1/Tools_Sysinfo.asp

client status is update instantly.

 

[HawkInOz]

It also seems that the sysinfo page works as expected

http://192.168.1.1/Tools_Sysinfo.asp

client status is update instantly.

As does the 'System Log - DHCP leases':

http://192.168.1.1/Main_DHCPStatus_Content.asp

It shows all my DHCP-enabled devices, whether or not they are connected to the wireless bridges, with the name listed as specified in the 'Manually Assigned IP around the DHCP list'. Of course, my static assignments are not shown (nor should they be) - so I'm still hoping for this level of success in the Client Status listing on the Network Map page.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

For starters, I do not have any Android or iOS devices.

Secondly, as has been reported by numerous others, the number of connected clients and the Client Status list is apparently accurate with ASUS firmware releases (though I haven't used any of them since getting my RT-N66U router). I greatly value the other additions that Merlin has skillfully added to his custom firmwares, and will continue to use them exclusively for that reason. Really, this is the only thing that I use regularly which is, and has been, 'broken' for me and others in recent firmware releases. I was reporting it in the hopes that it can be fixed. Nothing more, nothing less.

I appreciate your thinking outside the box, PrivateJoker, but doing so is not fixing anything. The features that are available are only useful if they work properly. And the only way that Merlin will know that they don't, is if we report them to him. The fact that the client info is used in so many other places throughout the web interface makes its accuracy all the more critical.

Mucho Appreciato, Merlin! I'll definitely be using that PayPal link of yours if this issue gets fixed. Let me know if I can assist further in reaching that goal. Thank you!

I hope Merlin will look into the issue but as he said he cant reproduce the issue. I don't know why he cant it has happened here on the last few releases. Also as stated the stock firmware does not have the issue. Strange

 

[RMerlin]

Not sure how much time I will have this week to take a look at this, but in the mean time here's the type of info that could help me (can't be more specific right now as I'm still at work and don't have time to look up exact filenames or commands):

1) Is it always the same device(s) that are missing?
2) Please describe the device (is it a Win PC, a Roku media streamer, a networked toaster, etc...)
3) Static or DHCP? Got any DHCP reservation with a proper name?
4) Do you have anything else than just your router on the LAN networking duties. For example, any switch, bridge, repeater, etc...

See if the device shows in:

1) The DHCP lease page (under System Log)
2) The Wireless client list (under System Log)
3) If there is a hostname showing up on either of these page

If the issue only occurs with specific devices, we need to isolate what's special about these devices. If it was a random issue, I would probably have reproduced it already with 10+ devices connecting.

The core networkmap code is the same in Asus's original FW as mine, with only the following differences (that I can remember):

1) I implemented a fix so that device names that are exactly 15 or 16 characters (forgot which) don't cause incorrect names from showing up
2) After Asus is done trying to match a device's hostname with its Netbios name, I start looking at the DHCP leases and DHCP reservations in an attempt to find a more suitable name

 

[RMerlin]

PS: if the device with the issue turns out to be a networked toaster, I reserve the right to say "forget it".

 

[clvk07]

Merlin

To me is not a device related issue but a general refresh issue. For the last 2 days my router is showing up 5 devices in network map. If I turn something off still shows up. If I turn something on it doesn't show up.

If I reboot the router it shows up all connected devices correctly. It seems that when you press the refresh button nothing happens, the screen on the right goes blank and the same device list appears. If you need I would be ok to do a teamviewer session so you can see what is happening....