Weird Wireless disconnection behavior

[Logi]

I am using the latest firmware 380.58, it happens almost every other day, that my devices (iOS, Mac) will get disconnected from Wifi even though wifi is active, when I try to connect again (because the wireless network is active) it will keep asking for the password (even though is known), sometimes it will say it cannot connect, without any other message detail, solution restart the router, any hint on why this might be happening? It never happened to me with the stock Asus firmware, thanks

NOTE: I use the exact same devices (iPhone+, iPad Pro and MacBook Pro) at the wireless network office every day all day and I have never had a single issue or disconnection, that's the reason why I have nailed down to the router as the issue.

 

[L&LD]

Have you tried 'forgetting' the network and re-associating it again? Tried a different ssid (if you have many devices)? If those still don't fix the issue, have you tried resetting the devices (the network parts)?

 

[Logi]

Have you tried 'forgetting' the network and re-associating it again? Tried a different ssid (if you have many devices)? If those still don't fix the issue, have you tried resetting the devices (the network parts)?

Yes, I tried forgetting but I doesn't work. I've done the "Reset Network Settings" on my iOS devices, and that doesn't work. As a matter of fact as soon as I get to work they all 3 will connect to the work network without any problem. Should I go back to the stock FW? Should I do a Factory Reset? What is weird is that with a simple reboot it will work fine for another 24-48 hours

 

[L&LD]

Yes, I tried forgetting but I doesn't work. I've done the "Reset Network Settings" on my iOS devices, and that doesn't work. As a matter of fact as soon as I get to work they all 3 will connect to the work network without any problem. Should I go back to the stock FW? Should I do a Factory Reset? What is weird is that with a simple reboot it will work fine for another 24-48 hours

If you can connect at work as soon as you arrive there, it doesn't seem to be really resetting the network settings then?

What ios version are you running, btw?

 

[Logi]

If you can connect at work as soon as you arrive there, it doesn't seem to be really resetting the network settings then?

What ios version are you running, btw?

I am using the latest iOS 9.3. Today I only resetted the Network settings on the iPad Pro but not on the iPhone Plus, and both connected to the work network right away

 

[L&LD]

I am using the latest iOS 9.3. Today I only resetted the Network settings on the iPad Pro but not on the iPhone Plus, and both connected to the work network right away

What can I say? Apple, when you want things to automatically not work as expected.

 

[chamberc]

So true. Try switching to something like a 286 from 1989. It'll be a far superior and more reliable experience than crApple stuff.

 

[RMerlin]

So true. Try switching to something like a 286 from 1989. It'll be a far superior and more reliable experience than crApple stuff.

I doubt you will find a 286 able to connect to a wifi network...

 

[Logi]

Any advice on next steps to nail down the root cause? I was looking for an 286 computer all morning and did not find one

 

[RMerlin]

You didn't specify what router you are using.

If it's an RT-AC87U, avoid the 5 GHz band.
If it's any other AC-based router, try disabling beamforming under Wireless -> Professional for both bands.

 

[Logi]

You didn't specify what router you are using.

If it's an RT-AC87U, avoid the 5 GHz band.
If it's any other AC-based router, try disabling beamforming under Wireless -> Professional for both bands.

Sorry about that, please let me provide you with some context, it an RT-AC5300, I have around 30 devices, I am using all 3 bands individually, the 5Ghz-2 band is the one giving me the problems, only 4 devices use this band, iPhone Plus, iPad Pro, MacBook Pro and Apple TV. All configuration is standard.

 

[Logi]

I am debating If I should go back to the stock FW........

 

[Scamp]

I see this behavior typically when on the absolute edge of the WiFi range, with 1-2 bars on the client device.. I have an AC-66U, and have seen it with most any 374, 378, and 380 etc build . Especially with iPhone, it will re-prompt for the SSID password, attempt to reconnect, then prompt for the SSID password again. Problem resolves itself after moving a few feet closer in the direction of the AP, or moving to a better line-of-sight and removing an obstacle.

If you have significantly increased the TX power on either band, move it back to within +10% of default and it will correct itself.

 

[Logi]

Please let me provide more facts, currently only the iPhone Plus and iPad Pro are having the issues, I have another 10 iOS devices in the network with no issues, what is the difference, is that 2 two devices with issues are using 5Ghz-2 and the others are using 5Ghz-1, the other difference is that the two devices are using assigned IP with DHCP, all the others are any DHCP IP address, because I cannot use these two devices in the 5Ghz-1 network, as troubleshooting I have removed the assigned IPs. I also moved to the stock FW, same symptoms.

NOTE: The 2 devices with the issues (in 5Ghz-2) are close to the router, almost the room next door, all the other devices (5ghz-1) are much further away from the router.

UPDATE: Same problem with the above changes, after 30-60 min the wifi connection will drop and the devices will stay connected on LTE only

 

[Logi]

You didn't specify what router you are using.

If it's an RT-AC87U, avoid the 5 GHz band.
If it's any other AC-based router, try disabling beamforming under Wireless -> Professional for both bands.

Do I have to disable Explicit, Universal and 802.11ac Beamforming? Do I have to do it for 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz-1 and 5Ghz-2? What is the effect of disabling Beamforming? thanks

NOTE: Back to Merlin FW

 

[RMerlin]

Do I have to disable Explicit, Universal and 802.11ac Beamforming? Do I have to do it for 2.4Ghz, 5Ghz-1 and 5Ghz-2? What is the effect of disabling Beamforming? thanks

NOTE: Back to Merlin FW

Disable all beamforming options, for test purposes. If it works better, then try just enabling the AC beamforming on the 5 GHz band (and leave explicit disabled on all bands).

Beamforming only helps with performance for devices that are at a medium range. It has next to no improvement for devices with weaker or strong signals.

Also, some devices don't like Smart Connect, so disable that option as well to see if it helps.

And the usual recommendations: use fixed channels, not automatic channel selection, set 2.4 GHz band to 20 Mhz and the others to 80 MHz, etc...

Finally, with so many devices, it's possible for a single misbehaving device to cause issues for other devices. Look for any potential clue (issues happening only when a specific device is turned on, for instance).

380.58 for the RT-AC5300 is based on a slightly older wireless driver, it's possible you might get better results with a newer firmware, at least until I get the chance to merge that newer driver in my code. So it might be worth trying out the latest beta firmware from Asus.

 

[Logi]

Disable all beamforming options, for test purposes. If it works better, then try just enabling the AC beamforming on the 5 GHz band (and leave explicit disabled on all bands).

Beamforming only helps with performance for devices that are at a medium range. It has next to no improvement for devices with weaker or strong signals.

Also, some devices don't like Smart Connect, so disable that option as well to see if it helps.

And the usual recommendations: use fixed channels, not automatic channel selection, set 2.4 GHz band to 20 Mhz and the others to 80 MHz, etc...

Finally, with so many devices, it's possible for a single misbehaving device to cause issues for other devices. Look for any potential clue (issues happening only when a specific device is turned on, for instance).

380.58 for the RT-AC5300 is based on a slightly older wireless driver, it's possible you might get better results with a newer firmware, at least until I get the chance to merge that newer driver in my code. So it might be worth trying out the latest beta firmware from Asus.

Thanks, regarding the channels 2.4 = 20 and (5-1 and 5-2) = 80? Please could you confirm, thanks

NOTE: Smart Connect has been OFF all the time.

 

[Logi]

Disable all beamforming options, for test purposes. If it works better, then try just enabling the AC beamforming on the 5 GHz band (and leave explicit disabled on all bands).

Beamforming only helps with performance for devices that are at a medium range. It has next to no improvement for devices with weaker or strong signals.

Also, some devices don't like Smart Connect, so disable that option as well to see if it helps.

And the usual recommendations: use fixed channels, not automatic channel selection, set 2.4 GHz band to 20 Mhz and the others to 80 MHz, etc...

Finally, with so many devices, it's possible for a single misbehaving device to cause issues for other devices. Look for any potential clue (issues happening only when a specific device is turned on, for instance).

380.58 for the RT-AC5300 is based on a slightly older wireless driver, it's possible you might get better results with a newer firmware, at least until I get the chance to merge that newer driver in my code. So it might be worth trying out the latest beta firmware from Asus.

Here is the final configuration:

Firmware:
ASUS RT-AC5300 Firmware version 9.0.0.4.380.2697

It has been working fine with Beamforming disabled, so I decided to follow your recommendations and enable AC Beamforming.

Beamforming:
- 2.4Ghz Explicit and Universal Beamforming = Disabled
- 5Ghz-1 802.11ac Beamforming= Enabled and Universal Beamforming = Disabled
- 5Ghz-2 802.11ac Beamforming= Enabled and Universal Beamforming = Disabled

Channels:
- 2.4Ghz Channel = 20Mhz
- 5Ghz-1 Channel = 80Mhz
- 5Ghz-2 Channel = 80Mhz

Any other suggestion? Thanks a lot

 

[RMerlin]

Here is the final configuration:

Any other suggestion? Thanks a lot

Looks good to me. Try it out for a few days to confirm it did resolve your issues.

 

[Logi]

Looks good to me. Try it out for a few days to confirm it did resolve your issues.

Well, last night it happened again, but only the iPad Pro got disconnected from 5Ghz-2 and I started getting the dialog asking for the password when trying to reconnect again, I couldn't reconnect at all. The iPhone-Plus was fine. I was able to connect the iPad Pro to the 5Ghz-1 network though. Then I disabled the AC beamforming on both 5Ghz networks and started to work again. I will keep testing over the weekend.

The other weird symptom I noticed last night was that while watching Hulu on the last generation Apple TV it got stuck for about 40 seconds and when I tried the iPhone-Plus it was also stuck, no disconnection from 5Ghz-2 network though. And after the 40 seconds everything resumed fine.

I never had these issues with the Netgear X6 R8000, it seems the Asus Routers are more sensible? The other weird thing is that it only happens in the 5Ghz-2 band, I have around 10 other devices (from my family) in the 5Ghz-1 band and they have never complained about disconnections.