WiFi AiMesh disconnects for a few seconds

[Antise7en]

Hi All, I recently upgraded my home network to have two ASUS RT-AC68U routers so that i could create a mesh network in my house. Setup was easy and painless and everything seemed to work fine.... but, every so often i notice a blimp of maybe 15-60 seconds where i lose internet completely on Wifi( hard Wired connection always seems fine) . My PS Vue account will stop streaming on the TV and i'm unable to load a website on my mobile phone. by the time i typically close out of the vue app on the Apple TV and reload it the network is back up and when i close my web browser and re open it it comes back up. Or if i switch from our 5ghz to our 2.4ghz they work fine. on the IPhone the wireless symbol stays consistent and doesn't show any loss of signal. on the apple TV i get a pop up that says network was lost. This typically happens once or twice a day. and when the wifi decides to work again i'm typically getting around 20mbps on all devices with full bars. I've tried to load up the ASUS app on my phone and log directly into the router UI to get an indication on what is going on but i'm have very little success. here is what i gathered from the log this morning when it happened:

• Jun 29 07:29:38 roamast: discover candidate node [xx:xx:BF:AC:96:68](rssi:
  -52dbm) for weak signal strength client [xx:xx:A2:4A:FA:FF](rssi: -71dbm)
  Jun 29 07:29:38 roamast: eth1: disconnect weak signal strength station
  [xx:xx:a2:4a:fa:ff]
  Jun 29 07:29:38 roamast: eth1: remove client [xx:xx:a2:4a:fa:ff] from monitor
  list
  Jun 29 07:39:50 roamast: eth2: add client [xx:xx:89:a6:ae:b5] to monitor list
  Jun 29 07:39:50 roamast: eth2: add client [xx:xx:c0:a8:a3:61] to monitor list
  Jun 29 07:39:50 roamast: eth2: add client [xx:xx:c0:33:bd:31] to monitor list
  Jun 29 07:39:55 roamast: eth1: add client [xx:xx:bb:c8:71:19] to monitor list
  Jun 29 07:39:55 roamast: eth2: add client [xx:xx:4b:1c:41:00] to monitor list
  Jun 29 07:39:55 roamast: eth2: add client [xx:xx:30:75:fe:2e] to monitor list
  Jun 29 07:40:00 roamast: eth1: add client [xx:xx:a2:4a:fa:ff] to monitor list
  Jun 29 07:42:18 roamast: discover candidate node [xx:xx:BF:AC:96:68](rssi:
  -53dbm) for weak signal strength client [xx:xx:A2:4A:FA:FF](rssi: -71dbm)
  Jun 29 07:42:18 roamast: eth1: disconnect weak signal strength station
• [xx:xx:a2:4a:fa:ff]
  Jun 29 07:42:18 roamast: eth1: remove client [xx:xx:a2:4a:fa:ff] from monitor
  list
  Jun 29 07:44:00 roamast: eth2: add client [xx:xx:c0:33:bd:31] to monitor list
  Jun 29 07:44:00 roamast: eth2: add client [xx:xx:89:a6:ae:b5] to monitor list
  Jun 29 07:44:00 roamast: eth2: add client [xx:xx:c0:a8:a3:61] to monitor list
  Jun 29 07:45:25 roamast: eth1: add client [xx:xx:a2:4a:fa:ff] to monitor list
  Jun 29 07:46:08 roamast: discover candidate node [xx:xx:BF:AC:96:68](rssi:
  -36dbm) for weak signal strength client [xx:xx:30:75:FE:2E](rssi: -73dbm)
  Jun 29 07:46:08 roamast: eth2: disconnect weak signal strength station
  [xx:xx:30:75:fe:2e]
  Jun 29 07:46:08 roamast: eth2: remove client [xx:xx:30:75:fe:2e] from monitor
  list
  Jun 29 07:46:28 roamast: discover candidate node [xx:xx:BF:AC:96:68](rssi:
  -74dbm) for weak signal strength client [xx:xx:C0:33:BD:31](rssi: -78dbm)
  Jun 29 07:46:28 roamast: roaming reject!!! candidate rssi over threshold(-70dbm)
  Jun 29 07:46:33 roamast: discover candidate node [xx:xx:BF:AC:96:68](rssi:
  -53dbm) for weak signal strength client [xx:xx:A2:4A:FA:FF](rssi: -71dbm)
  Jun 29 07:46:33 roamast: eth1: disconnect weak signal strength station
  [xx:xx:a2:4a:fa:ff]
  Jun 29 07:46:33 roamast: eth1: remove client [xx:xx:a2:4a:fa:ff] from monitor
  list

so far i have :
- disabled Airtime Fairness
-Roaming Assistant RA cutoff set from -55db to -70db

with these two settings changed nothing has changed.

thank you in advance for any help !

- Ryan



thanks in advance!

 

[Grisu]

last 21045 firmware?

 

[Antise7en]

both devices have : 3.0.0.4.384_21045-gb451ba1

 

[Antise7en]

same thing happening again:


Jun 29 16:49:12 roamast: discover candidate node [xx:xx:BF:AC:96:68](rssi: -64dbm) for weak signal strength client [xx:xx:CB:55:59:CF](rssi: -78dbm)
Jun 29 16:49:12 roamast: eth1: disconnect weak signal strength station [xx:xx:cb:55:59:cf]

 

[Neil62]

same thing happening again:


Jun 29 16:49:12 roamast: discover candidate node [xx:xx:BF:AC:96:68](rssi: -64dbm) for weak signal strength client [xx:xx:CB:55:59:CF](rssi: -78dbm)
Jun 29 16:49:12 roamast: eth1: disconnect weak signal strength station [xx:xx:cb:55:59:cf]

Try turning RA off. I have my RA turned off for now as it was also causing same issues. You may also want to increase the RA RSI level to 78, if you want to persist with RA. In addition, switch off 'Universal Beamforming' as well

 

[Antise7en]

Try turning RA off. I have my RA turned off for now as it was also causing same issues. You may also want to increase the RA RSI level to 78, if you want to persist with RA. In addition, switch off 'Universal Beamforming' as well

Thank you! i'll try increasing the RSSI level to -78dBm before i switch it off completely.

 

[agilani]

i personally would disable roaming assistant. a quick disable/re-enable of the client wifi will force it to connect to the stronger node.

 

[Antise7en]

looks like disabling RA fixed the issue

thanks!

 

[Antise7en]

nevermind, still a mess. i'm over the Asus Aimesh i'm going to move onto the Orbi.

 

[Antise7en]

nevermind, still a mess. i'm over the Asus Aimesh i'm going to move onto the Orbi.

on top of this the system log stopped collecting data. with just these few settings changed

 

[agilani]

try configuring the remote router as a repeater instead of aimesh.

 

[Antise7en]

thanks for the help everyone! i've since exchanged the Asus routers for the Netgear Orbi mesh system and i've only had them for a day but i'm pretty impressed so far!

 

[Jose Miqui]

thanks for the help everyone! i've since exchanged the Asus routers for the Netgear Orbi mesh system and i've only had them for a day but i'm pretty impressed so far!

I am experiencing the same exact problem with clients disconnecting / reconnecting and making a log entry indicating that the client signal is low. I have an RT AC5300 as the master router and AC86U as the aimesh node. After doing all the suggestion of dissabeling everything nothing helps.

If I connect a client to a rj45 port of the AC86U it works fine with excellent speed test and errors at all in the log for this client.

When I turned off the aimesh node the clients disconnects problem went away.

However, since the clients signal strength is lower the network speed test is down by 30 percent or so.

It appears that there no tools to diagnose, isolate and resolve problems with the aimesh configuration. It looks like everyone is using the feature dissable approach as a guessing game. Perhaps this is why ASUS released the product with all those confirmation options.

There is no technical documentation explaining how to read the log file entries and how the aimesh technology works when you have a 3 bad router mixed with a two band router.

For example, I noticed that the clients are showing a very strong signal strength for the 5G-2 ssid, I select it and connect fine with the client. When I look at the connections on the main router, it shows the client connected to the 5G-1 ssid.

A wifi analyzer app on my phone shows one wave fir ssid 5G-1 on channel 44 with rssi of about -60dbm.

Also, it shows two waves for the 5G-2 on channel 161 which I changed to channel 153 to avoid conflict with other routers. The first 5G-2 wave has rssi of about -58dbm and the second wave overlapping the first has rssi of -20dbm. Is this the way aimesh works?

The wifi analyzer shows a 90 percent interference for the 5G-2 ssid. When I turned off the ac86U the second wave went away and the interference is at zero percent. Is this normal?

Summary:
The first issue is that the aimesh configuration reports very strong rssi for the 5G-2 ssid. However, all clients connecting to the ssid are experiencing random connect/reconnect and the main router log indicate weak client signal detected. The problem goes away when the aimesh node is powered off.

The issue number two is that there are no documentation available to do quality troubleshooting rather than guessing turning off features.

 

[Antise7en]

I am experiencing the same exact problem with clients disconnecting / reconnecting and making a log entry indicating that the client signal is low. I have an RT AC5300 as the master router and AC86U as the aimesh node. After doing all the suggestion of dissabeling everything nothing helps.

If I connect a client to a rj45 port of the AC86U it works fine with excellent speed test and errors at all in the log for this client.

When I turned off the aimesh node the clients disconnects problem went away.

However, since the clients signal strength is lower the network speed test is down by 30 percent or so.

It appears that there no tools to diagnose, isolate and resolve problems with the aimesh configuration. It looks like everyone is using the feature dissable approach as a guessing game. Perhaps this is why ASUS released the product with all those confirmation options.

There is no technical documentation explaining how to read the log file entries and how the aimesh technology works when you have a 3 bad router mixed with a two band router.

For example, I noticed that the clients are showing a very strong signal strength for the 5G-2 ssid, I select it and connect fine with the client. When I look at the connections on the main router, it shows the client connected to the 5G-1 ssid.

A wifi analyzer app on my phone shows one wave fir ssid 5G-1 on channel 44 with rssi of about -60dbm.

Also, it shows two waves for the 5G-2 on channel 161 which I changed to channel 153 to avoid conflict with other routers. The first 5G-2 wave has rssi of about -58dbm and the second wave overlapping the first has rssi of -20dbm. Is this the way aimesh works?

The wifi analyzer shows a 90 percent interference for the 5G-2 ssid. When I turned off the ac86U the second wave went away and the interference is at zero percent. Is this normal?

Summary:
The first issue is that the aimesh configuration reports very strong rssi for the 5G-2 ssid. However, all clients connecting to the ssid are experiencing random connect/reconnect and the main router log indicate weak client signal detected. The problem goes away when the aimesh node is powered off.

The issue number two is that there are no documentation available to do quality troubleshooting rather than guessing turning off features.

Hey Jose,

I have since moved on from the ASUS routers since i couldn't resolve this issue but one thing that has since come to my attention. Are both of your 2ghz and 5ghz networks named the same? I had _2ghz and _5ghz at the end of my wifi name while using the ASUS router and i'm now curious if that was causing an issue. If not already, try making your 2ghz and 5ghz wifi names the exact same so that it can easily switch between them without your devices freaking out.

good luck, if that doesn't work hopefully it's not too late for you to switch devices. I've since moved to the Netgear Orbi Mesh network and it works exactly as i wished the ASUS network would have.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I am experiencing the same exact problem with clients disconnecting / reconnecting and making a log entry indicating that the client signal is low. I have an RT AC5300 as the master router and AC86U as the aimesh node. After doing all the suggestion of dissabeling everything nothing helps.

If I connect a client to a rj45 port of the AC86U it works fine with excellent speed test and errors at all in the log for this client.

When I turned off the aimesh node the clients disconnects problem went away.

However, since the clients signal strength is lower the network speed test is down by 30 percent or so.

It appears that there no tools to diagnose, isolate and resolve problems with the aimesh configuration. It looks like everyone is using the feature dissable approach as a guessing game. Perhaps this is why ASUS released the product with all those confirmation options.

There is no technical documentation explaining how to read the log file entries and how the aimesh technology works when you have a 3 bad router mixed with a two band router.

For example, I noticed that the clients are showing a very strong signal strength for the 5G-2 ssid, I select it and connect fine with the client. When I look at the connections on the main router, it shows the client connected to the 5G-1 ssid.

A wifi analyzer app on my phone shows one wave fir ssid 5G-1 on channel 44 with rssi of about -60dbm.

Also, it shows two waves for the 5G-2 on channel 161 which I changed to channel 153 to avoid conflict with other routers. The first 5G-2 wave has rssi of about -58dbm and the second wave overlapping the first has rssi of -20dbm. Is this the way aimesh works?

The wifi analyzer shows a 90 percent interference for the 5G-2 ssid. When I turned off the ac86U the second wave went away and the interference is at zero percent. Is this normal?

Summary:
The first issue is that the aimesh configuration reports very strong rssi for the 5G-2 ssid. However, all clients connecting to the ssid are experiencing random connect/reconnect and the main router log indicate weak client signal detected. The problem goes away when the aimesh node is powered off.

The issue number two is that there are no documentation available to do quality troubleshooting rather than guessing turning off features.

Here is an ASUS rep post discussing tri-band/dual-band: https://whrl.pl/Re6rYx

OE

 

[Jose Miqui]

Hey Jose,

I have since moved on from the ASUS routers since i couldn't resolve this issue but one thing that has since come to my attention. Are both of your 2ghz and 5ghz networks named the same? I had _2ghz and _5ghz at the end of my wifi name while using the ASUS router and i'm now curious if that was causing an issue. If not already, try making your 2ghz and 5ghz wifi names the exact same so that it can easily switch between them without your devices freaking out.

good luck, if that doesn't work hopefully it's not too late for you to switch devices. I've since moved to the Netgear Orbi Mesh network and it works exactly as i wished the ASUS network would have.

Hi Antise,
I read many user's feedback before doing the RT AC5300 installation and 90 percent of the recommended to use unique names for each band. The ideal way of using a single name caused many problems for them.

As a result, I am using different ssid names for each band.

It seems to me that everything with aimesh is a trial and error. There are so many settings to try that one can one spend 30 days or more with no progress at all.

There has to be a technical reference manual with troubleshooting process to follow.

I believe you made the right decision to move on and get rid of the ASUS aimesh system.

The current configuration with only the RT AC5300 is running without any errors for two consecutive days.

However, since rssi signal strengs on the remote clients then the data transfer rate is slower compared to the aimesh configuration. I can live with that for now.

Perhaps two triband RT AC5300 will fix the problem. Yet, this is another expense just to try one more thing.

Thx for your feedback.

 

[Jose Miqui]

Here is an ASUS rep post discussing tri-band/dual-band: https://whrl.pl/Re6rYx

OE

Hi OE,
Thanks for sharing this link.

The information provided I'd very educational about how the bands are used in an aimesh configuration.

However, this information did not help me fix the connect/reconnect problem.

Thanks for your support.

 

[Belgrath04]

Jan 2021 and I am experiencing the same behavior with my mesh network of two RT-86U router.
From the behavior I can see it is not a disconnect of the client but a disconnect of the node, followed by clients attempting to reconnect to the network since they were dropped and not handed off.

It is very odd as the timing is sporadic ... ranging from 30 min to 3 hours between disconnection of the node.


Aimesh Node Disconnect

 

[L&LD]

@Belgrath04 welcome to the forums.

It isn't helpful replying to a 2 1/2-year-old thread.

Maybe the following can help get your network back to a good/known state. I have many customers that have 2x RT-AC86U AiMesh setups that have no such issues as this thread describes (even when they were on AiMesh v1.0).

Update/Reset Mini Guide

 

[brobin]

At the risk of offending anybody by replying to an old thread, I'm replying here because this thread best describes my problem and what I am hoping is a solution. I have an RT-AC1750 B1 (aka RT-AC66U B1) as the main router and four AiMesh nodes consisting of one RT-AC66U B1 and three RP-AC55 repeaters all connected via Ethernet. All are running the latest ASUS F/W as of the date of this post. No WiFi backhaul is being utilized. We were experiencing brief WiFi dropouts only from the nodes that might last up to 30 seconds and were very annoying. It has now been over 24 hours with no dropouts so, while it might be premature to claim victory, here's the changes I've made in the main router:

1. Turned ON 'Ethernet Backhaul' under AiMesh: System Settings. This alone made a significant improvement.
2. Disabled the four 'Beamforming' options under Wireless: Professional: on both the 2.4 & 5Ghz pages (each has two Beamforming settings). Since doing that no more dropouts have been seen.

Of course, if you have to use WiFi Backhaul you cannot do #1 as it completely disables WiFi Backhaul but it's worth trying #2 anyway.