wifi devices get disconnected from router/aimesh single iphoneXS/15 pro triggers this when coming home

[Gravityz]

i have this problem for a long time now, both with official and merlin firmware

setup
RT-AX88U router
RT-AC86U AImesh node
all latest merlin

smartconnect on
1 single SSID for both 2.4 and 5ghz

system can work for days stable without disconnects then all of a sudden(after 3 days)
when coming home my iphone XS/15pro connects to the main router wifi and then the complete wifi network gets unstable and devices disconnect/reconnect al the time
it is like something is jamming the wifi and all the devices try to reconnect.

the trigger is always the same.
somebody is coming home and then the problems start.
only way to solve it is to reboot router and aimesh node.

and first i suspected 3 ESPeasy modules but i am not so sure these are the cause since everything works untill somebody comes home and logs onto the wifi network

PMF is switched off

nothing is showing in the log(notice level)

any help would be appreciated

 

[L&LD]

What devices come home to do this?

 

[Gravityz]

mainly iphones
IphoneXS ios17 had this problem in the past(but i replaced it)

at the moment
iphone 15 ios17
iphone 15 pro ios 17

 

[aex.perez]

Got a AX88U and two AX86U as AImesh nodes on Merling 388.6 and I started using Merlin several few years ago when I had AC5300's. My Wifi is very stable and it took a while to get there, here's my settings but note that they may or may not work for you depending on your location / environment. I use SmartConnect and separate 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz guest networks and 802.11ax is enabled for all of them. Running Merlin on the router andthe AImesh nodes. I don't have a iPhone 15, but I do have a few iPhone 14's (on 17.3 currently). Except for TV's and DirecTV Stream Osprey boxes everything is Wireless, IOT deveices, Android Tablets (on 2.4 AX), and assorted stuff.

You might want to use the Site Survey fuction Network Tools/Site Survey to find a relative free / low inteference / low confiting chanels if using fixed channel's/frequency's

Good Luck...

 

[Kingp1n]

i have this problem for a long time now, both with official and merlin firmware

setup
RT-AX88U router
RT-AC86U AImesh node
all latest merlin

smartconnect on
1 single SSID for both 2.4 and 5ghz

system can work for days stable without disconnects then all of a sudden(after 3 days)
when coming home my iphone XS/15pro connects to the main router wifi and then the complete wifi network gets unstable and devices disconnect/reconnect al the time
it is like something is jamming the wifi and all the devices try to reconnect.

the trigger is always the same.
somebody is coming home and then the problems start.
only way to solve it is to reboot router and aimesh node.

and first i suspected 3 ESPeasy modules but i am not so sure these are the cause since everything works untill somebody comes home and logs onto the wifi network

PMF is switched off

nothing is showing in the log(notice level)

any help would be appreciated

Have you tried removing the node and noticed this issues as well only with the primary router? Also I would recommend disabling smart connect and separating the bands. Best of luck!

 

[Gravityz]

thanks everybody. good info from both aex.perez and Kingp1n
i will try both.

maybe first see if aimesh is the problem and after that fintuning with the other settings you provided me.

regarding disabling smartconnect.
should i enable roaming assistant instead?

the reason i have it enabled is that iphones tend to connect to the strongest signal(2.4ghz) once the switch to 2.4 ghz they never switch back to 5ghz

 

[Kingp1n]

thanks everybody. good info from both aex.perez and Kingp1n
i will try both.

maybe first see if aimesh is the problem and after that fintuning with the other settings you provided me.

regarding disabling smartconnect.
should i enable roaming assistant instead?

the reason i have it enabled is that iphones tend to connect to the strongest signal(2.4ghz) once the switch to 2.4 ghz they never switch back to 5ghz

It's been awhile since I last used AiMesh. However....you could try enabling roaming assist but know RA will drop any client below the signal strength threshold that you set. It is then up to the clients to "connect" to the band with the strongest signal. This may work fine for you. I prefer my devices to connect to the band I choose and remain connected versus disconnecting/connecting again.

This experimenting with AiMesh/RA ect... can get tedious and its one of the reasons I stop using AiMesh...I was dealing with too many random disconnects. I now use my trusty RT-AC68U in AP mode directly wired.

 

[Gravityz]

ok
tried the settings from aex.perez but that made my setup highly unstable.
before shutting off aimesh i decided to remove the node, do a complete reset of that node and add it again as an aimesh node.

this seems to help regarding stability.
i did not notice the wifi hanging problem anymore.

i discovered however the following

two 2.4ghz wifi camera's with 100% signal connection to the main router seem to disconnect when an iphone15 connects to 5Ghz main router
i suspect that that iphone is watching movies and is using a lot of bandwidth on the 5ghz band.

so what could be causing disconnects on 2.4ghz when the 5ghz band get saturated
the iphone15 is in the same room as the 2 camera's and acts like some sort of 2.4ghz jammer(when it is using fullbandwidth on 5ghz)


also i have Cake QOS running

 

[aex.perez]

Select Network Tools / Site Survey and post a screen capture, let's see what all is around you and their signal strengths

As for 5Ghz on the iPhone and the 2.4Ghz cameras, having several cameras and iPhones, iPad at 5Ghz. The "I" devices streaming movies have never interfered with each other. Two different freq's unless somethig in the router or it's setup is getting in the way. Also try running without QoS enabled and see if that makes a difference to your issue. it does for me but again MY environment is not yours.

If you are seeing deveices connecting to the farthest Node/Router rather than the closet one even when binding a device to a specific router of node, then play with

with a value that works for you' I beleive -70 is the default, I use -60 in my environment.

Another thing to look at if you have a Windows laptop/desktop with WiFi next/near your router is getting a copy of "inSSIDer" see graphic. Use it to not only get what's around you but their signal strengths and channels they are using. If near the router use can use the signal strength to work on the roaming assistant setting that best works for you. A Laptop, then you can move between the Router and Node to get a better look at what the environment looks like around you and adjust.

Screen Cap from inSSIDer on my dsktop with 2.4Ghz and a 5Ghz WiFi adapter in MY environment

I did say my settings are tuned to MY environment, you'll need to tune for yours. I and neither should you have had any expectations my settings I shared would work for you , with out some tuning on your part.

 

[Gravityz]

there is nothing in the neighbourhood which interfers(as far as i can see) both with wifi scan as well as inssider
i will give it again a couple of days to see if things are changing

 

[aex.perez]

Looks like you are free and clear, just noticed your running an AC and AX router are your issues with devices on the AC86 node or the AX88 based router(see AImesh on the router to see what node are connected where). Noticed you have AX mode turned off, correct? I do live near enough to the street that a passing car with WiFi shows up every so often, so it may/will change. I'm starting to suspect something else is a miss, your signature refrences stock ASUSWRT but refrenced in a prior post that you are running the latest Merlin (386.12 AC86, 388.6 AX), which is it?

 

[Gravityz]

yes sorry, i have Merlin(changed the signature)
the RT-AX88U is set to provide AX.
maybe because it has a aimesh node which only supports AC it shows that

 

[aex.perez]

That's and easy fix to try, disable under Wireless - General. You'll need to do that for each freq. if not using SmartConnect, and retry and see if probem resolves itself.

 

[Gravityz]

That's and easy fix to try, disable under Wireless - General. You'll need to do that for each freq. if not using SmartConnect, and retry and see if probem resolves itself.

do you mean disable smartconnect and see if it shows up as AX
or
do you mean to disable ax for every band and then perhaps enable it again

i tried both and they still show up as AC
looking at the mac addresses it only show the RT-AC86U so AC is correct
wifi survey does not show the ssids's of the main router

 

[aex.perez]

If you're running SmartConnect, then Wireless-General to disable AX for both, if not you'll do it for each , same place.

 

[Gravityz]

mixing AX with AC within an aimesh probably causes instabilities. (also with devices on the AX router so aimesh affects the complete network)
i replaced the ac node with an AX node and everything is stable