XT8 Constant Reboots

[thalador]

Hey folks,

My ZenWiFi XT* 3-node system has the main router (the one plugged into the mode) rebooting 10+ times a day. I have opened a case with ASUS but thought I would post here to see if anyone has some thoughts. I have right around 40 devices attached, about 8 wired the rest wireless on 2.4/5GHz and a dedicated 2.4Ghz guest network for my Ring cameras. Over the past 2 weeks or so it has been rebooting itself and as my daughter and I work from home this is a problem. I am running firmware 3.0.0.4.386.49873 on all 3 nodes. I tried upgrading to 3.0.0.4.388.21099 when it came out as well as 3.0.0.4.388.21617 yesterday but some of my Ring devices would not reconnect or join to it. So, in the admin logs for the last reboot, about 15 minutes ago as I was chatting with support this is what I see prior and right after

Nov 25 17:41:08 roamast: [EXAP]Deauth old sta in 1 0: 4C:B9:EA:08:32:93
Nov 25 17:41:08 roamast: eth5: disconnect weak signal strength station [4c:b9:ea:08:32:93]
Nov 25 17:41:08 roamast: eth5: remove client [4c:b9:ea:08:32:93] from monitor list
Nov 25 17:41:42 roamast: determine candidate node [7C:10:C9:A5:C2:E8](rssi: -44dbm) for client [A0:4E:CF:7C:72:12](rssi: -67dbm) to roam
Nov 25 17:41:42 roamast: Roam a client [A0:4E:CF:7C:72:12], status [0]
Nov 25 17:41:43 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(511): eth6: Disassoc A0:4E:CF:7C:72:12, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Nov 25 17:41:43 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(511): eth6: Disassoc A0:4E:CF:7C:72:12, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Nov 25 17:42:11 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(530): eth6: Auth A0:4E:CF:7C:72:12, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Nov 25 17:42:11 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(540): eth6: ReAssoc A0:4E:CF:7C:72:12, status: Successful (0), rssi:-65
Nov 25 17:42:17 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(511): eth6: Disassoc A0:4E:CF:7C:72:12, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Nov 25 17:42:17 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(511): eth6: Disassoc A0:4E:CF:7C:72:12, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 5 00:05:19 kernel: klogd started: BusyBox v1.24.1 (2022-07-30 18:11:27 CST)
May 5 00:05:19 kernel: Linux version 4.1.52 (gitserv_asus@tpbuildsvrvu01) (gcc version 5.5.0 (Buildroot 2017.11.1) ) #2 SMP PREEMPT Sat Jul 30 19:46:38 CST 2022

It is obviously rebooting now. Any thoughts as to what I can try?

 

[L&LD]

This sounds like an obvious case of the router(s) needing a full reset and a minimal and manual configuration afterward (do not use a saved backup config file).

Before you do that, power down the routers, and unplug both the AC power plug from the wall and the power plug that goes into the router. Disconnect all network cables except for the WAN cable. Power everything up and check for reboots. If stable, connect the node with a LAN cable to its WAN port. If stable, connect each wired device, waiting a few minutes to see if one of these is the problem child.

If the above tests don't yield any improvement or point to an obvious culprit, temporarily change the SSIDs so that no wireless devices can connect. Repeat the testing above. Did you find a culprit device now? If not, connect each wireless device in order, testing in between for spontaneous reboots.

If the node is the problem device when attached, try resetting just that unit to factory defaults, then re-associating it again.

Be sure you take notes doing the above (in case you're interrupted), and be systematic and meticulous to rule out a rogue device.

If all the steps above fail to bring any relief to the rebooting issue, a full reset of both routers is your last step.

 

[tgl]

Agreed on @L&LD's advice to perform a systematic troubleshooting process. But I think his suggestions cover the cases that either the router configuration is wrong/corrupt, or there is some specific client device you have that's causing issues. Those could indeed be the problem; but as a none-too-happy XT8 owner, I know there is another dimension to consider. That's the firmware version. ASUS have yet to ship a rock-solid firmware for this hardware; all the versions have issues of one sort or another. So you need to be prepared to try different ones till you find one that's tolerably stable for your usage. You shouldn't even assume that the main and remote nodes should run the same firmware version :-(. I'm currently running 49873 on my remotes and 42095 on the main, because 49873 just failed miserably on the main despite being stable on the remotes.

In short, I'd summarize the process as: hard-reset the routers, set up desired configurations from scratch, attach client units one at a time. If that doesn't work, install a different firmware version and go back to step 1.

 

[thalador]

I opened a case with ASUS and they are taking their sweet time for sure. If I do go the full factory reset way should I do it via the app or reset each device individually?

 

[thalador]

So I factory reset all 3 nodes and actually swapped the one I had been using as the router with another and reboots are back. ASUS is saying they want to do a X-Ship cuz it's hardware, but that makes no sense to me. Also, I am on the most recent prod firmware and they asked about trying the beta. The beta is behind the prod it seems, do they not work that way?

 

[wags1]

Hopefully Asus will get this fixed for you. But after 2 years of instability and constant fiddling with my 2 node XT8 system (main router and 1 node which was using Ethernet backhaul) I finally gave up almost 2 months ago and replaced the main router with a RT-AX86U. I still have the one XT8 as a Aimesh node (still using Ethernet backhaul). It has been absolutely rock solid since I made that switch. So much so that my network has now just melted into the background and I don't have to think about it or mess with it...which is exactly what I wanted. Don't know what the problem was, maybe it was just me, but that has been my experience.