Release Zenwifi XT8 Firmware 3.0.0.4.386.41793

[TBONE204]

Version 3.0.0.4.386.41793
2021/02/01 72.67 MBytes
ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386.41793
1. AiMesh 2.0
- System optimization: one click in AiMesh to optimize the topology
- System Ethernet backhaul mode, all nodes will only connect by ethernet, and all bands can release for wireless clients.
- System factory default and reboot.
- Client device reconnect, make the device offline and online again.
- Client device binding to specific AP.
- Guest WiFi on all Mesh nodes (all node need to upgrade to 3.0.0.4.386 firmware)
- Access nodes USB application.

Connection priority and Ethernet backhaul mode introduction

[AiMesh] What is Ethernet Backhaul Mode/Backhaul Connection Priority in AiMesh System and how to set up in different scenarios? | Official Support | ASUS Global

How to setup ASUS AiMesh or ZenWiFi Mesh Ethernet backhaul under different conditions

[AiMesh] How to set up ASUS AiMesh or ZenWiFi Mesh Ethernet backhaul under different conditions ? (Advanced setup with network switch) | Official Support | ASUS Global

2. New Family interface in ASUS router App.
ASUS Router App for iOS must greater than iOS v1.0.0.5.75
Android version greater than v1.0.0.5.74

3. The unit of the WiFi time scheduler goes to 1 minute.

4. Support IPSec IKE v1 and IKE v2, and you can use the Windows 10 native VPN client program to connect to the router's IPSec VPN server. The Windows 10 new FAQ is in https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1033576

5. 2.4 and 5G settings on the network map could modify in the same tab.

6. Captcha for login can be disabled in the administration -> system.

7. Printer server port can be disabled on the USB app page.

8. Clients who connect to the guest network can be viewed in the network map -->view list --> interface

9. Added IPTV supports for a specific region.

Please unzip the firmware file first then check the MD5 code.
MD5: 2dba9d9cc7cf69d45f3f700fd56d27cb

Appears to be lots of fixes in this one.

Please post your thoughts, issues and overall experience here.

 

[mlai]

Seems that the primary Mesh AP (when in AP mode) has to connect to the network via its LAN port? That's a bummer as the XT8 only has 2.5G connectivity on its WAN port.......

 

[OzarkEdge]

Seems that the primary Mesh AP (when in AP mode) has to connect to the network via its LAN port? That's a bummer as the XT8 only has 2.5G connectivity on its WAN port.......

No. Wire it WAN to LAN.

OE

 

[lissdell]

I have the new firmware up and running for 5 hours, two unwanted reboots, probably will go back again.

 

[TBONE204]

I’ve been up over 23 hours. Not only is is stable so far my wireless speeds seem to be improved and more consistent.

 

[dompap]

Version 3.0.0.4.386.41793
2021/02/01 72.67 MBytes
ASUS ZenWiFi XT8 Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386.41793
1. AiMesh 2.0
- System optimization: one click in AiMesh to optimize the topology
- System Ethernet backhaul mode, all nodes will only connect by ethernet, and all bands can release for wireless clients.
- System factory default and reboot.
- Client device reconnect, make the device offline and online again.
- Client device binding to specific AP.
- Guest WiFi on all Mesh nodes (all node need to upgrade to 3.0.0.4.386 firmware)
- Access nodes USB application.

Connection priority and Ethernet backhaul mode introduction

[AiMesh] What is Ethernet Backhaul Mode/Backhaul Connection Priority in AiMesh System and how to set up in different scenarios? | Official Support | ASUS Global

How to setup ASUS AiMesh or ZenWiFi Mesh Ethernet backhaul under different conditions

[AiMesh] How to set up ASUS AiMesh or ZenWiFi Mesh Ethernet backhaul under different conditions ? (Advanced setup with network switch) | Official Support | ASUS Global

2. New Family interface in ASUS router App.
ASUS Router App for iOS must greater than iOS v1.0.0.5.75
Android version greater than v1.0.0.5.74

3. The unit of the WiFi time scheduler goes to 1 minute.

4. Support IPSec IKE v1 and IKE v2, and you can use the Windows 10 native VPN client program to connect to the router's IPSec VPN server. The Windows 10 new FAQ is in https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1033576

5. 2.4 and 5G settings on the network map could modify in the same tab.

6. Captcha for login can be disabled in the administration -> system.

7. Printer server port can be disabled on the USB app page.

8. Clients who connect to the guest network can be viewed in the network map -->view list --> interface

9. Added IPTV supports for a specific region.

Please unzip the firmware file first then check the MD5 code.
MD5: 2dba9d9cc7cf69d45f3f700fd56d27cb

Appears to be lots of fixes in this one.

Please post your thoughts, issues and overall experience here.

Hink the upgrade broke my ethernet backhaul. Mesh nodes wired on the wan port go disconnected and blinking blue after the upgrade. Tried reset, and they work until I reconnect the wire. Done it several times, and the only setup that works is no wire.

Am I the only one having this issue?

 

[mlai]

Hink the upgrade broke my ethernet backhaul. Mesh nodes wired on the wan port go disconnected and blinking blue after the upgrade. Tried reset, and they work until I reconnect the wire. Done it several times, and the only setup that works is no wire.

Am I the only one having this issue?

Will you by any chance using smart switches in between nodes?

 

[dompap]

Will you by any chance using smart switches in between nodes?

Thank you for your reply.

I don't know how smart it is, but it's a managed switch, Cisco 3560. I use 'mode access' towards my mesh nodes. Maybe Asus changes something related to the new distributed guest feature in regards of 1q / vlans?

 

[mohd89ali]

Just bought 3 packs of 2 x XT8 and updated them to this firmware.
the wired or ethernet backhaul is not working at all, keep disconnecting with a flashing blue light.
is this a known issue in this firmware? could you guys recommend a stable firmware to downgrade to use wired connection?

 

[dompap]

Just bought 3 packs of 2 x XT8 and updated them to this firmware.
the wired or ethernet backhaul is not working at all, keep disconnecting with a flashing blue light.
is this a known issue in this firmware? could you guys recommend a stable firmware to downgrade to use wired connection?

Same for me (see post above). Previous version worked well. I have filed an issue with Asus support and will share the result here.

 

[lissdell]

I have the new firmware up and running for 5 hours, two unwanted reboots, probably will go back again.

After these two reboots, it has been up and runnings fo 4 days and 20 hours without any problem, I had the same problem with last update, two unwanted reboot and after that stable... hmmm really strange this.

I have three XT8 that are wired connected to each ohter. The only change i have made after the reboots this time was to set a channel for the 5Ghz network, but i dont think this was causing the reboots.

 

[dompap]

Thank you for your reply.

I don't know how smart it is, but it's a managed switch, Cisco 3560. I use 'mode access' towards my mesh nodes. Maybe Asus changes something related to the new distributed guest feature in regards of 1q / vlans?

Replying myself.

I discovered this awsome post: ASUS AiMesh across the wire (foxnetlab.com).

As my managed switch is a Cisco Catalyst, I changed the interface config towards my AI-Mesh-nodes (and router) to

switchport mode dot1q-tunnel​

l2protocol-tunnel lldp​

no lldp transmit​

no lldp receive​

​

and voila, ethernet backhauls immediately came online. Seems like ASUS is using lldp to discover the other nodes.

I have not yet tested the new distributed guest feature, and would really appreciate if Asus documentation went a bit deeper in saying what protocols and ecnapsulations are used.

 

[acenuke]

Hink the upgrade broke my ethernet backhaul. Mesh nodes wired on the wan port go disconnected and blinking blue after the upgrade. Tried reset, and they work until I reconnect the wire. Done it several times, and the only setup that works is no wire.

Am I the only one having this issue?

I have the exact same issue. Had to revert back to the previous firmware and everything is stable again

 

[mrbill]

With a WiFi backhaul, 3.0.0.4.386.41793 was disconnecting clients every 15 minutes or so and on occasion would drop the node which would require a manual reboot. Prior firmware 26044 would drop clients less often, but the occasional streaming TV drops still were irritating. Ultimately I rolled back to a stable 25790.

 

[atygert]

With a WiFi backhaul, 3.0.0.4.386.41793 was disconnecting clients every 15 minutes or so and on occasion would drop the node which would require a manual reboot. Prior firmware 26044 would drop clients less often, but the occasional streaming TV drops still were irritating. Ultimately I rolled back to a stable 25790.

This has been my experience as well. I reset both nodes, connected them by wire to a RT-AC88U router and added them to the network again. That did not fix the issue. Additionally, renaming the node did not stick. The node would hold the new name for tow or three minutes and revert back to "Home". A reboot happened soon after. I'm going to try the earlier firmware to see if that makes a difference.

 

[mlai]

Replying myself.

I discovered this awsome post: ASUS AiMesh across the wire (foxnetlab.com).

As my managed switch is a Cisco Catalyst, I changed the interface config towards my AI-Mesh-nodes (and router) to

switchport mode dot1q-tunnel​

l2protocol-tunnel lldp​

no lldp transmit​

no lldp receive​

​

and voila, ethernet backhauls immediately came online. Seems like ASUS is using lldp to discover the other nodes.

I have not yet tested the new distributed guest feature, and would really appreciate if Asus documentation went a bit deeper in saying what protocols and ecnapsulations are used.

In that case, I wonder if disabling LLDP on my Netgear smart switches and enabling LLDP PDU flooding will allow AiMesh to work across my switches.......

 

[Phillips39]

I have this issue, but don't have smart switches in between. Just regular non managed Netgear gigabit Prosafe switches. In mesh mode, the nodes just won't stay connected. Currently on 3.0.0.4.386.41793 on all three XT8s.

 

[Pingla]

Just bought 3 packs of 2 x XT8 and updated them to this firmware.
the wired or ethernet backhaul is not working at all, keep disconnecting with a flashing blue light.
is this a known issue in this firmware? could you guys recommend a stable firmware to downgrade to use wired connection?

I have the samme issue with this FW, I have a two pack of XT8, a two pack of XD4 and a single RT-AC68U in my normal mesh setup. Master XT8 (Router) together with one mesh node seems to be ok but as soon as I add one extra node hell break lose and I have a lot of disconnecting of mesh and reboots of router in an endless loop, this regardless of LAN or WLAN backhaul and AX network or not. Been analytic and tried a lot of different setups. No luck and have reverted to 3.0.0.4.386_26044 on the XT8's, all others on the latest FW I like some of the features in the 41793 firmware, guest network on the mesh node among others is nice. Same with the selector for which node to connect to in the mesh setup.

A discovery during this play with the 3.0.0.4.386.41793 firmware is the change of DHCP servers.
If I enable a guest network and select to disable "Access Intranet" this gives a double DHCP range, if I enable one extra guest network I have three different DHCP ranges.

• My normal DHCP range is within 192.168.50.0/24
• A guest network 1 gives an additional DHCP range of 192.168.101.0/24
• A guest network 2 gives an additional DHCP range of 192.168.102.0/24
• etc.

Not a bad idea to do it like this, but I would prefer to set the address ranges myselves.

 

[Amarokada]

Hi

Stumbled on this forum thread after upgrading my Asus Mesh routers (ZenWIFI AX) to 3.0.0.4.386_41793 yesterday. Both of my Asus devices are in AP mode, I'm just using them for wifi.

My ethernet connected backhaul between them stopped working after the firmware update. I essentially have 2x HP ProCurve 1800 24G switches between my Asus devices, and I can see from the web management of those switches that the LLDP information was being terminated by the switches.

System Capabilities	Management Address
2	3c-7c-3f-f8-42-60 (MAC-address)	3c-7c-3f-f8-42-60 (MAC-address)	RT-AX95Q	eth3	Bridge(+), WLAN Access Point(-), Router(-), Station Only(-)

I can turn LLDP off on the these ports, but I think then it's just blocking it completely rather than broadcasting it on. I tried it and powercycled the remote ASUS device and no change (other than pings to it actually time out rather than saying "destination not reachable").

I'm no network guru, but I'm guessing I need to be able to tunnel the LLDP packets through the 2 switches so the 2 Asus devices become neighbours and find themselves in the mesh. I'm not sure if these old ProCurves will be able to do that. Anyone know?

 

[rsnhakan]

- System Ethernet backhaul mode, all nodes will only connect by ethernet, and all bands can release for wireless clients.

Does this mean that the wireless backhaul does not work anymore??