Asus GT-AX11000 - Dual WAN Issues - Does Merlin Resolve?

[DougA]

I found this forum when searching for Dual WAN issues on my ASUS ROG GT-AX11000 router. I have a cable internet as primary WAN, and a T-Mobile Hotspot (via Ethernet) connected as a Failover Secondary WAN. It took me awhile to get things setup correctly on my Inseego M3000 T-Mobile Hotspot, as I had to setup IP Passthrough with the MAC address of the ASUS port it is connected to. While everything seems setup correctly now, it just doesn't work. Here is what is happening:

I'll do a ping www.google.com -t to confirm the Primary WAN is working. I'll unplug the cable to the Primary WAN and see that the ping show no longer reachable The ASUS shows the Primary WAN as disconnected and the Secondary WAN seems to come up. However, I can no longer ping anything and can't access the internet.

I've read the MANY forum topics on this site and others that suggests the ASUS Dual WAN feature is just broken. It seems even if I can get the Secondary WAN to work, that it won't be reliable. Here are my questions I couldn't find answers to. Any help would be appreciated....

• Does the ASUSWRT-MERLIN firmware fix the Dual WAN issues on ASUS routers? I'm trying to decide if I should use the MERLIN firmware or find another solution. -- Update, Merlin does not fix Dual WAN issues.
• I see that there is a DUAL WAN script/add-on for the MERLIN firmware (Dual WAN Failover V2 Release). Does this add-on fix the issue? If so, is the add-on easy to integrate?

I don't want to replace my ASUS Router as I am waiting until there are good Wifi 7 Router options that don't cost a fortune, but I still want to get my Dual WAN in failover mode working.

I also have read that some people are using a MikroTik Router to have the Dual WAN failover function correctly. If the answers to the above are 'No', then this may be the way to go. If so, can someone clarify the following:

1. What model of the MikroTik Router would work best? I would want to keep the ASUS router handling the DHCP, Port Forwarding, Wifi Connections, etc. I don't need wifi on the MikroTik as it would just be competing with the ASUS.
2. How hard is it to Setup the MikroTik Router for this functionality? Do I have to setup port forwarding rules on the MikroTik as well since it will be between the modem and ASUS? I prefer not to add too much complexity to the setup.
3. If I put the MikroTik in front of the ASUS Router, will all the features of the ASUS still work?
4. Does anyone have any tutorials or insight on how to setup the MikroTik Router? Is it done via a GUI, or is it all command line?

A bonus question for anyone who may be in the know...

• Is there anyway to be alerted from my ASUS or MikroTik Router when the Primary WAN goes down? It would be nice to know when the primary internet goes down.

Thank you in advance for any help.

 

[RMerlin]

I don`t make any changes to the Dual WAN code, so it`s highly unlikely that any issue in the stock firmware would be resolved in mine.

 

[DougA]

I don`t make any changes to the Dual WAN code, so it`s highly unlikely that any issue in the stock firmware would be resolved in mine.

Thank you for the reply and for letting me know. I still might upgrade the firmware to Merlin, but it sounds like that won't fix my issues.

 

[L&LD]

There are Dual-WAN scripts to help on RMerlin-powered, Asus, routers though.

 

[Kingp1n]

Thank you for the reply and for letting me know. I still might upgrade the firmware to Merlin, but it sounds like that won't fix my issues.

Hello...try looking here:

Thread 'Dual WAN Failover ***v2 Release***' https://www.snbforums.com/threads/dual-wan-failover-v2-release.83674/

Yes its easy to install....Once you install asuswrt-merlin firmware, you can install this script thru AMTM. If you're having issues post in that specific thread and someone will assist.

 

[DougA]

Yes its easy to install....Once you install asuswrt-merlin firmware, you can install this script thru AMTM

Thank you Kingp1n, I may try installing Merlin firmware this weekend. I'll also check out this script, it sounds like it will do what I need. Noob question for you though, what is AMTM?

 

[L&LD]

A framework for RMerlin powered router scripts (built in to all current RMerlin firmware).

Note that after flashing RMerlin firmware (or, going from RMerlin firmware back to stock Asus) a full reset to factory defaults is required.

 

[DougA]

Note that after flashing RMerlin firmware (or, going from RMerlin firmware back to stock Asus) a full reset to factory defaults is required.

Thank you.

 

[Ranger802004]

Hello...try looking here:

Thread 'Dual WAN Failover ***v2 Release***' https://www.snbforums.com/threads/dual-wan-failover-v2-release.83674/

Yes its easy to install....Once you install asuswrt-merlin firmware, you can install this script thru AMTM. If you're having issues post in that specific thread and someone will assist.

Try my script referenced here and provide feedback, it is helps overcome some of the shortcomings of the built in dual WAN failover/failback functionality.

 

[DougA]

Try my script referenced here and provide feedback, it is helps overcome some of the shortcomings of the built in dual WAN failover/failback functionality.

Will do Ranger, thank you. I will hopefully have time to try it out this weekend.

 

[Tech9]

However, I can no longer ping anything and can't access the internet.

You have some connectivity issues perhaps not related to Asuswrt Dual WAN common issues. See this discussion here:

https://community.ui.com/questions/WAN2-Failover-with-Inseego-M3000/541e52fd-5268-49a0-a72c-cf6aa99a114e?page=1

What model of the MikroTik Router would work best?

If you really need a business router with proper multi-WAN - TP-Link ER605 is around $60. It can do 4x WAN connections with fail over/back.

 

[DougA]

You have some connectivity issues perhaps not related to Asuswrt Dual WAN common issues. See this discussion here:

Thank you. I did have the issue to start, but not sure that is still my issue. I will review further though, I appreciate the help.

 

[DougA]

Try my script referenced here and provide feedback, it is helps overcome some of the shortcomings of the built in dual WAN failover/failback functionality.

I've installed the latest Merlin Firmware on my Asus Router and then did a full reset. I set things back up for my primary WAN which is working fine. I then connected via PuTTY and installed Dual WAN Failover V2. Everything seemed to install as planned.

Questions:

1. Do I need to configure anything via AMTM, or do I use the Merlin GUI from this point forward? Do I just go in and turn on Dual WAN via the Merlin GUI?
2. I see there was a configure option to enable Email Notifications. Do you have any information on what that does or how to set it up? I guess what I am hoping is that it can notify me if the failover WAN is activated.

 

[brummygit]

The easiest way is to install Merlin, full reset and manually reconfigure, turn on basic dual WAN but NOT failback or the built-in failure monitoring for DNS or Ping.

Over an SSH connection use AMTM (distributed as part of the Merlin firmware) to install the Dual WAN Failover script. You can then configure further (if required) via the script configuration menus accessed via AMTM.

My experience is that it's important to configure the Dual Wan Failover script to ping different IP addresses to monitor each of the WAN connections, and neither of those should be your DNS servers (which can be the same on both WAN links). I think this is because the script configures routes to it's monitoring address and swaps the routes to the DNS servers during failover and failback events.

I find that the script is pretty much perfect for my needs, and you can include options to enhance your experience such as sending emails to let you know that a failover event has occurred by linking with the email configuration option also available in AMTM. I have occasionally had a problem where the script seems to stop running and needs a restart, but this is rare. The symptoms were the same as stock that it failed over but I still had no connectivity.

 

[DougA]

My experience is that it's important to configure the Dual Wan Failover script to ping different IP addresses to monitor each of the WAN connections, and neither of those should be your DNS servers (which can be the same on both WAN links). I think this is because the script configures routes to it's monitoring address and swaps the routes to the DNS servers during failover and failback events.

Great information, thank you. I have everything installed now, and have done the initial configuration. Haven't tested it yet, but that will be next. Here is my current config, see any issues?

Questions:

• What is option 17 & 18 "Web GUI IP Address"?
• Should I turn on NVRAM checks?
• What is ATM mode?
• Is this the correct setup for failover mode, or does it do load balancing? I only want failover, not load balancing.

Thank you to Ranger and to everyone who has provided guidance.

 

[DougA]

Try my script referenced here and provide feedback, it is helps overcome some of the shortcomings of the built in dual WAN failover/failback functionality.

@Ranger802004 It appears everything is working except two items (see below). Can you or anyone else provide any guidance?

1. My Primary WAN shows as Hot Standby and my Secondary WAN shows as Connected. Can I simply switch the ports they are plugged into my router so my Primary WAN is the main connection?
2. The email notification doesn't seem to be working. Is this something I configure through AMTM?

 

[Ranger802004]

@Ranger802004 It appears everything is working except two items (see below). Can you or anyone else provide any guidance?

1. My Primary WAN shows as Hot Standby and my Secondary WAN shows as Connected. Can I simply switch the ports they are plugged into my router so my Primary WAN is the main connection?
2. The email notification doesn't seem to be working. Is this something I configure through AMTM?

1 I answered on the other thread and 2, email configuration can use amtm and if not configured it will use AIProtect alert configuration as a secondary.

 

[Ranger802004]

The easiest way is to install Merlin, full reset and manually reconfigure, turn on basic dual WAN but NOT failback or the built-in failure monitoring for DNS or Ping.

Over an SSH connection use AMTM (distributed as part of the Merlin firmware) to install the Dual WAN Failover script. You can then configure further (if required) via the script configuration menus accessed via AMTM.

My experience is that it's important to configure the Dual Wan Failover script to ping different IP addresses to monitor each of the WAN connections, and neither of those should be your DNS servers (which can be the same on both WAN links). I think this is because the script configures routes to it's monitoring address and swaps the routes to the DNS servers during failover and failback events.

I find that the script is pretty much perfect for my needs, and you can include options to enhance your experience such as sending emails to let you know that a failover event has occurred by linking with the email configuration option also available in AMTM. I have occasionally had a problem where the script seems to stop running and needs a restart, but this is rare. The symptoms were the same as stock that it failed over but I still had no connectivity.

Try turning on NVRAM checks (configuration menu) and see if that helps prevent the lock ups, The AC86U is the biggest offender of that issue but I have seen it on other models as well, it’s an ASUS issue not the script.