Client list is not updating for all devices

[thedarkness]

Hello,
I have an RT-AC86U running 386.11 Merlin firmware and only recently I started to see an issue with the client list.

I relied on the client list for a long time without issues - this feature allows Home Assistant to know if a device is connected or not.

Since a couple of months I noticed that only some devices are not being updated properly. For example, my smartphone is always tracked properly, but my NAS and my desktop PC only update their state when I login manually to the WebGUI of the router. When I open the client list, I see the above mentioned clients in a wrong state, but after a couple of seconds the Router updates their state, then Home Assistant picks up the updated state, which confirms the problem is on the Client List itself.

As said, the client list is partially working, only some clients do not get updated. Until about one month ago, all clients were updated properly.

Is there anything that I can do?

 

[Adooni]

this is something that happen for Asus routers for 10y+ a lot topic about it for example https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac86u-client-list-not-updating.81903/

 

[thedarkness]

I tried to run the suggested command but doesn't do anything in my case

oliver@RT-AC86U:/tmp/home/root# killall asusdiscovery
killall: asusdiscovery: no process killed

So no solution?

 

[wouterv]

The Client status and Client List are rather unreliable due to the nature of the network protocol.
The most reliable way to see if a wireless device is connected is the Wireless Log page.

 

[thedarkness]

The Client status and Client List are rather unreliable due to the nature of the network protocol.
The most reliable way to see if a wireless device is connected is the Wireless Log page.

I understand, but that's not how Home Assistant integration works with Asus, unfortunately. It relies on the Client List.

 

[wouterv]

Do you talk about this?

[Wireless Router] How to manage smart home devices with Home Assistant® ? | Official Support | ASUS USA

Here the Client list is only used to find the IP address of a connected device, the IP address you can also find in the DHCP leases list.

 

[thedarkness]

Do you talk about this?

[Wireless Router] How to manage smart home devices with Home Assistant® ? | Official Support | ASUS USA

Here the Client list is only used to find the IP address of a connected device, the IP address you can also find in the DHCP leases list.

No, i'm talking about this.

As I said before, when I login in the router GUI and open the Client List, it is incorrect, after some seconds it updates with the actually connected clients, then updates Home Assistant too.

 

[Gosu]

Did you find any solution?

I'm in the same boat, the client list is out of sync with reality, in the asus app and in the web gui. Of course, it is the same in Home Assistant too, since it simply pulls the (wrong) information from the router.

 

[Tech9]

the client list is out of sync with reality

It has been like that for years. Anything relying on Client List information won't work reliably.

 

[Gosu]

It has been like that for years. Anything relying on Client List information won't work reliably.

No workaround possible ?

I found someone saying to do a :
killall asusdiscovery

If it works, it could be scheduled.

 

[Tech9]

This is an attempt to bring it back to life when it's stuck, but doesn't improve the accuracy.