AC-3200 random offline drops

[Shizmac]

I have the AC-3200 with firmware at version 384.3. I will not go to 384.4 because that version has issues with 2.4GHz devices not coming back online. But anyhow that is a known issue. This issue is my entire network drops offline for like 2 mins and then comes back online like 3 times a day, everyday. The router shows it with stable uptime of like 18 days. I am thinking it is the DHCP server of the router. What could be the issue??

I have done factory resets, 30-30-30 resets, rebuilt the router multiple times and still dropping offline. Is it the hardware? Do I need an newer router? Do I need to remove merlin altogether?

 

[jerry6]

Are you using "smart" connect ? \Do you have USB 3 connected ? Don't think you need a new router as the 3200 is not that old . I run 3 AC 3200 and have no problems going on 12 days with 384.5 Alpha2 . You don't have a reboot scheduled , d0 you ?
And why do people still do the 30-30-30 reset , it does not work on Asus routers , can;t do good .

 

[Shizmac]

Hi thanks for your reply. I am not using smart connect, all devices are configured maually (Static IPs), There is a HDD connected to the router, there is no reboot scheduled as the router still shows 18days uptime. The 30-30-30 I knew probably does not work asus routers but I have factor reset this thing multiple times and rebuild the parameters each time. Not using any older config files. Just do not understand why the router drops offline. The modem has 58 days uptime so no issue there.

 

[jerry6]

Hi thanks for your reply. I am not using smart connect, all devices are configured maually (Static IPs), There is a HDD connected to the router, there is no reboot scheduled as the router still shows 18days uptime. The 30-30-30 I knew probably does not work asus routers but I have factor reset this thing multiple times and rebuild the parameters each time. Not using any older config files. Just do not understand why the router drops offline. The modem has 58 days uptime so no issue there.[/QUOTEt
Try without HD attached to USB3 , see if it stops the disconnects

 

[Shizmac]

Disco'd the HDD at 11PM last night and my router still dropped offline at 3:24AM this morning. I am going to try to replace the modem and see if it is an issue just to start troubleshooting. Im sure it is the router as the issues started when the firmware update increased the NVRAM on my router. I do not know about other users but noticed the RAM usage is always 50-65% since the NVRAM upgrade. Hmmmmm?

 

[Ian Campbell]

please post what you find out after testing the new hardware. I have the same issue with lines being dropped. Most noticed on the 2.4GHz channel.

 

[jerry6]

Disco'd the HDD at 11PM last night and my router still dropped offline at 3:24AM this morning. I am going to try to replace the modem and see if it is an issue just to start troubleshooting. Im sure it is the router as the issues started when the firmware update increased the NVRAM on my router. I do not know about other users but noticed the RAM usage is always 50-65% since the NVRAM upgrade. Hmmmmm?

Strange no increased RAM usage since my upgrade , 20% most times . good move trying new modem '
Does the internet drop for something connected on lan lines as well ?

 

[Shizmac]

So here is the update all. I swapped the modem to do a test and within 8 hours it dropped connection again. So obviously it is not the modem that is the issue. It is the ASUS Merlin firmware. So from 11PM at night Thursday till Friday at 5AM I got this router to work. Heres what I did......

First off do not factory reset your router after firmware upgrades. ASUS web site shows a definition of initialize tab which does a factory reset and a NVRAM clear. That is what you should do after every upgrade. A factory reset is not enough for your router and merlin should be telling folks this. I initialize my router, went back to ASUS stock firmware latest, realize that ASUS only allows 64 ip connections on stock and this cannot do for my network (I have 70) so I initialized and went back to 384.3 merlin. Then I took a shot and said lets go to the DREADED 384.4_2 and see if it is fixed. After rebuilding the router at 384.4_2 NO it is still an issue with 2.4GHz and security not allowing all devices to come back on. So I downgraded back to 384.3 did not initialize this time and all my devices are online AND..........NO drops in the past 2 days.

So to sum up things
- I found 384.4_2 is bad firmware to boot! 2.4GHz devices will not come back on at 100% .
-Initialize everytime you do something with this router. It dumps the NVRAM and that is critical
-less IPs means less RAM usage on the router. I have 70 going strong and my router is at 50%
-I am finally stable at 384.3. Since these firmware upgrades seems to be causing more issues as they are released, I am done with upgrades until I see that 384.4_2 is confirmed and fixed and beyond!

I hope this helps any users having issues with their RT-AC3200 with the latest firmwares.

 

[Hocus]

Fi

So here is the update all. I swapped the modem to do a test and within 8 hours it dropped connection again. So obviously it is not the modem that is the issue. It is the ASUS Merlin firmware. So from 11PM at night Thursday till Friday at 5AM I got this router to work. Heres what I did......

First off do not factory reset your router after firmware upgrades. ASUS web site shows a definition of initialize tab which does a factory reset and a NVRAM clear. That is what you should do after every upgrade. A factory reset is not enough for your router and merlin should be telling folks this. I initialize my router, went back to ASUS stock firmware latest, realize that ASUS only allows 64 ip connections on stock and this cannot do for my network (I have 70) so I initialized and went back to 384.3 merlin. Then I took a shot and said lets go to the DREADED 384.4_2 and see if it is fixed. After rebuilding the router at 384.4_2 NO it is still an issue with 2.4GHz and security not allowing all devices to come back on. So I downgraded back to 384.3 did not initialize this time and all my devices are online AND..........NO drops in the past 2 days.

So to sum up things
- I found 384.4_2 is bad firmware to boot! 2.4GHz devices will not come back on at 100% .
-Initialize everytime you do something with this router. It dumps the NVRAM and that is critical
-less IPs means less RAM usage on the router. I have 70 going strong and my router is at 50%
-I am finally stable at 384.3. Since these firmware upgrades seems to be causing more issues as they are released, I am done with upgrades until I see that 384.4_2 is confirmed and fixed and beyond!

I hope this helps any users having issues with their RT-AC3200 with the latest firmwares.

First off thanks for the details I thought I was going nuts with my 2.4GHz. I will search through the forum, but is there anyway of going back, my entire smart home system is freaking out. I have reset and tried just about everything even going to the asus official firmware.

 

[Shizmac]

Fi

First off thanks for the details I thought I was going nuts with my 2.4GHz. I will search through the forum, but is there anyway of going back, my entire smart home system is freaking out. I have reset and tried just about everything even going to the asus official firmware.

That was the exact reason why I was having problems. My smart system was logging every drop and my PS4Pro verified it as well. Try initializing, then upgrading to the latest firmware, then roll back to 384.3. My entire network is stable here.

 

[jerry6]

That was the exact reason why I was having problems. My smart system was logging every drop and my PS4Pro verified it as well. Try initializing, then upgrading to the latest firmware, then roll back to 384.3. My entire network is stable here.

You're using smart connect ? I never had luck with that , always dropping connections . Have had better luck setting up clients on dif radios manually , never have drops .

 

[Shizmac]

You're using smart connect ? I never had luck with that , always dropping connections . Have had better luck setting up clients on dif radios manually , never have drops .

No I am not using smart connect. I never use any of those features. I prefer like you to manually configure all devices so I know it is done correct the first time. I was referring to samsung smartthings. The smartthings platform logs pretty much everything that connects to it. If it could log the amount of air in the house it would. That was the device I used mainly to troubleshoot my network.

 

[Hocus]

That was the exact reason why I was having problems. My smart system was logging every drop and my PS4Pro verified it as well. Try initializing, then upgrading to the latest firmware, then roll back to 384.3. My entire network is stable here.

I managed to do the same, So anyone having this error hope it helps. It took a while but I am up and running again.