AC86U router + AC86U node

[Barney88]

Hello everyone,

I really hope you can help me with my issue. I'm trying to solve it for more than 3 weeks now. So, I recently purchased 2 AC86U routers. One of them is in the livingroom as the main router, the other is on the first floor as the node router. They are connected with a cable (Ethernet Backhaul Mode). After setting them up, they work fine for 2 or 3 days, but after this, the main router in the livingroom, drops all the WiFi connections. I have connected to it a couple of smart appliances (cam, doorbell, lights...), and all of them will appear offline. The strange thing is that the NODE is working fine, all the smart appliances bind to the NODE are online and working. First, I thought that there is a HW issue and I got it replaced with another AC86U. But the issue remains. I also switched them up, performed a factory reset, and installed the latest FW. There is a total of 23 devices connected to the network of which only 3 are wired. All of them have assigned IP addresses and WiFi mac filtering is ON. The rest of the settings are on default. But I do not know what else I could try, because the NODE is always working fine, there is always an internet connection, and only the router which is set to be the main is dropping the WiFi connections (like it's not renewing the IP leases or something, to the devices bind to it). After every issue, i have to restart the router and then it's working fine again for a couple of days. Also, I clear the log files after every issue to see what it's happening. The last log file is attached.

Thank you for the help...

 

[Smokey613]

Is there a reason you have MAC filtering enabled? If it is “security” all you really are doing is possibly introducing more issues. It can be helpful on some instances but it is generally not needed for a home network.

MAC Filtering

 

[Barney88]

Is there a reason you have MAC filtering enabled? If it is “security” all you really are doing is possibly introducing more issues. It can be helpful on some instances but it is generally not needed for a home network.

MAC Filtering

Yes, I do have it enabled for extra security, but unfortunately, the same issue persists if it's disabled.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Can you remove the Entware prefix from your title as this has nothing to do with Entware. Thanks.

There's nothing particularly useful in the log and it covers less than 3 minutes. Upload a complete log from the moment it boots up and post a link to it on pastebin.com. Seeing all the messages in context might reveal something.

 

[heysoundude]

There is a total of 23 devices connected to the network of which only 3 are wired.

And how many CAN be wired? and how many of those NEED to be wireless for mobility? And for those that don't need the mobility, is it REALLY that hard to wire them up?

The rest of the settings are on default. But I do not know what else I could try, because the NODE is always working fine, there is always an internet connection, and only the router which is set to be the main is dropping the WiFi connections (like it's not renewing the IP leases or something, to the devices bind to it). After every issue, i have to restart the router and then it's working fine again for a couple of days. Also, I clear the log files after every issue to see what it's happening. The last log file is attached.

Thank you for the help...

How much overlap is there wirelessly between Router and node? is router turning wifi off because the node's radios can cover the area? (And then there's the potential to turn 2.4GHz band off completely and go strictly 5GHz (which will let you turn Smart Connect off...you should have this set already IMO) which might not be possible for some of the wireless-only clients...)
Test it - turn the radios of each down (Advanced-Wireless-Professional in the GUI) and see if that helps mesh stability (or is AiMesh supposed to do that for you?)...and if it doesn't help network/mesh stability, it might be time to start thinking about dropping the mesh and going Router/AP architecture. Don't be tentative if you do this, give that Tx power slider a good pull to the left away from performance, at least 1/2 or 3/4 of the way on both radios on both pieces of hardware to start.

meshing might be the "cool thing to do" because "we have the technology" but it seems to me to cause more problems than it resolves (at the SOHO/consumer level) in most cases...and does everyone REALLY need that big of a wifi bubble? (It depends on the house size/construction...)

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hello everyone,

I really hope you can help me with my issue. I'm trying to solve it for more than 3 weeks now. So, I recently purchased 2 AC86U routers. One of them is in the livingroom as the main router, the other is on the first floor as the node router. They are connected with a cable (Ethernet Backhaul Mode). After setting them up, they work fine for 2 or 3 days, but after this, the main router in the livingroom, drops all the WiFi connections. I have connected to it a couple of smart appliances (cam, doorbell, lights...), and all of them will appear offline. The strange thing is that the NODE is working fine, all the smart appliances bind to the NODE are online and working. First, I thought that there is a HW issue and I got it replaced with another AC86U. But the issue remains. I also switched them up, performed a factory reset, and installed the latest FW. There is a total of 23 devices connected to the network of which only 3 are wired. All of them have assigned IP addresses and WiFi mac filtering is ON. The rest of the settings are on default. But I do not know what else I could try, because the NODE is always working fine, there is always an internet connection, and only the router which is set to be the main is dropping the WiFi connections (like it's not renewing the IP leases or something, to the devices bind to it). After every issue, i have to restart the router and then it's working fine again for a couple of days. Also, I clear the log files after every issue to see what it's happening. The last log file is attached.

Thank you for the help...

Be sure to reset the installed firmware to its default settings before you configure it from scratch.

Reset FAQ
Reset via Reset button/webUI Restore/node removal - clears settings in NVRAM; reboot restores fw defaults from CFE (fw defaults)
Hard Reset via WPS button/webUI Restore+Initialize - also clears data logged in /jffs partition (fw defaults+clear logs)

OE

 

[Barney88]

Hello and thanks for the suggestions. I checked all the suggested settings. The wireless overlap between the node and the router is really low. The node is unable to cover all the devices, so I do not think that would be an issue. Also, a lot of devices are smart appliances (smart lights, smart plugs, robot vacuum, etc...) that can't be wired. All of these are connected to 2.4 GHz WiFi. I disabled MAC filtering and turned off smart connect. Separated 5 and 2.4 SSIDs. It was working fine for 5 days. I really thought that the issue is fixed, when this morning at 10.44 all my WiFi devices connected to the main router got offline again. Attached there is the log file, maybe someone can make something out of it. If nothing helps I will have to try router and AP mode.

AC86U - Pastebin.com