ASUS AX68U 5GHz Band Dropping / Disappearing

[N&B]

There's a 386.7 alpha now for the ax68u. I wonder whether it fixes the problem.

Please provide a link for such firmware! My AX68U is dropping 2-3 times a day with no reason. Asus support lately suggested me to test cable from provider to the unit. What the heck?! Half a year the cable was OK and then after flashing it to 3.0.0.4.386.46055 in January all the cabling was WASTED?! I'll gladly try out this alpha for my internet connection is suffering major out of service trouble! First advice from ASUS support was to change Channel width from default to 40 Mhz (2.4Ghz) and 80 Mhz (5Ghz). Channel number was suggested to be switched to the less used among neighborhood. In particular the advise was to go away from channel 100 at 5Ghz due to some service load, though in my case default was set to channel 48. I did it nevermind that there was no actually crowded bandwidth around.

 

[L&LD]

Download | Asuswrt-Merlin

But don't download/use the Alpha, there is a newer Beta 1 out right now (not for the RT-AX86U).

 

[MotR]

Flashed yesterday my AX68 to merlin 386.7 beta 1 straight from the stable Asus 42808 firmware. I use the AX68 as access point. Did some testing with heavy downloading, playing a very long 4K youtube video, and general usage on 5 Ghz.

The router seems after 24 hours to be stable on 5 Ghz. Usually 5 ghz breaks down very soon, often after a few minutes with the affected Asus firmwares.

I am a little suprised that the AX68 is stable with Merlin 386.7 beta 1 until now. There is no official new Asus firmware later than January 24th this year, and that one was having the 5 GHz issue.

• does anyone know if Merlin uses a newer Asus (beta) firmware than the latest official Asus firmware? The GPL mentioned in the changelog is 386_48966 GPL.
• or maybe Merlin solved the 5 Ghz issue via his modifications?

Or perhaps the issue is still there but I have not tested it long enough. I will keep you updated.

Ps: I use 80 mhz bandwith, channel 36 and seperate SSIDs for 2.4 and 5 ghz.

 

[L&LD]

Beta - Asuswrt-Merlin 386.7 Beta is now available

I can't test it because my GT-AX11000 has no RGB. Can you see before and after the reboot what is the current value for aurargb_disable? nvram get aurargb_enable after reboot GT-AX11000-9600:/tmp/home/root# nvram get aurargb_enable 1 still working

www.snbforums.com

 

[MotR]

Beta - Asuswrt-Merlin 386.7 Beta is now available

I can't test it because my GT-AX11000 has no RGB. Can you see before and after the reboot what is the current value for aurargb_disable? nvram get aurargb_enable after reboot GT-AX11000-9600:/tmp/home/root# nvram get aurargb_enable 1 still working

www.snbforums.com

Thank you for this link L&LD. I made a JFFS partition backup as adviced by merlin.

 

[128bit]

That's what testing is for.

if i recall correctly, u were extolling the graces of the ax68u in a post. in fact, i bought one today based on your comments and others outside this forum but now i'm reading this and have gotten cold feet.

my ac86u has been a "doll" forever but i wanted some more oomph on the 5g band. hell, the ac86u was by far my most solid router especially after years of linksys and netgear. keep in mind, i run native merlinware without any personalizations.

so damn, i hope my order cancels!

 

[OzarkEdge]

my ac86u has been a "doll" forever but i wanted some more oomph on the 5g band.

FWIW, I used Smart Connect with its forced Auto Wireless Mode for a few months... using a WiFi Analyzer app, I noticed signals were displayed weaker than when I was not using Smart Connect (for quite awhile). I recently returned to no Smart Connect and modes N only/N-AC-AX mixed... and the signals now have more oomph... and clients just 'feel' better. Go figure.

OE

 

[128bit]

FWIW, I used Smart Connect with its forced Auto Wireless Mode for a few months... using a WiFi Analyzer app, I noticed signals were displayed weaker than when I was not using Smart Connect (for quite awhile). I recently returned to no Smart Connect and modes N only/N-AC-AX mixed... and the signals now have more oomph... and clients just 'feel' better. Go figure.

OE

odd, indeed but is the ax86u or ax68u?

lemme pick you brain some here. a gamer i'm not, and most of my clients are "n" with the tv's at "ac." i mostly have a range issue on 5g when i get too far but wouldn't mind that oomph when streaming. every client is on the 2.4 radio except for the tv / firesticks.

so if i'm reading u correctly, the ax68u is stable at 5g. your signature shows that you're on the ax86u which is a beast. i can get an ax68u for about $80 cheaper, not that i'd go broke mind you, but all my clients are geriatric.

 

[OzarkEdge]

odd, indeed but is the ax86u or ax68u?

AX86U+AC86U

lemme pick you brain some here. a gamer i'm not, and most of my clients are "n" with the tv's at "ac." i mostly have a range issue on 5g when i get too far but wouldn't mind that oomph when streaming. every client is on the 2.4 radio except for the tv / firesticks.

so if i'm reading u correctly, the ax68u is stable at 5g. your signature shows that you're on the ax86u which is a beast. i can get an ax68u for about $80 cheaper, not that i'd go broke mind you, but all my clients are geriatric.

No AX68U here, sorry. Since the AC86U, I'm inclined to stick with the 86U flavors... my sweet spot until determined otherwise. So, I have not paid much attention the AX68U.

By my estimation, the AX86U throws a signal similar to the AC86U (the AC86U beats the AC68U by about 20%). Given regulatory power constraints, I'm inclined to think two routers of the same era have similar broadcast power (one may be more 'effective' than the other for internal reasons).

OE

 

[L&LD]

@128bit, that quote you have is me responding to @guho (see the previous page of posts).

I'm not sure how your reply relates?

Yes, I stick by what I've said about the RT-AX68U, it is superior to the RT-AC86U (even two of them, in a specific customer environment, see below).

However, that doesn't mean other issues won't crop up (and at least for now, being dealt with). There are no guarantees (ever).

Report - 2x RT-AX68U upgrade over 2x RT-AC86U in wireless backhaul mode

 

[128bit]

@128bit, that quote you have is me responding to @guho (see the previous page of posts).

I'm not sure how your reply relates?

Yes, I stick by what I've said about the RT-AX68U, it is superior to the RT-AC86U (even two of them, in a specific customer environment, see below).

However, that doesn't mean other issues won't crop up (and at least for now, being dealt with). There are no guarantees (ever).

Report - 2x RT-AX68U upgrade over 2x RT-AC86U in wireless backhaul mode

yeah, i've been around long enough to unnerstand life, k; so i don't need that sermon. not here to throw u or anyone else under the bus. read about drops on that ax68u device and wanted to know if u had different thoughts. since then, i've decided to jump on the ax86u train, and take that ride.

 

[MotR]

Flashed yesterday my AX68 to merlin 386.7 beta 1 straight from the stable Asus 42808 firmware. I use the AX68 as access point. Did some testing with heavy downloading, playing a very long 4K youtube video, and general usage on 5 Ghz.

The router seems after 24 hours to be stable on 5 Ghz. Usually 5 ghz breaks down very soon, often after a few minutes with the affected Asus firmwares.

……

I will keep you updated.

Ps: I use 80 mhz bandwith, channel 36 and seperate SSIDs for 2.4 and 5 ghz.

After using merlin 386.7 beta 1 for 6 days, 5 ghz wifi is still working fine with my AX68. So it seems to have been solved for me.

I have just upgraded to merlin 386.7 beta 2 and will see how it works with 5 ghz.

Note: when upgrading from 386.7 beta 1 to another firmware Merlin stated (see link of L&LD above) you need to make a JFFS backup, and settings first -> upgrade to new firmware -> reformat JFFS -> reboot -> restore JFFS backup -> reboot.

 

[N&B]

Download | Asuswrt-Merlin

But don't download/use the Alpha, there is a newer Beta 1 out right now (not for the RT-AX86U).

Upgraded to 3.0.0.4.386.7_beta1 from 3.0.0.4.386_46055 and running smooth with 5Ghz band rock steady for last 4 days. Suppose if no WiFi drops occurs there's no further upgrades necessary isn't it?

 

[L&LD]

386.7 final has been released already.

 

[jasonwch]

seems like Asus official also updated the version after Merlin. Anyone tried too?

ASUS RT-AX68U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386.49479
2022/06/23
75.11 MBytes

1. Fixed OpenSSL CVE-2022-0778
2. Fixed CVE-2021-34174
3. Added more security measures to block malware.
4. Fixed Stored XSS vulnerability. Thanks to Milan Kyselica of IstroSec.
5. Fixed CVE-2022-23970, CVE-2022-23971, CVE-2022-23972, CVE-2022-23973, CVE-2022-25595, CVE-2022-25596, CVE-2022-25597
6. Added 3rd party DNS server list in WAN --> DNS to help users enhance the connection security.
7. Supported Safe Browsing in the router app to filter explicit content from search results. You can set it in the router app --> Devices or Family.
8. Improved system stability.

Download Page
https://www.asus.com/tr/Networking-...ers/ASUS-WiFi-Routers/RT-AX68U/HelpDesk_BIOS/

 

[N&B]

386.7 final has been released already.

It looks like there's a problem with going directly from 386.7_beta1 to 386.7_0 and that leads us to jfss backup/restore procedure. Any clue how to perform it?

 

[L&LD]

Beta - Asuswrt-Merlin 386.7 Beta is now available

I can't test it because my GT-AX11000 has no RGB. Can you see before and after the reboot what is the current value for aurargb_disable? nvram get aurargb_enable after reboot GT-AX11000-9600:/tmp/home/root# nvram get aurargb_enable 1 still working

www.snbforums.com

 

[AlFreid]

Please provide a link for such firmware! My AX68U is dropping 2-3 times a day with no reason. Asus support lately suggested me to test cable from provider to the unit. What the heck?! Half a year the cable was OK and then after flashing it to 3.0.0.4.386.46055 in January all the cabling was WASTED?! I'll gladly try out this alpha for my internet connection is suffering major out of service trouble! First advice from ASUS support was to change Channel width from default to 40 Mhz (2.4Ghz) and 80 Mhz (5Ghz). Channel number was suggested to be switched to the less used among neighborhood. In particular the advise was to go away from channel 100 at 5Ghz due to some service load, though in my case default was set to channel 48. I did it nevermind that there was no actually crowded bandwidth around.

I am in the same boat - tried everything including using Asus stock firmware, Merlin 386.2, ebabling/disabling beam forming, etc - nothing worked. Finally found a different thread that Asus has an issue with WPA3 on AIMesh nodes - changed 5 Ghz to WPA2 and AIMesh became rock solid. BTW, WPA3 working fine on 2.4Ghz - go figure.

 

[MrAsusIsBack]

Hello,
now the new Firmware version 3.0.0.4.386.49479 is available.
Can anyone confirm or check if the 5GHz issue is solved??? Especially in Node mode when only the 5GHz radio is used.

 

[Bobcat00]

I just have an AX68U as a router, no mesh or anything. The 5 GHz used to crap out on a random basis. Sometimes within a few hours, sometimes in a week or two.

Since I updated to beta 2 on the 19th, and now the released version, I haven't had any drops.

Assuming ASUS implemented some sort of a fix, that should also be in 49479