ASUS RT-AC86U firmware release 3.0.0.4.384.45149 12/05/2018

[L&LD]

this fw is very unstable and problematic. WIFI scheduler not work, overal wifi is unstable and frequently gone. AIMesh regulary lost connection with node, prenlems with AIProtection etc....

Is this after resetting to factory defaults too?

 

[VANT]

Is this after resetting to factory defaults too?

Yes, after factory default, and manual configured.

 

[CriticJay]

this fw is very unstable and problematic. WIFI scheduler not work, overal wifi is unstable and frequently gone. AIMesh regulary lost connection with node, problems with AIProtection etc....

I am waiting impatiently for firmware update.

I agree with you that this FW is problematic if you use any Trend Micro-related functionality (it's rock-solid for me, but I have temporarily disabled the Trend Micro stuff) - and I do agree that we are "waiting impatiently" for a firmware update.

I feel like it's been almost 3 months since a firmware update, and I honestly thought Asus would prioritize an update more because ADAPTIVE QoS does NOT work properly in this firmware. I identified the bug with it almost IMMEDIATELY after 45149 was released and posted a thread to this forum - and I'm pretty sure @arthurlien saw my thread. Not sure why it's been 3 months without any update on a fix?

The reason I'm currently not using any of this router's "Advanced Functionality" is because if I enable any Trend Micro-related features, the router will constantly crash every 2 hours or so. It's only rock-solid for me if I disable all Trend Micro-related functionality.

 

[CriticJay]

Is this after resetting to factory defaults too?

I feel like I was the first person on the forum to try 45149 - and I feel like I openly identified the problems with 45149 within 48 hours of it being published. In the days/weeks after I posted about all the Trend Micro-related issues with this firmware revision, pretty much all the other tech-savvy 86U users on this forum chimed in to agree with me: that enabling any Trend Micro-related feature (which are pretty much ALL the "showcase" features of this router) will cause frequent crashes.

It's disappointing that Asus' flagship 802.11ac router has been ignored by @arthurlien for the past 3 months...

 

[Uffe]

I feel like I was the first person on the forum to try 45149 - and I feel like I openly identified the problems with 45149 within 48 hours of it being published. In the days/weeks after I posted about all the Trend Micro-related issues with this firmware revision, pretty much all the other tech-savvy 86U users on this forum chimed in to agree with me: that enabling any Trend Micro-related feature (which are pretty much ALL the "showcase" features of this router) will cause frequent crashes.

It's disappointing that Asus' flagship 802.11ac router has been ignored by @arthurlien for the past 3 months...

Agreed. Way too long of a wait for a firmware update with as many major issues as the current firmware has. I downgraded to 3.0.0.0.4.384. I haven't had any crashes, wifi seems stable, and I've been able to use AiProtection

 

[VANT]

i also downgraded fw to 384.21140. For now is ok. 45149 is usless for me

 

[andyman]

This firmware is appalling, wireless clients come and go, wired clients come and go, the MAC addresses often don't relate to anything actually attached. I suspect they have some significant memory corruption in this firmware, it's completely unstable.

 

[andyman]

Agreed. Way too long of a wait for a firmware update with as many major issues as the current firmware has. I downgraded to 3.0.0.0.4.384. I haven't had any crashes, wifi seems stable, and I've been able to use AiProtection

i also downgraded fw to 384.21140. For now is ok. 45149 is usless for me

Hi,
Do you have AIMesh working on 384.21140? I thin k I'm going to have to downgrade as well.

 

[VANT]

Hi,
Do you have AIMesh working on 384.21140? I thin k I'm going to have to downgrade as well.

yes aimesh work ok with this fw

 

[andyman]

After speaking to Asus Frontline Tech Support I've mailed Asus main tech support at support_uk@asus.com with description of the problem, no one has replied yet.

Perhaps everyone should mail them!

 

[maxbraketorque]

I have three AC86Us running this firmware with no problem. No crashes. No odd behavior. A variety of devices connect to my routers. But I disable most all of the fluff, e.g. traffic monitoring, QoS, parental controls, USB drives, AiProtection, etc, so maybe I'm missing out on a feature that is problematic.

 

[andyman]

Odd, I too have all those things turned off plus Airtime Fairness, Universal Beamforming, MU-MIMO turned off and the 2.4GHz channel width locked to 20 and it's still constantly losing clients. I also tried it with and without the AC68U AIMesh client ..same problems .

Looking at what happens though I suspect you are right, some feature is enabled or used (like a VPN server /dual wan or something) and then the firmware gets memory corruption, which would explain the non-existent MAC addresses it reports sometimes.

 

[VANT]

I have three AC86Us running this firmware with no problem. No crashes. No odd behavior. A variety of devices connect to my routers. But I disable most all of the fluff, e.g. traffic monitoring, QoS, parental controls, USB drives, AiProtection, etc, so maybe I'm missing out on a feature that is problematic.

so imo You not need advanced router, suitable for You is basic router from Your ISP

 

[maxbraketorque]

so imo You not need advanced router, suitable for You is basic router from Your ISP

Depends on whether that stuff represents everything that encompasses the needs of advanced users or users with advanced needs. I have VPN servers running on two of the routers that are in different locations, and they are setup for LAN bridging on stock firmware. The two AC86Us I have at my home are setup to run in Main+AP mode to provide full 5 GHz coverage across my house. I do actually have a USB network drive set up on my router at my cabin. Having said that, most people are aware that some aspects of the ASUS firmware are problematic. Their QoS implementation is poor, AiProtection is problematic in the current firmware, the Network map sorta works, the USB hard drive implementation is slow, AiMesh is a kludge. So maybe I'm lucky that I don't see a need for those features, or at least their performance is sufficient for my needs.

andyman's situation is unfortunate. I suppose his choices are to try to pinpoint the feature or features causing problems, go back to an earlier firmware, or switch brands, all of which represent time that could be spent doing something more useful.

 

[DummyPLUG]

I had this firmware reboot every 2 day on the 86U, downgrade the firmware solve it,
regret I didn't get the 68U at that time and it is half the price
still 1 month to go before I can on site and replace it (it is at another country )

 

[andyman]

I got the 86U because WiFi range is much better but mainly because of the high speed VPN capabilty (200mbits+ with hardware assist whereas the 68U struggles to reach 40Mbits). It's not proving as reliable as the 68U was, mind you I was running Merlin firmware on that, which I can't run now because I need AI Mesh.

 

[andyman]

Depends on whether that stuff represents everything that encompasses the needs of advanced users or users with advanced needs. I have VPN servers running on two of the routers that are in different locations, and they are setup for LAN bridging on stock firmware. The two AC86Us I have at my home are setup to run in Main+AP mode to provide full 5 GHz coverage across my house. I do actually have a USB network drive set up on my router at my cabin. Having said that, most people are aware that some aspects of the ASUS firmware are problematic. Their QoS implementation is poor, AiProtection is problematic in the current firmware, the Network map sorta works, the USB hard drive implementation is slow, AiMesh is a kludge. So maybe I'm lucky that I don't see a need for those features, or at least their performance is sufficient for my needs.

andyman's situation is unfortunate. I suppose his choices are to try to pinpoint the feature or features causing problems, go back to an earlier firmware, or switch brands, all of which represent time that could be spent doing something more useful.

You're right there 'Max' and the permutations are endless!
At least I received a reply back from Asus Tech Support today from someone who sounds informed and interested. I'll let users know of any progress.

 

[andyman]

Well, finally got a response from Asus Tech Support re all the associate, disassociate messages after I sent them all the traces, network details and logs etc. They agree it shouldn't be doing that and suggested I send it back under an RMA.

I did tell them that probably wouldn't do any good as I have two routers (incidentally bought in two different countries) doing exactly the same thing and sent them traces of the units associating and disassociating MAC addresses that aren't even present on my network ( I also sent them a network status with all devices that are actually on my network to prove it)

My guess is that they have some memory corruption in the build, which would explain corruption of MAC addresses, receive levels and occasional reboots but they don't seem prepared to look at it. Not very impressive from a major supplier on one of it's flagship models. Only choice now is downgrade it, factory reset it again and set it all up again...sigh.

Perhaps they should just give Merlin all the code (oh, please!) and pay him to fix it.

 

[Sanna1967]

disassociate messages after I sent them all the traces, network details and logs etc. They agree it shouldn't be doing that and suggested I send it back under an RMA

OH MY GOD!!!!! ASUS

Do they think seriously that the units are defective for the dissacociate messages?. Even if they are RMA, the problem is at the FW level.

 

[L&LD]

OH MY GOD!!!!! ASUS

Do they think seriously that the units are defective for the dissacociate messages?. Even if they are RMA, the problem is at the FW level.

Who knows what they can diagnose with a non-reset (fully) working router? Not that I would ever send one in like that.