Release ASUS RT-AX86 Series(RT-AX86U/RT-AX86S) Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_24401 (2025/10/20)

[iFrogMac]

Well I was curious if Asus used AWS for it's servers, because after the outage, is when the problem appeared with not being able to connect to the server for updates.

 

[jzchen]

Well I was curious if Asus used AWS for it's servers, because after the outage, is when the problem appeared with not being able to connect to the server for updates.

Since I have 2 APs with AiMesh and a separate location/service with an ASUS router as router, I'd notice if all three fail to check for updates at the same time, and it hasn't happened yet....

 

[iFrogMac]

Since I have 2 APs with AiMesh and a separate location/service with an ASUS router as router, I'd notice if all three fail to check for updates at the same time, and it hasn't happened yet....

It's really strange, I updated manually to the October 20th update, did a hard reset to confirm the alexa issue wasn't asus related, but connected to AWS. The Router was able to confirm I was up to date, but as of this weekend, it can't connect to the server anymore. I'll give it a couple more days and try a reboot, everything is working as it should though, and I have automatic updates disabled, as I always do updates manually. I can still do manual downloads and flashes if the built in feature is done for this router.

 

[jzchen]

It's really strange, I updated manually to the October 20th update, did a hard reset to confirm the alexa issue wasn't asus related, but connected to AWS. The Router was able to confirm I was up to date, but as of this weekend, it can't connect to the server anymore. I'll give it a couple more days and try a reboot, everything is working as it should though, and I have automatic updates disabled, as I always do updates manually. I can still do manual downloads and flashes if the built in feature is done for this router.

Do you use the ASUS Router App? Sometimes it can check for updates while the WebGUI fails to connect.....

EDIT- Actually that's my typical "go to" solution. It is extremely rare that the app fails to check.

 

[iFrogMac]

Do you use the ASUS Router App? Sometimes it can check for updates while the WebGUI fails to connect.....

I did check that last night, and it gives the same message as the Web UI about not being able to connect to the server. Do you know If I can access the Asus server independent of the router UI? e.g. I was going to see if I could ping it, or even connect outside the router to see if it's an issue with the server, or my connection.

 

[jzchen]

I did check that last night, and it gives the same message as the Web UI about not being able to connect to the server. Do you know If I can access the Asus server independent of the router UI? e.g. I was going to see if I could ping it, or even connect outside the router to see if it's an issue with the server, or my connection.

Maybe at that time the server was actually down...

Right now:

WebGUI
works on GT-BE98 Pro (BQ16 Pro and BE92U nodes) latest release
fails on GT-AXE16000 (RT-AX86U and RT-AX5400 nodes) Merlin
works on GT-AXE11000 Merlin

Ap (Android)
works on all 3

 

[Tech9]

Well I was curious if Asus used AWS for it's servers

Most likely they do. You don't use this router anyway. Just put it back on the shelf.

 

[sativa]

Confirmed for me too: the Firmware Upgrade option is unable to connect via the Web GUI, and the same for the Asus app.

 

[iFrogMac]

Confirmed for me too: the Firmware Upgrade option is unable to connect via the Web GUI, and the same for the Asus app.

Thanks for confirming. I went back to using the RT-AX86U, over the New TP-Link I got for stability. For whatever reason, after updating the asus to the latest firmware, testing it, and then going back to the TP-Link my lights acted up, and wouldnt work right until I put the Asus back. So I decided to just stick with it, instead of switching back and forth until it quit working, or quit receiving updates. Which ever one comes first.

Edit, wanted to mention that I also power cycled the router to make sure it wasn't a bad cache, or something stuck in memory.

 

[Tech9]

and then going back to the TP-Link my lights acted up

The more frequently you make changes the more issues are expected.

 

[iFrogMac]

The more frequently you make changes the more issues are expected.

That's why I decided to stick with the Asus since it was stable, and when I need the newer one, I can use it then. That way the network can remain stable. Also, the instability of AWS doesn't help either, since both Alexa, the lights rely on it. When issues happen it's really hard at times to determine which end it's on. However, these lights, when used with the Alexa skill have issues with a tri band WiFi 7 router, a dual band works fine. So instead of reporting the issues here. I've reported the issues to Wiz, and TP-Link (in this case). Wiz most likely being the one who needs to address the issue.

 

[Tech9]

Got it. Another router wasted in experiments, this time TP-Link BE-class.

 

[iFrogMac]

Got it. Another router wasted in experiments, this time TP-Link BE-class.

It wasn't wasted, was working initially, things happened after I swapped in the RT-AX86U to update the firmware, and when I put it back, that's when the issues showed up. So like I said, it could have been AWS having issues and it looked like the router, and I made the point that the Router works fine for everything else. I was going to actually use the routers together. the Asus for the main router to manage 2.4 and 5 Ghz, and use the TP-Link as 6GHz AP.

Edit: I just set up the TP-Link fresh after doing a factory reset, with the latest firmware installed. Everything came back perfectly after I made my settings. SO, I'll change my above solution. I'll just use the TP-Link as long as it works, so my network remains stable.
I was going to get rid of the RT-AX86U because of it's age, and the fact it will never get the current firmware, but I felt like that might be overkill.

 

[jzchen]

@iFrogMac I run my TP-Link DECO BE95 as primary router. The ASUS router groups are split BE and AX(E) (2 APs with AiMesh)...

You could try to set up the RT-AX86U as an Access Point or Repeater...

 

[iFrogMac]

@iFrogMac I run my TP-Link DECO BE95 as primary router. The ASUS router groups are split BE and AX(E) (2 APs with AiMesh)...

You could try to set up the RT-AX86U as an Access Point or Repeater...

View attachment 68561

What I might do is set it up as an AP, just to keep it updated as a backup in case the TP-Link has issues. After setting up the TP Link fresh with the defaults of the latest firmware it seems like it's acting really well now. The main thing that happened with me when I bought the WiFi 7 routers (first the BE92U, and now TP-Link BE9300), even though I did the research, and everything checked out on paper, I just had things out of my control come up that made things unreliable, mostly with the BE92U, that I couldn't resolve. The TP-Link actually has played nice from day one. It was probably switching routers that messed things up, and the factory reset fixed it, or AWS could have been acting up at hte same time as well. Either way, everything checks out today.