Asus rt-ax86u 5ghz band crashing with new firmware when downloading

[kernol]

It is time this thread was closed - there are clearly genuine issues being experienced by many RT-AX86U owners which can't simply be fobbed off as user errors. However - no useful purpose is served by perpetuating these discussions [they clearly irritate the Developer since they are closed source and beyond his control - see his 2022 summary thread and give the man a break from our circular woes].

The ONLY solution will lie with Asus releasing a properly stable stock firmware code which results in RT-AX86U's running like clockwork.

 

[Tech9]

The only sure working solution for Wi-Fi issues for now is firmware downgrade. The only sure working solution to AiMesh wireless node discovery issue is wired initial setup for all 386/388 firmware releases. The new Asuswrt 388_22068 has issues as well. There is no point building Asuswrt-Merlin on top.

 

[capncybo]

It is time this thread was closed - there are clearly genuine issues being experienced by many RT-AX86U owners which can't simply be fobbed off as user errors. However - no useful purpose is served by perpetuating these discussions [they clearly irritate the Developer since they are closed source and beyond his control - see his 2022 summary thread and give the man a break from our circular woes].

The ONLY solution will lie with Asus releasing a properly stable stock firmware code which results in RT-AX86U's running like clockwork.

Already read his summary Thx & Fair-Point:
- Irritating @RMerlin was NOT my point nor intention. I certainly understand that most of the WiFi components are outside of what RMerlin can resolve.
I'm just trying to pin-point if it's an actual setting or combination of settings which contributes to the problem(s).
I do apologize if I've offended.

EDIT: My network is NOT dropping other clients wifi & the Pixel-7 still seems to connect to 5G@80MHz fine

 

[bluepoint]

Already read his summary Thx & Fair-Point:
- Irritating @RMerlin was NOT my point nor intention. I certainly understand that most of the WiFi components are outside of what RMerlin can resolve.
I'm just trying to pin-point if it's an actual setting or combination of settings which contributes to the problem(s).
I do apologize if I've offended.

EDIT: My network is NOT dropping other clients wifi & the Pixel-7 still seems to connect to 5G@80MHz fine

Here's my take after testing different settings with my AX88U( I know it's not an AX86U) and observed the following.

a. 5GHz @160MHz

-Control channel set to auto
-Extension channel set to auto
-including DFS channels checked

These options stays @160MHz all the time while testing with my laptop with an intel AX201 (driver 22.190.0.4) but I dont know yet which is buggy the intel driver or the router's, when it sleeps then woken up, the connection struggles to use the internet, temporary solution is to manually disconnect/connect then the cycle repeats. The bugginess is some other story but just to point that with these options the 160MHz mechanics is working.

b. 5GHz @160MHz

-Control channel set to fixed
-Extension channel set to auto
-including DFS channels option is not visible

These options does not produce the desired 160MHz but stays @80MHz. It seems there's a bug where the DFS channels are not utilized. Could it be because the option to include DFS channels is not toggled since it is invisible?

 

[Tech9]

I start to believe AX86U has quality control issues like other models in the past. There is no way some say this is one of the best routers and some have constant issues. It's either hardware differences or some users are just happy with what they get. As I mentioned already I remember what was broken before and do target testing first. Very often I find something fixed and something else broken. Frequent firmware updates are bad thing in this case.

 

[capncybo]

@bluepoint Thank you for sharing your observations.
From what you've shared with us I'm thinking (in your case & perhaps others as well) there might be an actual workaround.
If you were to set your 5G professional...
Enable WMM APSD=disable
It may prevent the powersave (feature/flag) from activating, potentially keeping all your devices connected.
Thereby preventing the 160MHz disconnect you described in your option A) listed above.
Anyways, perhaps it's worth investigating?

 

[RMerlin]

Time this gets locked since this is running in circles, with the same thing being constantly repeated.

Users with wifi issues should first switch from Auto to a fixed channel and disable 160 MHz - these changes alone solved issues for many users.

If you still have issues, go back to 386.7_2 which worked fine for the vast majority of users - there is very little reason to go back to a 6+ months old release when the feedback for 386.7_2 was very positive.