ASUS Zen XT8 Guest network keeps crashing

[Cmeyer3]

Hello everyone,

I have an issue that has been driving me bonkers. I have an ASUS Zen XT8 mesh system. I have a bunch of Feit RGB wifi bulbs I'm trying to get working on a 2.4ghz guest network. I can set up the guest network fine, connect all the bulbs, they will all work fine, then 5-10 minutes later the whole guest network crashes and nothing can connect to it, including other devices like my phone and laptop. It seems like an IP/DCHP issue

Details

- I have good wifi coverage, both router and mesh node are in good locations, strong signal everywhere.
- The main wifi network has been working flawlessly the entire time.
- I am aware of the issue with guest network 1, I tried and am having the same trouble on guest network 2.
- Mesh node is connected via ethernet backhaul through an unmanaged network switch.
- AT&T BGW320 Gateway is also plugged into the same switch. It is set up in IP pass-through mode to the ASUS router so the ASUS is handling the local network.
- All wifi radios are turned off in the AT&T gateway.

Any thoughts? Am I doing something wrong or do I just have to hope for a firmware update?

 

[RobertMB]

Hello everyone,

I have an issue that has been driving me bonkers. I have an ASUS Zen XT8 mesh system. I have a bunch of Feit RGB wifi bulbs I'm trying to get working on a 2.4ghz guest network. I can set up the guest network fine, connect all the bulbs, they will all work fine, then 5-10 minutes later the whole guest network crashes and nothing can connect to it, including other devices like my phone and laptop. It seems like an IP/DCHP issue

Details

- I have good wifi coverage, both router and mesh node are in good locations, strong signal everywhere.
- The main wifi network has been working flawlessly the entire time.
- I am aware of the issue with guest network 1, I tried and am having the same trouble on guest network 2.
- Mesh node is connected via ethernet backhaul through an unmanaged network switch.
- AT&T BGW320 Gateway is also plugged into the same switch. It is set up in IP pass-through mode to the ASUS router so the ASUS is handling the local network.
- All wifi radios are turned off in the AT&T gateway.

Any thoughts? Am I doing something wrong or do I just have to hope for a firmware update?

Hello Cmeyer3,



I'm experiencing exactly the same issues. The reason for setting up a couple of 2.4 MHz guest networks is that gadgets just won't work well on the Mesh system (it appears). I understand that cheap gadgets like Foscam cameras, especially the older one, might have a problem (although I am not technical enough to understand why), but also my Garadget, my Tuya smart plugs and even my one year old Deebot X1 Omni robot vacuum cleaner/mopping machine appears to have problems with the Asus ZenWifi AX (XT8). Besides, I also have a guest network for real guests who should not be able to access my Synology NAS or other hardware connected to the LAN. The Guest networks keep suddenly disappearing to reappear later. For some reason, my Garadget will become offline and stay that way until I reboot it. I read somewhere that the guest network will shut down automatically to save power if not used for some time, but I don’t understand (a) how it could become live again by itself and (b) why it would do that to start with, because I would thank that the gadgets I have connected should keep it alive. Moreover, my guests complain of the network disappearing while they are working on the laptops, so that doesn’t sound like a “power saving” issue.

I read somewhere that you should do a factory reset after flashing firmware. I really don’t understand that, because I have put a lot of work in tuning the routers with fixed IP addresses, port forwarding rules etc. I understand I could export the settings and then do a factory restore and then import the config again, but still, I would have two issues with that: (a) wouldn’t I run the risk of re-importing the issues you are supposed to avoid by doing the factory restore and (b) why should such an expensive system demand so much work from me as a consumer to use the product effectively?

I hope you and other readers might help me resolving this issue, because I’d hate to remove all the mesh functionality in order to restore my network to a useable state.