Asus ZenWifi AX Regularly Loses Internet Connection For All Devices

[mountain_man]

Hi All,

Sorry but another thread about Asus ZenWifi AX XT8 constantly dropping internet connection for all devices. This happened to me in the past, lots of troubleshooting and it didn't happen for a while. Now it's back. I've read so many threads and tried so much stuff. Nothing seems to work. When all devices lose internet, they are all still connected to wifi with full signal. I've also tried being plugged into ethernet with my laptop and even ethernet directly into the port on the router loses internet when this happens, so presumably it's nothing to do with wifi signals at all? Asus support said I have to try a factory reset but that it might completely brick the system and I'm past the 2 year warranty so I'll be SOL if that happens. My credit card has a feature to extend the warranty and additional year, which would cover me but as I tried to file a claim, they refuse to do anything until I get a technician to come diagnose the problem, state what is wrong, and give a price to fix it. That will cost at least $350 for them to come, and I don't want to pay that out of pocket, especially because this is an intermittent problem so it might not disconnect when they are here.

Wondering if anyone else has any ideas for me. Various things I've already tried.

• Rolling back firmware to previous versions. Didn't help and this time when the issue started, it was on the same firmware that had been stable for a while
• Unplugging the mesh node so it's only the main base node. Doesn't help.
• Turn off smart connect and roaming assist
• Separating 2.4 and 5 ghz and manually setting the channel to the ones with the least interference
• Set backhaul 5ghz control channel to avoid interference
• [edit] I tested an old router and that one worked fine so it seems like it's not the ISP or modem that's the problem

-----

The most recent disconnect this morning lasted about 5 minutes and below is the log when this happened. The line below is repeated various times with different addresses:
May 25 07:02:51 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth5: Deauth_ind xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, status: 0, reason: Unspecified reason (1), rssi:0

-----

Following are other great threads with lots of ideas. I have tried them all and none worked. I tried to summarize above in the bullet list.

Reddit Thread with lots of ideas [didn't work. Also fully unplugged mesh node]

You can turn off the roaming assistant in the "Professional" tab in the "Wireless" section. Then you won't get all those "roamast" messages. Those messages themselves are harmless, but the roaming assistant may be giving you problems.
I've used Asus firmware version 49873 for some time, and it has worked perfectly for me. Right now, I'm on the latest firmware, and it's working fine as well. I'd like to suggest these settings:

1. Turn off "smart connect", and use separate 2.4GHz. and 5Ghz. networks.
2. For 2.4GHz., pick a channel and use 20MHz. channel width. You can pick a channel by looking at an app like "Wi-Fi Analyzer" and pick the "least busy" channel of either channel 1, 6, or 11. Don't use "auto" for channel width or control channel.
3. For 5GHz. client-facing network, 5GHz-1 radio, same idea. Don't use auto control channel, pick a channel by looking at your "Wi-Fi Analyzer" app, and this time, pick the same channel (like 44 or whatever) that your neighbors are using if you have any close neighbors that are using the 5GHz. band. Just leave the channel width at "20/40/80 MHz.", and the router should use 80MHz.
4. For the second 5GHz. radio, the dedicated backhaul radio, 5GHz-2, you can pick control channel 149, and leave 160MHz. channel width enabled. This uses the newly added UNII-4 channels as part of the 8 channels that you need for 160MHz. channel width...so you're not using any DFS channels to get the extra bandwidth.

If you're not already doing all of the above, give it a try, including turning off the roaming assistant as an experiment. You can also get rid of the unimportant log messages by "ssh"-ing to your router node (the node that's connected to your ISP), and using this code sequence:
ssh admin@192.168.50.1 -p 1025
nvram get log_level
nvram set log_level=5
nvram commit
reboot
You'll need to enable "ssh" in the admin web interface administration section, in the "System" section to do this. The first code line above is the way that I invoke "ssh" on a macOS terminal app assuming that the port for ssh is set to 1025. This will make your log much easier to read, but you'll still get the important messages...like errors, panics, etc. . The "get log_level" statement just verifies that the log_level wasn't already set to 5. Your log_level is clearly 6 from all the junk in the log that you've included in your posting.
Anyways, I wish you luck with this. If you want to post your results after trying the above settings, that'll get you more help .

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/intermittent-5ghz-connection-issue.86720/

Basically, make sure to disable `160mhz` and `Auto select channel including DFS channels`. My ping in games overall has been perfect (no more fluctuations) and also no more random dropouts every 5 minutes.

Not sure if this is entirely related but thought I might as well post my results anyways.

----

Thank you all in advance!

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hi All,

Sorry but another thread about Asus ZenWifi AX XT8 constantly dropping internet connection for all devices. This happened to me in the past, lots of troubleshooting and it didn't happen for a while. Now it's back. I've read so many threads and tried so much stuff. Nothing seems to work. When all devices lose internet, they are all still connected to wifi with full signal. I've also tried being plugged into ethernet with my laptop and even ethernet directly into the port on the router loses internet when this happens, so presumably it's nothing to do with wifi signals at all? Asus support said I have to try a factory reset but that it might completely brick the system and I'm past the 2 year warranty so I'll be SOL if that happens. My credit card has a feature to extend the warranty and additional year, which would cover me but as I tried to file a claim, they refuse to do anything until I get a technician to come diagnose the problem, state what is wrong, and give a price to fix it. That will cost at least $350 for them to come, and I don't want to pay that out of pocket, especially because this is an intermittent problem so it might not disconnect when they are here.

Wondering if anyone else has any ideas for me. Various things I've already tried.

• Rolling back firmware to previous versions. Didn't help and this time when the issue started, it was on the same firmware that had been stable for a while
• Unplugging the mesh node so it's only the main base node. Doesn't help.
• Turn off smart connect and roaming assist
• Separating 2.4 and 5 ghz and manually setting the channel to the ones with the least interference
• Set backhaul 5ghz control channel to avoid interference

-----

The most recent disconnect this morning lasted about 5 minutes and below is the log when this happened. The line below is repeated various times with different addresses:
May 25 07:02:51 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth5: Deauth_ind xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx, status: 0, reason: Unspecified reason (1), rssi:0

-----

Following are other great threads with lots of ideas. I have tried them all and none worked. I tried to summarize above in the bullet list.

Reddit Thread with lots of ideas [didn't work. Also fully unplugged mesh node]

You can turn off the roaming assistant in the "Professional" tab in the "Wireless" section. Then you won't get all those "roamast" messages. Those messages themselves are harmless, but the roaming assistant may be giving you problems.
I've used Asus firmware version 49873 for some time, and it has worked perfectly for me. Right now, I'm on the latest firmware, and it's working fine as well. I'd like to suggest these settings:

1. Turn off "smart connect", and use separate 2.4GHz. and 5Ghz. networks.
2. For 2.4GHz., pick a channel and use 20MHz. channel width. You can pick a channel by looking at an app like "Wi-Fi Analyzer" and pick the "least busy" channel of either channel 1, 6, or 11. Don't use "auto" for channel width or control channel.
3. For 5GHz. client-facing network, 5GHz-1 radio, same idea. Don't use auto control channel, pick a channel by looking at your "Wi-Fi Analyzer" app, and this time, pick the same channel (like 44 or whatever) that your neighbors are using if you have any close neighbors that are using the 5GHz. band. Just leave the channel width at "20/40/80 MHz.", and the router should use 80MHz.
4. For the second 5GHz. radio, the dedicated backhaul radio, 5GHz-2, you can pick control channel 149, and leave 160MHz. channel width enabled. This uses the newly added UNII-4 channels as part of the 8 channels that you need for 160MHz. channel width...so you're not using any DFS channels to get the extra bandwidth.

If you're not already doing all of the above, give it a try, including turning off the roaming assistant as an experiment. You can also get rid of the unimportant log messages by "ssh"-ing to your router node (the node that's connected to your ISP), and using this code sequence:
ssh admin@192.168.50.1 -p 1025
nvram get log_level
nvram set log_level=5
nvram commit
reboot
You'll need to enable "ssh" in the admin web interface administration section, in the "System" section to do this. The first code line above is the way that I invoke "ssh" on a macOS terminal app assuming that the port for ssh is set to 1025. This will make your log much easier to read, but you'll still get the important messages...like errors, panics, etc. . The "get log_level" statement just verifies that the log_level wasn't already set to 5. Your log_level is clearly 6 from all the junk in the log that you've included in your posting.
Anyways, I wish you luck with this. If you want to post your results after trying the above settings, that'll get you more help .

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/intermittent-5ghz-connection-issue.86720/

Basically, make sure to disable `160mhz` and `Auto select channel including DFS channels`. My ping in games overall has been perfect (no more fluctuations) and also no more random dropouts every 5 minutes.

Not sure if this is entirely related but thought I might as well post my results anyways.

----

Thank you all in advance!

You didn't tell us anything about your Internet connection. Maybe it's dropping or has last mile issues up to your network.

I would Hard Reset the router firmware to its default settings, wire only a PC to it, configure it minimally from scratch, and then use it until you trust it enough to continue building up your network, one step at a time. If it can't stay up and it's not your ISP service or equipment, I'd consider a forklift upgrade before any extended warranty nonsense.

FW Reset FAQ

Reset button/webUI Restore/node removal clears settings in NVRAM; reboot restores fw defaults from CFE

Hard Reset via WPS button/webUI Restore+Initialize also clears data logged in /jffs partition

OE

 

[mountain_man]

Thanks for the quick and thoughtful reply Ozark! I forgot to mention that as part of my testing, I replaced it with an old router for a few days and the old one worked just fine so I don't think it's the ISP or the modem (Arris Surfboard). ASUS support mentioned the factory reset option but said it could brick it and there's nothing they could do if that happens. I'll check the other options you mention but my network admin skills are pretty basic so I'm trying not to get in over my head.

Funny enough but it hasn't disconnected (at least not that I noticed) in 24 hours! That's a new best over the last month.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Thanks for the quick and thoughtful reply Ozark! I forgot to mention that as part of my testing, I replaced it with an old router for a few days and the old one worked just fine so I don't think it's the ISP or the modem (Arris Surfboard). ASUS support mentioned the factory reset option but said it could brick it and there's nothing they could do if that happens. I'll check the other options you mention but my network admin skills are pretty basic so I'm trying not to get in over my head.

Funny enough but it hasn't disconnected (at least not that I noticed) in 24 hours! That's a new best over the last month.

Given you read the information I linked, you know that resetting the router firmware to its default settings is a normal and required process in the course of commissioning and maintaining an ASUS wireless router. So, I would start there.

The 'brick it' 'advice' you got from ASUS Support does not compute... Reset Button and Hard Reset options do not brick anything... they simply reset things to their defaults as is intended by the product design.

Good luck.

OE