Release ASUS ZenWiFi AX (XT8) Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388.23285

[kaktus]

And did you also try the Firmware: 388.2_2_0-gnuton1 ?
Since I using this one and the right settings my wifi stays stable no issue.

What is the advantage (beside security fixes) to use 388.2_2_0-gnuton1 with manual settings over 386_48706 that performs rock solid on auto/default settings? I'm sceptic to upgrade due to my bad experience regards version 388_23012 & 388_23285, with auto or manual settings.

 

[L&LD]

Don't break a working system.

If/when you have time to properly set up the router/network with the new firmware, do so.

Right now, it doesn't sound like you need to do anything.

The advantages are real, but if you don't need them today, patience is king.

 

[Slipsager]

Hi all,

I just wanted to give an update in the issues I had about 6 weeks ago. I'm running on firmware version 3.0.0.4.386_48706 and I used the settings that @walt provided a few pages back. I haven't had any issues since and have a very stable and strong wi-fi throughout the house now - even the Ring doorbell runs on a solid signal and doesn't drain the battery in two days Even subtle changes in the router settings, such as rebooting it every day at 3 a.m. has made a difference to having a consistent wi-fi signal, which has made working from home much easier.

The things I've learnt from you all have been really helpful and I just wanted to say thank you to everybody who replied to my 'cry for help'. I love it when a community works this well. Have a great Sunday all.

 

[mgymnop]

I give up. 386_48706 was stable until recently but now I get even node disconnects on this old firmware. The node disconnects every 20 min from base station and a factory reset didn't help. I call this a total loss after one year. Asus has a horrible CS and apparently cannot even provide stable firmware for XT8 or XT9 versions of this router. I am done with tinkering and will go back to other companies and hope I have more luck. Routers seem to be rocket science because they rather never work as intended.

 

[rni302]

Someone posted this magic formula a while back, I've been using it since Jan. with 99% uptime.

base: 3.0.0.4.388_22068
node: 3.0.0.4.388_21099

 

[L&LD]

That may be a magic formula, but running firmware that old today will bring another kind of magic to your online experiences.

Time to find (more) current magic, I imagine.

 

[Tech9]

Someone posted this magic formula a while back

This magic formula doesn't apply for all XT8 units. There is V1 and V2 hardware revisions now.

 

[j4y-t]

I give up. 386_48706 was stable until recently but now I get even node disconnects on this old firmware. The node disconnects every 20 min from base station and a factory reset didn't help. I call this a total loss after one year. Asus has a horrible CS and apparently cannot even provide stable firmware for XT8 or XT9 versions of this router. I am done with tinkering and will go back to other companies and hope I have more luck. Routers seem to be rocket science because they rather never work as intended.

I upgraded to 388_21617 after purchasing the XT8s last year and had fairly frequent disconnections for the first week or so (not every 20 mins, however). I made the following tweaks to my system that appeared to have stabilized my connection, although I'm not smart enough to know which ones did what. Maybe you can give them a shot. I'm using wireless backhaul with Smart Connection off and separate 2.4/5/5 bands.

• set Backhaul Connection Priority to "5GHz-2 Wifi first"
• set 2.4GHz bandwidth to 20MHz
• fix control channels on 2.4GHz/5GHz-1/5GHz-2 bands to 1/36/149, respectively (you can probably choose other channels too, just avoid DFS channels for 5GHz-2)
• disable Universal Beamforming on all bands
• disable Roaming Assistant on 5GHz-2 band
• reboot once a week

 

[trek]

I suspect that the issue here may be related to DFS channels. I’ve observed that my WiFi tends to become unresponsive at regular intervals (these symptoms developed recently thus it means there is external cause, and after some time again ok without any obvious indications). To address this, I’ve opted for non-DFS channels wherever possible, which has significantly improved the situation. Therefore, I recommend using non-DFS channels or active channels. This is because (it looks like especially in Europe for obvious reasons) DFS channels tend to be quite busy. While non-DFS channels may be congested due to other users, they still offer a far superior experience. After all, why should others reap the benefits of a functioning WiFi connection while I struggle with DFS channels?

In my opinion there is no hardware issue with XT8, but rather necessity of configuration settings working in each one particular area. Maybe slightly worse firmware without good error state recovery.

Update:
I have been using this configuration for a while and I have found that the key factor for stability - at least in my case - was DFS. This is especially true for 5GHz-1, where I can choose non-DFS channels. The problem is with 5GHz-2, where there are no non-DFS channels available in my country. This makes me wonder if XT8 is a suitable solution for my country (as some other threads have also suggested). I have also seen some experiments where people showed that DFS can be triggered by various devices. I wish I could select the same channels for 5GHz-2 as for 5GHz-1 and avoid DFS. If I had known this, I might have bought a cheaper dual-band solution. Now with this firmware situation is better, but will see.

 

[Blivit]

I realize this is an old thread but I am curious if anyone has had good luck with this firmware recently or can share settings they are currently using to combat wifi dropping out. I have 2 XT8 units: my main and a node on the other side of my 1 story, 2200sq ft house. I am currently NOT on the firmware referenced in this thread. I am currently on 3.0.0.4.386_49873 as that had been the most stable for me. Any firmware that I updated to after that version, my wifi would constantly disconnect like every 20 minutes or so. For those installs, I did not do a reset, only updated from the ASUS app. (maybe a reset would help?) With the firmware I am on now, my wifi still drops out and is infrequently doing so. I have tried many settings posted currently in this thread and while I have been able to make it better (now drops out after anywhere from 2-8 hours uptime) it is still dropping and is very frustrating. The log really doesn't show anything (at least not to me anyway.) I am a relative novice when it comes to these things so please bear with me on explaining some things. I am happy to share my settings if that helps.

 

[trek]

I have 4 XT8 on three floors in house and I have not had single drop out since my post, i.e. more than month. In my case I think culprit was DFS on 5GHz-1. I have 2.4GHz 20Mhz width, 5GHz-1 40Mhz width DFS disabled, 5GHz-2 80Mhz width DFS enabled. I have not done any reset, just updated firmware lowered widths and gradually increased widths. I have set system reboot every Sun in 2 am. I had to solve those drop-outs because even a couple of minutes of not working Netflix or other services caused massive hysteria if not anger in the family, and I was the lightning conductor. Now I am just chilling unnoticed, living a peaceful life.

 

[kaktus]

This version (3.0.0.4.388.23285) didn't work for me nor with automatic or manual setting. I switched back to firmware Version:3.0.0.4.386_48706 and everything is rocksolid (with auto setting) for 63 days (including the wireless backhaul). I won't upgrade my gear, despite the advantage of security fixes.

 

[Seven Up]

I realize this is an old thread but I am curious if anyone has had good luck with this firmware recently or can share settings they are currently using to combat wifi dropping out. I have 2 XT8 units: my main and a node on the other side of my 1 story, 2200sq ft house. I am currently NOT on the firmware referenced in this thread. I am currently on 3.0.0.4.386_49873 as that had been the most stable for me. Any firmware that I updated to after that version, my wifi would constantly disconnect like every 20 minutes or so. For those installs, I did not do a reset, only updated from the ASUS app. (maybe a reset would help?) With the firmware I am on now, my wifi still drops out and is infrequently doing so. I have tried many settings posted currently in this thread and while I have been able to make it better (now drops out after anywhere from 2-8 hours uptime) it is still dropping and is very frustrating. The log really doesn't show anything (at least not to me anyway.) I am a relative novice when it comes to these things so please bear with me on explaining some things. I am happy to share my settings if that helps.

The the Zen XT8 V1/2 3.0.0.4.388_23556 is still the current version and has been running great. The backhaul 5Ghz-2 channel has been solid. I have a 4,4500 Sqft home and coverage is great. I have the XT8s upstairs. I do have a AX92U that has a 5Ghz-2 backhaul channel for the basement. My XT8s are v2 hardware, but the XT8 v1 should function the same. I alway hate upgrading then find out later there are kinds of bugs and stability issues. I do have a scheduled reboot for the main router daily at 4AM. I know there are a lot of fixes and features with the 388 vs the 386 code base. So stability with 386 or features with 388? of which 388 might be as solid as your 386 code, I can only tell you that my two XT8s have been great, max PC throughput is around 800Mbs of which is great speed.

 

[Seven Up]

This version (3.0.0.4.388.23285) didn't work for me nor with automatic or manual setting. I switched back to firmware Version:3.0.0.4.386_48706 and everything is rocksolid (with auto setting) for 63 days (including the wireless backhaul). I won't upgrade my gear, despite the advantage of security fixes.

Are your XT8s V1 or V2?

 

[Blivit]

I have 4 XT8 on three floors in house and I have not had single drop out since my post, i.e. more than month. In my case I think culprit was DFS on 5GHz-1. I have 2.4GHz 20Mhz width, 5GHz-1 40Mhz width DFS disabled, 5GHz-2 80Mhz width DFS enabled. I have not done any reset, just updated firmware lowered widths and gradually increased widths. I have set system reboot every Sun in 2 am. I had to solve those drop-outs because even a couple of minutes of not working Netflix or other services caused massive hysteria if not anger in the family, and I was the lightning conductor. Now I am just chilling unnoticed, living a peaceful life.

What seemed to make mine "better" was turning off 160Mhz on 5GHz-2.

I only see DFS on 5GHz-2 which I already have unchecked but I suppose I can try enabling it. How do you have it disabled on 5GHz-1 as I do not see a DFS option for -1.

 

[Blivit]

The the Zen XT8 V1/2 3.0.0.4.388_23556 is still the current version and has been running great. The backhaul 5Ghz-2 channel has been solid. I have a 4,4500 Sqft home and coverage is great. I have the XT8s upstairs. I do have a AX92U that has a 5Ghz-2 backhaul channel for the basement. My XT8s are v2 hardware, but the XT8 v1 should function the same. I alway hate upgrading then find out later there are kinds of bugs and stability issues. I do have a scheduled reboot for the main router daily at 4AM. I know there are a lot of fixes and features with the 388 vs the 386 code base. So stability with 386 or features with 388? of which 388 might be as solid as your 386 code, I can only tell you that my two XT8s have been great, max PC throughput is around 800Mbs of which is great speed.

What settings are you using currently? (are they already in this thread?)

 

[glens]

How do you have it disabled on 5GHz-1 as I do not see a DFS option for -1.

The XT8 (either version 1 or 2) does not have DFS capability on 5-1. It does not exist to them.

 

[kaktus]

Are your XT8s V1 or V2?.

The the Zen XT8 V1/2 3.0.0.4.388_23556 is still the current version and has been running great. The backhaul 5Ghz-2 channel has been solid. I have a 4,4500 Sqft home and coverage is great. I have the XT8s upstairs. I do have a AX92U that has a 5Ghz-2 backhaul channel for the basement. My XT8s are v2 hardware, but the XT8 v1 should function the same. I alway hate upgrading then find out later there are kinds of bugs and stability issues. I do have a scheduled reboot for the main router daily at 4AM. I know there are a lot of fixes and features with the 388 vs the 386 code base. So stability with 386 or features with 388? of which 388 might be as solid as your 386 code, I can only tell you that my two XT8s have been great, max PC throughput is around 800Mbs of which is great speed.

The need for scheduled reboots says it all, and confirms instability. I do not perform any scheduled reboots on my gear. My previous router (Apple time capsule) easily reached an uptime of 1 year.

My XT8 are HW v1 units.

 

[trek]

What seemed to make mine "better" was turning off 160Mhz on 5GHz-2.

I only see DFS on 5GHz-2 which I already have unchecked but I suppose I can try enabling it. How do you have it disabled on 5GHz-1 as I do not see a DFS option for -1.

I have this setting from 5GHz-1, and I do not agree that scheduled reboot once a week reeks instability, because I have not had any issues whatsoever (with this firmware for the first time!!!) in Wi-Fi very busy neighbourhood. If router was unstable, it would crash in random intervals as in previous firmwares even with scheduled reboots. Really I have 4 XT8 and it is super stable, only wireless backbone. Show me please cheaper solution that will mesh 4 nodes with stability.

 

[michel30]

Backhall

Normal Wifi used for all equipments:

No problem since I used these setting for a long time now, also with the latest firmware no issue.