ASUS ZenWiFi XT12 Node goes offline

[Lloyd Cox]

I purchased the Asus XT12 Pro and had it for about 3 months before I started having issues. I have the device setup in access point mode since I already have a network firewall that acts as my dhcp server.

My "primary" XT12 works without issues.

My 2nd node XT12 however constantly goes offline, the top of it turns red and all wireless devices drop off the node.

I have both the XT12's plugged in via ethernet using the 2.5 WAN.

I have the node set to use the 2.5 backhaul ethernet.

When its online it works fine but about ever 20-30 minutes it goes offline.

I have worked with ASUS support to no avail. They even sent me a new set of devices and the same issue is happening. The "primary" device is working fine but the node is going offline and dropping all connections.

I'm at a loss as to why this is happening. I almost get the impression its related to using ethernet on the 2nd node but that doesn't make sense since I would expect plugging in the 2nd node would be prefered to then provide better connection to the clients it servers.

Forgot to mention, there have been no firmware updates on the devices. They are on the current firmware for the past 4 months: 3.0.0.4.388_22127-gad91301

Any and all help would be appreciated to try and identify and resolve this.

 

[Lloyd Cox]

I purchased the Asus XT12 Pro and had it for about 3 months before I started having issues. I have the device setup in access point mode since I already have a network firewall that acts as my dhcp server.

My "primary" XT12 works without issues.

My 2nd node XT12 however constantly goes offline, the top of it turns red and all wireless devices drop off the node.

I have both the XT12's plugged in via ethernet using the 2.5 WAN.

I have the node set to use the 2.5 backhaul ethernet.

When its online it works fine but about ever 20-30 minutes it goes offline.

I have worked with ASUS support to no avail. They even sent me a new set of devices and the same issue is happening. The "primary" device is working fine but the node is going offline and dropping all connections.

I'm at a loss as to why this is happening. I almost get the impression its related to using ethernet on the 2nd node but that doesn't make sense since I would expect plugging in the 2nd node would be prefered to then provide better connection to the clients it servers.

Forgot to mention, there have been no firmware updates on the devices. They are on the current firmware for the past 4 months: 3.0.0.4.388_22127-gad91301

Any and all help would be appreciated to try and identify and resolve this.

I was able to resolve this issue after finding a post on another site with someone who had the same issue. They downgraded firmware to version 388.21678 which resolved the issue. I then tested this and after downgrading, my issue went away. I reported this to ASUS and they have had no comment so far.

 

[KevTech]

Just be aware that 388.22127 fixed the Client DOM Stored XSS vulnerability.

 

[Lloyd Cox]

Just be aware that 388.22127 fixed the Client DOM Stored XSS vulnerability.

Thanks for that info. I would prefer to be on that 22127 build but unfortunately the backhaul on both wireless and ethernet (my preferred method) wont work. Asus has worked on the issue for 2 months with no solution. They event sent me 2 new devices and i have swapped router for node and each time every device acting as a node goes offline about every 20 minutes. They cant figure it out. they have my logs and config. the only solution so far was to go to the prior version. I'm hoping they come up with a resolution soon.

 

[SonicYellow]

Can you post you’re network topology?
How did you connect te nodes ? Any switch in between ? Kind of cable ?
Trouble shoot with another cable as test ?

 

[Lloyd Cox]

I have tried every combination of setup possible. Here is my network setup

Cable Modem > Firewalla Gold > Araknis Switch

I run the XT12 in Access point mode

I have plugged the XT12 directly into the switch using Cat 5e and Cat 6 cables and swapped several cables. The XT12 setup as the router never fails or reboots.

However the Node is the one that constantly fails, drops all clients loses connectivity to the XT12 router.

I have swapped the node for the router and then the "Node" which is now the router works perfectly, no dropping of connections but the new "node" which was the router takes on the same behavior and drops connections when it loose connectivity to the XT12 router.

I have plugged the node directly into the back of the router, i tried plugging it into the switch, the firewalla directly. None of those combinations have resolved the issue. I have tried various cat 5e and cat6 cables between the node and xt12 router.

I even went back to using the 5g backhaul for testing and even that will fail on the node side.

Since I went back down 1 firmware build the node has not dropped its connection the router once so the issue has to be related to the current prod firmware.

 

[SonicYellow]

i dont know this switch.. but if its a managed switch please check https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1044151/
to rule it out, do you have the option to connect them directly without switch? or replace youre swich by a unmanaged switch.

 

[Lloyd Cox]

It is an unmanaged switch. But as part of my testing i removed the switch from the equation by plugging in the XT12 router directly into the firewalla and then the hub into the XT12 router. The hub still failed. ASUS even replaced both devices and the new devices have the same issue. The only solution so far was to downgrade the firmware. But it seems odd to me that a lot more folks are not experiencing this problem. I only found 1 post where this was reported and only a handful of people commented on it yet this firmware has been out for more than 6 months. I cant be the only one running the device in AP mode with this issue. I also worked with firewalla support for about 3 weeks with them testing various settings on the firewall device to ensure it was not causing an issue and we saw no evidence of this.

 

[alfbrt]

I've had the same problem for a year now.
Working in AP mode, with a main unit and 3 other nodes. After a thousand tests, the only solution was to go back to version 388_21678. Even with version 388.22127 I have worse results.

 

[Lloyd Cox]

I've had the same problem for a year now.
Working in AP mode, with a main unit and 3 other nodes. After a thousand tests, the only solution was to go back to version 388_21678. Even with version 388.22127 I have worse results.

thats been my experience as well. I have asked them for an update and provided a ton of logs/info and all they say is to monitor the firmware site for updates when released. Have you by chance tested any of the beta 9 versions? I didnt go there but just curious.

 

[alfbrt]

No, I don't dare with betas.
But last night I installed Asuswrt-Merlin version 388.4 and so far it works fine.
I know it's not a long time...
If you want, in a couple of days I can tell you how it works.

 

[alfbrt]

Good morning.
after 1 full day running version 388.4, everything is working perfectly.

 

[glens]

Why not go with the latest firmware for its safety and instead of "meshing" the wired "node" switch it to AP mode? That way you'll have to manage them separately, but that's actually a good thing because you'll be able to do so with much more individual control than Aimesh allows. Chew up more of the spectrum and have wireless clients talking to each other at twice closer to full-duplex because each half-duplex transaction is taking place simultaneously on different radios using different channels. Stuff like that you can't do "meshed." Or at least couldn't a year ago.

Let me ask a theoretical question. Say you have an Aimesh "master" in the back of the basement, 'cause that's where your service enters, and a "slave" upstairs in the front living room, with all the neighbor's wifi shining right in through the picture window onto the "node". Here's the question. Does the master, who's in a deep shadow from the other signals, see all those wireless networks through the node and take them into consideration when choosing channels, etc. for it (hence for itself, too)?

In my limited experience with Aimesh, the node used all the same radio settings as the master and there was no way to change that. That in itself was enough of a turn-off that I never investigated the notion mentioned above, hence posed it as a question here.

 

[Lloyd Cox]

Good morning.
after 1 full day running version 388.4, everything is working perfectly.

I saw Asus released a new build 3.0.0.4.388_24177 a few days ago, wondered if you have tested it and whether it resolves the issue we both were facing?

 

[Lloyd Cox]

Why not go with the latest firmware for its safety and instead of "meshing" the wired "node" switch it to AP mode? That way you'll have to manage them separately, but that's actually a good thing because you'll be able to do so with much more individual control than Aimesh allows. Chew up more of the spectrum and have wireless clients talking to each other at twice closer to full-duplex because each half-duplex transaction is taking place simultaneously on different radios using different channels. Stuff like that you can't do "meshed." Or at least couldn't a year ago.

Let me ask a theoretical question. Say you have an Aimesh "master" in the back of the basement, 'cause that's where your service enters, and a "slave" upstairs in the front living room, with all the neighbor's wifi shining right in through the picture window onto the "node". Here's the question. Does the master, who's in a deep shadow from the other signals, see all those wireless networks through the node and take them into consideration when choosing channels, etc. for it (hence for itself, too)?

In my limited experience with Aimesh, the node used all the same radio settings as the master and there was no way to change that. That in itself was enough of a turn-off that I never investigated the notion mentioned above, hence posed it as a question here.

I am using AP Mode for the devices and this is where my troubles began in that the node still needs to talk to the AP and is not able to with the latest firmware that was released prior to this past week.

 

[alfbrt]

I saw Asus released a new build 3.0.0.4.388_24177 a few days ago, wondered if you have tested it and whether it resolves the issue we both were facing?

Hello.

I haven't tested it, because with Asuswrt-Merlin version 388.4 all my problems disappeared. It's been installed for 1 month now and I haven't had any more problems.