At my wits end (XT8 Mesh)

[markpmac]

I've been running a AiMesh for 2+ years now, and there always seems to be an issue. Last week, Asus sent me a replacement XT8 node after multiple attempts to troubleshoot via chat and phone. When I received that replacement, I did a factory reset on all 3 (main + 2 nodes) after ensuring all were on the latest firmware. I have a case open with them, but I've consistently received poor support. I've seen a lot of people get help here, so I'm going to try.

All 3 units running on 3.0.0.4.388_21617.

The bottom line for the current issue is this: the two nodes repeatedly get kicked to the 2.4 band for backhaul, slowing everything considerably. If I perform a reboot of the system, the problem goes away, only to return later. What I'm noticing in the logs repeatedly - multiple times per minute - is this:

Dec 17 10:53:13 kernel: Register interface [wds2.0.1] MAC: (MAIN ROUTER 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC)
Dec 17 10:53:28 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(494): eth6: Deauth_ind (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: 0, reason: Disassociated due to inactivity (4), rssi:-54
Dec 17 10:53:28 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(494): eth6: Deauth_ind (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: 0, reason: Previous authentication no longer valid (2), rssi:-54
Dec 17 10:53:29 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(511): eth6: Disassoc (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Dec 17 10:53:39 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(530): eth6: Auth (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: Successful (0), rssi:-54
Dec 17 10:53:39 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(559): eth6: Assoc (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: Successful (0), rssi:-54
Dec 17 10:53:39 kernel: Register interface [wds2.0.1] MAC: (MAIN ROUTER 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC)
Dec 17 10:53:48 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(494): eth6: Deauth_ind (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: 0, reason: Disassociated due to inactivity (4), rssi:-54
Dec 17 10:53:48 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(494): eth6: Deauth_ind (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: 0, reason: Previous authentication no longer valid (2), rssi:-54
Dec 17 10:53:49 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(511): eth6: Disassoc (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Dec 17 10:54:05 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(530): eth6: Auth (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: Successful (0), rssi:-55
Dec 17 10:54:05 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(559): eth6: Assoc (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: Successful (0), rssi:-55
Dec 17 10:54:05 kernel: Register interface [wds2.0.1] MAC: (MAIN ROUTER 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC)
Dec 17 10:54:28 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(494): eth6: Deauth_ind (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: 0, reason: Disassociated due to inactivity (4), rssi:-55
Dec 17 10:54:28 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(494): eth6: Deauth_ind (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: 0, reason: Previous authentication no longer valid (2), rssi:-55
Dec 17 10:54:29 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(511): eth6: Disassoc (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Dec 17 10:54:32 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(530): eth6: Auth (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: Successful (0), rssi:-54
Dec 17 10:54:32 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(559): eth6: Assoc (NODE "A" 5GHz BACKHAUL MAC), status: Successful (0), rssi:-54

Why would the main router continually register the backhaul interface? Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

 

[wags1]

After 2 years of instability and constant fiddling with my 2 node XT8 system (main router and 1 node which was using Ethernet backhaul) I finally gave up almost 2 months ago and replaced the main router with a RT-AX86U. I still have the one XT8 as a Aimesh node (still using Ethernet backhaul). It has been absolutely rock solid since I made that switch. So much so that my network has now just melted into the background and I don't have to think about it or mess with it...which is exactly what I wanted. Don't know what the problem was, maybe it was just me, but that has been my experience.

 

[Tech9]

Based on SNB Forums feedback XT8 owners are looking for stable firmware for years. Seems like this system has common instability issues.

 

[kildare]

I have 6 XT8's and in 2 years I tested almost all firmwares up to the latest 3.0.0.4.388.21617 released for hardware v.1 (mine XT8's version).
The only firmware I found pretty stable is 3.0.0.4.386_42095 (FW_ZENWIFI_XT8_300438642095.zip)
I'm running that firmware for over a month without backhaul disconnections, and even my about 60 wifi IoT devices are stable (except sometimes Shelly Gen1 which have a poor wifi stack, Gen2, Sonoff and Tuya devices conversely never miss a hit).

 

[RobJack]

I have three XT8s (1 Main, 2 Nodes), and since migrating from ASUS firmware to GNuton's fork (386.07_2-gnuton1), my system has been rock solid. I've been on it for several months now, with absolutely zero issues. My wireless backhaul consistently stays locked in on the DFS 160MHz band as well, giving me great backhaul speeds of 2.5 to 3Gb. If you haven't already tried GNuton's fork, I highly recommend it.

 

[Tech9]

GNuton's fork (386.07_2-gnuton1)

Perhaps good to note - XT8 model number is RT-AX95Q:

Release Stable: 386.07_2-gnuton1 · gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng

GNUton's Asus Merlin changelog Date: August 07, 2022 Release: 386.07_2-gnuton1 NEW: Added support for TUF-AX3000 UPDATED: Merged with 386_48966 GPL for all models FIXED: CPU freq in tool page for ...

github.com

 

[j4y-t]

I only got the XT8s recently, but I'm on the same firmware. Connection was spotty the first week and a half, but it stabilized after I made some settings changes. I've had separate SSIDs for each band from the beginning. Not sure if you've already done these, but maybe worth a shot?

• for each satellite node under AiMesh, set the Backhaul Connection Priority to "5GHz-2 Wifi first"
• under Wireless - Professional, disable Roaming Assistant for 5GHz-2 band
• also, I set my 5GHz-2 band is set to control channel 149 and and band width set to 20/40/80 MHz (160MHz isn't available in my region, it seems)
• universal beamforming disabled (on all bands)

Also, how can you tell your backhaul is getting switched to the 2.4GHz band (honest question, because I had suspected this for my system, but could never tell)? Does it show 2.4GHz under "Uplink Type"?

 

[markpmac]

I have three XT8s (1 Main, 2 Nodes), and since migrating from ASUS firmware to GNuton's fork (386.07_2-gnuton1), my system has been rock solid. I've been on it for several months now, with absolutely zero issues. My wireless backhaul consistently stays locked in on the DFS 160MHz band as well, giving me great backhaul speeds of 2.5 to 3Gb. If you haven't already tried GNuton's fork, I highly recommend it.

Perhaps good to note - XT8 model number is RT-AX95Q:

Release Stable: 386.07_2-gnuton1 · gnuton/asuswrt-merlin.ng

GNUton's Asus Merlin changelog Date: August 07, 2022 Release: 386.07_2-gnuton1 NEW: Added support for TUF-AX3000 UPDATED: Merged with 386_48966 GPL for all models FIXED: CPU freq in tool page for ...

github.com

Thank you both. It's only been about 24 hours (and I haven't had a chance to hard reset after uploading GNuton due to kids doing homework on their Chromebooks), but so far it looks very, very good. No more odd repeating registering interface, no more phantom DNS issues, and both nodes have stayed on 5Ghz-2 the whole time. Gracias!