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AX86U & XD4 AiMesh - what changes after 5 weeks?

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slurmsmckenzie

Occasional Visitor
I'm using an AX86U and XD4 in an AiMesh system which I originally setup in Feb 2022 with the latest stock FW etc. - I only had it running for 3-4 weeks because of unexplained issues with an IP camera that I could not live with (see https://www.snbforums.com/threads/ax86u-issue-with-hikvision-ip-camera.78705/). In that time I had zero problems with my Logitech Squeezeboxes, which was a blessing as I'd been nervous upgrading to AX class equipment would cause problems with them, but it didn't - I'd disabled AX anyway as I don't have any devices that use it yet.

5 weeks ago I set the AX86U & XD4 system back up again (I had a plan to use a mini access point with the IP camera which seems to work) and until the last few days it has all been flawless - not a single problem that I have noticed. Until a couple of days ago, when my Squeezebox radios starting having massive connectivity issues. I have three of them and one is able to reconnect due to using the "wlanpoke" add-on, but that only lasts a certain amount of time and eventually it needs a reboot too. The others are failing regularly and won't re-connect without a reboot, many times they are failing in the middle of actively streaming audio and only 20-30 minutes after being rebooted. What I see in the system log when this happens is always this:

Nov 15 08:05:17 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(530): eth6: Auth 00:04:20:xx:yy:zz, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Nov 15 08:05:17 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(559): eth6: Assoc 00:04:20:xx:yy:zz, status: Successful (0), rssi:-48
Nov 15 08:19:59 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(494): eth6: Deauth_ind 00:04:20:xx:yy:zz, status: 0, reason: Disassociated due to inactivity (4), rssi:-48
Nov 15 08:19:59 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(494): eth6: Deauth_ind 00:04:20:xx:yy:zz, status: 0, reason: Previous authentication no longer valid (2), rssi:-48
Nov 15 08:20:00 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(511): eth6: Disassoc 00:04:20:xx:yy:zz, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0

I find it a bit galling that the log says "Disassociated due to inactivity" when the device was in the middle of streaming music. Seems to me there is a problem with functionality or the wording of the log when I see that given the device is very much active at the time. Given this is happening across all three radios and nothing has changed with them I can't see that it is a hardware problem with the radios themselves.

Just to note that I've done all of the normally recommended things - reset everything to oblivion before setting up, use 8 character SSIDs, disabled Smart Connect, Airtime Fairness, Roaming Assistant etc., configured 2.4GHz to 20MHz, all of that - plus all three radios are bound to an AiMesh node. On stock FW 388_20566. Current system uptime is 36 days.

As well as wanting to solve the above issue, I can't help but wonder - why does this happen suddenly after 5 weeks of zero issues? I also had 4 weeks of no issues back in Feb. Nothing has changed but the weather, and I hope I can assume this won't have anything to do with it!

If anyone has any thoughts on the issue itself or generally why something like this would suddenly happen it would be much appreciated.
 
Try again with default WIFI settings and Dual Band SmartConnect. OK to set the 2.4 GHz to 20 MHz. Leave the 5 GHz at 20-40-80-160 MHz auto channel but no DFS. Could use just 80 MHz as well. Do not mess with Professional settings but disable WPS.
 
Thank you for the reply, apart from enabling SmartConnect I already have everything else set as you suggest (apart from making 5GHz just 80MHz). The Asus FAQ page for devices having trouble with Wifi 6 says to turn off SmartConnect:


It is also mentioned all over the Slim Devices forums to disable it for issues with Squeezebox connectivity. And also I'd personally prefer not to use it.

I guess the sudden change could be because a neighbour got a Wifi 6 router, we have just had "full fibre" enabled here and there are lots of internet connectivity upgrades happening which could mean new routers supplied by ISPs.

But really I'd like to know how the "Disassociated due to inactivity" message happens, is there some inactivity timer? Last night I was listening to the radio and it disconnected, with the Asus sysetm log showing the same "Disassociated due to inactivity" message - how can this be??
 
If you want more control over where your devices connect - disable Smart Connect. Not Smart at all, only offers some Connect.
 
If you want more control over where your devices connect - disable Smart Connect. Not Smart at all, only offers some Connect.
That's what I had gathered and why I disabled it straight away. Having had 9 weeks of no issues at all from my Squeezebox radios before this sudden problem I don't think there is anything I can do on my own network that can solve it TBH. I've just looked at the local wifi networks via inSSIDer and noticed a new (i.e. not seen it last time I checked) Netgear Orbi mesh system and I am guessing this might be the reason for the sudden change.

Still, if anyone knows what would cause the "Disassociated due to inactivity" message I would be interested to know. Some folks on the Slim Devices forum seem to think that the Squeezebox radios will scan for wifi networks regularly and when they hit a wifi 6 network they can't cope with it and bail out, which does make sense with what I am seeing - they are disconnecting at regular intervals (between 2am and 5pm today one radio disconnected 51 times)... but it would be nice to know why the Asus router sees this as "inactivity" exactly as it happens so fast.
 

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