Solved BE-88U warm boot WAN connection failure

[RiskyBusiness]

Recently replaced an old and faithful AC-3100 with a new BE-88U (latest release of RMerlin installed). Internet here is via Spectrum (1G/35M) cable. The issue I'm seeing is when warm rebooting the router, it often fails to connect thru the bridged cable modem to the internet. The only way it finally connects is if I disconnect the power and force a cold start. I have not had the time yet to comb thru the logs and look for indications of why this might be happening, but was wondering if anyone else with this router was having a similar experience. The router is set up with a USB thumb drive with AMTM, swap file, entware and unbound, but other than that, a fairly clean setup.

regards,

RB

 

[Tech9]

It's most likely RT-BE88U model and WAN connection issue, not WLAN. It was reported few times already with different ASUS routers.

 

[RiskyBusiness]

It's most likely RT-BE88U model and WAN connection issue, not WLAN. It was reported few times already with different ASUS routers.

Thanks for the response @Tech9 . Just found and read thru a reddit referenced thread on the issue that explained what I'm seeing here to a "T". Sounds like it's an ASUS issue that has been aound for some time now. Guess I should have done a little more research prior to my purchase. Interesting that the old AC3100 never experienced any of these problems.

 

[Tech9]

Sounds like it's an ASUS issue that has been aound for some time now.

I have never seen it personally. Perhaps some incompatibility between networking equipment related with solutions ranging from simple cable replacement to modem or router replacement with different make/model. You have to find what works in your specific case.

 

[RiskyBusiness]

Well, after screening thru the logs, reading thru threads, and a little tinkering, I think I've found the problem. It seems theses newer routers have a "WAN Autodetection" process that may not be perfected yet. Since I have the modem connected to the WAN/LAN1 (2.5 gb) port vs the WAN/LAN (10 gb) port, it seems the autodetection was hanging up trying to connect to the first WAN (10 gb) port. I turned off autodetection and selected the WAN/LAN1 (2.5 gb) port that goes to the modem and haven't had an issue since. I also turned off the "4G / 5G Auto Mobile Tethering" since I don't currently use that feature either. I've done about a half dozen software (warm) reboots since changing the above settings, and the WAN has connected right up every time. I may try connecting the modem to the first WAN/LAN (10 gb) port when I have time and see what the autodetection does there, but for now everything is working as it should be

 

[jksmurf]

I turned off autodetection and selected the WAN/LAN1 (2.5 gb) port that goes to the modem and haven't had an issue since.

Would you be able to post a screenshot please for folks looking to see what this setting looks like and where it is, thanks a lot.

 

[Tech9]

It seems theses newer routers have a "WAN Autodetection" process that may not be perfected yet.

You may want to report the issue to ASUS in Feedback Form.

 

[RiskyBusiness]

Would you be able to post a screenshot please for folks looking to see what this setting looks like and where it is, thanks a lot.

Certainly

 

[RiskyBusiness]

You may want to report the issue to ASUS in Feedback Form.

Great idea. Except the feedback page appears to have been removed from the Merlin release

 

[Tech9]

Sorry, can't do this in Asuswrt-Merlin. The thread is in ASUS BE section and I just noticed you are actually running Asuswrt-Merlin.

 

[RiskyBusiness]

Sorry, can't do this in Asuswrt-Merlin. The thread is in ASUS BE section and I just noticed you are actually running Asuswrt-Merlin.

When I get a little free time and the internet isn't so busy, I may be able to revert to the OEM Firmware to verify the above works the same there and submit the feedback before reloading Merlin. From what I've read, I'm pretty sure this issue comes from ASUS and is NOT specific to Merlin firmware.

 

[jksmurf]

I turned off autodetection and selected the WAN/LAN1 (2.5 gb) port that goes to the modem and haven't had an issue since.

Certainly

Ah, ok, thank you for the screenshot. For a while there I was wondering if the BE FW had an extra switch to disable Auto Detection but the screen is identical to my Wi-Fi 6 routers.

So the way I read this is that you effectively disabled Dual WAN, which means the Router did not have to go through the process of attempting to (auto)detect which of the two WAN ports had a working internet connection.

You then made sure the working connection was on the port you explicitly designated in the FW.

Reading the ASUS FAQ referenced from that WebGUI page, this would appear to be the correct setup for a single modem, but I agree it is odd that if the whole idea of the failover mode (not load balancing) when Dual WAN is enabled, is to detect which of the two ports is working (and use that on a warm reboot), why it cannot do that for a single working modem.

The only thing I can think of is that there is some sort of communication whereby the router is advised “yeah, I’m a second modem that is connected to the failover port but I do not have internet”. Unlikely, a dead modem is a dead modem and surely the failover should work if the modem is off (or absent), not just when it is on, but without internet.

 

[Tech9]

On all Multi-WAN devices I ever had the WAN detection was done by ping, DNS query, packet loss, etc. or the combination of conditions. What ASUS offers on GUI is good enough. The problem is it doesn't always work properly and for unknown reasons. I don't know what hey call AiDetection now, but seems like it makes single WAN connection unreliable as well and has to be fixed. Not every user will be able to troubleshoot the issue and there will be returns of equipment.

 

[RiskyBusiness]

@jksmurf Seems to me this SHOULD default to a single modem configuration. It should be up to the consumer if they chose to configure for multiple WAN use.

@Tech9 , ping detection is being used. I saw it in the logs after making the above changes. I went back and looked thru the log prior to the above changes, and there was no indication that a ping was being initiated for the port detection.

I am curious to connect the modem to the primary WAN/LAN (10 gb) port, enable auto-detection again and see what the results are (connection/ping). I chose to connect the modem to the WAN/LAN1 port because it's only a 2.5 gb connection coming off the mode. Why waste a 10 gb port?

 

[jksmurf]

Seems to me this SHOULD default to a single modem configuration. It should be up to the consumer if they chose to configure for multiple WAN use.

Absolutely agree with that; or if ASUS purposely left it enabled, then the auto detection should work even if only one modem is attached.