BE88U + BE58U AiMesh — complete WiFi failure

[curiouscookie]

Been dealing with random complete WiFi outages on my BE88U (Merlin 3006.102.7) — all clients drop at once, nothing can reconnect, only a reboot fixes it. Dug into the syslog and found eth1 (2.5G wired backhaul to my BE58U node) flapping constantly with some SerDes PHY errors mixed in. Also seeing WLCSCBDEAUTHENTICATEFORREASON err -30 storms and ACSD chanim query failed -16 right before every mass drop.

Rolled back the BE58U from the March 11 Asus stock firmware to the previous version and everything stabilized immediately — no drops, no flapping since.

Has anyone else seen backhaul instability after the BE58U March 11 update with the BE88U running Merlin 3006.102.7? Curious if this is isolated to my setup or wider. Also wondering if the BE88U's behavior under backhaul stress — dropping every client catastrophically instead of degrading gracefully — is a known Broadcom driver issue.

Happy to share the syslog if useful.

 

[jksmurf]

Not able to comment on your specific issue but your example makes me wonder sometimes (as RMerlin doesn’t use AiMesh himself**) whilst each unit works perfectly well in isolation (one having Merlin FW and one Stock FW) whether the Stock FW node has had much by way of testing with an older FW-based Main Router.

The GPL in 3006.102.7 e.g. is likely a bit older than the one on your node, with its various enhancements and fixes. The only thing I can suggest is you factory reset and re-add the recently updated RT-BE58U node, if you haven’t already done so. Won’t lose much if it’s stock anyway, worth a try?

** Unfortunately RMerlin has stated his apartment is too small for AIMesh, we need to get him out onto a sprawling estate so he can test AiMesh and tell Asus what a disaster it is, until his toes turn blue…

 

[curiouscookie]

Thanks. Fair point on the GPL version delta, and honestly it aligns with what I saw. The SerDes errors in the syslog suggest the PHY negotiation itself was broken, not just an unstable link.. which would fit a driver/firmware incompatibility between the two units rather than something environmental.

I didn't try a factory reset on the node since the rollback resolved it cleanly and I had the syslog evidence pointing pretty clearly at the March 11 firmware. That said, your point about testing isolation is a good one.. would be interesting to know if the issue reproduces on a clean re-add with the newer node firmware. Maybe this weekend when I can deal with a few minutes of downtime, but the pain of a 15 year old complaining his gaming laptop is offline

P.S. I'd crowdfund a bigger apartment for RMerlin if it meant better AiMesh testing coverage. ;-)

 

[Zwu]

yeah i am having issues with my BE88U on latest merlin with a nonmerlin axe7800 mesh - some smart devices dont appear on the userlist or arent renamable. also some alexa devices dont connect at all. might be due to iot guest network and meshing. asus released a new firmware few days ago - gonna install this one.

 

[Tech9]

Your situation is even worse because RT-AXE7800 doesn't have support for Guest Network Pro or Smart Home Master. The dedicated to IoTs network will stay on the main router only. You most likely are limited to one guest network per 2.4GHz and 5GHz band on your node. For reporting issues with Asuswrt-Merlin firmware better use the corresponding release threads.

 

[Zwu]

Your situation is even worse because RT-AXE7800 doesn't have support for Guest Network Pro or Smart Home Master. The dedicated to IoTs network will stay on the main router only. You most likely are limited to one guest network per 2.4GHz and 5GHz band on your node. For reporting issues with Asuswrt-Merlin firmware better use the corresponding release threads. i have devices connected to the 7800 via ioT guest network via 2,4ghz. dont have other guest networks.

you are right, some of my iot devices use the 2,4ghz band of the axe7800 when connecting to to the iot guestnetwork. was wondering this. atleast i know now. also the latest stock firmware on the be88u fixed my issues