Brand new AC88u 2.4Ghz not working

[JemTheWire]

Mine is an A2. Had it 18 months. 2.4 & 5GHz rock solid. I hope it continues.

 

[sm00thpapa]

Mine is an A2 and rock solid. Those new chips may be faulty as he is not the only one with a dead radio that I've read.

 

[JemTheWire]

It is such a shame that such an expensive, quality router should be so 'hit and miss' as to whether you get a good or bad one. One assumes that later builds 'should' build on and correct faults that existed in earlier builds, not add more!

 

[calle]

A5 is the latest I have seen reported. Thanks. You may have a bad router. If you just bought it RMA it ASAP.

Will do, just finishing my coffee and i´m on my way.

 

[sm00thpapa]

It is such a shame that such an expensive, quality router should be so 'hit and miss' as to whether you get a good or bad one. One assumes that later builds 'should' build on and correct faults that existed in earlier builds, not add more!

Totally agree. Like Merlin had said in another thread. It can be a $20.00 router or a $2,000 router and it will have issues. But there is no excuse for putting info on a box and website about a router and the router doesn't have such features. These companies think money grows on trees. They don't realize people work hard for their money and want a good product for what they pay. Now let me get off my soap box.

 

[jim769]

They don't realize people work hard for their money and want a good product for what they pay

This is in a perfect world of witch we do not live in. In reality Asus or any other router vendor don't care how hard you work for your money they just want as much of it as they can get.

 

[Jaguar]

Add me to the list of people who have their 2.4 ghz radio die for no reason. The sad part is that even though I purchased the router last September, I didn't use it until 2 days ago. And now, within 2 days of use, the 2.4 ghz radio is dead. I have an A2 chip in case it matters.

Is there any hope other than buying a new router? I bought the router in the US but I relocated to India recently, so I am not sure if Asus will fix it.

 

[txcraig-cypress]

I was so excited to be upgrading my ancient WRT54GL (which worked great for 9 years) to a new RT-AC3100 (H/W ver A5). I had it for 2 months working OK then one morning there is no more internet and I can't connect to the router at all. Unplugged it, waited awhile, then turned back on. Now I can get the login page (with a Chrome 'sad face' in the status pane on right), but every time after login the next web page won't load (which page does not matter) and it kicks me back to login page. Something is seriously wrong here. I see all the suggestions in the forum to do a factory reset, but I am thinking to myself why should I have to do this? If it succeeds is it just going to happen again?

I could not get it to factory reset with the 30/30/30 instructions but after lots of button pressing and plugging/unplugging some magic combo was able to accomplish the factory reset. Now the 5 Ghz light won't come on at all. 5Ghz is definitely enabled in the settings, but no 5Ghz LED and no 5Ghz MAC address. Tried Merlin and same problem. I guess I will be RMA'ing it. I bought it on eBay - I hope that does not become a problem. Asus did let me register the serial # on their site. Do I need to get the factory firmware reinstalled for the RMA? Ironic since it was just the other day I was singing the praises of Asus - I've had good luck in the past with them for mobo's, laptops, etc. Assuming Asus does send me back a refurb'd router, I think I will sell it. One thing that drives me crazy about this router is any tiny setting change takes forever to apply and often resets everyone's connection. Oh, and after changing a setting, why oh why would you display the WiFi password in a giant font. I had setup guest networks for my kids without letting them know the main Wifi password, so I could cut of their access easy. Right after I get all my devices (Wii, Ring doorbell, Ring chime, etc) setup, my kid sees that screen and now has the main password and I have to start all over. That is just dumb.

 

[Ravi1984]

My RT-AC3100 2.4GHz stopped working. It has a speed of 2 mbps. Have been working with ASUS support over email for over a week with solutions like downgrade firmware and factory reset but the problem still persists.
Does anyone have US based ASUS router support phone number? I have asked them multiple times over email but they have not given it to me.

 

[Pierino]

My RT-AC3100 2.4GHz stopped working. It has a speed of 2 mbps. Have been working with ASUS support over email for over a week with solutions like downgrade firmware and factory reset but the problem still persists.
Does anyone have US based ASUS router support phone number? I have asked them multiple times over email but they have not given it to me.

Google....
https://www.asus.com/us/support/callus

 

[SJM]

I ordered one of these AC88U from Amazon as a refurbished unit (it's a A5 hardware). I had the AC87U which I bought when it first came out and it was flaky. However, everything seemed to get ironed out with firmware upgrades from Asus. I ran the stock firmware from new and it was a great trouble free router for years. Our son was moving (he had a old router that was no longer patch able) and the I was having some Sonos update problems and I thought, give the kid the old router and get the newest; maybe that'll solve both problems. The router was $299 on sale for $269. When I looked at it. Then I noticed that the Amazon Warehouse had a refrub unit for $201. Deal, I can fix the firmware if need be. When I added it to the cart it was $160. Bigger deal. When I got it it was just in a plain brown box no manuals but all the important stuff was there. Fired it up and noticed right away that it was running Merlin. I thought, well, is this good or bad? I like the Merlin project. Ran DD-WRT on all my old Cisco/Linysys units years ago. But I've been pretty happy with the base Asus. I left the Merlin on there and configured the unit. Within minutes of putting it in operation, the wife was complaining that the 2.4G band wasn't working. "ah - your whacked" I told her. Well. She was right. I got one of somebody's returned router. Turns out the 2.4G radios bomb out almost instantly - won't even dish out an IP address. The Tools menu will show what clients are connected and you can see that some are connected and communicating but others either have no IP or are in limbo. The other weird thing - which also aligns with what someone else mentioned on here - while configuring the unit after saving a page or two of config changes, the webpage would kick out and I'd have to login again. Weird. Has anyone noticed anything in the system logs on this issue?

Anyway - that is a long lead in to my question. (1) I can return it to Amazon and get a new one or new refurbished one but I run the risk of a 30% chance of getting an other bad one. (2) Can I go through Asus support and get a known good replacement one?

Any thoughts?

 

[0014]

Hi all,

First post so be gentle! I've been browsing this forum for a bit, mainly when I have issues with my RT-AC88U's.

Both are 2016 manufacture date but one is HW Version A2 and the other is A5.

I have been having a lot of issues as of late with the 2.4Ghz connection (exact same as what user Prince has posted with his screenshots). When I do I can't then log in to the router either via the iOS app or the Web based GUI (tried both Safari & Chrome) wireless or wired. I often get the "Note: the router you are using is not an ASUS device or has not been authorised by ASUS. ASUSWRT might not work properly on this device." It persisted yesterday for over 3hrs, despite numerous attempts to factory reset and also the 30/30/30 way. Eventually it all came back on and I have been able to now turn off MU-MIMO, Explicit and Universal Beamforming and airtime fairness (creates a separate unrelated issue with Sonos speakers)

I only ever notice the issue when my Sonos system drops out. But since turning everything off yesterday it has so far been ok. Time will tell.

I am wondering if this locking up of the 2.4ghz is due to having MU-MIMO enabled. From my limited research it seems that the 2.4Ghz band doesn't support MU-MIMO at all. Although that info only comes from a handful of websites so happy to bow down to those in the know.

Will report back in a few days to see how my testing is going. If it continues then both routers will be returned to Amazon and I'll get something else.

So any recommends on something that has 8 x ethernet ports and supports fast wifi would be appreciated.

Thanks

Carl

 

[0014]

Just to add. Since adding a laptop cooler this is my temps. Before I was at 80-90 deg C across all three.

 

[0014]

Well just over a week since I changed the settings and all is good with no lockup’s etc.

So if you’re having issues then ensure you turn off MU-MIMO for 2.4ghz and your woes should end.

 

[SJM]

I just got a RT-AC88U back from Asus yesterday after returning mine on an RMA. I mailed it to them in a brown box with just the power supply 'as instructed'. I opened the outer box and saw a brand new Asus box! "Yeah! They sent me a new router!" The side of the box stated HW Version A6. But it had the serial number taped over. That's weird.

I then opened said new Asus box. I was surprised to see my exact same router - same serial number (hardware A5). It was returned in a brand new Asus box with all the new stuff that typically comes in the box including a brand new DC power supply - still wrapped in plastic. I fired it up on the bench and it had the same firmware on it. I was again surprised. I configured it - really only disabled the Air fairness (Sonos issue according to Sonos) and left everything else pretty much alone. My cell phone client did get an IP address - which it wasn't doing before. And it is holding my 2.4GHz connection. SO .... okay.... what did the RMA process accomplish? What did they do? Did they open it up and replace a chip or two? Doubtful. Did they just screw up and put my old one in the new one's box? Again, doubtful. So I called them.

The person on the phone, very professional and very polite stated that the 3.0.0.4.382.15850 was their most stable firmware. But that is what I had on there when I sent it back to them - when the 2.4 radio would not assign IPs and the radio would just quick working (in stock configuration - no setting changes). He advised me against updating to the newer firmware as they have been having problems with it. I was his third call today on that exact same problem. (Sound like more than firmware to me then.) But what EXACTLY did anybody do to my this router I asked again. He stated that they re-flashed the firmware. I said I did that before I sent it in. He said they did it a different way. SO I am assuming that they formatted the firmware and then TFPT'd the firmware to the router and then reloaded the same (most stable according to him) base config. He also stated that each RMA'd unit comes with a new 90 day warranty. So.... here we go. I'll put it into Home production and see how it holds up. The wife will tell me in no uncertain terms.

And when the judge asks why she wants a divorce..... my response will be "I installed a faulty router... again". Wish me luck. More updates to come.

 

[SJM]

Well that didn't take long. 10 minutes after the unit was connected as the home office main router, the 2.4GHz radio started dropping connections. Turning off the MU-MIMO, Explicit and Universal Beamforming and airtime fairness om 2.4GHz radio didn't do anything to make the router maintain its connections. It did however, allow the SSIDs to remain visible and it allowed me to connect and get an IP, but the connection was dropped within 15 seconds of connecting and would not reconnect any clients even if they were set to auto-reconnect. After 1 hour on the phone with Asus tech support (reseting, defaulting, reconnecting, connecting, changing settings, resetting, cycling power, barking at the moon on one foot holding my breath, etc) they are sending me an advanced replacement overnight.

One big thing I noticed while trying to configure this router was it kept dropping the main wired connection while connected to my bench computer during the configuration. I had tons of trouble connecting to the 192.168.1.1 default address. I would power it on, set my NIC's IP, connect, make a change save the changes, make a few more changes, and after a while the unit was no longer receiving browser connections on the default IP. I would have to power it off and back on to reconnect. IPScanner would see the router at the 192.168.1.1 and I could ping the router but no http or https.

I'll update after the new replacement is here. By the way, in the meantime I am using an Asus AC3200 tri-band and it is working fine, wired, 5G, 2.4G, using all of the beamforming, MU-MIMO, USB3.0, interference reducing, (airtime fairness still disabled).

( As I was boxing up the 88u to go back the second time, I noticed a piece of paper in the bottom of the box from the RMA department. It was a ASUS Service Repair Report which read, "Problem/Symptom = Test ok." "Action test = OK (NTF). " Under replacement parts nothing was listed. NTF must mean "Nothing To Fix".

This confirms that they got it, powered it up, connected for a second or two, then shut it down and boxed it back up and returned it to me without doing anything. If they would have used it for even two minutes they would have seen the problem. I sincerely doubt that they even re-flashed the firmware as it was the same as what I returned it to them. )

 

[SJM]

Latest update in the saga.... I got the advanced replacement from Asus yesterday; two days early as FedEx Ground stated that it was due Monday the 27th. Albeit still a week late as Asus stated that they were shipping it overnight delivery. As you can read that didn't happen.

I open the box and it was a brand new 88U. Hardware revision A6. I thought well here goes the process of wasting a few hour trying to get this one to work. But, I tossed all caution into the wind and when the wife paused the movie to make a few drinks, I shut down the old router, rebooted my modem, connected the new router to the modem only, fired up the new router and connected my PC to the unit. Went through the three setup wizard screens (ISP connection wizard, renamed the SSIDs to match the old router, changed the main password to something easy), and went to get my drink. Damn the topedoes, full speed ahead, I connected all of the ethernet cables and went to see if the movie would continue. Flawless. Everything connected and worked perfectly. I enjoyed my drink. A very easy 5 minute router swap.

During the next movie break, I reset the old router and boxed it up for return. Good riddens!

Moral of the story, never work on a router without alcohol.

The following morning - or as I type this, I logged into the router. Everything was running nicely. And it was fast. No hesitation like the A5 hardware rev. The firmware was 3.0.0.4.382_18991; updated from the 380 I was running. I put in all my custom settings. Admin from https only, re-changed the password, QoS - gaming last, WPS off. On 2.4GHz - 40MHz, Control Channel, AirFairness disabled (sonos). By default MU-MIMO, Explicit and Universal Beam forming was enabled. On 5GHz band, all same changes as 2.4 but 80Mhz width and no control channel setting forced. The update screens are very fast and zero connection issues for configuration. Seems like this one works and the last one was just a lemon.

This firmware has a separate setup screen for Alexa and IFTTT - don't really see a need for that especially with the mobile app. A word on the mobile app, I thought why? I'll never use it. It has become a handy little tool just to see if traffic is flowing or who's hogging the bandwidth. I can enable or disable the guest wifi (no longer a reason to leave it on all the time), enact bandwidth limits, and basic just checking stuff so I don't have to put down my drink and walk to the bridge. I could see some cool rules with the IFTTT (If this then that functionality - IFTTT.com)
“If close to bedtime, then turn off wifi”
“If my 30 year old daughter comes home, then send me and email, text, or phone call and hide the money”
“If my wife comes home, then play my favorite song”

If you get a bad unit (wifi drops constantly or you have problems staying connected to the unit via Ethernet) don't mess around. Get a replacement. If you have a choice of returning it to where you bought it or RMAing it - the only thing I can say is the RMA process will take several calls, and the cycle power dance with the support tech (push for an advanced replacement - push for no cost shipping in both directions). Returning it and getting a different one would be faster but might bot get you the desired results.

Everything is as it should be and all is right in our little wifi universe. Now where did I put my drink (don't judge, it's Sunday Bloody Mary time!)

 

[CyHawk]

Hello -

I'll add to the list of RT-3100 routers (A2) that are dropping/lost the 2.4 band. I started having issues a couple months ago. Devices would connect to the 2.4 band but no internet. Other times it wouldn't even show up. I finally connected all my wireless devices to the 5ghz band (no issues). I spent over an hour on the phone with Asus support. I had thought it started after a firmware update to version 3.0.0.4.382.18991. We reset the router, and had the same issues, downgraded firmware to version 3.0.0.4.382.15852, reset it again and had the same issues. During the resets, it took forever for the router to boot up, upwards of 10 minutes. I have an RMA set, hopefully it goes good.

I see they just released a new firmware yesterday. Should I upgrade to that and try it before I send it in? Or leave it alone?

 

[SJM]

CyHawk, it only takes a few minutes to test the new firmware. Myself, I'd be curious, but in reality it won't fix the problem. Did you ask for a "pre-replacement unit"? This will insure that you get a physically different unit. My advanced replacement was a brand new unit with a very recent hardware revision. Good luck. It is a good router once you get it working.

 

[CyHawk]

CyHawk, it only takes a few minutes to test the new firmware. Myself, I'd be curious, but in reality it won't fix the problem. Did you ask for a "pre-replacement unit"? This will insure that you get a physically different unit. My advanced replacement was a brand new unit with a very recent hardware revision. Good luck. It is a good router once you get it working.

I didn't ask for one. I have my old Linksys E4200 v1 running at the moment. That thing always worked. Anyways, I will try updating the new firmware once everyone is in bed. Everyone is using the wifi at the moment.