Is 386.5_2 firmware not stable?

[johnqhu]

Hi Guys,

I have one Asus AC86U as my main router and 2 AC68Us as mesh node. They worked well before I upgraded to 386.5_2. After that upgrade, I noticed I got lost packet when playing World of Tanks. Not much and seemed no issue for other application. So I didn't debug it until yesterday.

Yesterday, I had some spare time. So I tried ping different servers. And then I found, the latency was huge even ping the main router. It was mostly more than 10ms. And sometimes hundreds. Normally it should be 1ms because it's wired ethernet. Then I checked Merlin website and found there is 386.7_2 available. So upgraded to it. And the ping is good now.

So just wondering, was my problem caused by 386.5_2? Tried search for the answer, but seems nobody else report similar issue.

 

[L&LD]

Yes, later firmwares may fix issues from previous ones (without documentation).

What firmware did you update from? When was the last time you had done a full reset?

It is even possible that a simple reboot of the network (after letting it idle for a day or so) fixed that too.

What features, options and specific settings do you change past defaults? What specific wired/wireless devices do you have in your environment? How clean is your WiFi environment? All the above can have an effect on how well one firmware may seem to work better than another one.

Glad you have a stable system now with 386.7_2.

If random issues do surface again and there is no new firmware to test with, the proper course of action would be:

• First, use your search skills to see if the issue(s) can be fixed with a settings change or other simple fix. Don't spend too much time here if your issue(s) are random and/or otherwise don't get too many matches online.
• Download (and verify the hash) of the firmware that is currently installed.
• Create a backup config file from your main router's GUI.
• Create a backup JFFS partition file too (if your router has that option).
• Save all the above together (they are a 'set').
• Safely Remove all USB devices from the router and reboot it.
• Download the firmware (and verify the hash) of the firmware you want to test (if it's different than the above file you've downloaded already).
• Perform a full reset of the router, using multiple methods, via the Reset Button, via the GUI (and don't forget to check the box to 'Fully initialize all settings...' too), and via the WPS Button method specific to your router via the link below.
  • [Wireless] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset | Official Support | ASUS Global
• After doing the above, re-flash the same firmware you have installed and want to test 'clean' with. I would do at least one more WPS Button reset.
• Now, do not use any saved backup config files. Do not plug in any USB drives (particularly ones that have been used for amtm and other scripts).
• Perform a minimal and manual configuration of the router to secure it and connect it to your ISP.
• Now, test if the issue(s) are still present. If they are, you have a few choices to make. Either perform a full reset one more time and then import the saved backup config file you created at the beginning (and you will be right back to where you were) or, work around the issues another way (ignore them, etc.). Or, with a new 'clean' install, you can do a further search of the possible issues, knowing that your router is performing as well as can be expected (before this, that wasn't the case). The troubleshooting done at this stage is more likely to find the root cause, whereas before doing the steps above, it would be more like a blind and wild goose chase.

At the time 386.5_2 was released, it was as stable as it could be.

Today, the internet, your devices, and your neighbors' devices have all changed and that may be no longer the case.

In your specific situation, we may never know which it was, even if we can guess at the reason(s).

 

[johnqhu]

Yes, later firmwares may fix issues from previous ones (without documentation).

What firmware did you update from? When was the last time you had done a full reset?

It is even possible that a simple reboot of the network (after letting it idle for a day or so) fixed that too.

What features, options and specific settings do you change past defaults? What specific wired/wireless devices do you have in your environment? How clean is your WiFi environment? All the above can have an effect on how well one firmware may seem to work better than another one.

Glad you have a stable system now with 386.7_2.

If random issues do surface again and there is no new firmware to test with, the proper course of action would be:

• First, use your search skills to see if the issue(s) can be fixed with a settings change or other simple fix. Don't spend too much time here if your issue(s) are random and/or otherwise don't get too many matches online.
• Download (and verify the hash) of the firmware that is currently installed.
• Create a backup config file from your main router's GUI.
• Create a backup JFFS partition file too (if your router has that option).
• Save all the above together (they are a 'set').
• Safely Remove all USB devices from the router and reboot it.
• Download the firmware (and verify the hash) of the firmware you want to test (if it's different than the above file you've downloaded already).
• Perform a full reset of the router, using multiple methods, via the Reset Button, via the GUI (and don't forget to check the box to 'Fully initialize all settings...' too), and via the WPS Button method specific to your router via the link below.
  • [Wireless] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset | Official Support | ASUS Global
• After doing the above, re-flash the same firmware you have installed and want to test 'clean' with. I would do at least one more WPS Button reset.
• Now, do not use any saved backup config files. Do not plug in any USB drives (particularly ones that have been used for amtm and other scripts).
• Perform a minimal and manual configuration of the router to secure it and connect it to your ISP.
• Now, test if the issue(s) are still present. If they are, you have a few choices to make. Either perform a full reset one more time and then import the saved backup config file you created at the beginning (and you will be right back to where you were) or, work around the issues another way (ignore them, etc.). Or, with a new 'clean' install, you can do a further search of the possible issues, knowing that your router is performing as well as can be expected (before this, that wasn't the case). The troubleshooting done at this stage is more likely to find the root cause, whereas before doing the steps above, it would be more like a blind and wild goose chase.

At the time 386.5_2 was released, it was as stable as it could be.

Today, the internet, your devices, and your neighbors' devices have all changed and that may be no longer the case.

In your specific situation, we may never know which it was, even if we can guess at the reason(s).

Thanks.