Occasional inability for a client to access anything on secure wifi (RT-AX5400)

[jesup]

I have a system with 3 RT-AX5400's, wired backhaul. I have a secure network and an unsecured guest network. Occasionally when I unplug a laptop from wired connections and go elsewhere in the house, it will get into a state where I'm connected to the secure network but can't access anything (including the router). Disabling WiFi and re-enabling it doesn't fix it. The only solution is to switch to the unsecured WiFi SSID. Note that when this happens, other clients on the secure network are fine. This happens to both Mac and Windows laptops and Android cellphones (Samsung S24's), though I'd guess more often on Windows.

All routers are on the latest firmware. This has been happening for quite a while, at least 6 months if not from when I installed them 1.5 years ago.

Perhaps something in the router(s) gets borked rarely on a handover as I walk around the house with the laptop/cellphone?

Thanks for any help/suggestions.

 

[degrub]

Maybe it is more of a client issue. Does the issue go away if you reboot the client ?

 

[jesup]

I'll try that, though this has affected at least 3 different laptops (2 mac and one windows) and a couple of android phones. Typically after going back to wired it's ok (though I generally I need it for a meeting and can't reboot; I just switch to unsecured). It does affect the windows laptop more often than the others, I will try a reboot if I have time next time it happens.

 

[OzarkEdge]

You really haven't provided enough specific detail to narrow in on the trouble. For instance, I could conclude that your wired/wireless clients connect fine to your router LAN and WLANs but can't access the Internet when you connect them to node WLANs.... so your node backhauls/AiMesh install is not healthy. And why do you have unsecured WiFi?

Given 1.5 years of service and on current firmware... when is the last time you Hard Reset the firmware and configured from scratch?

OE

 

[jesup]

The unsecured wifi is a guest network. Normally I don't use it.

I've never hard reset the routers; why would that be needed? REconfiguring them would be a mild pain (especially things like port forwards, which I have a couple of, and pinning the local IPs for various devices for ease of access.

I doubt the backhaul is an issue, for 2 reasons: one, it's all wired backhaul, and two, when I connect to the guest network on the same node everything works perfectly. Also a different laptop and phone connected to the secure network, physically colocated with the laptop having problems, everything works.

Note that this problem is not isolated to a single laptop (which would be an obvious "something is wrong with that laptop"), I've seen this with windows 10 (most often perhaps), Macs, and Android phones.

Next time it happens if I'm not in a must-join-meeting situation, I will reboot the laptop. I can also try to take wireshark traces.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I've never hard reset the routers; why would that be needed?

FW Reset FAQ

Reset button/webUI Restore/node removal clears settings in NVRAM; reboot restores fw defaults from CFE

Hard Reset via WPS button/webUI Restore+Initialize also clears data logged in /jffs partition

OE

 

[JoSmittyCan]

FW Reset FAQ

Reset button/webUI Restore/node removal clears settings in NVRAM; reboot restores fw defaults from CFE

Hard Reset via WPS button/webUI Restore+Initialize also clears data logged in /jffs partition

OE

So that’s really a thing? People actually do a hard reset on their Asus router periodically and manually re-enter all the settings across multiple web UI pages?

And I assume that restoring a previously saved configuration would defeat the purpose?

 

[ColinTaylor]

So that’s really a thing? People actually do a hard reset on their Asus router periodically and manually re-enter all the settings across multiple web UI pages?

It's a thing. But I would guess that the vast majority of "normal" users don't do that (or are even aware that it's an option). When people have problems with their router and come to these forums for advice the quickest solution is often a factory reset rather then spending days trying to analyse the problem.

And I assume that restoring a previously saved configuration would defeat the purpose?

Correct.

 

[bennor]

So that’s really a thing?

Absolutely yes it is a thing when one starts to experience oddball or weird issues with any electronic device. Reset and do a basic manual configuration and see if the issue persists is one of the core basic troubleshooting steps with any electronic device. You'd be surprised the number of times people spent hours trying to troubleshoot an issue with their Asus router only to come back and report (in these subforums) that they solve it by doing a hard factory reset and basic manual configuration. Quite often a hard factory reset and configuration is quicker than spending hours (or days) trying to track down some odd configuration issue, particularly when AiMesh and or addon scripts are thrown into the mix.
Edit to add:

And I assume that restoring a previously saved configuration would defeat the purpose?

Yes. Especially if that save configuration (CFG) file is from a prior firmware version (or worse a different router model). One could end up reintroducing the issue they were experiencing by loading a saved router.cfg file rather than performing a manual configuration. It is also wise to disconnect any router attached USB drive prior to updating the firmware or performing any type of reset and not to reconnect that USB drive until the router is verified as working properly.

 

[JoSmittyCan]

I know you’re right, but it’s still a bit disappointing.

A well-designed UI should let me backup my user-side settings in a decoupled format, and the new firmware should safely reapply them while reporting any compatibility issues if some old settings are no longer recommended or supported.

As it is now, the backup and restore feature basically just dumps and restores the NVRAM without much logic behind it.

So I guess taking screenshots is still the best backup solution after all !

 

[degrub]

Move to SMB level gear and the issues are greatly reduced. Pay a little more at startup, but usually set and forget. And, yes, backup/reload does work properly unless the memory is corrupted to begin with (never experienced, but possible) .

 

[OzarkEdge]

As it is now, the backup and restore feature basically just dumps and restores the NVRAM without much logic behind it.

So I guess taking screenshots is still the best backup solution after all !

A saved configuration .cfg file (configuration backup) is for recovering the hardware and firmware that created it.

OE

 

[JoSmittyCan]

At the same time, the Asus router can be setup to automatically download and install new firmware updates. I assume it does some type of automatic backup and restore of my settings, similar to that .cfg file process. I never dared enabling it. Can we rely on this feature?

 

[jzchen]

I have a GT-AXE11000 that auto updated to the latest which ASUS highly recommends hard resetting BUT I didn't. I remotely manage it and very rarely go there. I could turn it off as I check daily and sometimes more than once a day. (But then there can be a gap which is when this update happened. I logged in to install it but it was already installed).

It seems to affect those with more custom configurations than those that have simple ones. I can probably count five at maximum that I change from defaults....