Release Asuswrt-Merlin 384.19 is now available

[Vimes]

Typical, since I last posted that all has been well for the best part of four days, actually 4 days and six hours, an issue has occurred that did so last time. None of my 2.4Ghz wi-fi devices can now connect. The Wi-Fi connection page looks like.....

Spoiler

those devices that can't flip over to the 5ghz Wi-Fi are now stuck, things like smartplugs which only operate on the 2.4Ghz radio.
To resolve it I would need to reboot the router or change channel on the 2.4Ghz radio or do something to "restart" it.

When running 384.18 this had never happened, nor when it ran previous firmware releases.

The 2.4Ghz Wi-Fi is still available, the SSID is still being broadcast, but changing my phone from the 5ghz to the 2.4ghz it tries to connect and then simply fails.

You can see from the screenshot what is in the Wireless log.

Nothing to note in the system log, what I recognise as being an issue.

I make no changes to the default wireless settings, apart from SSID and password.

 

[Vimes]

Morning arrives and problem still the same as noted above. Disabled the 2.4Ghz radio and reenabled it. All the devices that were still connected remained so but this time the wireless connection works....

Spoiler

no need to reboot the router, per se, just a matter of resetting the 2.4Ghz channel.
The last time that I used this version of the firmware it did this once, iirc, on the 5Ghz radio and also, at a different time, with the 2.4Ghz radio on more than one occasion.
Does not happen when going back to the previously noted firmware, 384.18

 

[thecheapseats]

[Wireless Router] When Standard Reset Isn’t Working: Hard Factory Reset - Models list | Official Support | ASUS Global

by using the WPS button method of hard reset, and then manually entered my settings as needed.

That WPS button is your friend... wax on/wax off...

 

[STRUZZIN]

Got my RT-AX58U and setup the RT-AC68U's as mesh all on Merlin 384.19.
All has been working great here

 

[xdj]

This this post here.

Thank you...

 

[bbunge]

Seven days uptime on AC86U with Merlin 384.19. Have added FlexQOS and AiProtect. Noticed that RAM use has crept up from 72% to 80%. Have had good solid WIFI connections on both bands with good speed tests on WIFI and wired connections. A restrained hurrah!

 

[Vimes]

Seven days uptime on AC86U with Merlin 384.19. Have added FlexQOS and AiProtect. Noticed that RAM use has crept up from 72% to 80%. Have had good solid WIFI connections on both bands with good speed tests on WIFI and wired connections. A restrained hurrah!

Do you apply any settings to your WiFi apart from the usual SSID and password.?

Great that it has been stable for you.

 

[Rebs]

After browsing multiple threads related to different performance issues (384.19 stability, 5 GHz signal dropping, AiMesh nodes going offline), I am beginning to think that each RT-AC86U has unique behavior. One thread I read suggested that there were manufacturing quality issues related to RT-AC86U units manufactured in 2018.

This could explain why some fortunate 86U owners report no trouble at all, while others (like me) are pulling their hair out trying to figure out why they can't achieve stable behavior.

FWIW: I don't ever post, but I'm in the same boat. I've gone through the nuclear reset guide and then tried nvram reset via SSH because even following the WPS instructions very precisely didn't seem to do the trick. Manually configured, etc. etc.

I get random disconnects at completely random intervals. Might be good for 2-3 hours and then might have 4 disconnects within 30 minutes. Logs don't show anything except the wldeventd: deauth, etc (which is normal and only shows because I haven't changed the logging level). My point is no useful info and I won't tell you how many times I've gone through the nuclear reset (precisely) and reflashed cause it's kinda embarrasing.

Now investigating downgrading and/or new hardware. ;-)

 

[XIII]

I have set my RT-AC86U's domain name to "home.lan".

Unfortunately, somehow after the latest router reboot I can ping "deviceX", but not "deviceX.home.lan" which gives the error "Unknown host" (this used to work before).

How can I fix this?

 

[bbunge]

Do you apply any settings to your WiFi apart from the usual SSID and password.?

Great that it has been stable for you.

I do turn WPS off. I do use Dual Band SmartConnect. Set 2.4 GHZ to 20 MHZ ch 1. 5 GHZ to 80 MHZ ch 36.

 

[Riash]

So I have a RT-AC86U on 384.17. I‘m having zero problems with it. After reading this thread I’m not upgrading to 384.19. My question is, can I safely stay on 384.17 or do I need to upgrade to 384.18?

 

[illtww]

Yea... Seems to be a ton of 86U's with random issue(s) on 384.19...

Hopefully 386.xxx brings better news!

 

[RMerlin]

Hopefully 386.xxx brings better news!

The JFFS partition size is there to stay. Anyone skipping 384.19 and jumping to 386.xx will have to go through the same process on their RT-AC86U as people who went with 384.19.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

The AX58U has issues with JFFS as well. It always says unmounted until it's reformatted. I don't remember that being the case in older releases.

 

[Vimes]

The JFFS partition size is there to stay. Anyone skipping 384.19 and jumping to 386.xx will have to go through the same process on their RT-AC86U as people who went with 384.19.

Did anything change in regards to the Wi-Fi from the .18 to .19 release for the Ac86U router...?

Thanks.

 

[fritzk3]

So I have a RT-AC86U on 384.17. I‘m having zero problems with it. After reading this thread I’m not upgrading to 384.19. My question is, can I safely stay on 384.17 or do I need to upgrade to 384.18?

I'd quote the old adage: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Why mess with anything if you are problem-free on 384.17?

 

[Adamm]

I'd quote the old adage: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it!" Why mess with anything if you are problem-free on 384.17?

I don't think that saying accurately reflects modern software, unless you intentionally want an unsecure network.

 

[maxbraketorque]

I've got four AC86U's (two pairs of router/AP combos) running 384.19 for a month now. I did run into two known issues with the install on a few of the devices, the issues being the corruption of SMB accounts and corruption of the JFFS partition, but after I got through that, its been smooth sailing. Pretty simple router setups though. The only complexity is running a full time two-way VPN connection between my home and two remote sites via the ASUS routers at all three locations. No scripts, no QOS, no add-ons.

 

[cdlight]

FWIW: I don't ever post, but I'm in the same boat. I've gone through the nuclear reset guide and then tried nvram reset via SSH because even following the WPS instructions very precisely didn't seem to do the trick. Manually configured, etc. etc.

Just a quick comment that might be helpful to anal retentive types like me. When I hold down the WPS button & power on my particular RT-AC86U (purchased last month), it only takes 2 - 3 seconds before the power LED turns off. I was holding it down for 10 - 30 seconds per the nuclear reset guide, and when I released the WPS button none of the LEDs were lit, so I powered off & on again to restart. Holding the button down for too long apparently thwarts the process and left my router in an unstable state, no matter what firmware or settings I tried.

Yesterday I finally looked up the Asus website instructions for my particular router and released the WPS button immediately after the power LED turned off. The two LEDs in the middle (WAN & LAN Port #1) started flickering, and then I pushed the Power button to turn the router off, and then pushed it again to turn it on. After that, I followed the rest of the nuclear reset guide & flashed the latest stock firmware (3.0.0.4_384_82072-gc842320), started with a Minimal & Manual configuration, etc. It has been less than 24 hours, but already I see some improvements. My Pi-Hole DNS server is more consistently recognized, wireless connections are more stable, and the web interface just seems faster to respond.

I am in no way faulting the nuclear reset guide. I just need to learn to RTFM, but I thought it might help other newbies like me. Thanks to everyone for all the great guidance and advice on these forums. FWIW, here are the links to Asus' [Wireless] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset FAQ and to the specific instructions for the RT-AC86U.

 

[RMerlin]

Did anything change in regards to the Wi-Fi from the .18 to .19 release for the Ac86U router...?

Thanks.

I don`t know, I just merge the closed source components from Asus.