roll back gone bad,I think

[bitsbytes]

I recently bought a used ac86u to add as a aimesh node(main is another 86u). when I bought it was on fw 45717 and I had no trouble adding it as a node. i then updated both routers to fw 81049 and found that the node's 2.4 band is not working, I rolled back to fw 45717 and now both bands are gone. can't find them, led not on and wireless settings like mode and channel settings are on auto and I can't change them. even the channel is set to zero . I tried a factory reset, clearing nvram and the firmware restoration tool with no luck. what have I done .

 

[OzarkEdge]

I recently bought a used ac86u to add as a aimesh node(main is another 86u). when I bought it was on fw 45717 and I had no trouble adding it as a node. i then updated both routers to fw 81049 and found that the node's 2.4 band is not working, I rolled back to fw 45717 and now both bands are gone. can't find them, led not on and wireless settings like mode and channel settings are on auto and I can't change them. even the channel is set to zero . I tried a factory reset, clearing nvram and the firmware restoration tool with no luck. what have I done .

Maybe you bought a used, defective router.

OE

 

[CaptainSTX]

I recently bought a used ac86u to add as a aimesh node(main is another 86u). when I bought it was on fw 45717 and I had no trouble adding it as a node. i then updated both routers to fw 81049 and found that the node's 2.4 band is not working, I rolled back to fw 45717 and now both bands are gone. can't find them, led not on and wireless settings like mode and channel settings are on auto and I can't change them. even the channel is set to zero . I tried a factory reset, clearing nvram and the firmware restoration tool with no luck. what have I done .

What you are experiencing is unfortunately a problem other users of the AC86 have experienced, where one or both radios stop working and/or the 2.4 Ghz gets stuck on channel 0. To get an idea of how frequent the problem occurs you might want to scan some of the 237 unfavorable reviews of this router on Amazon. Your only option to fix this issue is to return the router or if that isn't possible see about an RMA.

My advice to anyone considering purchasing this router is only buy it NEW from an outlet with a liberal return policy and then extensively test it during this period when you can return it. ASUS's RMA process can be a crap shoot as what they send you is a router that someone else has returned and IMHO ASUS's test/refurbishing process consists of polishing the case and doing a reset and then if all its LEDs light up sending it to someone else.

 

[bitsbytes]

Maybe you bought a used, defective router.

OE

i hope that's the case, i'll see if i can return it.

What you are experiencing is unfortunately a problem other users of the AC86 have experienced, where one or both radios stop working and/or the 2.4 Ghz gets stuck on channel 0. To get an idea of how frequent the problem occurs you might want to scan some of the 237 unfavorable reviews of this router on Amazon. Your only option to fix this issue is to return the router or if that isn't possible see about an RMA.

My advice to anyone considering purchasing this router is only buy it NEW from an outlet with a liberal return policy and then extensively test it during this period when you can return it. ASUS's RMA process can be a crap shoot as what they send you is a router that someone else has returned and IMHO ASUS's test/refurbishing process consists of polishing the case and doing a reset and then if all its LEDs light up sending it to someone else.

yep it official then, this router is bricked. thanks for the help good people.

 

[CaptainSTX]

i hope that's the case, i'll see if i can return it.



yep it official then, this router is bricked. thanks for the help good people.

Not technically bricked as that would imply that the router was trashed as a result of flashing firmware. The problem with your router is more than likely a hardware defect and would have happened sooner or later regardless of what firmware or version it was running.

Good luck with the return. Hopefully you will get a unit manufactured in 2019 as there is some hope that the 2019s aren't subject to the problems that some of the 2018s were.

 

[Grisu]

Not technically bricked as that would imply that the router was trashed as a result of flashing firmware. The problem with your router is more than likely a hardware defect and would have happened sooner or later regardless of what firmware or version it was running.

My only problem is to believe its a hardware problem at first.
I read many many postings about exactly this situation where people updated firmware and directly afterwards their WiFi has gone showing ch. 0.
What I believe is that during the update process there occour a situation where WiFi-chips are in some non stable state or even overloaded and dying resulting in dead WiFi after an update and then it becomes a real HW-defect.
And when we read about many who cant update their firmware or have to try often due to bad flashes mostly because of less RAM it is a sign for me that this easily can result in forbidden or not definded conditions for HW.

 

[AndreiV]

I've seen 4 of these 86U's go down like this. One we recovered using the Asus firmware recovery tool, the other 3 are totally useless.

I wouldn't buy one now at any price.

 

[CaptainSTX]

My only problem is to believe its a hardware problem

Having struggled with four different AC86s there are several things that lead me to believe it is a hardware related issue and specifically something about the memory:

1. I have had AC86s where restoring to factory defaults and checking the box to clear all settings in the GUI has resulted in the router appearing to go through the process but when it reboots all the settings, password, SSIDs, etc are unchanged. Then the only option was to do a NVRAM erase followed by a factory reset.

2. I have had AC86s where even after doing multiple "Nuclear Resets" the firewall rules installed using Skynet still seem to be functioning and blocking IPs and IP ranges for countries that I had previously added to the default setting. This is after the resets and before I have reinstalled any scripts. I can see the blocks in the Log and AIprotection shows no hits over several days which is unusual if Skynet isn't running.

3. I have had an AC86 make a mishmash out of the 20 Static IPs I have entered. I have also had an AC86 just drop/ forget the list of static IPs.

4. One of the AC86s was in such bad shape that you couldn't load firmware in the recovery mode. It would go through the process, say it was completed but the firmware version was the same as before and none of the settings were set back to default.

5. VPN clients don't continue to function as the DHCP server for the VPN tunnel fails/resets to 0.0.0.0. Only fix is a "Nuclear Reset".

6. Multiple times with several of the routers where I could not log into the router using the GUI. The easiest solution was to SSH in and command a reboot.

7. Finally since the majority of users have no problems with this router it seems unlikely that either ASUS or Merlin's firmware is the issue since then most everyone would be having problems. I run the same settings on my AC1900P I had to buy while my AC86 is out for repairs since June and I don't have any issues so it probably isn't my setup or Merlin's 384.13. I have had issues with the AC86 going back to 384.9 so nothing has changed in Merlin's firmware causing the problems.

Your supposition about the radios may be correct. It is strange that this is an issue with no solution. Based on the posts on this forum or the negative reviews on Amazon gigging the 2.4 Ghz radio and the issue of it locking on channel 0 it isn't uncommon. It is just unfortunate that there isn't a method to put the router into a stable state and keep the radios functioning.

 

[AndreiV]

1. I have had AC86s where restoring to factory defaults and checking the box to clear all settings in the GUI has resulted in the router appearing to go through the process but when it reboots all the settings, password, SSIDs, etc are unchanged. Then the only option was to do a NVRAM erase followed by a factory reset.

Aha, the RT-AC87U all over again, that is exactly what happened time and again with that model though even "nvram erase" and multiple resets often failed to clear the settings so rescue mode was required, that along with the utterly hopeless Quantenna WiFi issues made the router unusable.

And it isn't Merlin, the same thing happens on stock ASUS firmware.

 

[bitsbytes]

got a replacement ac86u a couple of days ago. it's a 2017 model, HW version 1.5 and had FW 15098 installed so it's exactly like the old one i already have. i flashed it to FW 45717 and added it as a aimesh node and it's been working like a charm for the past three days. my prayers have been answered.

 

[bitsbytes]

2.4 is showing symptoms of a faulty 2.4 radio on my replacement. devices don't disconnet but they have no access to internet and when I reconnect them I get a password error that won't go until I restar the router. should I replace this one as well?