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RT-AC3100 and WAN Dropping

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xplicit503

New Around Here
First off, thanks for reading this new guys post about his problems. But, I've been having some issues with my WAN dropping intermittently and randomly.

As noted in the title, I have a RT-AC3100 with Merlin's firmware (Both the latest stable and as of writing 381.13) installed. I am using the device with CenturyLink Gig Fiber, but living in a townhouse the fiber line comes to a ONT outside and is split with 4 units (at least that's what I am told). With that being said, using VLAN tagging of 201 on the WAN port.

Anyway, about two days ago I kept getting no WAN connection. CenturyLink was able to verify that they saw me authenticate and drop about 30 times in 6 hours. I look at my logs and everytime there is an issue, this shows up:

Pastebin link as I kept getting the blocked notice:
https://pastebin.com/CeEEniGP

Long story short, I tried resetting the router and a firmware update, no avail. Apparently a tech showed up and replaced the ONT (I don't know if this actually happened as I never got a notice or a call). Still having issues after that.

Any advice on moving forward here? I'm thinking about attempting to purchase a new device, and seeing if the building owner will allow me to test the ethernet running from the ONT to inside my unit.

Thanks for reading and stay safe and healthy out there.
 
The RT-AC3100 is a very stable router in my experience (my own and many customers). Assuming that the ISP side of things is operating correctly, the state of the router's configuration is my first concern and where I would concentrate to get it back to full reliability. At least, that is what we have the most control over. ;)

Version 381.13 is far from the latest firmware, let alone the most stable RMerlin firmware available for your router. Even the latest v384.16 Beta 3 is as stable as any release version of RMerlin on a wide range of routers, including the RT-AC3100, that I have upgraded personally myself.

I would suggest following the M&M Config guide and possibly the Nuclear reset guide which can be found in my signature below to get your router back to a good/known state. I would also suggest flashing RMerlin 384.15_0 at the minimum too beforehand (as mentioned, the 384.16 Beta 3 is also a good firmware to test with).

What the guides above will do is make sure your network and devices are in a good/known state and further troubleshooting can be straightforward without random glitches and bugs that flashing various versions back and forth can introduce to your network.

If after following the guides the network exhibits the same behavior and the ISP side can be ruled out, then a new router can be (more) safely assumed to correct your issues.

HTH.
 
L&LD, thanks for the reply. The router has been rock steady for the year and half under this configuration, it replaced my old RT-1900 and I was happy with it.

My first attempt was flashing from 384.14 to 384.15 to see if anything would clear up, same problems persisted. I'll try a beta version after wiping it clean again and see whats going on. Any possible recommendations for another router? Without much research I was thinking the ASUS AX-3100 or something in the Nighthawk AX line up (don't know if I can do PPPoE with VLAN tagging on them though).

Thanks again.
 
The upgrade path (which I personally can attest to) from the RT-AC3100 is the RT-AC86U and above that, the RT-AX88U. Both are RMerlin supported and provide a network experience like no other consumer router can touch today. ;)

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/open-wrt-security-hole.63024/#post-565448

I can't stress enough for you; first, flash the firmware you want. Then do a full reset/Initialize to factory defaults. :)

If you're using a USB drive for a swap file or scripts, I would format that on a PC before following the amtm Step-by-Step guide (also found via the link in my signature below) except for installing amtm for RMerlin v384.15_0 or later. :)

You're welcome and hope you can get your router stable once again.
 
I was looking at the AX88U but no stores near me have it in stock :(

The only other one is the AX-3000 (RT-AX58U), granted I'll never saturate the WiFi speeds with no NAS or anything, I might take a stab at it after testing the AC3100 out more.
 
Beta 3 should resolves all the remaining known issues that can be fixed by myself (i.e. LAN LEDs issues when disabling/enabling LED is in Asus's code and outside of my control).
 
Well unfortunately I tried going through all the steps I can on my end, even said to heck with it and bought a AX-58U, still dropping. So I sent out an email to the landlord to see about cable testing and then run up centurylink on the phone and was told that there be an issue with a PON port/Cyberspan or something along those lines.

Apparently the tech kinda just replaced the ONT for no reason.

I'll update here if I ever figure it out and maybe it might help any other lost souls. The next question is, some how return the AX-58U or keep it and retire the RT-3100.
 
Test it and compare it to the RT-AC3100. Make sure to test over several days. Make sure you are using new, never before used SSID's and passwords that are 8 and 16, respectively, alphanumeric characters long and don't include punctuation, special characters, spaces or smiley faces. Also, be sure to tune to the best Control channel on each band for this router (and don't blindly put in the same settings you have on the 'AC3100).

The RT-AC3100 may still be worth keeping if you want to 'light up' a dark(er) area of the home with fast WiFi via AiMesh. Or, sell it as it may be worth almost as much as the RT-AX58U you just bought. ;)
 
Test it and compare it to the RT-AC3100. Make sure to test over several days. Make sure you are using new, never before used SSID's and passwords that are 8 and 16, respectively, alphanumeric characters long and don't include punctuation, special characters, spaces or smiley faces. Also, be sure to tune to the best Control channel on each band for this router (and don't blindly put in the same settings you have on the 'AC3100).

The RT-AC3100 may still be worth keeping if you want to 'light up' a dark(er) area of the home with fast WiFi via AiMesh. Or, sell it as it may be worth almost as much as the RT-AX58U you just bought. ;)


What's this about 8 and 16 char passwords
 
Previous issues reported were corrected by using something more than 4 character SSID's that are not hidden (and only alphanumeric with the restricted attributes above). I have standardized on 8 alphanumeric characters for SSID's.

SSID passwords should not have that restriction, but I don't want to learn otherwise the hard way. I have standardized to 16 alphanumeric characters for Asus passwords for all fields (it is a 'hard' restriction on the main router password and might be the same in other fields too within the GUI).
 

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