RT-AC86U disobeying (ignoring) Wifi time scheduler

[pelican]

Hi,

I'm new around here and not an IT guru, so please be gentle with me.

I have an AC86U as my main router (running off a virgin media Hub 3, which is in modem-only mode), as well as an ASUS RT-N66U access point to extend Wi-Fi to the back of the house.

Both routers have the Wifi>Professional>Scheduler enabled for both 5 and 2.4GHz, so there should be no Wi-Fi between 1am and 6am on a daily basis.

However, we have recently noticed that the wifi is on all night, so after working fine for years it is now ignoring the scheduling.

Both routers use standard Asus firmware, the N66U is on 3.0.0.4.382_51641 and the AC86U uses 3.0.0.4.384_82072. The N66U doesn't seem to be able to update itself.

Any helpful advice on how to get the scheduler to work is welcome.

Many thanks in advance

 

[ColinTaylor]

I can't think why it would suddenly stop working if nothing has changed. Look in the router's System Log and see if the date and time are correct.

Both of those firmware are years out of date (although there is only one update for the N66U). I suggest you start by updating them both, but particularly the RT-AC86U as it is your internet facing device and has known security vulnerabilities which are fixed in the current firmware.

As the RT-AC86U's move from 384.x firmware to 386.x is a big leap you should perform a factory reset after the upgrade followed by a manual configuration (i.e. do not reload old settings from a backup file).

 

[L&LD]

Welcome to the forums @pelican.

You are running old hardware (RT-N66U) and even older firmware on both of your routers.

The latest ASUS RT-AC86U Firmware version is 3.0.0.4.386.51529.

The latest ASUS RT-N66U Firmware version is 3.0.0.4.382.52272.


I would first get the routers to their latest firmware versions. Afterward, perform a full reset to factory defaults (see the link below for the RT-AC86U suggested process).

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

Then, minimally and manually configure the main router until you're satisfied you have a stable network. Do not use any saved backup config files. Do not 'mindlessly' manually copy your current settings into the fully reset routers either (many things may have changed).

The following link(s) may be helpful to get your router back to a stable and expected user experience.

Merlin on ASUS ax86U Question

I have an ASUS AX86U and contemplating the installation of Merlin firmware. The DDNS settings on the AX86U are limited to select dns providers. If I install Merlin, will I have more flexability (choices) with the DDNS Settings? Thanks in advance!

www.snbforums.com

Am I all set to start fresh with the latest stable release? And a request for L&LD...

After creating the checklists two weeks ago to save the pages with settings, I've made all the screenshots (I think at least) of all the relevant guides written by @L&LD and the very useful tip by @netware5. The only thing is, those guides are great, except when you'll be offline at least for a...

www.snbforums.com

L&LD

www.snbforums.com

If your routers are not able to complete the firmware upgrade, you may try the following steps, until the upgrade works.

1) Unplug all WAN and LAN cables and remove all USB devices from the router. Physically unplug the power plug from the router and the wall AC socket, while leaving the router's power button in the 'on' position. Wait for a few minutes, then power the router on and try flashing the latest firmware once more.

2) If the above isn't successful, perform the full reset first, then try flashing the firmware again.

 

[pelican]

Many thanks for these great suggestions. I really appreciate it.

When I run the firmware update checker it says "Temporarily unable to get the latest firmware information. Please try again later", but it's been saying it's recently updated so I assumed all was fine. Wrong... it was a "signature update" that was current, not the firmware, apparently.

I will try a manual update when no-one is online, and take it from there.

 

[pelican]

Thanks for the suggestions. Updating the firmware on both has done the trick. Much appreciated. This group is amazing