RT-AC86U Keeps dropping internet connection after media server (UPnP) is turned on

[DavDhan]

Looking for some guidance with this issue that has cropped up after moving from stock Asus FW 3.0.0.4.386.51529 to Merlin 386.11.0. This was necessitated due to the issue with router outage that happened on Tues (05/16). The router is hardwired and all network connectivity is through Lan drops in the home.

After switching to Merlin F/W, as soon as the media server is enabled, the router looses internet connectivity and becomes inaccessible for some time. After I enable Wireless adapter on the computer, Internet becomes available but no wired internet/router connectivity. As soon as media server is turned off, everything works just fine. So far have tried the following:

• Under Administration --> USB Setting,
  • Changed USB mode from 3.0 to 2.0 (also swapped the physical USB cable connection on the router from USB3.0 (Blue port) to 2.0 (black port))
  • Enable HDD Hibernation --> Yes/No
• under WAN --> Basic Config
  • switched Enable secure UPnP mode to Enable/Disable
• Switched Media Server Path from All Disks Shared to Manual media server path

The radio temps are 49 & 55 deg Celsius (for 2.4/5 GHz radios and the CPU temp is 87 deg Celsius which is what I have observed over the past few months. As far as I can remember, I haven't changed any configuration and yes, before flashing Merlin, did a 30-30-30 reset.

Any ideas what to look for or if there is a setting that I am missing.

Thanks

 

[L&LD]

After you flashed the RMerlin firmware, did you do a full reset to factory defaults, followed by a minimal and manual configuration to secure the router and connect to your ISP? Without using a saved backup config file.

 

[Ripshod]

I had similar issues with an RT-AC88U (don't remember which firmware) when I had a large collection of media on the usb drive. I never investigated further than trying with a smaller collection which worked. As a new install involved building the database I just put it down to an 'out of memory' condition and moved to a NAS.
Not saying that's your problem, just putting it out there as a possibility.

 

[bbunge]

WAN-UPnP has nothing to do with your problem. With a large quantity of media files the program will take time to search through the to build the database. Switching to USB 2 will slow that down and it is possible the router will run out of memory. Adding a swap file or partition on a thumb drive may help. A NAS is a better idea. I have always disabled the media player for the reasons you have discovered.

 

[DavDhan]

After you flashed the RMerlin firmware, did you do a full reset to factory defaults, followed by a minimal and manual configuration to secure the router and connect to your ISP? Without using a saved backup config file.

If I recall, the 30-30-30 reset wiped off everything clean. After installing Merlin, I was looking at default settings and had to manually reconfigure everything again

I had similar issues with an RT-AC88U (don't remember which firmware) when I had a large collection of media on the usb drive. I never investigated further than trying with a smaller collection which worked. As a new install involved building the database I just put it down to an 'out of memory' condition and moved to a NAS.
Not saying that's your problem, just putting it out there as a possibility.

Router memory that is usually pegged at 45% jumps to 96/97% as soon as the HDD is plugged in/media enabled and scales back after the setting is turned off, so could be memory saturation

WAN-UPnP has nothing to do with your problem. With a large quantity of media files the program will take time to search through the to build the database. Switching to USB 2 will slow that down and it is possible the router will run out of memory. Adding a swap file or partition on a thumb drive may help. A NAS is a better idea. I have always disabled the media player for the reasons you have discovered.

The connected HDD is a 2-bay disk enclosure which has its own power & memory and it seemed to work just fine on the stock firmware. I'll try to remove one disk and see if that helps. Since the router has two USB ports, can you point me to how I can setup swap on a thumb drive

Would prefer to keep it simple and not go the NAS route if I don't have to as my use-case is media access on the smart TV's (DLNA) on the home network with absolutely no remote/cloud or computer access other than copying media to/from the drives for the latter.

 

[L&LD]

There is no 30-30-30 reset on RMerlin routers.

When going from stock to RMerlin firmware, or vice versa, a full reset is almost always required, and always recommended (particularly when random issues and glitches like yours arise).

Follow the link below for your model to do so now. Trying to troubleshoot with the state the router is in now isn't a productive use of your time (or other members trying to help you either).

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

The full reset to factory defaults, after flashing the firmware you want, allows the firmware to use its expected defaults, and not anything carried over from the previous firmware (which is where most glitches come from when people don't do the reset steps correctly and in order.

 

[DavDhan]

Thanks for the quick response. That was the exact process listed in Method2 that I followed to reset the router before flashing Merlin