RT-AX86U Pro dropping connection intermittently

[Kae Takara]

I purchased this router a few months back, maybe about 3-5 months ago. I haven't had too many issues using it. However, recently my internet has been spotty. The router keeps dropping wired and wireless connectivity to the internet. It lasts anywhere from 30 seconds to around 5 minutes. My ISP, Spectrum, has checked the connectivity to the modem and checked everything on their end and they state everything looks good up to the modem.

Steps I have taken to troubleshoot

1. Reboot Modem
2. Reboot Router
3. Reboot both at the same time
4. Swapped the ethernet cable the runs from Router to Modem for an essentially brand new cable (Old cable never used)
5. Firmware is up to date (running latest firmware direct from Asus)
6. Factory Defaulted the router to see if that would help.

Modem I am using is a Hitron Docsis 3.1 EN2251. As far as I am aware, there is no interface I can access and all the settings are controlled via the ISP. It is connected via a coax cable.

I read other threads of people having issues and the one that has the most replies he mentioned the issue only seems to be happening while connected via VPN. Mine is happening while connected to my work VPN and while I am not connected to my work VPN. My roommate may have a VPN as well but I am not 100% sure.

Any suggestions on getting this to be more stable? I am not too network savvy but I am tech savvy so if you can give some explanations and steps to follow, I can do my best.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I purchased this router a few months back, maybe about 3-5 months ago. I haven't had too many issues using it. However, recently my internet has been spotty. The router keeps dropping wired and wireless connectivity to the internet. It lasts anywhere from 30 seconds to around 5 minutes. My ISP, Spectrum, has checked the connectivity to the modem and checked everything on their end and they state everything looks good up to the modem.

Steps I have taken to troubleshoot

1. Reboot Modem
2. Reboot Router
3. Reboot both at the same time
4. Swapped the ethernet cable the runs from Router to Modem for an essentially brand new cable (Old cable never used)
5. Firmware is up to date (running latest firmware direct from Asus)
6. Factory Defaulted the router to see if that would help.

Modem I am using is a Hitron Docsis 3.1 EN2251. As far as I am aware, there is no interface I can access and all the settings are controlled via the ISP. It is connected via a coax cable.

I read other threads of people having issues and the one that has the most replies he mentioned the issue only seems to be happening while connected via VPN. Mine is happening while connected to my work VPN and while I am not connected to my work VPN. My roommate may have a VPN as well but I am not 100% sure.

Any suggestions on getting this to be more stable? I am not too network savvy but I am tech savvy so if you can give some explanations and steps to follow, I can do my best.

Do the router LEDs indicate not healthy?

Does the router log indicate anything near the time of 'outage'?

OE

 

[Kae Takara]

Do the router LEDs indicate not healthy?

Does the router log indicate anything near the time of 'outage'?

OE

The LEDs on the Router and Modem both indicate everything is fine from what I have seen.

Here is what is in the log. I cleared it out after posting this thread so I could get the log as it happened.

Oct 23 20:25:23 bsd: bsd: Sending act Frame to e2:a6:b2:dd:4a:df with transition target eth6 ssid c8:7f:54:b2:7f:60
Oct 23 20:25:24 bsd: bsd: BSS Transit Response: ifname=eth7, event=156, token=d, status=7, mac=dd:07:50:6f:9a:16
Oct 23 20:25:24 bsd: bsd: BSS Transit Response: STA reject
Oct 23 20:25:24 bsd: bsd: Skip STA:e2:a6:b2:dd:4a:df reject BSSID
Oct 23 21:47:21 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth7: Deauth_ind 7E:37:6C:61:B1:95, status: 0, reason: Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:47:21 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth7: Disassoc 7E:37:6C:61:B1:95, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:01 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Unspecified reason (1), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:01 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth6: Disassoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:05 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth7: Auth C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:05 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth7: Assoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:-61
Oct 23 21:49:21 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth7: Deauth_ind C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Unspecified reason (1), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:21 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth7: Disassoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:21 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth7: Auth C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:-61
Oct 23 21:49:21 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(695): eth7: ReAssoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:-61
Oct 23 21:49:37 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth7: Deauth_ind C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Unspecified reason (1), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:37 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth7: Disassoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:40 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth7: Auth C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:40 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth7: Assoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:-61
Oct 23 21:50:45 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth7: Deauth_ind C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Unspecified reason (1), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:50:45 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth7: Disassoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:50:57 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth7: Auth C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:50:57 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth7: Assoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:-60

EDIT: This log may be a fluke. Outage reported in my area by ISP. However, this issue has been happening for a bit and this log provided is essentially what was showing on other days where no outage reported.

 

[OzarkEdge]

The LEDs on the Router and Modem both indicate everything is fine from what I have seen.

Here is what is in the log. I cleared it out after posting this thread so I could get the log as it happened.

Oct 23 20:25:23 bsd: bsd: Sending act Frame to e2:a6:b2:dd:4a:df with transition target eth6 ssid c8:7f:54:b2:7f:60
Oct 23 20:25:24 bsd: bsd: BSS Transit Response: ifname=eth7, event=156, token=d, status=7, mac=dd:07:50:6f:9a:16
Oct 23 20:25:24 bsd: bsd: BSS Transit Response: STA reject
Oct 23 20:25:24 bsd: bsd: Skip STA:e2:a6:b2:dd:4a:df reject BSSID
Oct 23 21:47:21 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth7: Deauth_ind 7E:37:6C:61:B1:95, status: 0, reason: Deauthenticated because sending station is leaving (or has left) IBSS or ESS (3), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:47:21 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth7: Disassoc 7E:37:6C:61:B1:95, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:01 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth6: Deauth_ind C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Unspecified reason (1), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:01 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth6: Disassoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:05 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth7: Auth C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:05 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth7: Assoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:-61
Oct 23 21:49:21 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth7: Deauth_ind C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Unspecified reason (1), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:21 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth7: Disassoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:21 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth7: Auth C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:-61
Oct 23 21:49:21 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(695): eth7: ReAssoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:-61
Oct 23 21:49:37 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth7: Deauth_ind C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Unspecified reason (1), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:37 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth7: Disassoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:40 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth7: Auth C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:49:40 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth7: Assoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:-61
Oct 23 21:50:45 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(645): eth7: Deauth_ind C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Unspecified reason (1), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:50:45 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(662): eth7: Disassoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:50:57 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(685): eth7: Auth C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
Oct 23 21:50:57 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(722): eth7: Assoc C4:BD:E5:7D:E3:1C, status: Successful (0), rssi:-60

EDIT: This log may be a fluke. Outage reported in my area by ISP. However, this issue has been happening for a bit and this log provided is essentially what was showing on other days where no outage reported.

Log entries at the time of 'outage' would be of interest for any troubleshooting.

OE

 

[Kae Takara]

The logs posted above were essentially all I was getting during the outage time period last night. I will keep my eyes on it today and see what happens and update with more log info if it happens again. But since the issue is intermittent, it might not happen for a day or so.

 

[doubleozero]

Just created an account so I could follow this thread -- I'm having the same problem, and I think I pinned down the cause (the next couple of hours will tell).

In my case, I think it's the USB drive I had connected to the router. I have no idea why that would be the cause, but it's been behaving ever since I disconnected the drive and rebooted the router.

Until now, it has been restarting every so often throughout the the day (just started this afternoon).

Firmware is latest (stock Asus, haven't ventured into the world of Merlin yet).
Restarted the router. Lost connection a little while later again.
Checked system logs. Nothing jumped out to me other than these two lines repeating a lot:

Oct 28 16:08:07 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check7843)]retrieve firmware information
Oct 28 16:08:07 WATCHDOG: [FAUPGRADE][auto_firmware_check7846)]user in use

(I tried looking up what "user in use" means in this context, but couldn't find anything -- I'm guessing this is relatively benign?)

Anyway, after failing to find any leads, I noticed a lot of threads mentioned disconnecting USB before rebooting, and it occurred to me that the one thing I've been doing today that's different from most normal days is I was both connected to a VPN and transferring data from my PC's drive to the hard drive connected to the router via its USB port. Ever since I removed those variables, it's been behaving.

I'll reconnect the USB drive after I verify it's been behaving for a while and then see if the problem resurfaces.