RT – AX88U Pro + 4x ZenWifi XD4 Mini nodes not getting IP for guest network

[remsta]

Hi all,

As the title says I have an RT – AX88U Pro running the latest Merlin firmware (non Beta) and have recently added 4x Zen Wi-Fi Mini XD4 nodes (latest official firmware) to create a mesh network down to my basement.

Because our apartment building is built like a bunker I also wanted to create a guest network for some of the other tenants. I went ahead and created a guest network, but whenever anyone including myself tries to connect to it, we just get a spinning circle. When I look on my iPhone it seems that the device just never get an IP address.

Some people mentioned activating Internet access, from my understanding that would give the guest network access to my internal network, which obviously don’t want. But I tried it anyway, and that made no difference.

Is anyone else having this issue? Has anyone worked at resolve it?

Thank you

 

[bbunge]

Hi all,

As the title says I have an RT – AX88U Pro running the latest Merlin firmware (non Beta) and have recently added 4x Zen Wi-Fi Mini XD4 nodes (latest official firmware) to create a mesh network down to my basement.

Because our apartment building is built like a bunker I also wanted to create a guest network for some of the other tenants. I went ahead and created a guest network, but whenever anyone including myself tries to connect to it, we just get a spinning circle. When I look on my iPhone it seems that the device just never get an IP address.

Some people mentioned activating Internet access, from my understanding that would give the guest network access to my internal network, which obviously don’t want. But I tried it anyway, and that made no difference.

Is anyone else having this issue? Has anyone worked at resolve it?

Thank you

Did you enable guest network on the nodes? It is a setting under the guest network Pro near the bottom called AiMesh.

Note that with non pro AiMesh nodes you may only get one of the bands to work. 2.4 GHz would be the choice for best range.

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hi all,

As the title says I have an RT – AX88U Pro running the latest Merlin firmware (non Beta) and have recently added 4x Zen Wi-Fi Mini XD4 nodes (latest official firmware) to create a mesh network down to my basement.

Because our apartment building is built like a bunker I also wanted to create a guest network for some of the other tenants. I went ahead and created a guest network, but whenever anyone including myself tries to connect to it, we just get a spinning circle. When I look on my iPhone it seems that the device just never get an IP address.

Some people mentioned activating Internet access, from my understanding that would give the guest network access to my internal network, which obviously don’t want. But I tried it anyway, and that made no difference.

Is anyone else having this issue? Has anyone worked at resolve it?

Thank you

Do not enable Intranet Access... this let's guest clients access your private LAN/WLANs.

Given ZEN is a plug and play product, maybe you have rogue DHCP server in a ZEN router that is competing with the DHCP server in the AX88U Pro.

OE

 

[remsta]

So this is what I have. I just tested again - so the guest network, works fine in the apartment when connected to the RT-AX88U Pro, just not when trying to connect via any of the AiMesh nodes. The network is visible there, it accepts the key but then never gets the IP.

Main network is 192.168.177.1

 

[remsta]

Ok so I went ahead and deleted all the networks and re-added the Guest one, I have now tried re-adding the IoT one I had and am getting the following error. For some reason it is not letting me add more than one Guest Network to the ZenWifi's?

 

[Tech9]

For some reason it is not letting me add more than one Guest Network to the ZenWifi's?

This is all you get, one Guest Network per band. The reason is 3004 firmware on the nodes. Features available on your router running 3006 firmware won't be available on your nodes. Call Asus and say thanks for the AiMesh Compatible across the board marketing.

 

[bennor]

For some reason it is not letting me add more than one Guest Network to the ZenWifi's?

That's apparently expected behavior.
[Wireless Router] How to set up Guest Network features to Sync to AiMesh node?

2. This feature can only be configured on the AiMesh router. Guest network is currently designed to allow the first set of each band (2.4G, 5G, 5G-1) available to the AiMesh node. Only one set is available for each band.
3. ASUS routers offer different guest network features depending on the model, including [Guest Network], [Guest Network Pro], and [Self-Defined Network (SDN) ]. Please refer to the following FAQ
[Wireless Router] How to set up Guest Network on ASUS Router?
[Guest Network Pro] How to set up Guest Network?
[ExpertWiFi] What is a Self-defined Network (SDN) and how do you set up an SDN?

 

[remsta]

So I would need to revert back to 3004? I can't seem to find the download for the 3004.388.9_2 (28-Apr-2025) firmware that has that AICloud fix, the latest release I can find is the 3004.388.8_4. Do I need to be on 3006.102 for the fix?

Can I just downgrade Merlin or do I need to do a factory reset?

 

[Tech9]

So I would need to revert back to 3004?

This won't change the situation above. One only GN per band will be still available, the limitation is in the nodes.

the latest release I can find is the 3004.388.8_4

This is the final 3004 firmware available for your router model. It was migrated to 3006 branch after this firmware.

From the changelog:

 

[Tech9]

Can I just downgrade Merlin or do I need to do a factory reset?

In case you want to downgrade to 3004 firmware branch you better do factory reset followed by manual configuration. This is a temporary measure only though because at some point you have to upgrade to 3006 again and perhaps redo everything again. Your choice.

 

[remsta]

But I can’t seem to find the .9 for the RT-AX88U Pro

Also, from my understanding it says you can have up to 6….

Guest Network
Support Guest Network
• Maximum Guest Network Rule : 6
Guest Network Connection Time Limit

ASUS ZenWiFi XD4 Plus - Tech Specs｜Whole Home Mesh WiFi System｜ASUS Switzerland

AX1800 Whole-Home Mesh WiFi 6 System – Coverage up to 4,800 Sq. ft. / 5+ rooms, easy setup, life-time free network security & parental controls

www.asus.com

 

[Tech9]

But I can’t seem to find the .9 for the RT-AX88U Pro

Because it doesn't exist for BCM4912 models - all moved to 3006 branch after .8_4.

Also, from my understanding it says you can have up to 6….

Main router only. Propagation to nodes in 3004 firmware - GN1 only for 2.4/5GHz bands.

 

[remsta]

Ah right - well that’s kind of misleading!