[RT-AX88U Pro] Is it normal for my router to drop internet connection when I save a new IP Binding?

[adko]

RT-AX88U (*edit: Pro version) running stock firmware v. 3.0.0.6.102_21514 in Wireless Router mode

When I go into the web interface and create a new IP Binding (dhcp reservation) - when I hit apply it shows a dialog with a progress indicator, the internet connection drops, and it seems like it's rebooting the router. After 10-20 seconds it comes back up. Is this service interruption expected in this use case? I haven't tried other settings so I don't know if this is system wide or not.

Since I can't find *literally* anything about it online / searching / forums / reddit / etc I assumed I must be missing something and decided to ask here. Thanks in advance!

 

[Ripshod]

Are you asking about the RT-AX88 Pro? I don't think this firmware was ever available for the AX88U. I could be wrong though.

 

[bbunge]

RT-AX88U running stock firmware v. 3.0.0.6.102_21514 in Wireless Router mode

When I go into the web interface and create a new IP Binding (dhcp reservation) - when I hit apply it shows a dialog with a progress indicator, the internet connection drops, and it seems like it's rebooting the router. After 10-20 seconds it comes back up. Is this service interruption expected in this use case? I haven't tried other settings so I don't know if this is system wide or not.

Since I can't find *literally* anything about it online / searching / forums / reddit / etc I assumed I must be missing something and decided to ask here. Thanks in advance!

Yes. Normal for the router to seem to reboot but actually drops the WAN and LAN, including WIFI, then goes back to "normal" operation. Not specific to AX88U Pro but on all Asus routers I have owned.

 

[adko]

Are you asking about the RT-AX88 Pro? I don't think this firmware was ever available for the AX88U. I could be wrong though.

Yes sorry I updated the post to reflect that it's the Pro version, thanks

 

[adko]

Yes. Normal for the router to seem to reboot but actually drops the WAN and LAN, including WIFI, then goes back to "normal" operation. Not specific to AX88U Pro but on all Asus routers I have owned.

Thanks for the reply,

Is there any 3rd party firmware (like merlin?) that would allow me to apply settings like this without dropping connections? I've owned routers that did in the past (not asus). I'm comfortable connecting to the router over ssh if there are more manual approaches. The main issue is my girlfriend works from home and any time the internet drops it takes her like 5-10 min to reconnect to her work vpn, all of the applications she has to have open, etc -- so it's impossible for me to make simple router changes without dropping connection for her.

 

[bbunge]

Thanks for the reply,

Is there any 3rd party firmware (like merlin?) that would allow me to apply settings like this without dropping connections? I've owned routers that did in the past (not asus). I'm comfortable connecting to the router over ssh if there are more manual approaches. The main issue is my girlfriend works from home and any time the internet drops it takes her like 5-10 min to reconnect to her work vpn, all of the applications she has to have open, etc -- so it's impossible for me to make simple router changes without dropping connection for her.

No. But if it is any consolation an IP address for a client never seems to change even without manually assigning.

Another approach is to assign clients static IP addresses and start the DHCP pool high enough to cover the static addresses. I start my DHCP pool at 192.168.50.20 which leaves plenty of addresses for cams, NAS and etc.

 

[Tech9]

Is there any 3rd party firmware (like merlin?) that would allow me to apply settings like this without dropping connections?

New DHCP reservation restarts the DHCP server on Apply. This is the normal behavior in Asuswrt and Asuswrt-Merlin.

 

[RMerlin]

New DHCP reservation restarts the DHCP server on Apply. This is the normal behavior in Asuswrt and Asuswrt-Merlin.

Stock firmware restarts the whole LAN stack versus only dnsmasq with my firmware when using the dhcp reservations page.

 

[adko]

Stock firmware restarts the whole LAN stack versus only dnsmasq with my firmware when using the dhcp reservations page.

Yeah that's what I was going to comment - I understand if the DHCP server has to restart, but not the entire stack. I'm going to have to give merlin a try, thank you!

 

[RMerlin]

but not the entire stack.

They probably do that on the Networkmap so blocked clients will be immediately blocked.

 

[adko]

Stock firmware restarts the whole LAN stack versus only dnsmasq with my firmware when using the dhcp reservations page.

You might think about incuding that feature on the merlin features page -- I would have installed it immediately! However, like I said I didn't find anything about this anywhere online so maybe I'm the only one who cares lol....

 

[Tech9]

maybe I'm the only one who cares

Most people do the reservations when setting up the router and a few after. Perhaps this is the reason. The connection loss is for few seconds only.

 

[adko]

Verified that the merlin firmware allows DHCP reservations without dropping internet connection - also much faster -- thanks for the great work RMerlin!