Struggling with Asus ZenWiFi BE30000 aka 3 node BQ16 Pro bundle

[skypx]

Hey guys, I just hit 30 days with no disconnection issues. The firmware update dated 10 March (3.0.0.6.102_36909) and a reset of all 3 BQ16 Pros did the trick.

 

[RaidersHI_95]

Hey guys, I just hit 30 days with no disconnection issues. The firmware update dated 10 March (3.0.0.6.102_36909) and a reset of all 3 BQ16 Pros did the trick.

I'm still struggling with almost daily disconnection issues, and a recurring entry in my system log file:

May 10 07:57:34 watchdog: start httpd
May 10 07:57:34 rc_service: watchdog 4733:notify_rc start_httpd
May 10 07:57:34 ZenWiFi_BE30000: start https:8443
May 10 07:57:34 ZenWiFi_BE30000: start httpd:80
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Restore saved SSL certificate...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Generating SSL certificate...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Failed to initialize SSL, generating new key/cert...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Restore saved SSL certificate...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Generating SSL certificate...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Failed to initialize SSL, generating new key/cert...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Unable to start in SSL mode, exiting! 8443

Anyone know what/why this repeats over and over in my log? Any detrimental effects or perhaps symptom of my wireless connectivity issue?

 

[skypx]

I'm still struggling with almost daily disconnection issues, and a recurring entry in my system log file:

May 10 07:57:34 watchdog: start httpd
May 10 07:57:34 rc_service: watchdog 4733:notify_rc start_httpd
May 10 07:57:34 ZenWiFi_BE30000: start https:8443
May 10 07:57:34 ZenWiFi_BE30000: start httpd:80
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Restore saved SSL certificate...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Generating SSL certificate...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Failed to initialize SSL, generating new key/cert...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Restore saved SSL certificate...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Generating SSL certificate...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Failed to initialize SSL, generating new key/cert...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Unable to start in SSL mode, exiting! 8443

Anyone know what/why this repeats over and over in my log? Any detrimental effects or perhaps symptom of my wireless connectivity issue?

I have no clue, sorry. The only advice I can give is to reset the router and node(s), then setup from scratch. I’m assuming you have firmware version 3.0.0.6.102_36909 installed?

 

[RaidersHI_95]

I have no clue, sorry. The only advice I can give is to reset the router and node(s), then setup from scratch. I’m assuming you have firmware version 3.0.0.6.102_36909 installed?

Yup, that's the version I'm running. I'm getting ready to do just that, but not really motivated to have to reset all of my IoT devices and cameras.

 

[JohnNadeau]

Anyone know what/why this repeats over and over in my log? Any detrimental effects or perhaps symptom of my wireless connectivity issue?

Not sure that it relates to your Wireless Connectivity Issue.

How many BQ16Pro's are you running?
How are they connected (wired; or 6GHz)?
If multiple Nodes, are Client Devices disconnecting from one in particular?

As to Wireless:

• Are the disconnects related to any particular radio? (2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz) or do they all disconnect?
• I have 60+- Client Devices Connected (2.4GHz=30 Clients; 5GHz=18 Clients; 6GHz=1 Client) and have not had any disconnects for 65+- days, but I'm running only one BQ16Pro (as my Router) and have disabled several things on all of the Radios.
• I found through conducting Wireless Surveys and Speed Tests at various points in my house, that "locking" the 2.4GHz and 5GHz Radios to specific channels has helped and provided better speeds and signal strengths than allowing them to seek their own channel.
• As well, I've disabled other things I don't have a need for at this time, such as Multi-Link Operation (MLO) and WiFi 7 features
• My 2.4GHz Settings are pictured below. 5HGz and 6GHz have similar settings.
• And Yes... I do have it "dumbed down" for now as I just don't have the confidence in WiFi 7 and current firmware.

As to the Log Errors:

1. Are you (intentionally) running WAN > DDNS ?
2. Is it Enabled or Disabled?
3. If Enabled, have you tried Disabling; Saving; Power-Cycling ASUS; then Re-Enabling; Saving; Power-Cycling ?

 

[skypx]

Yup, that's the version I'm running. I'm getting ready to do just that, but not really motivated to have to reset all of my IoT devices and cameras.

No need to reset any clients just the BQ16Pros and use the same SSID’s and passwords you used before with the new setup after the reset.

 

[RaidersHI_95]

Not sure that it relates to your Wireless Connectivity Issue.

How many BQ16Pro's are you running?
How are they connected (wired; or 6GHz)?
If multiple Nodes, are Client Devices disconnecting from one in particular?

As to Wireless:

• Are the disconnects related to any particular radio? (2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz) or do they all disconnect?
• I have 60+- Client Devices Connected (2.4GHz=30 Clients; 5GHz=18 Clients; 6GHz=1 Client) and have not had any disconnects for 65+- days, but I'm running only one BQ16Pro (as my Router) and have disabled several things on all of the Radios.
• I found through conducting Wireless Surveys and Speed Tests at various points in my house, that "locking" the 2.4GHz and 5GHz Radios to specific channels has helped and provided better speeds and signal strengths than allowing them to seek their own channel.
• As well, I've disabled other things I don't have a need for at this time, such as Multi-Link Operation (MLO) and WiFi 7 features
• My 2.4GHz Settings are pictured below. 5HGz and 6GHz have similar settings.
• And Yes... I do have it "dumbed down" for now as I just don't have the confidence in WiFi 7 and current firmware.

As to the Log Errors:

1. Are you (intentionally) running WAN > DDNS ?
2. Is it Enabled or Disabled?
3. If Enabled, have you tried Disabling; Saving; Power-Cycling ASUS; then Re-Enabling; Saving; Power-Cycling ?

View attachment 65592

View attachment 65593

View attachment 65595

Thank you for the screenshots and comprehensive response. I'm using all three units in the BE30000 set, with one primary router and the other two nodes setup as AiMesh with wireless backhaul and MLO turned on.

My primary problem is my entire network goes down for 5-10 minutes - all devices, wired & wireless lose connectivity, whenever my Teslas connect to the WiFi network. My leading theory is my ISP's router (I'm running double NAT) is somehow seeing traffic from my Tesla vehicles that it doesn't like and shuts the connection until the firewall timeout resets. My theory is based on evidence that the network drop occurs almost immediately after the vehicles connect to the network WiFi, and connecting the vehicles to their own dedicated SSID, even on my ISP's primary gateway router still results in the same problem. The issue is my ISP's gateway router (it's a Xyxel) firewall and web configuration is bad and offers little settings to troubleshoot or provide visibility into what is occurring.

However, the Tesla connection is just the primary diagnosis. I still get notifications from my doorbell and other IoT devices periodically daily (when the cars are not even at home) that devices have no connection. Some are on the 2.4 band, but I think others are 5. All of the wireless settings are still at default settings for WiFi 7 & MLO operation. I'm going to try disabling MLO next and see if that improves the situation, and also I read in an earlier post regarding the issue with the 2.4Ghz band and removing it from the primary SSID seems to be a fix. Unfortunately, my Brother printer only supports 2.4 WiFi, so I'm stuck because I need it to be on my main SSID so I can print, unless there's a way I can create a separate SSID for just the printer (and other 2.4 only devices) that allow visibility to my PCs on my main SSID? My next step (if disabling MLO doesn't work) will be to try turning off WiFi 7.

 

[degrub]

search for "Guest Network on main network IP range". i think there is a setting under one of the Guest networks that allows what you want for printing. It may be under Merlin firmware though.

On 2.4 GHz band, keep the channel width to 20 MHz not 20/40 or more. FIxed channel rather than Auto. Can help with the disconnects.

 

[Stepalex]

Has anyone tried the 3.0.0.6.102_36934 fw already, how is it going?

 

[garysteel]

Has anyone tried the 3.0.0.6.102_36934 fw already, how is it going?

I'm on the new BQ16 updated firmware (no one has mentioned this or announced!! everyone favours the US Pro variant lol) so far no noticable issues across setup.
Current Version : 3.0.0.6.102_36934
G

 

[jzchen]

I'm still struggling with almost daily disconnection issues, and a recurring entry in my system log file:

May 10 07:57:34 watchdog: start httpd
May 10 07:57:34 rc_service: watchdog 4733:notify_rc start_httpd
May 10 07:57:34 ZenWiFi_BE30000: start https:8443
May 10 07:57:34 ZenWiFi_BE30000: start httpd:80
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Restore saved SSL certificate...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Generating SSL certificate...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Failed to initialize SSL, generating new key/cert...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Restore saved SSL certificate...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Generating SSL certificate...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Failed to initialize SSL, generating new key/cert...8443
May 10 07:57:34 httpd: Unable to start in SSL mode, exiting! 8443

Anyone know what/why this repeats over and over in my log? Any detrimental effects or perhaps symptom of my wireless connectivity issue?

Those have to do with root and server certificates for logging in with https vs http locally. Someone reported a similar daily issue on the GT-AX6000 where the certificate would be reset to a date (and time) before the clock auto updated to current time. (An issue with 3.0.0.6 firmware it seems on AX(E) routers with scheduled rebooting).

EDIT- You should be able to find a similar setting as I try to screenshot. (Hopefully less blurry than in the past). Try switching Local Access Config to HTTP.

 

[jzchen]

Has anyone tried the 3.0.0.6.102_36934 fw already, how is it going?

I have a single BQ16 Pro (AiMesh) node to the GT-BE98 Pro. I have been running that starting soon after it was released. So far so good...

 

[jzchen]

Thank you for the screenshots and comprehensive response. I'm using all three units in the BE30000 set, with one primary router and the other two nodes setup as AiMesh with wireless backhaul and MLO turned on.

My primary problem is my entire network goes down for 5-10 minutes - all devices, wired & wireless lose connectivity, whenever my Teslas connect to the WiFi network. My leading theory is my ISP's router (I'm running double NAT) is somehow seeing traffic from my Tesla vehicles that it doesn't like and shuts the connection until the firewall timeout resets. My theory is based on evidence that the network drop occurs almost immediately after the vehicles connect to the network WiFi, and connecting the vehicles to their own dedicated SSID, even on my ISP's primary gateway router still results in the same problem. The issue is my ISP's gateway router (it's a Xyxel) firewall and web configuration is bad and offers little settings to troubleshoot or provide visibility into what is occurring.

However, the Tesla connection is just the primary diagnosis. I still get notifications from my doorbell and other IoT devices periodically daily (when the cars are not even at home) that devices have no connection. Some are on the 2.4 band, but I think others are 5. All of the wireless settings are still at default settings for WiFi 7 & MLO operation. I'm going to try disabling MLO next and see if that improves the situation, and also I read in an earlier post regarding the issue with the 2.4Ghz band and removing it from the primary SSID seems to be a fix. Unfortunately, my Brother printer only supports 2.4 WiFi, so I'm stuck because I need it to be on my main SSID so I can print, unless there's a way I can create a separate SSID for just the printer (and other 2.4 only devices) that allow visibility to my PCs on my main SSID? My next step (if disabling MLO doesn't work) will be to try turning off WiFi 7.

Can you remove the double NAT somehow with a bridge mode or passthrough? (I'm forced to use IP Passthrough on our AT&T Gateway). There's a free firewall offered by AT&T but the installer advised that it blocks legit websites, too agressive. When I tried it sure enough some websites that I tried to visit were blocked.

I'm lucky that my Brother MFC-8890DW is wired. Since yours is 2.4 GHz exclusively does that mean it is WiFi 4 b/g/n? My IoTs are on the main SSID, but I think all are ax. I can switch my security to WPA3 and the only thing that stops functioning is an iPad Air 2.

We don't have any Teslas but we do have a EQB and VF 9 that I sometimes connect to WiFi. I would say you got me beat there I used the WiFi to download USA nav maps to the VF 9 but beyond that no traffic I suspect. Our Level 2 way back from 2013 doesn't have any sort of connectivity, and our SolarEdge inverters are wired...

I do not have MLO enabled, (it does offer me to MLO both BE98 Pro and BQ16 Pro). I do have WiFi 7 enabled exclusively on 6 GHz,-2.

You may want to try disabling the OFDMA setting on 2.4 GHz as a start...

 

[bkayrac]

No issues since i started using it.

I did have a TON of problems with the original firmware, in trying to setup IoT devices, stuff just didn't want to connect at all. Ended up having to make a separate IoT network, that cannot be accessed by the main to get things to work. The one device that did still sometimes struggle on the edge of range, does seem to be more reliable now though

 

[bob24]

Has anyone tried the 3.0.0.6.102_36934 fw already, how is it going?

I have been anonymously following this thread for a while and pulled the trigger on a BQ16 back in March when people started to report here that disconnection issues had been fixed (thanks for this!).

Things had been pretty smooth until recently, but unfortunately I did have to go-ahead and register for the forum in order to reply to you and let you know that 3.0.0.6.102_36934 actually broke my BQ16 altogether.

The update process itself went smoothly, and afterwards the main router was fine (I have a 2 devices setup with a main router and one additional mesh node). But the additional mesh node started to show as "offline" on the Asus App and the web interface of the router. The strange thing is that it was showing as offline with no way to monitor its status or restart it in the UI anymore, BUT it was replying to pings and Wi-Fi client where still able to connect to it and fully access the local network and the internet. The only thing is that clients connected to the node were getting disconnected regularly (which hadn't been a problem before the firmware update).

I tried to reset the node to factory default as there is no other way I could access it. But when I tried to reattached it, the main router couldn't see it at all (neither wirelessly nor wired). Eventually I tried to put the device in firmware recovery mode but the Asus recovery tool couldn't see it and restore the firmware either (connected via Ethernet with a static IP address as instructed).

After talking to Asus support, they concluded to a hardware failure and told me to contact my retailer for an exchange.

The whole system is now on its way back to Amazon who offered a refund rather than a replacement. TBH I am not sure I want to get another BQ16 as even though I like the hardware and software overall and I was getting great speed and coverage, this wasn't a very nice experience. Literally all I did is confirming a firmware update in the App, and it lead to an unusable device which neither me nor the Asus support could figure out how to bring back to life - meaning wasted hours to troubleshoot it, return it, and wait to get/configure a new device (I tried to ask Asus if they could just replace the faulty node as the main router was still working no problem, but they told me they don't provide service directly in my area and warranty has to be honoured by the retailer).

Hopefully this is an isolated issue as I see others here have confirmed it is fine with them, but I though it was worthwhile giving people a heads-up.

 

[jzchen]

Both BQ16 and Pro variant have the same "_36934". (I did not compare the long sequence after). Sounds like a recipe for disaster if they were somehow mixed up and manually updated to the other model...

 

[RaidersHI_95]

My BE30000/BQ16 Pro (main + 2 nodes) is on firmware version 3.0.0.6.102_36934-gc7f208d_1122-gcedad_BB0B for a while now. Other than my ongoing issue with my entire network crashing whenever my Tesla connects, it's been working fine. I still haven't been motivated enough to figure out how to get my 2.4Ghz printer accessible on my main network via a guest SSID, but I did resolve my earlier issue with the system log repeating SSL entries by turning off SSL access to the local access configuration page. (Thanks @jzchen !)

 

[jzchen]

There may be an option/checkbox to "Use same subnet as main network". I see it on "Customized Network" under Guest Network, at least on the BE98 Pro.

 

[Stepalex]

Hopefully this is an isolated issue as I see others here have confirmed it is fine with them, but I though it was worthwhile giving people a heads-up.

Thank you for a detailed report. I have since updated my devices too and they seem to work fine, so I think yours is either a coincidence or an isolated case.

Indeed, the BQ16/Pro has been a frustrating experience for early adopters (me included), but the worst part is that a/ there is no device ticking all the same boxes out there a year later b/ when Asus does release its successor or simply a more powerful device, with 99% certainty it will be the same situation for the first 6 months (and BQ have shown that it's an optimistic estimate!).