Struggling with Asus ZenWiFi BE30000 aka 3 node BQ16 Pro bundle

[skypx]

Thanks much for trying. WiFi is such a mess. Had nothing but issues with so many brands. Netgear Orbi 6E - poor device handoff for iPhones and random disconnects for iPhone (known issue, still not fixed even on their WiFi 7 offerings), the Eero Max 7 which was the BIGGEST pos I've ever used. Constant issues, no ability to specify bands or force devices onto a specific network, not to mention absolutely awful range - my solar control panel outside on the side of my house wouldn't even connect to it the range was so bad. Then the Asus, which when it works is really good. The best range of the lot EASILY, but... flakiness in terms of keeping nodes connected.

Sigh.

I got back to Asus routers/nodes after a l o n g hiatus, I just wanted to see what my options were. I can say with 100% certainty netgear consumer routers are even worse! I had the one that looks like a starship from Star Wars, garbage. QNAP, garbage, anything google branded, garbage, Amazon branded, garbage. I have read (Reddit) good things about Ubiquiti, but I’ve not used any of their stuff. A friend said he was so pleased with what he got from them recently and how it worked so much better compared to anything he’s ever tried. I was tempted but he also said the 6Ghz band traveled so far…….. I thought to myself, dude, that’s not how that works!

If I had the issues you currently have I would have thrown that shirt in the trash (not suggesting you should) life is too short for an Asus piece of garbage to stress you out.

 

[Poppys33d]

I got back to Asus routers/nodes after a l o n g hiatus, I just wanted to see what my options were. I can say with 100% certainty netgear consumer routers are even worse! I had the one that looks like a starship from Star Wars, garbage. QNAP, garbage, anything google branded, garbage, Amazon branded, garbage. I have read (Reddit) good things about Ubiquiti, but I’ve not used any of their stuff. A friend said he was so pleased with what he got from them recently and how it worked so much better compared to anything he’s ever tried. I was tempted but he also said the 6Ghz band traveled so far…….. I thought to myself, dude, that’s not how that works!

If I had the issues you currently have I would have thrown that shirt in the trash (not suggesting you should) life is too short for an Asus piece of garbage to stress you out.

Yeah, I have a very tech-savvy friend recommending Ruckus, but... those are better if ceiling mounted which... isn't happening, and they're also butt-achingly expensive.

 

[skypx]

Yeah, I have a very tech-savvy friend recommending Ruckus, but... those are better if ceiling mounted which... isn't happening, and they're also butt-achingly expensive.

Good luck finding your way brother

 

[degrub]

i think you would like Ubiquity gear. GO to their site and use their design tool (assuming you know the plan view dimensions of building and some of the materials of construction for walls/ceilings) to generate a coverage heat map using different Ubiquity APs. One thing to understand is SMB gear is intended for lower power and more APs for coverage rather than conusumer gear's blast it out to the legal limit for coverage with a single device.

 

[JohnNadeau]

Yeah, I have a very tech-savvy friend recommending Ruckus, but... those are better if ceiling mounted which... isn't happening, and they're also butt-achingly expensive.

Hey @Poppys33d

I'm currently on v3.0.0.6.102_36869 and frankly, Scared As Hell to upgrade

Things have been almost 100% rock-solid, 81+- devices, both 2.4GHz and 5GHz, Only one on 6GHz.

Up/running since Feb 2025.

I only have one ASUS BQ16 Pro, acting as my main/only Router/DHCP (no Mesh yet).

THAT being said, I've shut down many of the WiFi 7 settings/features (perhaps defeats the purpose of a WiFi 7 Router, but on the other hand, no problems/frustrations Waiting for the Holy Grail of ASUS Firmware Updates

Separated the Radios and Shut Down Multi-LInk Operation (MLO).

As well, performed a Wireless Survey Scan and LOCKED DOWN the 2.4 and 5GHz Channels to channels that weren't competing with nearby AP's.

Take a look at these screenshots and maybe think about trying this approach to get the little bastard to settle down.

Let me know if you need any other screenshots or settings!

 

[Poppys33d]

I have similar settings. Bear in mind I’m using 3 total. My main unit BQ16 Pro has been solid. No issues to speak of. It’s when you have multiples I guess…

I have my 2.4Ghz set to 20Mhz only since I’m under the impression that’s best.

 

[Poppys33d]

As an update, how about this for a weird one?

So I have a Flume water leak sensor, that works on 2.4 GHz. I have it downstairs near to my downstairs node (3 floor house, one node on each floor). I just got a notification about 20 minutes ago that the Flume had gone off-line. I go downstairs and check on it and sure enough it is no longer showing a WiFi connected light on the device itself, as in no blue light on the Flume itself. I check in the Asus app and it is showing connected there, so that’s weird. So I unplug the Flume and bring it upstairs to middle floor and plug it in next to the other node (main router node is on the top floor). As soon as I plug it in near the middle floor node, the Flume connects to WiFi and shows a blue light. Now working. I bring it downstairs next to the basement node, and it no longer works there despite showing as connected in the Asus app to the basement node.

All my other 2.4Ghz devices connected to the basement node are working just fine. I just don’t get it. As a test, I bound the Flume to the middle floor node from its location in the basement and it connected to the middle floor and works. But it will not work connected to the basement node.

It’s just an endless cycle of BS with this. Nonsensical.

 

[JohnNadeau]

It’s just an endless cycle of BS with this. Nonsensical.

Uhg!

I have similar settings

For the fun of it, can you compare all of your settings to mine and assure they are the "same", then Power-Cycle all 3 Nodes? Make note of what you changed for reference.

Also, have you performed a Wireless Survey and locked down the Channels to make sure they are not competing with nearby AP's ?

 

[Poppys33d]

Uhg!


For the fun of it, can you compare all of your settings to mine and assure they are the "same", then Power-Cycle all 3 Nodes? Make note of what you changed for reference.

Also, have you performed a Wireless Survey and locked down the Channels to make sure they are not competing with nearby AP's ?

Ok I ran your settings exactly and despite saying everything needed to reboot for the settings to apply, the Flume still refused to connect to the outside world via the downstairs node, despite showing connected. So I finally unplugged that node, and immediately the Flume connected to the node upstairs and started working. Then I unplugged the downstairs node completely to kill power to it, plugged it back in, power cycled the Flume and it instantly connected to the outside world via the until then non-working node. So a node rebooting via software is not the same as a proper power cycle. Also, I hate WiFi.

Just so dumb.

 

[JohnNadeau]

Ok I ran your settings exactly

Thanks for giving it a try @Poppys33d!

I'll be interested in knowing if it stabilizes with these settings.

So a node rebooting via software is not the same as a proper power cycle.

Unfortunately, that has been the case for me with countless electronic devices, including Routers, TV's, and many more. I refrain from a software reboot whenever possible. There's something about a therapeutic power-cycle that often does the trick!

In my setup, I've automated the power-cycle process by plugging my various Routers & Access Points into SmartPlugs, which I've set their Timers to turn power back on after X seconds and in proper order. Example: Power them all off via SmartPlug, then they're timed for 1) Asus Reboots fully (say 2 minutes); then AccessPoint 1 (say 3 minutes), then AccessPoint 2 (say 4 minutes) etc. so that AccessPoint 2 doesn't turn back on until both the Asus and the AccessPoint 1 are fully powered up.

If you decide to go this route with SmartPlugs, just make sure you power things off in Reverse Order, so that you don't lose Wi-Fi Connection to AccessPoint 1&2 by turning off Asus first

 

[Poppys33d]

Thanks for giving it a try @Poppys33d!

I'll be interested in knowing if it stabilizes with these settings.



Unfortunately, that has been the case for me with countless electronic devices, including Routers, TV's, and many more. I refrain from a software reboot whenever possible. There's something about a therapeutic power-cycle that often does the trick!

In my setup, I've automated the power-cycle process by plugging my various Routers & Access Points into SmartPlugs, which I've set their Timers to turn power back on after X seconds and in proper order. Example: Power them all off via SmartPlug, then they're timed for 1) Asus Reboots fully (say 2 minutes); then AccessPoint 1 (say 3 minutes), then AccessPoint 2 (say 4 minutes) etc. so that AccessPoint 2 doesn't turn back on until both the Asus and the AccessPoint 1 are fully powered up.

If you decide to go this route with SmartPlugs, just make sure you power things off in Reverse Order, so that you don't lose Wi-Fi Connection to AccessPoint 1&2 by turning off Asus first

Thank you again for taking the time to offer advice. We'll see how it goes. So far, so good, but honestly if a node goes offline and comes back a minute or two later I don't always know, as there's no notification of any sort (why, Asus?!).

 

[degrub]

Ok I ran your settings exactly and despite saying everything needed to reboot for the settings to apply, the Flume still refused to connect to the outside world via the downstairs node, despite showing connected. So I finally unplugged that node, and immediately the Flume connected to the node upstairs and started working. Then I unplugged the downstairs node completely to kill power to it, plugged it back in, power cycled the Flume and it instantly connected to the outside world via the until then non-working node. So a node rebooting via software is not the same as a proper power cycle. Also, I hate WiFi.

Just so dumb.

The client device determines which radio it connects to. We can only try to steer the client to one AP or another.

Do you have any electrical equipment in the basement - HVAC, water heater, washing/drying machines ? Any AC motor will broadcast a white noise spike when it is started. This will briefly interfere with wifi links.

 

[Poppys33d]

The client device determines which radio it connects to. We can only try to steer the client to one AP or another.

Do you have any electrical equipment in the basement - HVAC, water heater, washing/drying machines ? Any AC motor will broadcast a white noise spike when it is started. This will briefly interfere with wifi links.

Nope. None of those.

 

[JohnNadeau]

Thank you again for taking the time to offer advice. We'll see how it goes.

Hi @Poppys33d

I forgot to check my Basic Network Page. I have the WiFi 7 & MLO Features disabled there too on each of the Radios.

Note: I know... perhaps defeats the purpose of having a WiFi 7 Router, but on the other-hand, until ASUS (and other Manufacturers) get WiFi 7 working properly, these settings seem to have provided some stability at least for me I say "and other Manufacturers" because I had tried a NetGear ras700 and ras600 as well as a TP-Link WiFi 7 Routers and they were all kinds of crazy/poor stability. With these settings below and my prior screenshots a few posts back, this ASUS has been virtually rock-solid for me since Feb 2025, without 2.4GHz Client Devices disconnecting like has been cited in various posts.

 

[Poppys33d]

Hi @Poppys33d

I forgot to check my Basic Network Page. I have the WiFi 7 & MLO Features disabled there too on each of the Radios.

Note: I know... perhaps defeats the purpose of having a WiFi 7 Router, but on the other-hand, until ASUS (and other Manufacturers) get WiFi 7 working properly, these settings seem to have provided some stability at least for me I say "and other Manufacturers" because I had tried a NetGear ras700 and ras600 as well as a TP-Link WiFi 7 Routers and they were all kinds of crazy/poor stability. With these settings below and my prior screenshots a few posts back, this ASUS has been virtually rock-solid for me since Feb 2025, without 2.4GHz Client Devices disconnecting like has been cited in various posts.

View attachment 68142

Thanks for that. Not touching anything after the last big changes based on your post, and so far so seemingly good. This doesn’t tend to last, mind, but I hope it does…

 

[JohnNadeau]

Not touching anything after the last big changes based on your post, and so far so seemingly good.

Smart! Good approach!

What's your typical number of days (or hours) before the issue(s) rear their ugly heads?

Let's hope "something" brings you some stability/relief until ASUS gets things smoothed out

 

[Poppys33d]

Smart! Good approach!

What's your typical number of days (or hours) before the issue(s) rear their ugly heads?

Let's hope "something" brings you some stability/relief until ASUS gets things smoothed out

Difficult to say, especially if I don't notice a node going offline for 60 seconds...! A good indicator is when one of the nodes has single digit devices connected to it when I go check in the app. That usually tells me it went offline and a bunch of devices migrated from the disconnected node to a different node. After a while they do migrate back, of course, so unless I'm looking within the hours, ~a day of the disconnection, I might not notice.

 

[Bandito]

I’ve been going through some issues with my BQ16 Pros (two) recently that I thought I’d go ahead and share here in case they may help someone else.

First, I have a couple of weather stations on my WiFi network. A Netatmo and a Tempest. I purchase the Tempest as a replacement for the Netatmo after having too many network connection issues, but after getting the Tempest it also would regularly disconnect from the network. So, I set up the IoT guest network on the BQ16 Pros to connect to but that didn’t make any difference. I experimented with all of the settings that I could find und the IoT network as well as the Professional settings for the 2.4GHz band but couldn’t come up with a configuration that improved connectivity. I even called ASUS and they had me change a bunch of settings for better compatibility, some of which didn’t make sense like locking the 2.4GHz band to a 40Mhz wide channel, but they didn’t help either. So, after a several week of trying, I finally threw in the towel and got my old Dlink WRT19000 AC router out, set it up as an Access Point, and added it to the BQ16 Pro via Ethernet. That did the trick and now both weather stations are connecting consistently and stably to the network. All of my other IoT devices are connected to the regular 2.4Ghz band of the main WiFi network and experience no issues there.

So, everything was finally up and working again. I have had all the normal WiFi 7 settings enabled from the beginning and my main network has been very stable right from the start. Now it’s stable for everything including the recalcitrant weather stations.

I did have a very strange event happen last week, however. The network wasn’t connecting to the Internet for some reason and became very unstable with the router rebooting randomly every couple of hours. When I was able to get into the router to look around I didn’t see anything strange with the setup and no firmware updates were available. I looked through the logs to see if I could determine what was happening, but wasn’t able to pick anything out that seemed particularly useful. So, I decided to make one change to the 5GHz radio band mostly just to get the radios to reboot. I turned off 160Mhz wide channels. The radios restarted and then after a few minutes I power cycled the router and the mesh node for the third time and everything has been stable again since (knock on wood). It was a very strange outage that I have never experienced before.

So, that’s my story of late with my BQ16 Pro system. It’s been a great system with the exception of the recent outage and I’m very happy with the throughput that I receive on all of my devices, especially the WiFi 7 ones.