Struggling with Asus ZenWiFi BE30000 aka 3 node BQ16 Pro bundle

[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

Not quite 2 weeks later and bam, one is offline, needing a manual reboot.

Just total BS.

 

[bobcdk]

Hi all,

Hoping someone can help me out or point me in the right direction. I recently migrated my mesh network to a BQ16 Pro set from a pair of XT8s that have served me incredibly well since 2020.

The BQ16 Pro, after a bit of a fiddly setup, have been mostly reliable, other than some IoT issues which I eventually found workarounds for.

However, 3 times now, I've had to factory reset the main node + satellite and reconfigure them. Every time has been after a power outage or disruption in power to the modem (a Hitron Coda56) and router. When this happens, the LED on the main node turns red, and it simply can't pull an IP or do anything from the modem, no matter how many times I reset them, power cycle them, etc. The only fix is for me to factory reset the router, and then set it up again. The modem connects to my ISP just fine (the hardware indicates this, and so too does my ISP[Xfinity] mobile app, which is able to ping my modem), but something at the router just refuses to work once the power is restored. I'm guessing there's some issue with the modem getting the appropriate MAC address for the router.

I never had this problem with the XT8. That system would connect itself again and continue chugging along. This is a completely new situation that I'm running into, now consistently, in the event of any kind of power outage.

Anyone have any ideas what could be causing this?

edit: looking at the admin panel, I see DHCP Query frequency is set to aggressive. Is continuous a better approach?
edit2: looks like this is not uncommon. Wish I had known this before my return window expired. I'm 5 days late.:

https://www.reddit.com/r/ASUS/comments/1anuh02/dhcp_wan_reconnect_problems_across_asus_routers

Well, after a few weeks of stability, we had another 15 second power outage (thanks PG&E), and I had the same issue again. Only a factory reset got it back up.

 

[JohnNadeau]

Not quite 2 weeks later and bam, one is offline, needing a manual reboot.

Just total BS.

Bummer for sure!

Some other things that come to mind...

1. Is there anything in your AC at this location that could be problematic (either plugged directly into a GFCI receptacle... or this receptacle is wired in series with another GFCI down-chain from the receptacle you're using) (or an ARC-Fault Breaker for this circuit (ARC-Fault Breakers typically have a green button on them)?
2. Power Supply:
   1. Try switching the Power Supply with one of your working Nodes.
   2. I had a NetGear Rs700 that was power-cycling/rebooting randomly. It was pure hell troubleshooting. Ultimately found out through observation that there was a Cold-Solder issue on the Router connection that would work, heat up, fail, etc. I was able to replicate the power-cycle by putting slight pressure (in different directions... up/down/left/right) on the DC Power Supply Barrel where it inserts into the router then BAM... I could watch it reboot in front of me!
   3. Do you have this node plugged into a UPS/Battery-Backup? If not, can you try? (note: if you have an Ethernet Switch or Hub at this location, assure it is plugged into the UPS as well).
3. Anything in your Ethernet Chain that may be worth looking at:
   1. I've had Cat6 Ports wired by professionals that were NOT "punched down" completely at one end or the other or one of the wires had a slight nick in them. They worked, but were problematic at times until corrected. Remove from wall, turn over, examine leads, consider removing, cutting off where currently connected, then re-punch down.
   2. Examine the copper leads "inside" each port to assure they are straight & unobstructed.
   3. Any Switches or Hubs between Nodes? Confirm Ports in those areas too.
   4. Try different/new cables; Assure the plastic clip on both ends is gently bent out first (without breaking) to assure a firm connection
4. Have you tried Wireless Backhaul instead of Wired/Ethernet?