Trying to bind a device causes corruption of Firmware on RT-AX86U Pro

[Tattz The Bear]

I have an Asus AX86U Pro running AI Mesh with two AC68U nodes. There are a total of around 40 devices on the network.

The current firmware on the main router is 3.0.0.6.102_34406-gbd34e23_407-g78a24 with 3.0.0.4.386_52062-g06fe188 on the two nodes.

Everything was sweet until a month or so ago but now, if I try to bind a particular device to a certain node, the whole network gets corrupted. Every device shows the error exclamation mark and they all lock up and I am unable to access, unbind or refresh them.

My reason for wanting to bind certain devices is that they are only a few feet away from a node but insist on connecting back to the main router which, in my opinion, defeats the purpose of a mesh network.

Has anyone else experienced this issue and/or have any suggestions on preventing of fixing it when it happens.

The only way I currently have for fixing it is reloading my settings backup file.

 

[Tech9]

- AiMesh (marketing name for ASUS proprietary technology), not AI Mesh (no AI there)
- Your 12+ years old 3004 Nodes have limited AiMesh compatibility to new 3006 Router
- If the clients connect to your Router further away you have too many too close Nodes
- Common issue with AiMesh since there is no power/channel (when wired) control per Node

Common mistake is adding Nodes just because there is nothing to do with old routers. This only creates more noise and lowers the user experience since all AiMesh devices use the same channels and have to wait for each other to send/receive data. Signal too strong is seen by clients as not the best connection option.

Reduce the number of Nodes to minimum required, make sure they are at minimum -65dBm signal level between each other, set Roaming Assistant to -70dBm and lower the value if needed to -60/-65dBm. Otherwise your Roaming will be bad and you'll experience so called "sticky clients". When have a chance upgrade your Nodes to devices running 3006 firmware and compatible to Guest Network Pro.