Work Around/FIX for Wireless Bridge losing connection every 24hrs

[spicypixel]

Still having this issue, tried old ASUS firmware, latest ASUS firmware, merlins, johns LTS fork - on an AC66U.

Nothing seems to prevent the eventual loss of connectivity on the bridge and rebooting it isn't a legitimate fix for anything remotely important...

 

[john9527]

Still having this issue, tried old ASUS firmware, latest ASUS firmware, merlins, johns LTS fork - on an AC66U.

Nothing seems to prevent the eventual loss of connectivity on the bridge and rebooting it isn't a legitimate fix for anything remotely important...

Media Bridge is a really strange beast, converting ethernet to wireless.

Not sure how you are set up, but one thing to try which goes against most recommendations.....don't set a fixed address on the Media Bridge. Leave the MB to obtain and address via DHCP, and manually assign an address for it on the parent router.

 

[SwampKracker]

In my case, I have not noticed any issues with my RT-N66U (using the latest official Asus build) as a media bridge connecting to my R7800. However, I put my RT-AC68U back into service to try the newer build from Merlin and noticed periodic loss of connectivity of the media bridge. It would fix itself after a few seconds, but a ping test to the media bridge revealed packet loss of 6-10% over several minutes. This got me to try downgrading the RT-N66U back to the last Merlin build. No change. It occurred to me that I had not been having any issues while using the R7800 as the router, so I put it back into service. Problem gone. No more packet loss or periodic loss of connectivity. Then, I re-installed the official Asus build on the RT-N66U and everything is still working perfectly.

Without investing lots of time to pinpoint exactly what is happening with Media Bridge, my suspicion is that Media Bridge is not broken, but something is wrong on the other end of the bridge. I would expect problems when using the R7800 as the router if it was Media Bridge mode that was the culprit.

The good news is that I have exactly what I want from a networking-perspective with my RT-N66U as Media Bridge connecting multiple devices to the router. The bad news is that I can't achieve this properly when using an Asus router.
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Is this a side-effect of code changes for the mesh feature? Is mesh supposed to replace all of the other modes so that you will only have two choices, router or node? Disclaimer: these questions are not meant to hijack thread, but my thoughts as to what may be happening internally at Asus.

 

[sfx2000]

Media Bridge is a really strange beast, converting ethernet to wireless.

You mean the other way?

Wireless to Wired?

I've got a Buffalo device - set it up with a static IP outside of the DHCP scope (not reserved in DHCP reservations) - works fine there, as long as I don't fuddle with things...

 

[john9527]

You mean the other way?

I'm looked at at it from the clients point of view ....Some interesting things in that if the wireless drops, the ethernet link still stays up and the client has no idea of a problem other than everything went away.

 

[SwampKracker]

I'm looked at at it from the clients point of view ....Some interesting things in that if the wireless drops, the ethernet link still stays up and the client has no idea of a problem other than everything went away.

No different than two switches connected by some type of uplink (ethernet, fiber, coax, etc).

 

[sfx2000]

I'm looked at at it from the clients point of view ....Some interesting things in that if the wireless drops, the ethernet link still stays up and the client has no idea of a problem other than everything went away.

Yeah - the buffalo device is built on DD-WRT - if the wireless link drops, the wired clients are not clued in - which makes sense perhaps...

Anyways - with OP - maybe set the bridge to a static IP outside of the DHCP scope - the dropouts might be due to the bridge not getting an update in time - static IP keeps that from happening.

 

[collector930]

Anyone found a stable firmware version for AC66U_B1? I could not find firmware 3.0.0.4.378.4850 for AC66U_B1 so I used the AC68U version, but it did not work, in rescue mode. I've tried the latest 3 versions of 384 firmware, 382.19333 and 380.7743.

 

[bbunge]

Anyone found a stable firmware version for AC66U_B1? I could not find firmware 3.0.0.4.378.4850 for AC66U_B1 so I used the AC68U version, but it did not work, in rescue mode. I've tried the latest 3 versions of 384 firmware, 382.19333 and 380.7743.

Use Merlin 384.8_2 for the AC68U or John's fork.

Sent from my SM-T380 using Tapatalk

 

[wouterv]

I'm looked at at it from the clients point of view ....Some interesting things in that if the wireless drops, the ethernet link still stays up and the client has no idea of a problem other than everything went away.

For what it is worth:
I have a RT-AC68U (currently 3.0.0.4.384_45149), which is the main router, wired to the fiber modem, no wired clients.
And I have setup the old RT-N66U (currently 3.0.0.4.382_50702), as Media Bridge, wireless connected on 2.4 GHz to the RT-AC68U, the Media Bridge has one wired client.
Settings in the RT-AC68U are pretty default.
I started long ago with automatic IP settings in the Media Bridge, this resulted in random failures (with intervals of week) in the link to the router and requiring a reboot of the RT-N66U.

Now the IP settings in the RT-N66U are fixed, which solved the random issues:

 

[collector930]

Use Merlin 384.8_2 for the AC68U or John's fork.

Sent from my SM-T380 using Tapatalk

Ok, tried Merlin 384.8_2. Unfortunately, still got the same problem - wireless disconnects within an hour, in Media Bridge mode, using fixed IP address.

Fortunately, I have found that Asus firmware 380.7743 is stable enough to last at least a day without losing internet connection. So I have been using this version in 5Ghz Media Bridge mode, and have it reboot every night. So far, I have not had a wireless disconnect after a week of using it.

 

[Kacy]

Where are you guys getting 3.0.0.4.378.4850 from?

edit: found it via google on softpedia but don't know about this source...

 

[RMerlin]

Where are you guys getting 3.0.0.4.378.4850 from?

edit: found it via google on softpedia but don't know about this source...

378_xxxx is very old, and contains a large number of known security issues.

 

[Kacy]

378_xxxx is very old, and contains a large number of known security issues.

Thanks for the heads up Merlin. I'm just at a loss here. Thread pertinent info: If my ac68u is setup as a media bridge I see the same behavior as OP with needing a daily reboot to maintain stability. Repeater mode has been solid for me

If the following is better suited for my own post please advise:
Maybe to save me some trouble if you don't mind (and to spare you the details), is it even possible to make this set up work
ap
:::
repeater
:::
media bridge or repeater attached to repeater 1

KEY
--- = wired
::: = wireless

Flow details for those interested in helping
Cable router/modem serving DHCP (this cannot be bridged due to my network environment)
---
ac86u in AP mode (40wide, channel 48), no clients besides ac68u-1 repeater
:::
ac68u-1 repeater, no clients currently using this wireless network. Only serves as a media bridge but in repeater mode for previously stated reason
---
TP-link EAP245 serving wireless (80wide, channel 48), lots of wireless clients
:::
ac68u-2 as a media bridge, I want to use this for my PS4 for better connectivity

KEY
--- = wired
::: = wireless

Notes
All APs/repeaters/media bridges have static IPs from the Cable DHCP
There are no adjacent networks causing trouble.
This is all with 5ghz if you couldn't tell. No channel overlap going on
I can get internet from repeater-2 if I connect it to the ac86u
I get fine service, wireless and wired from ac68u-1, and stable wireless from the EAP245 (both 2.4 and 5ghz). The issue is that I cannot get internet out of the ac68u-2 in media bridge or as a repeater, regardless of if it's connected to the repeater or the EAP245.

 

[RMerlin]

Maybe to save me some trouble if you don't mind (and to spare you the details), is it even possible to make this set up work

No idea, I don't use Media Bridge mode, but I suspect that having such a complicated setup can only lead to issues down the road. For starter, repeating a signal will cause its throughput to be cut in half. If you repeat it a second time, then you end up with only a quarter of the available bandwidth at the end of the chain. You need to look into going with a star-shaped network rather than a daisy-chained one. If it's not possible, then look at a solution such as powerline to connect multiple APs to the primary router.

 

[jekohk]

Created an account just to comment on this (sorry to reopen but seems the best thread to post)

I'm currently experiencing similar issues to other users here, using the RT-AC66U (B1) in Bridge Mode.

My setup is as follows:
Main router is a Netgear Nighthawk R6900P, which is broadcasting both 2.4 & 5G bands and all wireless clients in the apartment connect to this.
Secondary (bridge) is an Asus RT-AC66U in Bridge mode, with one wired connection to my desktop PC one room away from the main router (like 30ft)

I configured the bridge to obtain it's IP via DHCP from the main router, and set a DHCP reservation in my main router to server 192.168.1.2 to the bridge.

I have noticed no issues while actively browsing the web/gaming on my desktop attached to the bridge, however when I leave the PC for more than ~10min of inactivity the bridge will lose connectivity to the main router.
The only fix I have found is to hard reboot the bridge, however this is tedious and seemingly uncalled for.

I'm fairly certain the issue is with the Asus and not my Netgear, as I have multiple wireless devices connected to the main Netgear (Laptops, Phone, smart TV, fireStick) and they show none of the symptoms.

I have tried upgrading the FW of the Asus to latest (3.0.0.4.384_45149) but still seeing the same issues.
Has anyone successfully fixed this? Or at least, can someone confirm an appropriate FW version I should downgrade to that will fix it?

Thanks!

 

[Grisu]

Or at least, can someone confirm an appropriate FW version I should downgrade to that will fix it?

give Johns fork a try, use firmware for 68U on your 66U_B1.

 

[Kacy]

give Johns fork a try, use firmware for 68U on your 66U_B1.

Please report back any results if you go this route.

 

[digixmax]

Ok, tried Merlin 384.8_2. Unfortunately, still got the same problem - wireless disconnects within an hour, in Media Bridge mode, using fixed IP address.

Fortunately, I have found that Asus firmware 380.7743 is stable enough to last at least a day without losing internet connection. So I have been using this version in 5Ghz Media Bridge mode, and have it reboot every night. So far, I have not had a wireless disconnect after a week of using it.

I have had good experience with my RT-AC68P Media Bridge using 380.7743 (which I downgraded to after having lost-connection issue with Merlin 384.9_0), but would like to know if there is a more recent FW version (either Asus stock or Merlin branch) than 380.7743 that does not have the lost-connection issue.

 

[Grisu]

I have had good experience with my RT-AC68P Media Bridge using 380.7743 (which I downgraded to after having lost-connection issue with Merlin 384.9_0), but would like to know if there is a more recent FW version (either Asus stock or Merlin branch) than 380.7743 that does not have the lost-connection issue.

see 2 postings above: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/w...nnection-every-24hrs.28061/page-3#post-460936