ZenWiFi AX XT8 Firmware 3.0.0.4.386_43169

[Dodgydrains]

Thank you for the quick reply!
Another question, I have 4 nodes wired back to the central node. Does the firmware reversion apply to all of them simultaneously or do I have to do one by one? A bit nervous to mess something up.

If you manually update the firmware, you will have to update each node individually. I have similar setup with 4 units and manually downgraded to test a possible firmware bug.

I suggest a factory reset using the following method after upgrade or downgrade (the WPS button is located at the bottom of the units):

[Wireless Router] ASUS router Hard Factory Reset - Method 2 | Official Support | ASUS Global

 

[atygert]

I have a very vanilla config: RT-AC88U is the main router, connected to my ISP and 2 ZenWiFi XT8 nodes, one on the second floor and one in the garage. 43170 is the third new firmware I've tried to use on these, with similar results: connection drops between nodes and main router (RT-AC88U,) constant blinking blue LED on one or both nodes. I'm rolling back to 25790 as that was the only firmware that was reasonably stable in my configuration.

 

[Raven76]

I have a very vanilla config: RT-AC88U is the main router, connected to my ISP and 2 ZenWiFi XT8 nodes, one on the second floor and one in the garage. 43170 is the third new firmware I've tried to use on these, with similar results: connection drops between nodes and main router (RT-AC88U,) constant blinking blue LED on one or both nodes. I'm rolling back to 25790 as that was the only firmware that was reasonably stable in my configuration.

AC88U is not wifi6 (AX)... so... how is the aimesh network configured? (by default XT8 uses AX wifi for backhaul connection)...
Have you tried to use a XT8 as main router and the ac88u as a node?

 

[tcn]

Just to join the rest of the bunch; with this new firmware, all my 2.4G nodes are periodically (and very very frequently) disconnecting/reconnecting. They are on a dedicated guest 2.4G network.

 

[atygert]

AC88U is not wifi6 (AX)... so... how is the aimesh network configured? (by default XT8 uses AX wifi for backhaul connection)...
Have you tried to use a XT8 as main router and the ac88u as a node?

I have not tried the router as a node, but I checked compatibility with Asus before buying these and my understanding was that this was a supported configuration. I realize that my router is not AX. Does it need to be?

 

[Raven76]

well... I simply don't know how the XT8 will be configured in an aimesh system without using the ax network...
According to the manual, in my system (I have 4 Xt8), for the backhaul connection the XT8 uses only 5Ghz/AX radio or the 2.4Ghz, but NO the 5Ghz/AC radio... Can you verify how your XT8 nodes are connected to the mesh system?!

 

[ronabop]

Had to roll back to 42095. My TP-Link outlets (HS100, HS 300) and lightbulbs (LB110, LB130) were sporadically unavailable, so my home automation/routines and triggers stopped working. They're all on 2.4 Ghz, and devices as close as 6 feet away from an XT AP weren't connecting.

Telling Alexa to turn out the lights, over and over again, is not a fun way to try and fall asleep.

 

[Raven76]

Had to roll back to 42095. My TP-Link outlets (HS100, HS 300) and lightbulbs (LB110, LB130) were sporadically unavailable, so my home automation/routines and triggers stopped working. They're all on 2.4 Ghz, and devices as close as 6 feet away from an XT AP weren't connecting.

Telling Alexa to turn out the lights, over and over again, is not a fun way to try and fall asleep.

This is a very common problem with firmware 43169/43170! Please feedback this to Asus using the web interface (type of problem: Connection/Speed issue)! They read the users's reports! http://router.asus.com/Advanced_Feedback.asp
I made so and if many users do it, Asus will look at!

 

[ronabop]

This is a very common problem with firmware 43169/43170! Please feedback this to Asus using the web interface (type of problem: Connection/Speed issue)! They read the users's reports! http://router.asus.com/Advanced_Feedback.asp
I made so and if many users do it, Asus will look at!

Done and done. I've been on the receiving end of these kind of reports before, so I tried to provide some details that that will help them narrow down the issue.

From this thread it doesn't seem to be super specific to any one manufacturer or type of device, but at the very least knowing an assortment of devices that are showing this behavior gives them some options to try and lab test in their environments.

 

[atygert]

well... I simply don't know how the XT8 will be configured in an aimesh system without using the ax network...
According to the manual, in my system (I have 4 Xt8), for the backhaul connection the XT8 uses only 5Ghz/AX radio or the 2.4Ghz, but NO the 5Ghz/AC radio... Can you verify how your XT8 nodes are connected to the mesh system?!

Interesting. I have not looked at the manual, but Googling around a bit, I found this article: https://www.networkworld.com/articl... 802.11ax standard takes,802.11ac and 802.11n, which state, in part, "The 802.11ax standard takes a variety of well-understood wireless techniques and combines them in a way that achieves a significant advance over previous standards, yet maintains backward compatibility with 802.11ac and 802.11n." I'm not a network engineer, by any stretch (this should be obvious to all,) but that statement seems to say this should work.

 

[phil.brown87]

Had to roll back to 42095. My TP-Link outlets (HS100, HS 300) and lightbulbs (LB110, LB130) were sporadically unavailable, so my home automation/routines and triggers stopped working. They're all on 2.4 Ghz, and devices as close as 6 feet away from an XT AP weren't connecting.

Telling Alexa to turn out the lights, over and over again, is not a fun way to try and fall asleep.

I experienced the same. Also rolled back to 42095 and now no issues.

 

[leerees]

Backhaul dropping to 2.4ghz is indicative of a signal problem. Move the nodes closer and run the optimisation in aimesh. That will fix it.

 

[Joburgal]

Backhaul dropping to 2.4ghz is indicative of a signal problem. Move the nodes closer and run the optimisation in aimesh. That will fix it.

Not in my case.. the router and node had been completely stable for 3 months with the last firmware on the 5GHZ backhall channel at 2gbps up and down. With the new firmware and no change to the node placement it will connect at that speed and then will drop to 2.4ghz and 100mbps after a day or so.

 

[toxiroxi]

Hello everbody,

as i want to upgrade my house (4 stories) with AX Wifi (i only have 2 Routers at the moment which are not ideal (ac87u und ac68u). Therefore i am aiming to replace at least 3 floors with the ZenWifi XT8 nodes.
My question now is - my cable modem is in bridge mode - would it be better to have an AX88U as the main router directly hanging on the modem and taking 2 XT8 units or can such an XT8 unit also cover all router functions ? What would be the better setup ? I personally tend to take the ax88u because i can install merlin FW on it which i like and where i use a couple of features from (e.g. VPN).

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

[JoneSL]

Happy too soon. Two wifi N (2'4 only) phones can't connect to wifi. Both are Motorola Moto G3. very bad Asus again.

Try changing the preamble from "short" to "long".

 

[Sbeak]

Just as an added data point - I installed a new pair of XT8 routers today, which came with 25790. All worked well, but I made the mistake of upgrading to the latest 43170 firmware, only to discover that it did not play well at all with my Nest thermostat.

The thermostat seemed to think it was connected via WiFi properly, but started acting strangely- running the AC unit without also running the fan. Additionally, the Nest apps for iPad and iPhone claimed they couldn’t connect to the thermostat, though they could still see the Nest smoke alarms. Tried rebooting the thermostat, the device running the apps, connecting via 2.4 instead of 5, etc, to no avail.

I backed the firmware down to 42095, with no effect. Finally got fed up and dropped back to 25790 and everything worked and connected normally again.

Obviously, this was as much a Nest thermostat issue as an Asus firmware one for it to get that confused. I just figured I’d add those details in case anyone else winds up searching for that combination of issues.

 

[tbuiler]

Just as an added data point - I installed a new pair of XT8 routers today, which came with 25790. All worked well, but I made the mistake of upgrading to the latest 43170 firmware, only to discover that it did not play well at all with my Nest thermostat.

The thermostat seemed to think it was connected via WiFi properly, but started acting strangely- running the AC unit without also running the fan. Additionally, the Nest apps for iPad and iPhone claimed they couldn’t connect to the thermostat, though they could still see the Nest smoke alarms. Tried rebooting the thermostat, the device running the apps, connecting via 2.4 instead of 5, etc, to no avail.

I backed the firmware down to 42095, with no effect. Finally got fed up and dropped back to 25790 and everything worked and connected normally again.

Obviously, this was as much a Nest thermostat issue as an Asus firmware one for it to get that confused. I just figured I’d add those details in case anyone else winds up searching for that combination of issues.

I upgraded to 43170 and noticed that my 2.4 GHz Guest network wasn't connecting any devices. Specifically, I have two Nest Thermostats and a Ring camera that wouldn't connect. When I looked at the settings for the Guest network I found "Sync to AiMesh Node" set to Router (Is this new?). I changed that to All, and my devices are connecting now. Also the Guest network now appears to use the AiMesh, instead of just the Router. I hadn't realized this functionality was added. So far so good, fingers crossed.

 

[Sbeak]

I upgraded to 43170 and noticed that my 2.4 GHz Guest network wasn't connecting any devices. Specifically, I have two Nest Thermostats and a Ring camera that wouldn't connect. When I looked at the settings for the Guest network I found "Sync to AiMesh Node" set to Router (Is this new?). I changed that to All, and my devices are connecting now. Also the Guest network now appears to use the AiMesh, instead of just the Router. I hadn't realized this functionality was added. So far so good, fingers crossed.

Interesting. I’m not using a guest network, but I’ll keep an eye out.

 

[Joburgal]

43181 was released today with stability improvements listed in the changelog. Fingers crossed it’s resolved the node connection issues for me.

 

[Sbeak]

43181 was released today with stability improvements listed in the changelog. Fingers crossed it’s resolved the node connection issues for me.

Sigh. Unfortunately, while it is available for automatic update, they don’t appear to have put that new version on the download site yet.

My main router updated successfully, but all attempts to update the second via app or web GUI fail… and I can’t do a manual update to it because I can’t go download the new version.

Blech.