RT-BE92U - On-going random losses of Internet/WAN access

[AndrewMcN]

I've had the RT-BE92U for a few weeks now and a couple of times a day it simply stops routing DNS WAN traffic and the Wi-Fi networks also stop routing. All Internet access grinds to a halt because of this. Sometimes it returns to normal on its own but today it was so inconvenient that I got it to reboot via the web UI. It's then fine again for several hours.

It's like the unit itself enters some kind of semi-hung/crashed state. I'm thinking there's some kind of memory leak or that the RAM capacity is insufficient. It runs for several hours and then begins going faulty.

I am 26 years into an advanced IT solutions architecture/engineering career covering pretty much all kinds of infrastructure. So, the most I'm guilty of is not trying the basics.

I am able to ping externally, however I tend to find that I cannot get DNS traffic to pass and that includes direct queries of external DNS services, e.g. 8.8.8.8 (I can ping this guy).

The Wi-Fi networks can't even reach the router itself. I have to go to my wired laptop to engage with the router. The router web UI responds normally. The system log just seems to show either long pauses between log entries or errors about wireless client disconnects.

This kind of error seems to be common in the log just now:

kernel: WLC_SCB_DEAUTHENTICATE_FOR_REASON err -30
kernel: WLC_SCB_DEAUTHORIZE error (-30)

Could be red herrings but they always seem to be around when the crashes happen.

I have a lot of smart devices. It says I have a total of 54 clients but the vast majority of those will generate very little traffic.

I use Sky Stream. So, there can be a lot of throughput there. I also watch a lot of Twitch. Again a lot of data passing through for that. Nothing I wouldn't expect this router to handle though.

I have AiMesh up and running with two nodes.

I use the Time Machine backup capability with a USB drive attached. There's an hourly backup.

I have the AiProtection turned on. DoS protection enabled.

I also have the DNS over TLS enabled opportunistically but I've tried putting this off and it doesn't help.

I just fear that the hardware spec isn't able to handle the workload.

It just seems like the firmware isn't stable enough yet. I need to decide if I should be returning this or just be patient and wake for the next firmware updates.

Anyone else with this router experiencing issues despite factory resetting?

[windowsdan]

So I have fixed the issue with mine!!

I was getting the same problems you guys were having and the OP was having but after looking into the logs deeply it seems that the LUT build up of roam assist devices was clogging and it caused a failure to auth devices properly (or do a correct handshake). There is a flaw in the Broadcom chip for these routers that Asus is aware of and was raised by the Merlin team to Asus directly. The only way to stop the issue was to turn off the roamas function (basically turn off roaming assistant in the settings -> wifi -> professional -> roaming assistant). Stable for days and days not client issues, no WAN issues ... in fact all problems seem to have gone away. Problem is that this is a feature I really want as I have another 4 Aimesh APs for devices to roam between. It just means the devices disconnect and reconnect to the new AP when moving which for my purposes I don't care about. If I used WiFi calling and walked around the house then maybe I'd start dropping calls but I don't really use anything that would benefit from having roamas on.

[Moein-danesh]

Hmm, gonna try that , lets see 

[senyk92]

how did you find out that its asus is aware of the issue and its a broadcom chip? 

in terms of disabling roaming assistant, i attempted to disable this in the past but it just creates horrible ping/latency problems. Interested to hear other peoples experiences though

[HisMajesty]

I am having the same trouble on my GT-BE98 -- honestly, such a costly router has no business being this unstable.

I have a few questions about the issue, maybe some of you know the answer to:
1. Any idea if it specifically roam assist function or just frequent connections/disconnections to the AP that cause the issue?
2. I have read in the thread that the issue may also be linked to MLO, 6ghz band, and signal strength. Any confirmation/refutation that those also contribute to the issue?
3. Any idea what is the source of the suspicious kernel: WLC_SCB_DEAUTHORIZE error (-30)  logs that have lead me here?
4. Does there exist a version of router firmware where this issue doesn't occur?

[senyk92]

I think ive actually solved it...amazingly. I flashed the lastest merlin and its been running fully stable and with lower latency, even through scenarios that challenge the router. and this is with wifi 7 enabled all bands. Tested on gaming, downloads, and with blockages between my electronics and the router, all good so far.

Steps are to download merlin, login to your router, navigate to admin, firmware upgrade, upload the merlin package, let it install, then do a hard reset. after setting it back up again its working fully. I did not enable mlo.

Im so happy, i was on the cusp of just accepting taking a loss on this and buying another router. Hope this helps someone in the future!