ZenWiFi Pro ET12 - The node ends up yellow with no connected devices after firmware upgrade

[WebMaximus]

I could really need some help here because I'm starting to pull my hair out trying to figure out what is going on here.

I have a pair of ZenWiFi Pro ET12 routers. Yesterday, I was informed via the Android Asus Router app there was a new firmware available (3.0.0.6.102_36597). After upgrading both routers to this new firmware version, the router acting as the node ends up showing yellow rather than white and no devices connect to it.

I've tried to pull the power, reset first the router acting as node to factory default settings and then both routers when just resetting the node didn't help. No matter what I do it seems, I end up in the same situation after setting everything up again. With the router showing white color and the node yellow with no clients connecting to it.

What on earth happened here and what can I do to make my setup work normally again?

With big thanks in advance for your assistance!

[Wazabi]

Hi,

Having the same issue regards yellow LED on node after upgrade to version 3.0.0.6.102_36597. My experience is not only node turning yellow LED ,but also dropping or limiting Wi-Fi connection via 2.4GHz band to the node. I have, approx. 6-8 meters away, Wi-Fi device using 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection and after upgrade to version 3.0.0.6.102_36597 I have no 2.4GHz connection detected on node. Instead, the ZenWiFi Pro ET12 router node picked up the 2.4GHz connection even if the distance is longer, in my case approx. 12-15 meters.

Did a test to bind the device/client using 2.4GHz Wi-Fi band to the node but then showing up as offline. Looks like the node refused to connect devices using 2.4GHz Wi-Fi.

I decided to backout from the version 3.0.0.6.102_36597 and restored version 3.0.0.4.388_24610. After restored version 3.0.0.4.388_24610 was completed successfully, the node accepted 2.4GHz connections again. I also tested to bind other 2.4GHz to the node and all works as expected.

Yesterday I decided to accept the ASUS firmware upgrade which seems to need two steps or intermediate upgrades. I run the firmware upgrade via GUI and first upgrade was to version 3.0.0.6.102_36597. After successful upgrade to version 3.0.0.6.102_36597, the node turned yellow LED again., as expected. After successfully upgrade to newest version 3.0.0.6.102_36602 released on May 5th, the yellow LED on node was solved and white LED returned. However, the same bad 2.4GHz Wi-Fi connection appears again as in version 3.0.0.6.102_36597.

I’m glad the yellow LED issue on node is solved but sadly it looks the 2.4GHz Wi-Fi or even the 5GHz, who knows, needs to be check and tested by ASUS engineering team. If the issue I experience relates to weak 2.4GHz Wi-Fi signal/broadcast/Wi-Fi cell from node or relates to something else, I don’t know. I can only conclude version 3.0.0.4.388_24610 works, version 3.0.0.6.102_36602 don’t (regards 2.4GHz Wi-Fi).

I’m living on the countryside and no interferences from other Wi-Fi networks present.

So again, I’m back on stable version 3.0.0.4.388_24610 and hope ASUS engineering finds improvement regards 2.4GHz band.

[ShiningHound]

I can confirm what @Wazabi is saying, that 3.0.0.6.102_36602 is not stable either. I'm also seeing huge issues with wifi connectivity, not limited to the 2.4 band (5G/6G also became unreliable), but that's definitely where the biggest issue is. I have Google Nest cameras in my network, which are on the 2.4 band, and these are constantly dropping since I upgraded from 3.0.0.4.388_24610 to 3.0.0.6.102_36597. Then I had hope that the further upgrade to 3.0.0.6.102_36602 would fix the issue, but this is not the case, it is just as unreliable as 3.0.0.6.102_36597.

And the issues are not limited to the cameras, I also have a Canon printer in my network that barely communicates anymore, simple printing or scan jobs fail all the time. Also, wifi on IOS devices became unreliable, dropping frequently, although these devices seem to recover faster each time it drops.

With version 3.0.0.4.388_24610 I never had these issues, it was always super stable, fast, and reliable.

Today, I attempted to downgrade all my three Pro ET12 nodes to 3.0.0.4.388_24610. Unfortunately, this is not compatible with the newer firmware versions of the GT-BE98 router that I'm using. The router is on firmware version 3.0.0.6.102_37839, which is the latest. After downgrading the Pro ET12 nodes, they don't connect with the router at all anymore. Asus does warn about this, so this was kind of expected, but I thought I'd give it a try. My plan was to then downgrade also the firmware for the GT-BE98 router, however, Asus has removed almost all the older firmware versions for the GT-BE98, so that's not possible at the moment it seems. Also, they warn against downgrading, so not sure what other issues would occur when attempting that.

Now I re-upgraded the Pro ET12 nodes to 3.0.0.6.102_36602, and they connect again. At least now I have a "somewhat working" setup, although it comes with the huge stability issues described above.

I should add that I'm using the GT-BE98 purely as router, so the radio for this device itself is off. The Pro ET12 devices are therefore the only wifi access points in the network. This setup was always working fantastic, until the recent firmware versions were installed.

Now I seem to be stuck with an unstable setup which I can't downgrade, because there is no older firmware available anymore for the GT-BE98, plus in general Asus advices against downgrading. 

Asus, can you PLEASE fix this ASAP!?

[WebMaximus]

Thanks for this very detailed post, helping others to avoid what you've experienced.

I hope you (ASUS) get it addressed sooner rather than later.

[ShiningHound]

Thanks for the kind reply.

I have now submitted a support case with Asus, detailing the issue I described above, hopefully they will come back with a solution.

[dankirsh]

I got the yellow light on my nodes as well with 3.0.0.6.102_36597. I was no longer able to remotely access my router through the app either. I then installed the even newer bug update firmware (3.0.0.6.102_36602) and it fixed the yellow issue. 

HOWEVER, I was then unable to access my local network computers using their local IP if I was connected to a node. Worked fine if I was connected to the main router. I was pulling my hair out. I reset routers, computers, disabled firewalls, no luck. Then I just downgraded to 3.0.0.4.388_24610 and everything works fine again.

So, it seems like the issue is with the latest firmware. I turned off auto updates after this annoying experience. Seems like they broke something major in these latest updates.