AiMesh 2.0 nodes dropping 2.4GHz SSID

[mustangtom]

I have AiMesh 2.0 with firmware 3.0.0.4_386_45934 on a pair of ZenWiFi AC (model CT8) router and node. I have the 2.4GHz and 5GHz-1 both broadcasting the same SSID, and the 5GHz-2 band is used for the backhaul. My node is routinely not broadcasting my 2.4GHz SSID, neither for my primary or guest SSIDs. I see the router broadcasting my SSIDs on channels 11 (2.4GHz) and 40 (5GHz), but the node is only broadcasting the channel 40 GHz signal. I have rebooted the node multiple times and it does not help. Rebooting both the router and the node will sometimes fix the issue for a while.

This is causing my 2.4GHz devices to only be able to connect to the router, making their signal very weak. They should connect to the closer node, but since it is not broadcasting the 2.4GHz channel, they do not see it. All radios are enabled on the router and node.

Is anyone else seeing this issue? This bug needs to be fixed.

[jzchen]

I am having a different bug in my system, with different model router and node than yours. In WiFi settings tech support had me turn on "Smart Connect". This merged all SSIDs to one. I then had difficulty connecting an old Google Chromecast device until I hard restarted it. I noticed speed improved on WiFi to the devices I checked you may want to enable that and see...

[ahfoo]

mustangtom wrote:
I have AiMesh 2.0 with firmware 3.0.0.4_386_45934 on a pair of ZenWiFi AC (model CT8) router and node. I have the 2.4GHz and 5GHz-1 both broadcasting the same SSID, and the 5GHz-2 band is used for the backhaul. My node is routinely not broadcasting my 2.4GHz SSID, neither for my primary or guest SSIDs. I see the router broadcasting my SSIDs on channels 11 (2.4GHz) and 40 (5GHz), but the node is only broadcasting the channel 40 GHz signal. I have rebooted the node multiple times and it does not help. Rebooting both the router and the node will sometimes fix the issue for a while.

This is causing my 2.4GHz devices to only be able to connect to the router, making their signal very weak. They should connect to the closer node, but since it is not broadcasting the 2.4GHz channel, they do not see it. All radios are enabled on the router and node.

Is anyone else seeing this issue? This bug needs to be fixed.

Try disconnect smart connect and separate the SSID and see if your 2.4GHz connection improve.

[mustangtom]

I have a ticket opened with ASUS. Using NetSpot, I can see that the 2.4GHz guest SSID is sporadically being broadcast from the node, but on channel 11, whereas the primary SSID on the router and another node are using channel 1 now. I did a factory reset on the node and that did not fix the issue. I do have Smart Connect enabled, so I don't have control of the channels being used. I might try disabling Smart Connect so that I can assign the 2.4GHz channel to see if that helps.

[ahfoo]

mustangtom wrote:
I have a ticket opened with ASUS. Using NetSpot, I can see that the 2.4GHz guest SSID is sporadically being broadcast from the node, but on channel 11, whereas the primary SSID on the router and another node are using channel 1 now. I did a factory reset on the node and that did not fix the issue. I do have Smart Connect enabled, so I don't have control of the channels being used. I might try disabling Smart Connect so that I can assign the 2.4GHz channel to see if that helps.

Just keep it simple by disabled the smart connect and separate the channel SSID and see it will help to zoom down down potential issue.

[wilsondenq]

Hi there,

we already fixing and testing this issue, will share the firmware once I got the beta for CT8.

[mustangtom]

Asus did send me an early release version of firmware, but it did not resolve the issue. I then bought a pair of XT8 routers, and configured them similarly, and see the same issue with the XT node dropping the 2.4GHz signal occasionally. I then turned off SmartConnect as suggested to make it so that both bands can be managed separately, and I left their settings the same (same SSID as well for both bands as desired) . So far after 24 hours it has not happened again, but time will tell.

wilsondenq wrote:
Hi there,

we already fixing and testing this issue, will share the firmware once I got the beta for CT8.

[mustangtom]

Disabling of Smart Connect had no affect, as my CT8 node lost its 2.4GHz radio twice in the last 24 hours. Only a reboot of the node would correct the issue, as I tried disabling and re-enabling the 2.4GHz radio on the node from the WebUI and that did not correct it.

Am I the only person seeing this issue? I have seen it on both the CT8 and XT8 hardware, so it points to a firmware issue, not a hardware issue.

mustangtom wrote:
Asus did send me an early release version of firmware, but it did not resolve the issue. I then bought a pair of XT8 routers, and configured them similarly, and see the same issue with the XT node dropping the 2.4GHz signal occasionally. I then turned off SmartConnect as suggested to make it so that both bands can be managed separately, and I left their settings the same (same SSID as well for both bands as desired) . So far after 24 hours it has not happened again, but time will tell.

[Cmdr_striker]

I think around early 2022 their latest firmware for the XT8 and CT8 had a bug that results in the Node saying it has it's wifi enabled but really the radio is off. I have had the same issue you're describing and standing right next to the node, which is a "great" signal on the 5-2 ghz backhaul it will show no 2.4 signal on any channel. It's very frustrating.

[mustangtom]

Cmdr_striker wrote:
I think around early 2022 their latest firmware for the XT8 and CT8 had a bug that results in the Node saying it has it's wifi enabled but really the radio is off. I have had the same issue you're describing and standing right next to the node, which is a "great" signal on the 5-2 ghz backhaul it will show no 2.4 signal on any channel. It's very frustrating.

I'm glad to hear that I am not the only person seeing this major issue. I still have an open case with ASUS to fix the issue and have sent them multiple feedback reports when it happens. They have sent me beta firmware for both the XT8 and CT8 but the issue is still unresolved.