BE92U router - new firmware results in WIFI radios turning off...

[skidmarx]

I've had this router for close to a year now... The firmware updated over the weekend and now I'm having problems with the WIFI radios staying up. The firmware version is: 3.0.0.6.102_38979-gcce9b50_1428-gcec70_BB0B

With the radios using the default configuration, the 2.4 GHz radio turns off intermittently. I can turn it back on using the GUI, but this never happened before. If I turn on MLO functionality, then all three radios turn off intermittently - again, I can turn them back on using the GUI.

Before we get into a technical discussion, I was wondering if anyone else is seeing this? I tried using ASUS Support, but they referred me back to where I bought the router - useless.

[jzchen]

I am running the RT-BE92U as a node to an ExpertWiFi EBG15 (AP mode with AiMesh), so my situation is unique.

With that said I have not noticed this WiFi dropping issue on any band, but I know now to try to pay attention.  The only setting I have is WPA basically, which I have set to WPA3-Personal.  Encryption has a single option "AES":

[jzchen]

On the more techincal side, do you know which firmware version it was updated from?  Anything 3.0.0.6.102_37563 or prior it would be advisable to factory/hard reset...

[Smudgee54]

I had the same with the new firmware, had to roll it back to the previous version and all stable at the moment.

[Saltgrass]

I have to agree with @jzchen about the hard factory reset.  What you are seeing is very unusual and that is the suggested procedure for such situations.  Don't try to reload older settings from a backup file.

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

[skidmarx]

I did perform a reset following the initial issues resulting from the firmware update on Nov 8. I then allowed the router to auto-update...

Now to bring this post up to speed. Since the radio failure was fairly repeatable, and worse when MLO was enabled, I decided to adjust the Control channel for the 2.4 GHz radio (I was at the Auto default). First I tried channel 6, with no change in the failure rate. Then I tried channel 9 with no change in failure rate. Now I'm at channel 3 and the radio has stayed on since that change (a day). From what I've read, the purpose of this setting to mitigate RF interference for the 2.4 GHz band. If this is the case, I'm not sure why the radio would turn off - I'd figure interference would simply degrade performance.

So now I'm monitoring to see if the issue recurs... Thanks for your inputs - I'll let you how I end up.  Any other insights are still welcome.

[Saltgrass]

OK, I will assume you have the router well ventilated, so it does not get too hot.

Do you live anywhere near some transmitting entity, such as a Weather radar dome?  

You may be able to use a Wi-Fi analyzer to check your environment.

Do you have your system running on one SSID for the MLO or independent networks?

But still, it would seem strange for you to see what you are seeing just because of a firmware update.

[skidmarx]

Using a laser temperature gauge, the highest external temp I see is 92°F. While it doesn't have a fan blowing on it, it's sitting in an unobstructed location with all sides open. Ambient room temperature runs from around 68°F to 76°F. Right now, it's 72°. While I believe the router has a temperature monitoring circuit, I don't see way to get that status, and nothing temperature related shows up in the logs.

Interesting you would mention a weather drone... I have a Davis weather station that is around 20 feet away (LOS through ceiling and roof) that talks to its controller over a proprietary wireless channel. The station connects to the network over copper. Having said that, I've not had this problem until the FW update...

I don't have any wireless analyzer apps - open to recommendations.

The SSID for the MLO network is unique. I have SSIDs for the primary network, an IOT network and the MLO (which is turned off for now).

I've seen strange bugs show up in other devices that were introduced by FW updates - especially when the update targets numerous, different products as I suspect ASUS does. Again, thanks for the insights...

[jzchen]

http://asusrouter.com/ajax_coretmp.asp

I use Network Analyzer Pro by Jiri Techet .

[skidmarx]

Thank you. The temp comes back at around 60° (I assume that's Celsius), which seems warm. I know Intel processors are good to 75°C, but of course that isn't hit unless the processors are working hard (gaming, transcoding...).