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GT-AX11000 - All wifi disrupted.

kylix_rd
Level 7
Hello,

Just attempted to upgrade to this router and it's behaving oddly. I have a separate dhcp server and a pihole running on the network. This all functioned just fine with my non-wifi wired router (a TPLink TL-R600VPN) and several wifi access points.

Once I replace the TL-R600VPN with the GT-AX11000 and configure it, all the existing wifi (the existing access points) cease to properly route wifi traffic to the internet. All the hard-wired connections function just fine. I've even disabled the wifi on the GT-AX11000 and relied solely on the existing access points and the problem remains. My mobile devices indicate "Limited connectivity". All the other wireless devices also cannot "see" the internet.

Without restarting anything (other than the cable modem), I can just reconnect the TL-R600VPN and the whole network returns to normal. I've even isolated the GT-AX11000 with itself, the modem and the dhcp(dnsmasq) and pihole and the wifi behavior remains. I can hardwire nodes into this isolated network and they work just fine.

I've just noticed that some firmware was just released today and has a curious entry:

9. Fixed anomalous 802.11 frame issues.


Not sure if this may be the issue, but I'll certainly try it. I'm not hopeful here since the problem I'm seeing involves *other* wifi access points (3 Netgear WAC124 for the curious), so I think it's something else with the router's handling of the wifi traffic from other access points (which it shouldn't somehow "know" it's wifi traffic).

I really want to make this router work since it's wifi 6, has a 2.5gbps Ethernet back-haul, Link-Aggregation from the DOCSIS 3.1 modem (SB8200), and mesh networking. For the wired connections without the Link-Aggregation even enabled, I can get 950Mbs+ throughput while I could barely hit 800Mbps with the TL-R600VPN.
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15 REPLIES 15

Merlin firmware (386.7) doesn't seem to include the latest ASUSWRT -386.49599. May I suggest you try that first....

https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/changelog

"
- UPDATED: Merged with 386_49335 GPL for the RT-AC5300.
- UPDATED: Merged with 386_48966 GPL for all other models.
"

jzchen wrote:
Merlin firmware (386.7) doesn't seem to include the latest ASUSWRT -386.49599. May I suggest you try that first....


While I didn't explicitly mention it in my original post, I had already updated to the that version. It was behaving similarly.

kylix.rd wrote:
While I didn't explicitly mention it in my original post, I had already updated to the that version. It was behaving similarly.


On your July 13 post you noted updated to latest firmware, which I assume is the one I just mentioned.

I was confused for a while where you got a 386.7 until I hopped on the Merlin website.

I do hope you figure out how to get WAN aggregation up and running. How much speed are you paying for?

jzchen wrote:
How much speed are you paying for?


Right now the max in my area is 1.2gbs. With aggregation I expect to get 1.1gbs, while right now without it, I can get about 930Mbs. Figuring in the transport/protocol overhead, that's about right.

Thanks for the moral support on this quest 😉

kylix.rd wrote:
Some more information about Link Aggregation that may be relevant: I have been running the Asus-Merlin software (planning on move to the onboard dnsmasq). This post on SNBForums the mentions the fact that Link Aggregation is broken on the current 386.7 firmware. It also implies that this issue is also in the Asus firmware on which the Merlin FW is based.



I will also point out on my search for an answer on Link Aggregation that there are more than a few posts of "don't bother with Link Aggregation since it's only a small bump in speed" posts... That all smacks of a very defeatist, sour-grapes attitude. If you pay for the extra bandwidth (even if it's only a 10-20% bump) and there is a way to get at it, why not? Anyway, I'll probably post something over on the SNBForums to see if there is any progress on it and whether or not it's actually a bug.

I'll downgrade to 386.5_2 this weekend and try again.


I'd like to say that THANK YOU for this, I have spent hours trying to get Wan Aggregation to work and I didn't understand why it wouldn't. Downloaded Merlin 386.5_2 and it works perfectly.

Major update to this thread. Link Aggregation is now working. The key? Replacing my cable modem is what was needed. I had an Arris SB8200 I'd purchased in Sept 2020. I replaced it with a refurbished Netgear CM1200.

Once I installed that modem, I tried Link Aggregation again. At first it still failed to work when I enabled it and it rebooted after applying the settings. So I did a full reboot of the router and when I re-established connection with the modem, the link aggregation started working! The status shows 2Gbps from the modem to the router.

I use the 2.5Gbps port for the mesh backhaul to a couple of 2.5Gps switches and mesh nodes. Ran a few speed tests, and I can verify that I'm now getting the full 1200Mbps bandwidth (Close to 1300-1400Mbps on occasion). This was done on a couple of hard-wired machines with 2.5Gbps NICs on the 2.5Gbps backhaul.

Oh, and I'm running the latest Merlin firmware which also allowed me to move my Raspberry Pi base dnsmasq DHCP server to the router including my custom configs. Configured the router to also work with my PiHole (separate RPi). There is some minor flakiness with the PiHole and the router WRT occasional DNS loops. Other than that, things are working better now.