rt-ac88u Help me diagnose why my router intermittently shits itself.

[Munsense]

I've been plagued by this issue for months now.

My hardware is an Asus ac88u running on the latest merlin firmware. Wan port is connected to my fibre modem.

My computers are 1 desktop (ethernet), a laptop (ac wifi), 2 phones, an ipad, 1 android tv.

I get totally random disconnects playing games, watching Netflix, video conference calls, or even just browsing one a single device.

The disconnects don't last more than a minute, and will recover by itself.

During the disconnected period, the web client for the router becomes unresponsive, and will timeout when requested / refreshed in a browser.

This leads me to think it's either overheating and thus thermal throttling.

Or it's somehow run out of memory?

I need help designing tests to identify the issue. The router itself suits my needs just fine, I'd hate to replace it cos shits expensive now.

 

Any idea if logs reveal anything? I have to admit I can't decipher it. It mostly looks like network packet information.

 

not sure if this is the issue:

 

Feb 21 22:46:26 rtl_fail: rtkswitch fail access, restart.

 

Feb 21 22:46:26 kernel: rtl_error retVal(0) data(0)

 

Feb 21 22:46:28 kernel: rtl8365mbrtl8365mb initialized(0)(retry:0)

 

Feb 21 22:46:28 kernel: rtk port_phyEnableAll ok

 

Feb 21 22:46:29 kernel: txDelay_user: 1

 

Feb 21 22:46:29 kernel: # txDelay - TX delay value, 1 for delay 2ns and 0 for no-delay

 

Feb 21 22:46:29 kernel: EXT_PORT:16 new txDelay: 1, rxDelay: 1

 

Feb 21 22:46:29 kernel: current EXT_PORT:16 txDelay: 1, rxDelay: 1

 

Feb 21 22:46:29 kernel: rxDelay_user: 4

 

Feb 21 22:46:29 kernel: # rxDelay - RX delay value, 0~7 for delay setupEXT_PORT:16 new txDelay: 1, rxDelay: 4

 

Feb 21 22:46:29 kernel: current EXT_PORT:16 txDelay: 1, rxDelay: 4

[Kilrah]

Sounds like it crashes and reboots - not much you can do other than replacing it if you've already done a factory reset.

 

 

[Munsense]

@Kilrah you reckon it's a full on restart? That usually takes upwards of 3 minutes.

[Alex Atkin UK]

4 hours ago, Munsense said:

@Kilrah you reckon it's a full on restart? That usually takes upwards of 3 minutes.

Does it happen on all the devices, specifically the wired desktop?

[Kilrah]

Maybe not complete reboot but a process crashing and being restarted, quite obvious if both the web interface and connectivity is down

[Falcon1986]

@Munsense

 

Make note of any important settings, then try to reset the router to factory defaults through the web interface, not the hard reset method. Set up the router again from scratch.

 

Disable AiProtection and any other built-in security features. Leave the firewall active and set up your WiFi with as normal with WPA2/AES.

[Munsense]

6 hours ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

Does it happen on all the devices, specifically the wired desktop?

All devices at once. Wired devices recover faster. 

[Munsense]

4 hours ago, Kilrah said:

Maybe not complete reboot but a process crashing and being restarted, quite obvious if both the web interface and connectivity is down

Do you know if router firmwares capture the process crash logs?

[Munsense]

41 minutes ago, Falcon1986 said:

@Munsense

 

Make note of any important settings, then try to reset the router to factory defaults through the web interface, not the hard reset method. Set up the router again from scratch.

 

Disable AiProtection and any other built-in security features. Leave the firewall active and set up your WiFi with as normal with WPA2/AES.

Worth a shot.

 

Do you know the diff between the factory reset vs the hard reset method?

[Kilrah]

5 minutes ago, Munsense said:

Do you know if router firmwares capture the process crash logs?

I've never seen a consumer router that gives that level of technical info. Which makes sense since you couldn't do anything about it anyway.

[Falcon1986]

1 hour ago, Munsense said:

Do you know the diff between the factory reset vs the hard reset method?

It's a personal preference. Some people don't execute a hard reset properly. At least through the web interface you're giving the OS a direct instruction that shouldn't be interfered by other background commands.

[Munsense]

1 hour ago, Kilrah said:

I've never seen a consumer router that gives that level of technical info. Which makes sense since you couldn't do anything about it anyway.

Haha damnit. I'm losing hope here.