[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Guest and IoT Network Configuration

For Asus routers, what is the strategy for fancing off Guest and IoT devices?

Does we throw both of those types of devices onto the same Guest network?

When you create a guest network, do you have to assign it a specific band in 2, 5 or 6 GHz and then those devices can only use that band? Reason I ask is because often times IoT devices are only 2.4Ghz and sometimes guest come over and may benefit from the 5Ghz band capacity and less interference.

I watched a video on Asus guest network creation, and it seems like you can create a guest SSID in each band.

[Assistant]
It may help if you include your router model and firmware version to add context. Are you asking about Guest Network Pro found in the 3.0.0.6.x firmware? Or are you asking about basic Guest Network WiFi?

Generally when setting up a Guest Network you select the WiFi band to use.

Which WiFi band a IoT device (or Guest WiFi device) connects to will depend on the capabilities of that device. More than a few IoT devices are 2.4Ghz only. They won't physically be able to connect to the 5Ghz or 6Ghz band.

One of the reasons to setup a Guest Network is to segment clients and prevent clients on that Guest Network from accessing the main LAN (i.e. accessing the intranet).

I've been playing around today, trying to see if an IOT setup is any more successful than it was last time I tried. Some of the smarts I have certainly work better when segmented off than they used to, but here at least it's still 50/50, which if I want everything to be smooth isn't really good enough. There are more options that I could try, but I'm leaning towards the possibility of a totally separate network.
*Did I really need that Internet connected kettle????
**I really like the idea, but so far the implementation just isn't there

It ultimately depends on the IoT devices. Some just don't play nice on a segmented Guest Network. For some other IoT devices, people want LAN clients to have local network access to the IoT client(s) on the Guest Network. Some IoT devices are 2.4Ghz limited. Others are not. Fortunately most of my IoT devices play nice on the Guest Network. Only two that didn't (because I run Pi-Holes on the local network) were Amazon Echo type devices. Its what lead me to using YazFi. If one isn't using AiMesh and is running Asus-Merlin, YazFi is worth a look for the flexibility and configurability it opens up for Guest Network's and their clients.

Gave up on stock 3.0.0.6.102 firmware's Guest Network Pro due to lack of configurability it offers along with some other quirks it has. Good amount of Guest Network Pro discussion in other posts/threads here.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Upgrade 3-Router WLAN with new ASUS routers

My current WLAN consists of 3 routers, including an ASUS RT-AC68U serving as gateway and DHCP server. It is daisy-chained to two older models from other vendors:

cable modem
|
RT-AC68U (stock firmware)
|
old D-Link router (stock firmware)
|
older TP-Link router (Gargoyle)

I would like to upgrade the configuration to something like this:

cable modem
|
new ASUS router (WPA3 personal and traffic monitoring)
|
new ASUS router (ditto)
|
RT-AC68U (ASUSwrt-Merlin)

in order to support (AI)mesh routing.
I need 5 LAN ports on the last router, which is why I installed Gargoyle on the TP-Link and plan to install Merlin on the RT-AC68U.
I am assuming that the newer models have better performance than the old RT-AC68U, which is why I plan to move the RT-AC68U to the end of the chain.

1. Is that true that the WAN port used as a LAN port on the RT-AC68U in the AP mode will have lower performance than the remaining LAN ports?
2. What is the minimum ASUS router anyone would recommend for the 2 new routers (they only need at least 3 LAN ports each).
3. Should I plan on running Merlin on the new ASUS routers as well?

Any comments on other options, pros & cons are most welcome!
Thanks in advance for any feedback.

[Assistant]
rsbrux said:
1. Is that true that the WAN port used as a LAN port on the RT-AC68U in the AP mode will have lower performance than the remaining LAN ports?
No.

rsbrux said:
Any comments on other options, pros & cons are most welcome!

For a brand new system and Ethernet infrastructure available I wouldn't invest in AiMesh at all. What's the budget and location?

This is a home network. We have several WLAN-only clients and Ethernet doesn't cover our home completely.
In particular we have a long terrace which requires 2 WiFi routers or APs for coverage due to a large concrete building core element which prevents coverage from a single point.
I want AI mesh to enable seamless hand-off between routers when walking around both indoors and outdoors. I am not particularly cost sensitive but would still like to have an economical solution.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: please guide me i buy managed switch to limit port speed and keep hardware acceleration or use QOS on router

hi, i have asus router and i want to do qos, total limit, i have about 30 mbps and i want to limit it to 20 mbps towards my access point so that 10 mbps is always avaiable for my gaming setup and also this will keep the latency good. But i hear that qos on asus router or any router will disable hardware acceleration while a managed switch only limits speed and keeps hardware accelreation, with switch my setup would change to CPE -> Switch -> AP while with router with qos my setup would change to CPE -> ASUS -> AP.

My aim is to conserver bandwidth for my quest 2 so that latency is good,
any ideas?

[Assistant]
If you only have 30 Mbit service from the ISP, you don’t need to worry about hardware acceleration being disabled. The router can handle 30 Mbit without acceleration.

safwan264 said:
i want to limit it to 20 mbps towards my access point

You have to limit the speed to the devices connected to to this access point though. Otherwise the limits will apply to the access point itself only and nothing else. And this access point perhaps needs time server only.

Tech9 said:
You have to limit the speed to the devices connected to to this access point though. Otherwise the limits will apply to the access point itself only and nothing else. And this access point perhaps needs time server only.
do you mean that the managed port i connect to tplink c80 as AP, and limit the port speed to like 25 mbps, any device connected to the AP will bypass that limit?


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Guide to understanding Asus System router logs

Apologies if this has been clearly posted and labelled, but dismally failed to find it.

Is there a goto help page that can help me understand all the lines in a System log i.e. this means that, This is ok and standard - you should be concerned if this appears etc?

Thanks
Regards
G

[Assistant]
It's not really viable to create any sort of definitive guide IMHO. There are far too many messages and whether they're relevant or indicate a problem often depends on specific circumstances, the router model and how it's being used. Any guide would inevitably be either inaccurate or out of date.

All I can suggest is that you familiarise yourself with what the System Log looks like when your router is working normally. Then hopefully if something goes wrong you'll be able spot what's changed more easily. It's usually obvious when there's lots of "ERROR" messages appearing in the log.

P.S. Being familiar with Linux system messages would also help as many of the router's messages are just normal Linux ones.

I would guess that most people wait until something goes wrong or doesn't work, then go hunting in the log for anything that looks related or important. I'm sure there are some that look at it more closely too, but I doubt the average user bothers util required. Most of it (at least the default level) is just informative as troubleshooting data as opposed to alerting.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Separate ax/ac clients

Installed Merlin 3006_102.4 and read the change log about vlans. Does it make sense to separate ac and ax clients in vlans for better performance? I read to do this set main ssid to AX mode only (wireless: profession tab), then create a vlan (guest network pro) for ac clients and set it's mode to ac/n only). But when I look at the guest network pro vlan section there is no setting for wireless mode. Any suggestions?

[Assistant]
BeachGuy said:
Does it make sense to separate ac and ax clients in vlans for better performance?
No.

ColinTaylor said:
No.

I read that if there are ac clients on the network it will prevent ax clients from utilizing the full capabilites of ax standard (down-regulated). AX-only ensures OFDMA, MU-MIMO work properly. Keeps high-performance clients on a clean, fast channel.

Try it for yourself and see if it makes a difference. Everyone's environment/clients/usage is different.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: AiMesh node receiving same SSID on both bands

I used to have 2x RT-AX89Xs in an AiMesh configuration that worked great. Recently I upgraded the main router to a GT-AXE16000. I tried setting up one of the AX89Xs as a node under the AXE16000. It sets up fine, but it gets the same SSID for both the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands. I have tried multiple ways and don't know why its being setup like this.
Smart Connect is off on the main router. The bands each have separate SSIDs.
I have tried factory resetting both devices. They are both running up to date firmware.
I have tried setting up the node with WPS on and off, no change. Neither with setting up from the main router interface, the node interface, or the ASUS Router app.
I can confirm the 5GHz band from the node is broadcasting the 2.4GHz SSID using Wifi Analyzer, as I see 3 total 2.4GHz networks but only one 5GHz from the main router.
Anyone know why the node is inheriting the 2.4GHz SSID as the 5GHz SSID, instead of the actual 5GHz SSID? Is there a way to configure it directly on the node?

[Assistant]
Hi shaangor or somebody else,

Did you find a solution for this issue.
I also have the GT-AXE16000 as main and the AX88U as node.

The node gets the SSID from the 2.4GHz network as the 5GHz SSID


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: What tool can i use to test my throughput of the router?

Hello!

Do you guys know a tool I can use to test my computers maximum throughput thru my router?

Websites like speedtest.net is just for one way tests, up or down, not both at the same time

Thank you for easy recommendations.

[Assistant]
yeah but it is so hard to use, i just have a macbook

microchip said:
Get it from Macports?
What is that? :O When I search it seem to be some type of software that makes hard linux commands easier? Can I trust it? Wtf, how can i missed this........

Amazing it worked thank you very much lol!

Now i just need to find a fast as hell swedish iperf3 server

Code:
[ ID][Role] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate
[  7][TX-C]   0.00-1.00   sec  52.5 MBytes   438 Mbits/sec
[  9][RX-C]   0.00-1.00   sec  35.4 MBytes   295 Mbits/sec
[  7][TX-C]   1.00-2.01   sec  69.5 MBytes   583 Mbits/sec
[  9][RX-C]   1.00-2.01   sec  46.5 MBytes   390 Mbits/sec
[  7][TX-C]   2.01-3.01   sec  75.5 MBytes   633 Mbits/sec
[  9][RX-C]   2.01-3.01   sec  49.8 MBytes   417 Mbits/sec
[  7][TX-C]   3.01-4.01   sec  76.2 MBytes   640 Mbits/sec
[  9][RX-C]   3.01-4.01   sec  52.9 MBytes   444 Mbits/sec
[  7][TX-C]   4.01-5.01   sec  76.4 MBytes   641 Mbits/sec
[  9][RX-C]   4.01-5.01   sec  51.0 MBytes   428 Mbits/sec
[  7][TX-C]   5.01-6.01   sec  76.1 MBytes   639 Mbits/sec
[  9][RX-C]   5.01-6.01   sec  53.6 MBytes   450 Mbits/sec
[  7][TX-C]   6.01-7.01   sec  75.9 MBytes   636 Mbits/sec
[  9][RX-C]   6.01-7.01   sec  50.5 MBytes   424 Mbits/sec
[  7][TX-C]   7.01-8.01   sec  76.1 MBytes   639 Mbits/sec
[  9][RX-C]   7.01-8.01   sec  53.8 MBytes   451 Mbits/sec
[  7][TX-C]   8.01-9.01   sec  76.4 MBytes   641 Mbits/sec
[  9][RX-C]   8.01-9.01   sec  55.1 MBytes   462 Mbits/sec
[  7][TX-C]   9.01-10.01  sec  33.8 MBytes   283 Mbits/sec
[  9][RX-C]   9.01-10.01  sec  59.1 MBytes   496 Mbits/sec
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID][Role] Interval           Transfer     Bitrate         Retr
[  7][TX-C]   0.00-10.01  sec   688 MBytes   577 Mbits/sec                  sender
[  7][TX-C]   0.00-10.04  sec   687 MBytes   574 Mbits/sec                  receiver
[  9][RX-C]   0.00-10.01  sec   511 MBytes   428 Mbits/sec  5737            sender
[  9][RX-C]   0.00-10.04  sec   508 MBytes   424 Mbits/sec                  receiver

iperf Done.
admin@MacBook-Air ~ %


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Collection of ASUS router icons

Here is a random assortment of extra ASUS router icons. Enjoy!

https://github.com/benlinton/asus_router_icons

[Assistant]
And, if you use the Asus router app you can take a picture of the device with the phone or tablet, via the Asus app, and upload that to the router for a custom icon.

SandmanXX said:
Where do you do this?
Asus app, Devices, tap on a device, icon upper right, tap on edit "pen"

bbunge said:
Asus app, Devices, tap on a device, icon upper right, tap on edit "pen"
That is excellent. Thanks!


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: OPNSense or BE88u?

Hello all. Such great minds and hearts here.

I am a very technical sales engineer and administer dozens of cloud environments and perform moderate sql, batch and powershell scripting. However, I am a newbie to linux. I have loaded into a VM a time or two. I am not afraid of anything though time is a factor.

My ISP provides 1.4Gbps down and my network is only 1Gbps. I could also use a faster network by upgrading my switch. I have an older AX86u which works fine but only has a single >1Gbps port. I want to consider upgrading my network for better transfer rates. My house is wired cat 5 (quality) and likely can get 2.5Gbps or 5Gbps from that wiring.

I am considering upgrading to a be88u because it has two 10Gbps ports and 4 2.5 ports. I could get some of that by using vlan tags and a proxmox hosted opnsense. Though I wonder if that is a good idea. I see many people getting dedicated 2 port hardware or using an old pc with a good intel nic. I would still need a reasonably priced 8-16 port managed hub with vlan tags possibly. I only really need one vlan for our downstairs apartment quarters.

What wisdom do you all have?

Are those of you who have moved toward the opnsense path happy? I suppose that if I went on that path, I could just get a ubiquiti or other access point.

Merlin has just worked so well ax86u > ac86u > n66u. Solid and reliable and using many functions and openvpn easily. 2000 sq ft house on main floor. Full finished basement of same sq footage. Large rear deck. Most all is covered by the ax86u. During the summer I activate an older router as an access point for the back yard.

I need to read a few more of the older threads on this topics.

Also any inexpensive purchase recommendations on hardware...

Thank you for any commentary in advance.

Mike
Shenandoah Valley, VA
ax86u, Ryzen 9950x proxmox (building my VMs/containers), around 15-20 computing network devices (pcs, phones, laptops)

[Assistant]
I’m working my way through this guide as an alternative. Feels very simple and straightforward for my needs.
OpenBSD Router Guide
openbsdrouterguide.net

@weaverinva

Don’t be intimidated by OPNsense. It's much easier than it might seem at first. The web interface is clean, well organized, and honestly no harder to learn than the GUI on most consumer grade routers like Asus, Netgear, or TP-Link. Even if you’ve never worked with FreeBSD or advanced routing before, the interface makes most tasks very accessible.

I actually own the Asus BE-88U myself, and while the hardware specs are impressive on paper (dual 10Gbps ports, multiple 2.5Gbps ports), I have to say I’m not impressed in practice. The VLAN implementation is buggy, unintuitive, and in my experience, simply doesn’t work reliably, even after multiple official firmware updates. If you're considering it just for VLAN support or advanced routing, you’ll likely end up frustrated.

By contrast, OPNsense has been a game changer for me. I was a total beginner when I first installed it, but within a few days I had learned the basics and started building out features I never thought I'd use, proper VLANs, firewall rules, DNS blocking, and more. The documentation and community are excellent, and the flexibility it offers is far beyond what any consumer router firmware can deliver.

If you're already comfortable with virtual environments like Proxmox and don’t mind spending a bit of time upfront, I strongly recommend giving OPNsense a try, even just in a test VM or on a small dedicated box. You might be surprised how quickly you become comfortable with it, and how much more power and stability you can get compared to trying to push consumer gear past its limits.
My Asus router has been in AP mode only ever since.

@Some1 thanks for the input. What I don't get about the OPNsense hardware requirements is no mention of network ports. Don't you have to have a minimum of 2 ports (WAN and LAN)? It has to sit between the modem/gateway and the LAN, right? What device do you run it on?


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Slow WiFi upload

Hey everyone, I have a RT-AX86U using a PPPoE connection to my gateway. When I use the ASUS built in speed test I get the speeds included on my plan, which are 1.5gb/s download, 940mb/s upload. All my clients are connected via WiFi, using an iPhone 16 pro with Wifi 7, two laptops using Wifi 6 AX all connect at 1200 tx rate. My download speeds max out around 700-720mb/s, however upload is around 300-400, sometimes 500 mb/s. These tests are run within 10 feet of the router, if I move further away like 20 feet, the download max's out around 400-500mb/s with upload around 200 mb/s.

The interesting part is my previous ISP was using DOCSIS with DHCP. With the same hardware and client devices my download speeds would be over 800mb/s on WifI, and using the ASUS built in speed test would show 1.5 download, 200 upload (my plan). This leads me to believe the issue isn't my ISP because using the ASUS built in speed test shows I am getting the correct speeds. Only over WifI the upload speed is lacking, and download lost around 100mb/s. Is this because of PPPoE overhead? and if so why does it effect the upload WiFi?

I tried a RT-BE86U and download speeds were around 750mb/s, but upload was better around 700mb/s, once again using the same client devices to test, and same 5Ghz channel of 149 with 80mhz width. I understand WiFi results can fluctuate, but I've run the speed test for weeks and the results are always consistent.

[Assistant] The speed test from the router is usually misleading due to loading up the router CPU. . Use a client device , wired, into the router lan port. The wifi numbers are interesting, but as you noted, expected to vary for lots of uncontrollable reasons.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Is there a way to restart AIMesh without rebooting the router?

AIMesh has been just a continuing headache, but I just can't bring myself to permanently abandon it instead of just separate APs.

Is there a way, when it's misbehaving, to log into the router with ssh (I've already enabled this) and restart whatever process is in charge of AIMesh? It'd be a lot less hassle to reboot the nodes and restart the AIMesh process on the router as I'd still be able to keep Ethernet connectivity to the Internet that way.

[Assistant]
SSH into the node, from the comand line on the node, reboot
or from the Router GUI under AiMesh, select a node and select "Reboot Node"

Not to invite opening a can of Worms, but curious what headaches are you dealing with?

aex.perez said:
SSH into the node, from the comand line on the node, reboot
Right. I know that. What about restarting the AIMesh process on the main router?

aex.perez said:
SSH into the node, from the comand line on the node, reboot
or from the Router GUI under AiMesh, select a node and select "Reboot Node"

View attachment 65489

Not to invite opening a can of Worms, but curious what headaches are you dealing with?
Click to expand...
That's to reboot the node. I want to also restart the AIMesh process on the main router without rebooting it.

Well, at the moment, all of the nodes are blinking blue and show as offline in the web UI. Restarting the nodes doesn't help. This is the third incidence of this _today_. I'd like to be able to bounce whatever it is on the main router that will fix this without having to lose the Internet for 5 minutes.

Other things that I've seen are that the nodes will often show as offline in the web UI despite being perfectly pingable AND hosting WiFi clients perfectly well. In addition, sometimes merely loading the AIMesh page on the web UI will cause the main router to just spontaneously reboot.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Is the default ASUS settings "wrong"?

Hello!

I have made a small research where I checked all the default settings one by one in wifi 2.4 ghz and 5 ghz on ASUS newer routers.

Here is the link to check the document, or please see the screenshot in the end of this message.
Link: research document
Link: screenshot

And I have found alot of wierd settings, for example:

Roaming Assistant = why is this even on when choosing seperate SSID?

WiFi Agile Multiband = same with this one, shouldnt be on when using seperate SSID!

TX bursting = ON by default. Apparently many manufacturers enable this on 2.4 GHz to show “faster numbers” in marketing – but in practice it is often better to have it OFF. It is not worth the small speed increase if it causes interference or worsens latency. Ugly sales ploy!

Presamble type = Why is this even set to LONG on 5 Ghz? Very strange.

Xtra range 2.0 (Extended Range) = This should be OFF if you dont live in the white house or a big mansion.

Do you guys think it is worth to change this settings on my 2x Asus RT-AX52?
Or is it a big risk I crash something when editing because ASUS have made some wierd setting that depend on something wierd only they know about.
Touch less or touch more?

[Assistant]
None of the default settings are "wrong." My router shows different default settings from yours and works very well. Change the settings if you must but be prepared to factory reset when the WIFI performance tanks.

bbunge said:
None of the default settings are "wrong." My router shows different default settings from yours and works very well. Change the settings if you must but be prepared to factory reset when the WIFI performance tanks.
Can you please show me your settings?

I just choosed seperate SSID and no smart connect, this is what I got. :O

alphaswe said:
Roaming Assistant = why is this even on when choosing seperate SSID?

Roaming Assistant is node steering, not Smart Connect band (SSID) steering. The question might better be, 'Why is RA ON for a standalone router?'... I assume it does nothing when there is no node/AP to roam to.

OE


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Instant guard DNS

I used to operative an openvpn server on my ac86u but since they added instant guard and it’s iOS app I think it’s more convient and faster as well. My issue is the DNS is bypassing my home network DNS which is running 2 pihole + unbound resolver. I can’t find anything about where the dns settings are for instant guard. I bought an ax86u I’m using as I mesh node but I’ll swap then around to use it as main and use wire guard on it but in the meantime I’d like to know if there is a cmd or a setting to change the dns ?

[Assistant]
Look under IPSEC VPN for the settings to change DNS. But remember to allow the Pi-Hole to respond to all addresses.

Edit: I have not tested changing the DNS settings but it should work. A better method would be to use Wireguard or go back to good old OpenVPN. The down side to InstantGuard is it has a two hour time limit.

i read about a post where the user changed the DNS on the ipsec config and i tried it before posting here but it didn't work for some reason..
EDIT: I think i got it working i had to add my instant guard ip range to the pihole conf and change to listing on all interfaces.;i made sure 53 are blocked of course before doing so


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Asus Router and Mesh system Setup

I run a GT-AX11000 Pro and two ZenWiFi XT9. See two attachments.

It shows Uplink Type Ethernet
It shows ports 2 and 3 could be improved. Those two ports have new cat6 wiring that runs from Living room XT9 ports to my TV, Google. So my mesh is feeding those two.

I will mention I replaced all Cat5 with Cat6 wiring. Paid an electrician that does this.
My Asus GT AX11000 Pro I run Cat6 lines from the Pro router to both ZenWiFi XT9

My other 50503-140938ZenWiFi XT9 line located in my master bedroom.
It shows Uplink type Wireless-5G, How or why does it show wireless when the Cat6 line runs from the router to the XT9 in Bedroom? It says running great, but sometimes speed drops which may be because it is saying wireless.

I have checked the plugins/connections from Router to the Mesh system, each has the correct line and port.

I am using 1Gig now on my router.

[Assistant]
The TV likely has a 100 Mb Ethernet port. Thus it will show needs improved on Asus but is likely running at the full port speed.
Did the electrician test the cables after install? I've found that most electricians haven't a clue about proper network wiring. They can do POTS as that is hard to screw up. But...
Usually there is no reason to replace CAT5 cables as they will still work for 1 GB.

bbunge said:
The TV likely has a 100 Mb Ethernet port. Thus it will show needs improved on Asus but is likely running at the full port speed.
Did the electrician test the cables after install? I've found that most electricians haven't a clue about proper network wiring. They can do POTS as that is hard to screw up. But...
Usually there is no reason to replace CAT5 cables as they will still work for 1 GB.
Click to expand...
Thank you. I replaced lines because the old Cat5 had been through lighting strike when I had damage to most electronics. My son and I ran 7 years ago.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Asus GT-AX6000 + StarLink

Hi,
I recently installed Starlink, I did setup its router (gen3) in bypass mode, and connected it to my GT-AX6000 (latest stock firmware) with an ethernet cable. The connection works fine.
I have a couple questions :

1 - Following those instructions https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1047774/ , theres a point (mentioned also in the Starlink configuration steps) saying that I should setup a static route to 192.168.100.1 to be able to use the Starlink app on my phone.
Except Im currently able to use it without adding any static route, I can see statistics and everything. How does that work ?
The router is on ip 192.168.50.1 , using the dhcp ip pool 192.168.50.2-254

2 - About Qos configuration, Im not sure which I should enable.
The endgoal of the setup would be to have my main pc (which is connected directly to the router with an ethernet cable in the "priority port") to be able to utilize the full bandwidth and have priority over anything else.
With my previous internet connection (14Mbps / 2Mpbs) I had Traditional Qos, with user defined rules.
Now, the issue with Starlink is that Im not sure about the bandwidth values I should enter (when I run a speed test, it varies wildly from 150Mbps to 350Mbps download, and 10-20 upload).
Theres the "Adaptive Qos" setting, which has an "automatic setting" for bandwidth (How does that work ?). However, enabling that, running a speed test from my pc seems to be limiting its download to about 120 Mbps and upload to 4-5 Mbps. Running a speed test from the router ui (Game Acceleration/Internet Speed), gives normal values.

Thanks

[Assistant]
Nite01 said:
1 - Following those instructions https://www.asus.com/support/faq/1047774/ , theres a point (mentioned also in the Starlink configuration steps) saying that I should setup a static route to 192.168.100.1 to be able to use the Starlink app on my phone.
Except Im currently able to use it without adding any static route, I can see statistics and everything. How does that work ?
The router is on ip 192.168.50.1 , using the dhcp ip pool 192.168.50.2-254
Click to expand...
You would not normally need a static route for 192.168.100.1 as you have discovered. The reason being that by default all non-local traffic already goes through the "default route", which is via the WAN interface. However, it is possible that the user may have enabled the router's VPN client and routed "all clients" through the VPN interface instead. In such a situation the Starlink admin interface (192.168.100.1) would now be unreachable. So by specifying an explicit route to 192.168.100.1 you're creating a route with a higher priority between the router (and its LAN clients) and 192.168.100.1.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Solved Is the new firmware unable to set up the Smart Connect Rule?

Please ask if routers with firmware versions later than 3.0.0.6.102_35404 (including this version) cannot set the Advanced setting for Smart Connect (Smart Connect Rule)

[Assistant]
I haven't seen the smart connect setting since I upgraded my router. Allegedly it's still accessible via the asus app. It's also possible to disable smart connect through ssh.

Ripshod said:
I haven't seen the smart connect setting since I upgraded my router. Allegedly it's still accessible via the asus app. It's also possible to disable smart connect through ssh.
I want to enable the Smart Connect Rule because, originally set up as effective, it's very functional.

Ripshod said:
I haven't seen the smart connect setting since I upgraded my router. Allegedly it's still accessible via the asus app. It's also possible to disable smart connect through ssh.

I must have missed what's going on here... is SC being forced now? Is the app the only way to configure using or not using it?

OE


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: 2.4ghz issues with asus mesh

Hi.
I have an asus mesh with the following
following
AXE16000
AXE11000
AX11000

All my other bands are great but 2.4ghz is struggling suddenly.
I have from time to time, experienced issues with my basement smart bulbs failing to turn on or off (not all at the same time and not often) but reviews from them claim similar issues .
Still it has been like 90% fine until yesterday where they all stopped responding.
Is like that they cant keep a connection to 2.4ghz.

I tested the 2.4ghz band from my phone vs 5ghz and it was extremely slow and even sometimes get a message that it has no internet.

So while it shows full bars, something is making 2.4ghz actual performance terrible. I tried different channels too without success.
You can see a screenshot of 2.4 vs 5 from the same spot.
Any suggestions?

[Assistant]
Are you using fixed channel, 20 MHz width, WEP2 not 2/3 ?

This thread might be useful as general hints
Tutorial - Optimized settings for XT12 / XT8
I've been using two XT12s and one XT8 with old firmware as AP, until I decided to move from Edgerouter to Opnsense, and add multiple VLANs via latest firmware. I spent days messing around settings, noticed I had horrible 2.4Ghz performance, clients were jumping around nodes, nodes were...
www.snbforums.com

GabrielPhoto said:
All my other bands are great but 2.4ghz is struggling suddenly.

Beware using router USB Mode 3.0... the higher speed data comms of USB 3.x can generate EMI in the 2.4Ghz band that can affect 2.4 client connections/performance, particularly for 2.4 clients at distance from the router/AP. If you are using router USB Mode 3.0, try switching it to USB Mode 2.0 to troubleshoot.

Similar WiFi interference is possible with other cordless devices like cordless mice, keyboards, headphones, phones, etc. operating in the 2.4GHz band.

OE

And in terms of my mesh performance, does it affect anything to have the ax11000 which does not have the same bands as the other 2?


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Asus EULA now requiring explicit user consent

spacemanspiff said:
I've just become aware that my Asus RT-AX86U which is running the latest Merlin firmware (3004.388.9) might be compromised. Potentially by TheMoon malware or Alogin. I was made aware that port 53 is open, however, I don't have any port forwards enabled for 53 so I can't see why it would be open.

This seems highly suspicious. Furthermore, it appears that I'm serving DNS because if I run dig as follows I get this result:

~$ dig +short @119.2xx.xxx.xxx google.com
142.251.221.78

That seems like it should not be happening and is a red flag to me.

Then if I look in IPTables I see some entries that look really suspect, too:

And this too:

I had a quick look for obvious signs of TheMoon in find/tmp and didn't see anything obvious - paste here

Also, taking a look at the output of 'ps' I didn't see .nttpd or .sox running which is the normal culprit. Of course a newer/better variant of TheMoon might just be better disguising itself so here's my 'ps' output if anyone wants to look -

I don't have my admin gui open to the WAN and never did so in the past. I do run IPsec and OpenVPN and I'm also seeing some suspicious login attempts via IPSec.

I'd really like to know what is going on and try to figure out the source/vector for this. I'm also unsure how to clean this up, but I suspect factory reset, flashing again and another factory reset should do the job?
Click to expand...
tried to upgrade but I am being asked a bunch of questions and served a few pages of text to read and something about ID? what the heck is this? ASUS=spyware?

[Assistant]
siena said:
tried to upgrade but I am being asked a bunch of questions and served a few pages of text to read and something about ID? what the heck is this? ASUS=spyware?
Post a screen shot of what you are referencing or seeing so others can understand what you are talking about.
If you are talking about the End User License Agreement and the Asus Notice that appear when you first access the router's QiS page (either new) or after a reset, that is expected behavior. Asus started including the agreement notices last year. There is lots of prior discussion about the notices and option to either agree or disagree with them that can be found using the forum search feature.

bennor said:
Post a screen shot of what you are referencing or seeing so others can understand what you are talking about.
If you are talking about the End User License Agreement and the Asus Notice that appear when you first access the router's QiS page (either new) or after a reset, that is expected behavior. Asus started including the agreement notices last year. There is lots of prior discussion about the notices and option to either agree or disagree with them that can be found using the forum search feature.
Click to expand...
thank you bennor. i was up to date on my upgrades and have never seen these; only this last upgrade. I am going through the discussions now to have an idea what it is all about.

I reverted to the earlier version and reloaded my settings. The first notice is about age, what is this all about, years after owning the router? The second one I refused and saw some warning about google and some others; i just went back to the previous firmware as in any case I do not use any AiCloud services. But still this does not fix the vulnerability or bug. Any firmware out there without these impositions?


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: AX86U PRO Surfshark Wireguard

Hello
First I should state that I'm not deeply technical. I used the surfshark VPN app and it has worked all the time on each device. However, I am in Costa Rica for an extended period (live in Nevada USA) and wanted to still watch my streaming shows. I have a few problems but I want to solve them one at a time to avoid my own confusion.
So, I installed surfshark wireguard US server location on the AX86U Pro router and it seems to work for my Samsung TV because I can now view my shows. But my laptop and phone and it seems any other device pass the DNS test but fail the IP and web-rtc test. Does anyone have any thoughts on why this might occur?
Please let me know if there is information I should post that would provide any clues.
Thank you I appreciate your time.

[Assistant]
Do the browsers on the laptop and phone use the router DNS or do they use DOH?

Hello
I looked up DOH and followed the instructions to check Windows 11 wifi properties but I couldn't find anything that referred to it for the laptop - the closest I could get was a window in Settings that said DNS server assignment - Automatic DHCP (and the same value for IP assignment). For my phone, it's a stock iphone 16 pro so I'm also not sure how to answer that question.

Web browsers have a separate setting for DNS security. Not too sure about the iPhone. I use Firefox on the iPhone and not Safari


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Control D DNS and possible DNS-rebind attacks

I have recently noticed another pre loaded DNS service on the Asus firmware. Control D seems to be a "real deal" and has a fancy web site. They have many "free" configuration options.
However, when I select any of the pre loaded DNS options or manually add one of their other services I immediately begin seeing "possible DNS-rebind attack detected:" in the router system log. Going back to Quad9 or Cloudflare and the suspected attacks stop. These "attacks" also happen with DNSSEC or DoT enabled ( I do not use DNSSEC and DoT at the same time).
Is this just me or is there a real problem with Control D DNS?

[Assistant]
Most likely your router settings, disable rebind protection. It will generate this log message when upstream service filters something.

Tech9 said:
Most likely your router settings, disable rebind protection. It will generate this log message when upstream service filters something.
Makes a lot of sense to disable a protection feature that is giving a warning...

Router settings?

Can you explain why this happens on Control D but not on Quad9, CleanBrowsing, Cloudflare, AdGuard, Google and even my ISP default of Level 3? Also happens on Merlin and Asus firmware...

If the filtering server upstream is returning 0.0.0.0 you get the possible rebind attack detected message. I've seen it with Cloudflare and AdGuard, Google and perhaps the ISP have no filtering, don't know about Quad9 and CleanBrowsing. It's a false alarm.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Inter-VLAN Routing requires Merlin?

My current situation requires a VLAN for my NVR, which should still be accessible from the main LAN. The current Asuswrt Official firmware on my GT-AXE16000 does not seem to contain this function, will upgrading to Merlin allow me to setup these inter-vlan routing? thank you so much.

[Assistant]
VLAN support in the current Merlin beta release is no different than the stock Asus VLAN support.

Are you on the current firmware, 3.0.0.6.102_36383?

mosesman831 said:
The current Asuswrt Official firmware on my GT-AXE16000 does not seem to contain this function...
Use the stock Asus 3006.102_x firmware for your router, it should contain the Guest Network Pro/VLAN/SDN feature.
ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000
Quad-band WiFi 6E gaming router, new 6 GHz band, dual 10G ports, 2.5G WAN port, dual WAN, AiMesh support, VPN Fusion, Triple-level game acceleration and free network security
rog.asus.com
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000 Firmware version 3.0.0.6.102_36383 (2025/04/10)

ColinTaylor said:
VLAN support in the current Merlin beta release is no different than the stock Asus VLAN support.

Are you on the current firmware, 3.0.0.6.102_36383?
bennor said:
Use the stock Asus 3006.102_x firmware for your router, it should contain the Guest Network Pro/VLAN/SDN feature.
ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000
Quad-band WiFi 6E gaming router, new 6 GHz band, dual 10G ports, 2.5G WAN port, dual WAN, AiMesh support, VPN Fusion, Triple-level game acceleration and free network security
ASUS ROG Rapture GT-AXE16000 Firmware version 3.0.0.6.102_36383 (2025/04/10)
Click to expand...
Yes, I am on the latest software. there isnt an option to use Inter-VLAN Routing by setting a LAN to Access tho.
Static routes have been tried but the NVR GUI opens does not load.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: ASUS Router Issue or ISP?

I spent a few hours troubleshooting with no luck. Issue occurred last year and I fixed by doing a factory reset and restoring from settings file. That didn't work this time.

I have two Asus RT-AXE7800 in mesh with ATT 1Gb service. Normally I can pull 800Mbps over close Wifi 6 or 6e connection. Now it only pulls about 500Mbps. I've checked connection with gateway and even the Asus GUI speed test and it is fine (990 Mbps on Gateway and 850 Mbps in router test). In any browser though (Windows, Android, or iOS device) it is slower. I have checked QOS, IPV6, and other known culprits without success.

The other interesting part is that if I enable VPN my speed goes to what it should be (800+ Mbps). I'd expect the opposite.

What am I missing that is causing the slower non-VPN speed. Region server issue or some other configuration or setting I'm missing?

Any help or explanation is appreciated.

[Assistant]
If you have 990Mbps at the Gateway - obviously not ISP related issue.

Channel bandwidth is shared, not exclusive or guaranteed. I can "pull" 500-850Mbps from my access points depending on how busy the environment is. Your 6GHz band has shorter range, your 5GHz band perhaps hears other networks around. For best speed you need: 1) quiet environment; 2) signal level -54dBm or better.

You may not get many model specific replies because this particular model is known around for past firmware related issues and for the fact it's an overpriced RT-AX58U V2 hardware with one additional radio. It also has no Asuswrt-Merlin support most Asus router users on this forum are after. Not too many people around have it.

Thanks...I just find it weird that with VPN enabled it has great bandwidth and without it doesn't...it should be the other way around. You're right though...while I don't necessarily regret the purchase because most of the time it works(ed) great. It was on sale and one of the more affordable 6E routers available at the time. I do have the latest firmware on both APs but wish Merlin or gnuton would make something for it. Maybe this weekend I'll do another factory reset an rebuild settings from scratch (as opposed to a settings file).

This router can do about 100-120Mbps on OpenVPN and perhaps 300-350Mbps on WireGuard. The CPU doesn't have AES extensions and as far as I remember this hardware platform doesn't support flow cache bypass for WireGuard. If you test higher speed with VPN enabled: 1) the interface tested is not VPN; 2) data goes around as IPv6 leak; 3) some other bug happening.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: ASUS RT-AX86U High Ping on Gaming 2

Hello Everyone, had to come ask how to fix my router high ping problem again after a years, it when will after the last setup you guys taught me here but after a year i reset my router and update the firmware, my router go high ping again.

The setting i was following before setup but it don't get the ping down anymore.
- already set IPV6
- turn off QOS
- i turn on AI protection but even if i turn off it don't effect the ping.
- contact ISP but they keep telling my network is fine.

here is what it looks like in my tracert on the cs-play.com

Code:
  1    <1 ms    <1 ms    <1 ms  RT-AX86U-42D0 [2001:e68:5409:9629::1]
  2     5 ms     8 ms     5 ms  2001:e68:402c:8001::4e
  3     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  4     *        *       44 ms  hnk-b4-link.ip.twelve99.net [2001:2035:0:1cc5::1]
  5   178 ms   179 ms   177 ms  mei-b6-v6.ip.twelve99.net [2001:2034:0:36::1]
  6   198 ms   197 ms   197 ms  prs-bb2-v6.ip.twelve99.net [2001:2034:1:c1::1]
  7   196 ms   196 ms     *     adm-bb2-v6.ip.twelve99.net [2001:2034:1::1]
  8     *        *        *     Request timed out.
  9   197 ms   197 ms   197 ms  teambluecarrier-ic-384765.ip.twelve99-cust.net [2001:2035:0:1a12::2]
 10   195 ms   195 ms   195 ms  2a02:2b8:0:54::2
 11   203 ms   203 ms     *     2a01:7c8:f:1000::9
 12   202 ms   202 ms   203 ms  reserved.transip.nl [2a01:7c8:3:1337::27]

can anyone help guide me through this, cause i have no knowledge on why my networks going so wrong this day.

[Assistant]
Looking at the previous conversations - you are in Malaysia. You may not be able to get low ping to servers in Europe over 10K km away no matter what you do on your end. Also test with both IPv4 and IPv6. The ISP may offer and route IPv6 in different ways.

Hello @Tech9, Yeah i am from malaysia, but i am playing at singapore server and alot of player within are from asian, their ping are very stable around 20m - 50m. only me had over 120 ++ ping somehow. i keep feeling is my router setup problem but i cant tell what set off.

how you know it was Europe server ?

Thanks for reading through the problem.

_monster said:
how you know it was Europe server ?

Most likely Paris and Amsterdam servers:


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Site-to-Site wireguard VPN Server side cannot access to devices in client side

I have a WireGuard site-to-site VPN.
I would like that devices located in VPN-server side could access to devices located in VPN-client side, while device from VPN-client side connects to internet using the tunnel.

The part "VPN-client side connect to internet using the tunnel" is working fine.

the configuration is the following

SERVER SIDE
Router asus wrt merlin running wireguard server
Router ip 192.168.119.1
WireGuard server ip 10.6.0.1
Intranet option enabled
Allowed IPs(Server) 10.6.0.120/32,192.168.120.0/24
Allowed IPs (client) 0.0.0.0/0
Static route
Host 192.168.120.0
mask 255.255.255.0
gateway 10.6.0.1
interface LAN

CLIENT SIDE
Router with OPENWRT
Router ip 192.168.120.119
WireGuard client ip 10.6.0.120

Configuration pictures of client side follow

I wonder if I have to define a forwarding vpnWG=>lan
And I am also not that sure that Server side static route gateway should be something different

[Assistant]
ronzino said:
I have a WireGuard site-to-site VPN.
I would like that devices located in VPN-server side could access to devices located in VPN-client side, while device from VPN-client side connects to internet using the tunnel.

The part "VPN-client side connect to internet using the tunnel" is working fine.

the configuration is the following

Router asus wrt merlin running wireguard server
Router ip 192.168.119.1
WireGuard server ip 10.6.0.1
Intranet option enabled
Allowed IPs(Server) 10.6.0.120/32,192.168.120.0/24
Allowed IPs (client) 0.0.0.0/0
Static route
Host 192.168.120.0
mask 255.255.255.0
gateway 10.6.0.1
interface LAN

Router with OPENWRT
Router ip 192.168.120.119
WireGuard client ip 10.6.0.120

Configuration pictures of client side follow

I wonder if I have to define a forwarding vpnWG=>lan
And I am also not that sure that Server side static route gateway should be something different
Click to expand...
You have to aske in openwrt forums, this is not supported here.

Well missconfiguration could be also from asus wrt merlin side. I have an hybrid configuration .

Does your reply imply that my server side configuration is correct ?

Sorry, a bit confused as to what is not working? Can you be more specific?

On the server side (Asus), you should not have to setup any static routes. That is what the "allowed IPs" field does.

For the OpenWRT side, I can't say. It has been a long time since I have used OpenWRT.

What troubleshooting have you done?


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Question about VLANS with ASUS Ai mesh and PFSense/opnsense in front

I have a network as follows:

main router (AX86U Pro) 192.168.x.x
AI Node (2nd AX86U pro)
Have guest network pros with 2 current vlans of 52, 53
Have about 30 clients in general (don't know if that mattes)

My issue is we now need to add some clients all wired to a IPSEC VPN and the AX86U PRO doesn't support this so I have made a opnsense/pfsense box out of a GK41 miniforums. The wan will come into this and the AX86U pro will get the lan port. I have successfully tested the wan coming into a OpenVPN connection and then through a vlan made on the gk41. My question is is there a way to get the asus wan port to see this tagged traffic, and if not my plan is to use hardware I already got atm which is a tp link smart switch off the gk41 lan port to put the vpn client devices on a tagged port (10) and the asus on another tagged port (11). I need one device in the IPSEC VLAN (tagged 10) to see the lan (tagged11) of the asus though, I am trying to figure out if this is possible with a rule in pfsense?

EDIT: Also if I were to just ditch the ASUS as the router it self and use the pfsense as the only router and put my main asus into AP mode It would no longer be able to make an AImesh right and I would just have to have two separate AP routers which is not ideal?

[Assistant]
rvcjew said:
Also if I were to just ditch the ASUS as the router it self and use the pfsense as the only router and put my main asus into AP mode It would no longer be able to make an AImesh right and I would just have to have two separate AP routers which is not ideal?
I’m pretty sure you can have AiMesh in AP mode. See the “Access Point(AP) mode / AiMesh Router in AP mode” on the Administration / Operation Mode tab of the GUI.

rvcjew said:
Also if I were to just ditch the ASUS as the router it self and use the pfsense as the only router and put my main asus into AP mode It would no longer be able to make an AImesh right and I would just have to have two separate AP routers which is not ideal?

There is no AI in AiMesh. It's just a marketing name like other Asus Ai things. Wired AiMesh is in fact routers in AP mode with limited control. Separate routers in AP mode are actually better. If you want full VLAN control for LAN/WLAN better ditch consumer AiMesh and go with controller managed Omada. You'll never look back. If TP-Link product is not an option for whatever reasons - UniFi. If Ubiquiti product is not an option for whatever reason - MikroTik.

Tech9 said:
There is no AI in AiMesh. It's just a marketing name like other Asus Ai things. Wired AiMesh is in fact routers in AP mode with limited control. Separate routers in AP mode are actually better. If you want full VLAN control for LAN/WLAN better ditch consumer AiMesh and go with controller managed Omada. You'll never look back. If TP-Link product is not an option for whatever reasons - UniFi. If Ubiquiti product is not an option for whatever reason - MikroTik.
Click to expand...
Spoke to the client. Ordered a 24 port jetstream +poe, a 610 eap for testing (not sure if they need anything more then that, it's only 100/100 fiber), an oc200 controller (for today will mess with the software controller on windows I guess). Here's hoping I can get all of this stuff to play nice with each other.

Thanks for the advice.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: iOS privacy warning new router

Recently setup a rt-ax86u pro and have noticed our iOS devices show privacy warning occasionally under WiFi, describing something about sending dns unencrypted, more often than my old router. I have scrubbed the net and can’t find a qualifying definition as to why this happens. Forgetting the network and reconnecting solves it for a while. I read that sometimes it’s a router config issue but I do not have any type of parental controls and dns is automatic through ISP. Is this anything to be overly concerned about? Is it the router or my isp?

[Assistant]
Sdr-99xrs said:
Is it the router or my isp?
Neither. It's Apple wanting you to use their services.

Private Mac is on. I’ve heard it’s router related. I’ve heard it’s apple related. I’ve heard it’s ISP spying on you. Why would it seem to increase with new router?

Sdr-99xrs said:
Why would it seem to increase with new router?
Because the apple spyware has noticed a change on your network. Whilst their intention my be good (protecting the end user) it goes too far for me.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Routing table

Received and setup rt-ax86u pro and I’m going through each setting exploring the router, Can anyone explain to me (like I’m 5) why my wan ip address seems to be different on my routers routing table? I can see my vlan ip ranges and I think my isps destination ip address and maybe my modem ip. But none of them are familiar. What exactly does this show ? Is it normal to have a few different entries in the table?

[Assistant]
More detailed information needed. The routing table won't show your router's WAN IP address, but it will show the gateway address.

The WAN ip address that shows at the main page of network on router admin page does not show in routing table but there are a few IP addresses there. What would those be , under normal circumstance ? My ISP ip? My modem IP?

Your WAN DNS server IPs also get routing table entries.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Why is it recommended to have identical routers for AiMesh

Correct me if I am wrong please, but I read that it is best to have the same routers or at least hardware capabilities when creating an AiMesh.

For example, if one has an ASUS ROG Rapture GT-BE98 as the main router and an AX86U Pro as the node, would the AX86U Pro impact the performance of the GT-BE98?

Let's say the GT-BE98 was located on the first floor of my house and the AX86U Pro was downstairs in the living room. My laptop which is right next to the router upstairs connects to the WiFi 7 / 6 GHz band wirelessly, how would the AX86U Pro affect anything in this scenario?

Please educate me

[Assistant]
You are correct, mostly. While AiMesh routers of different generations can be connected, it is known that the older routers with fewer channels and lower bandwidth in 5 GHz can limit the newer routers capability. You are, however, allowed to beta test combos of BE and AX routers and report to the group.
I will stick with AX to AX....

I have not used AIMesh in a year or two, but when I was using it there was a problem with the GUI only being prepared to handle/configure radios that are present on the primary node. If your secondar(ies) have a different set of radios you'd be out of luck. This is not a huge problem if your primary is strictly better than your secondary, but you have to keep an eye on it. I don't know if they've fixed that problem in newer releases.

tgl said:
I have not used AIMesh in a year or two, but when I was using it there was a problem with the GUI only being prepared to handle/configure radios that are present on the primary node. If your secondar(ies) have a different set of radios you'd be out of luck. This is not a huge problem if your primary is strictly better than your secondary, but you have to keep an eye on it. I don't know if they've fixed that problem in newer releases.
This is what concerns me because my main router is WiFi7 with a 6GHz band while the node is only 5GHz, the most important thing is that the main router which is sitting next to my laptop is giving me the full speed, the node is just for mobile devices downstairs to connect to so speed is not that important.

I guess I will tell in a few hours as the ASUS RT-BE92U will be delivered in a few hours.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: AI protection and TrendMicro

Hi all,

Just wondering that enabling AI protection and sending our router config to TrendMicro might not be a good idea.... What are your thoughts?

kr
Francisco

[Assistant]
This question has been flogged to death endlessly. No need to repeat it all again. Use the search function to find previous posts.

francisport said:
What are your thoughts?
As ColinTaylor indicated, the subject of the Ai Protection and TrendMicro feature on Asus routers has been discussed very extensively in numerous past discussions that can be found using the subforum search feature. You should read the EULA and notices for both, including following the links to additional documents, and decide for yourself if YOU are comfortable with the information that gets sent to Asus and TrendMicro when those features are active/enabled. Many have their own opinions. Some use the features, some don't.

https://nw-dlcdnet.asus.com/support/forward.html?model=&type=TMeula&lang=EN&kw=&num=
https://nw-dlcdnet.asus.com/trend/tm_privacy
https://nw-dlcdnet.asus.com/trend/tm_pdcd

An example of the EULA and notices one see's when they hit the router QiS page was posted here (it may have changed since that posting).

PS: Many years ago (2020) RMerlin, the Asus-Merlin developer, made a post to address the questions many people had on the Trend Micro data collection in the 384.6 firmware:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/384-6-now-sharing-data-to-trend-micro.48202/page-9#post-540572

francisport said:
What are your thoughts?

If you reject Trend Micro data sharing agreement you'll lose the following features:
AiProtection, Traffic Analyzer, Apps Analyzer, Adaptive QoS, Game Boost, Web History.

If you reject Asus data sharing agreement you'll lose the following features:
Asus DDNS service, Remote Connection (ASUS Router APP, AiCloud, AiDisk), Auto Firmware upgrade.

If you go for "privacy" basically big part of the firmware features will be unavailable to you.
Your Google, Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, IoT devices, etc. will still collect whatever they can as usual.

Based on the above - you may want to allow data sharing. Your life will be exactly the same as before.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Newbie to Asus. Will a Gnuton help me with my ET8

Hi, I am new to Asus and have dabbled with DD-WRT on my linksys routers. My question stems from the fact that with the DD-WRT loaded on them it opened up a ton of options as I am very unfamiliar with networking stuff, I had no idea what all those functions did. Now my question is if I change the firmware on my ET8’s to Gnuton fork, will it really give me any advantage that a low functioning network guy be able to take advantage of (that I can understand) …he he

Thank you for any help that this wisdom filled website can provide.

Cheers!

[Assistant]
Will do. I have suffered many times from having just enough knowledge to get into trouble. I also have been a many time victim of violating the law, if it works, leave the firmware alone.

No offense taken.
Cheers!


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Trying to Connect Asus Network (4 routers) to New Rogers 5G Router as a Bridge

My network consists of four Asus routers. Currently an AXE1100 acts as DCHP and modem input. The input modem is a Skylink that connects to the AXE1100.

I am trying to get rid of the Skylink system and my only hope is Rogers cellular 5g service. Unfortunately, my Rogers provided unit is a simple router that can NOT be set as a bridge.

I have an older Cudy P5 that I was able to use the Rogers SIM card with, but I cannot get it to pass through to the AXE1100. My home network is very extensive (over 80 devices) and I want to continue using my AXE1100 as main router etc.

Is there any way to connect the CUDY P5 to the AXE1100 and have the AXE1100 see the Cudy as a simple modem??

[Assistant]
The CUDY is connecting to a LTE cellular network ?

degrub said:
The CUDY is connecting to a LTE cellular network ?
Yes it is. I have turned off DHCP on the Cudy and set the ip address as 192.168.50.5. The AXE1100 main router, where the Starlink was originally connected, has an ip address of 192.168.50.1. This is also the gateway for all devices. The AXE1100 also sets DNS server settings. AXE1100 ip address pool starts at 192.168.50.10.

It does sort of work but whenever I go to a browser it tells me to log in to the gateway and then it stops there.

The other three routers are in different buildings and are set as AP's.

I really like my Asus routers and want to retain them as the main backbone of the system. As an utter last resort I could use the Cudy as my main router but would need to set the AXE1100 as an AP, and would lose services that I need.

Why do you need to have the Skylink/Rogers/Cudy in bridge mode (I'm not familiar with these devices)? If you need remote access to your network do they not have a port forwarding or "DMZ" mode?


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Asus AX86U Pro - Guest Network losing internet

I'm using stock firmware. I noticed that the second guest network loses internet connection on the laptop but not on mobile phones. I haven't checked the first guest network. Things resolve themselves when I restart.

Anyone encountered this? Is there any setting that will prevent this from happening?

firmware version:3.0.0.6.102_34336

[Assistant]
What Guest Network Pro preset are you using for the Guest Networks? And how is that preset configured? Do you have WiFi Scheduling enabled on the preset?
Have you checked the router log to see if anything unusual is happening around the time the laptop looses internet on the second guest network?
Do you have any sort of Parental Controls Time Scheduling enabled? If using the Asus router app, check the app in addition to checking the router GUI.

gabzprime said:
I noticed that the second guest network loses internet connection on the laptop but not on mobile phones.

Troubleshoot the laptop.

OE

bennor said:
What Guest Network Pro preset are you using for the Guest Networks? And how is that preset configured? Do you have WiFi Scheduling enabled on the preset?
Have you checked the router log to see if anything unusual is happening around the time the laptop looses internet on the second guest network?
Do you have any sort of Parental Controls Time Scheduling enabled? If using the Asus router app, check the app in addition to checking the router GUI.
Click to expand...
Its a customized network. There are no schedules whatsoever.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: MFG date

Hello recently pulled the plug and got a asus 86u router and the manufacture date on box shows 2025. What exactly does that mean if the router was released in 2022-2023? Are they still making updates to the physical router ?

[Assistant]
This means the device is still in production and yours was made in 2025. Nothing else.

Sdr-99xrs said:
Hello recently pulled the plug and got a asus 86u router
Just a suggestion for future posting. It helps to be specific on which router you have. There is no "asus 86u" router. There are:
RT-AC86U
RT-AX86U
RT-AX86U Pro

Each one is different. The RT-AC86U is end-of-life per Asus.

PS: The Manufacturing Date is just that. The date the product was manufactured. Doesn't generally mean anything more then that. Certain Asus routers have lengthy multi year manufacturing runs. Others have short manufacturing runs.

Ripshod said:
@bennor you missed the RT-BE86U
Was wondering about that. I did a internet search before posting and only the AX and AC series routers were coming up in the first few return pages.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Xfinity Down Same Time Every Day

I have a RT-AC86U on Merlin that has been bullet proof supported by backup UPS connected to Xfinity.

After our last ICE Storm where Xfinity was down for a couple of hours due to power local power outages we started noticing the Xfinity broadband goes down same time every day (~11PM).

Asking for help to troubleshoot to see if it's their end or mine.

I have never posted logs here but what do u all need to see (& redacted) to give me a hand?

[Assistant]
The modem has logs, the router has logs. Just find which device is going off-line and go from there.

Tech9 said:
The modem has logs, the router has logs. Just find which device is going off-line and go from there.
I have the AC86U logs - it has several instances of the:

"WAN_Connection: WAN was restored." between 10.55-11.11 each day -

Assuming you don't have any reboot schedulers on your router or it doesn't reboot from other causes - check the modem logs, usually in DOCSIS Event section. If you see something happening at the same time in modem logs or with LED lights - call the ISP.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Disabling NAT (as "secondary" router)

I have 2 Asus routers, both running Merlin wrt:
- an RT-AX86U - the ISP facing router, 192.168.a.0/24 local plan
-an older RT-AC87U (wan IP on 192.168.a.0/24 lan, and it's local plan is 192.168.b.0/24).
I am trying to use the older router as a normal router,... as in route between different networks.
The main router does have a route pointing back to 192.168.b.0/24, yet, as soon as I disable NAT, everything but ping stops working. I can ping Google and stuff without any issues, which is weird.

This is a capture of a random stream, but all of them are like this (192.168.20.3 is 192.168.b.0/24). There is obviously some traffic going back and forth, so the routing should be fine. From a MAC perspective all lookig good as well
Capture from the laptop behind the 2nd router

capture from the ISP facing router, same stream

Ping looks very weird as well (capture is from the ISP-facing router. For some reason tcpdump on the router does not capture the destination MAC, which makes it kinda hard to check if both repeating packets go toward the same interface.

Can anyone help me out and point to the obvious thing I'm overlooking?

[Assistant]
ColinTaylor said:
Turn off the firewall on the RT-AC87U.
It's off

I can't think why this wouldn't work. I had the same setup a few years ago with my RT-AX86U and RT-AC68U and it "just works".

I presume your RT-AC87U is minimally configured, e.g. no AiProtection, No QoS, no VPN, standard WAN DHCP, etc.? How about the main router, AiProtection on that?

ColinTaylor said:
I can't think why this wouldn't work. I had the same setup a few years ago with my RT-AX86U and RT-AC68U and it "just works".

I presume your RT-AC87U is minimally configured, e.g. no AiProtection, No QoS, no VPN, standard WAN DHCP, etc.? How about the main router, AiProtection on that?
Correct, no AI protection, no QoS on either of them, no skynet. VPN & Firewall only on the ISP-facing one
I do have DHCP on both, but I don't see how that would impact things, each has its own lan (I did try with static IP as well)
As for the WAN, nothing fancy on this one

That's my Adguard DNS, but I tried without (and pointing the main router to Google for DNS as well) and nothing. Besides what I can tell from the packet captures, the client sitting behind the 2nd router gets the DNS resolved.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: has anyone experienced this with their router, my old asus 3100 just got some type of HARD reset to not working

2 weeks ago I update merlin to the new one for my router386.14-2 but don't believe this had anything to do with it.
3 days ago my router just quit, lights and everything worked but I could not connect anything to it, computer network said no network.
After a few reboots I finally saw unidentified network still no web interface would not show up. Next day it was left running all night and a reboot and I finally got router name on network. Web came up and I logged in with old name/password and they worked. Tried to click on a menu item and it just locked up.few more reboots and another day of just sitting after a hard reboot next day. Web gui came up logged in and it would let me do things. Checked wi fi and it was blank but my tablet could connect ????? the only device connected it could list was my computer hard wired into it.
DHCP was blank showing nothing.
today I connected and it showed 13 devices connected and all was well....WHAT?
Does anyone have any idea what happened? This is an original 3100 4 port router and I am wondering is it time to replace it? I purchased it in 2018.
I have my house wired in cat 6 so the only things using wi-fi is phones, tablet and a laptop when its not hard wired to the lan

[Assistant]
etrin said:
Does anyone have any idea what happened?

Something is failing there, may be ranging from power supply to internal component. Test with latest available stock firmware and if the same issues happen better replace the router with something fresher. This one is not worth saving too much, End-of-Life now.

I don't know much about the new stuff. I looked at 3 possible replacements
Asus RT-BE86U
ASUS RT-BE92U
ASUS RT-BE88U
looking at some reviews most say the 2.4ghz is worse, but the 5ghz is better. I don't have anything with wi-fi 7 so its just there.
not sure why but did asus just give up on 2.4 and nothing more than a placeholder now. My tablet in the back yard works on 2.4 but can't even detect the 5ghz signal from the old 3100 and its rated as one of the best for signal strength

I know nothing about your place, use case, number of clients, expectations or budget and can't recommend replacement hardware. If your old single router was enough perhaps a new similar class single router will be also enough. From the models above RT-BE88U is the latest 88-series hardware with similar to yours 4-stream 2.4GHz and 5GHz radios.


[System] You are a professional Wi-Fi router support assistant; I will provide forum posts as background material, and you should learn from them while remaining aware that forum content may be incomplete, outdated, or incorrect — when uncertain, explicitly note that you are uncertain and refer the user to official documentation or other authoritative sources for verification.

[User]
Title: Asus RT-AC87U - What Tx power "Power Saving", "Fair", "Balance", "Good" and "Performance" mean?

RT-AC87U, Asuswrt-Merlin 384.13_10

Does anybody know what do theese 5 settings of Tx power adjustments "Power Saving", "Fair", "Balance", "Good" and "Performance" mean in mW or dBm?

Mare

[Assistant]
Transmitting power put into the antenna letting you transmit wireless data faster and further. This is only for sending a signal to your wireless device, your wireless device may not have the same range sending its own signal for the router to receive. Also more power transmitting slightly increases hardware temps of your antennas and potentially CPU lowering its life span over time, especially in hotter climates.

JAnton said:
Transmitting power put into the antenna letting you transmit wireless data faster and further. This is only for sending a signal to your wireless device, your wireless device may not have the same range sending its own signal for the router to receive. Also more power transmitting slightly increases hardware temps of your antennas and potentially CPU lowering its life span over time, especially in hotter climates.
My question is, what does "Power Saving", "Fair", "Balance", "Good" and "Performance" mean in mW or dBm?

"Performance" = 100 mW? or maybe 80 mW?
"Good" = ??? mW
"Balance" = ??? mW
"Fair" = ??? mW
"Power Saving" = ??? mW

Or theese words mean "dinamic Tx power shemes", ... tx power varrying all the time (dependig which sheme is set), depending on signals strength?

Just leave it at performance then you get the full legal output for your region. Many people say adjusting it really don't make much of a difference and question if the slider even works.