Archer AX73 Bootloop issue since firmware update - possibly my range extender ?
Morning everyone, I am wondering if anyone can throw any light on an issue that I have recently started having.
On Sunday night I updated the firmware on my Archer AX73 via the Tether app, this update was to Firmware version 1.0.11 Build 20230829 rel. 37304, on Monday evening when I got in from work my wife advised that working from home had been a struggle as she had experienced a number of issues with the internet, her main gripe was that it was very slow, the kids also said it had been slow, so I logged into the router and rebooted it. This is when the problems seemed to start.....
Upon rebooting the router it seemed to get stuck in a boot loop, continually cycling the lights on the front, after a while I pressed and held the reset button on it and went though the quick config to get it connected to my ISP (Kcom) this was about 7:30pm on Monday, the router then remained stable until about 7am Tuesday morning, at which point it started to boot loop again.
I disconnected the router, threw the Kcom provided Zyxel router in to action and left for work, bringing the AX73 into the office with me, when i got to work I manually re-flashed the router with the latest firmware, input the details for my connection at home, set up the DHCP range and the wifi settings, I left the router sat on my desk and it stayed on all day, I even gave it a couple of reboots to see that it started up ok, which it did.
I took the router home, plugged it in and everything was working great, that was until I set up my TP-Link RE605X range extender, initially I plugged in the range extender near to my router and re-paired it using WPS, I then moved the range extender upstairs and within 2 minutes my AX73 rebooted, I powered off the range extender and the router remained stable, I moved the range extender back downstairs and powered it on again, the AX73 remained stable all night (through Tuesday into Wednesday) before leaving for work this morning I relocated the range extender back upstairs and left for work, 2 minutes after leaving the house my wife rang to say the internet was off and the AX73 was boot looping so i got her to put the Zyxel router back on and power off the TP-Link kit.
I know there's a lot of detail above but I really want to get this sorted, as an IT Manager the more info I have the easier it is to get issues resolved, has anyone come across this sort of thing before ?? I am leaning towards the problem being caused by the RE605X Range Extender, on two occasions, when it has been moved further away from the router the router has started to boot loop. Over night, when the router has remained stable (Monday night and Tuesday night) no one will have actively been using the range extender, though there will have been devices connected to it, such as the kids echo dots, not sure if that is useful information or not. I have noticed that the 2.4Ghz Wifi light appears to be switched off on the range extender despite both 2.4 and the 5GHz connections being turned on.
My plan for tonight is to reconnect the AX73 but not the range extender, and advise or insight would be greatly appreciated. I noticed in the firware notes that "Easymesh" has been added to the AX73 firmware, i am wondering if this couldbe causing an issue in some way.