New Release Introducing New HomeShield Firmware for Archer AX55
Hello Community,
Happy to inform you the new firmware for Archer AX55 V1 has been publicly released now. This new version makes important updates for HomeShield Pro services as well as a lot more features. Please check for the updates on your router web GUI or Tether App for the new firmware, or you can download the latest firmware from the website as follows:
Archer AX55_V1_1.2.2 Build 230511 (official firmware updated on 6/9/2023)
New Features/Enhancement:
1. Added Wireguad VPN feature.
If you wonder how to use WireGuard VPN feature with the router, check this previous thread.
2. Added lots of Advanced features to AP mode.
Important: Once changing the AX55 to work in AP mode, you won't be able to enjoy or configure HomeShield anymore.
- With this version, you will get an IoT network when the AX55 is working in Access Point Mode.
- You can configure Wireless Schedule for the wireless network.
- You could enable or disable WPS.
- You could configure Access Control for the network.
3. Added Flow Control switch.
4. Supported configuring the local DNS server as the Internet DNS server.
5. Optimized VPN client feature.
6. Optimized web UI of some advanced functions.
7. Improved the accuracy of Client Type Identification in the offline state.
8. Enhancing the Parental Control feature to support blocking traffic in more scenarios.
Bug Fixes:
1. Fixed the bug that caused Apple devices to be recognized as "unknown" devices at times.
2. Fixed some bugs related to the HomeShield feature, which enhances the stability and reliability of the network security function.
Welcome to upgrade and install this pre-released version on your Archer AX55, and feel free to report back to us with bugs, faults, errors, and your thoughts on how to improve.
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Additional Information on Wi-Fi Connections - Hope it helps!
In this same thread in an earlier post, I mentioned something about the security options list not being the same for all three networks.
After extensive testing today of device Wi-Fi connections in Wireless Router mode, it was determined that some older devices (such as an older generation iPad and several Samsung smart TVs) will not connect to the guest network if the security is set to WPA2/WPA3-Personal. The devices are WPA2 compatible and connect fine in the main and IoT networks when WPA2-PSK[AES] is selected. This option is not available in the guest network and it necessary to select WPA/WPA2-Personal to get the devices connected. The WPA protocol is some 20 years old and has its vulnerabilities and I would prefer not to allow it if possible. The next firmware upgrade should make the security options the same for all three networks and also allow selection of just WPA2 without WPA.
To take advantage of the test setup, the AX55 was later set to operate in the Access Point mode and the device connections were again tested to confirm what I posted earlier. The AX55 tested is a different router but with the same pre-release firmware. The test results are attached and they show that the IoT network is not functioning correctly. The AX55 web interface in most cases shows a device as connected with an apparently valid IP address and signal strength icon in the Interface column of the clients list. However the device never really connects. Some devices continue to show a spinning icon while others state they are connected but without any internet. The root of the problem appears to be that devices are not receiving the IP address correctly from the DHCP server. I now leave that for the engineers to figure out.
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Hopefully one last problem...
In an earlier post (#9 in this thread), I mentioned that the Wi-Fi radio signals drop when making configuration changes in the AX55’s Access Point mode. I have confirmed the problem occurs when enabling/disabling the Airtime Fairness option in the Wireless Additional Settings. As soon as the change is saved, the radio signals drop but the router web interface and the front panel LEDs show everything as normal. The back panel Wi-Fi on/off button will restore the radio signals; first by turning Wi-Fi off (as seen by the LEDs), then back on. The radio signals can also be restored by disabling the main networks and then re-enabling them in the web interface. If you disable and then re-enable only one network (such as the 2.4G), then only that network’s radio signals are restored.
Allow me to add one more comment on yesterday’s post (#22). Using Wireshark on the Wi-Fi adapter of a laptop, and attempting to connect to the IoT network, one can see the DHCP Discover packets are transmitted but no Offer packets are ever returned over the connection. On the main and guest networks, the Discover, Offer, Request, and Ack packets correctly appear.
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Thanks so much for sharing all the sufficient tests with the early released firmware and IoT network. We appreciate all of that.
With regard to the IoT network, I believe it will be fixed in the stable official version soon. Let's wait for the official release.
For the Guest Network, do you mean you cannot choose WPA/WPA2-Personal from the dropdown list? Can I have a screenshot of the Guest Network Security settings?
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Yes, I can select WPA/WPA2-Personal in the Guest network but I want to select WPA2-PSK[AES] and not use WPA. The drop-down lists for the different networks should show the same options with the same syntax.
Here are the screenshots:
Main Network
.
Guest Network
IoT Network
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I see. Thank you very much for the clarification.
I will feedback to the development team and they will evaluate how to optimize the Guest Network security settings.
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@jra11500 I have the same issue.
ISP -> TP Link Switch -> TP Link Repeater as AP and 3rd party AP router. The latter two APs do not lose internet but the AX55 loses internet connection. Always have to power cycle; such a hassle. I also tried turning off Easy Mesh and some advanced wireless settings but it always loses the internet on AX55. Note that I have the IoT and Guest off/on, tested, too, same issue.
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FoxyReign wrote
@jra11500 I have the same issue.
ISP -> TP Link Switch -> TP Link Repeater as AP and 3rd party AP router. The latter two APs do not lose internet but the AX55 loses internet connection. Always have to power cycle; such a hassle. I also tried turning off Easy Mesh and some advanced wireless settings but it always loses the internet on AX55. Note that I have the IoT and Guest off/on, tested, too, same issue.
Hello @FoxyReign
Are you saying the wireless connection on the AX55 is not stable and drops from the internet but the devices connected to it via cables are working fine?
How about the internet LED on the AX55, is it always green or will it turn orange when the internet drops?
Our developers did provide a beta firmware to help fix similar issues, please visit the following thread and install the beta version to monitor if you will get a stable connection:
Solution to Archer AX55 V1 Firmware 1.2.2 Build 20230511 dropping internet issue
Please let me know if this beta firmware helps or not. Thank you.
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@Kevin_Z it stays green while it drops the wireless connection on the AX55 while the other wireless APs have internet connection. Note that the the other two APs are connected via backhaul with the same SSID as the main router - the AX55.
Ill upgrade the firmware later and will let you know if it works.
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In thread #31 above, you provide a link to a possible solution for the latest firmware. The link takes you to the US forum. Is the solution compatible with the AX55 EU versions? The firmware links have (US) in their version numbers.
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Our developer provided a newer beta version that fixes some other issues, you may install the latest beta firmware to observe if the internet will be stable. Thank you.
Yes, you can install the beta firmware we provided in the US community also, and that one is also applied to the EU hardware.
BTW, the latest beta firmware also fixes the reported IoT network issue you experienced previously, please help check if the IoT network will work properly with this beta version. Thank you.
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