5GHz not visible after 380.66 update on RT-AC3200

[Murtaza12]

Long time lurker, first time posting here (I think).

Been using ASUS routers since the RT-AC66U which is now my very reliable Wireless repeater, the main router at home is the RT-AC3200, which is a fantastic router and I got it at a great price while it was on sale.

Anyway, it was running 380.65_4 a few days ago and just yesterday I updated it to 380.66 and it worked fine, did a hard reset right after too so it'd be a clean install. Set up everything just the way I like, only to notice that none of the Android phones I have can pick up any of the 5GHz bands.

They are detected and work fine on all laptops, and on iPhones / iPads as well, but neither my Galaxy S8 nor OnePlus 3 can even detect the 5GHz bands let alone connect to them.

All replies will be appreciated.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Try setting the 5GHz channel manually to something between 36 and 48. Some devices have problems seeing the DFS channels. If that works try experimenting with other channels (remembering that there is an additional 60 second delay before a DFS channel becomes visible).

 

[Murtaza12]

Try setting the 5GHz channel manually to something between 36 and 48. Some devices have problems seeing the DFS channels. If that works try experimenting with other channels (remembering that there is an additional 60 second delay before a DFS channel becomes visible).

Since the AC3200 has 2x 5GHz radios, I can set one to channel 36, but the other only gives me options of Channel 100 to 128, how would I go about that?

The weird part is, I never touched the channel settings before the update, nor have I changed them after the 380.66 update, but they just don't show on Android phones, but they do on every other device.

 

[Naftali Oziel]

Since the AC3200 has 2x 5GHz radios, I can set one to channel 36, but the other only gives me options of Channel 100 to 128, how would I go about that?

The weird part is, I never touched the channel settings before the update, nor have I changed them after the 380.66 update, but they just don't show on Android phones, but they do on every other device.

have you been able to resolve the issue or did you revert back. Hesitating to upgrade but using mine as AP only.

 

[AndreiV]

have you been able to resolve the issue or did you revert back. Hesitating to upgrade but using mine as AP only.

I have used all the Merlin versions including alphas and betas on my AC3200 for the last 3 years.

Now running the latest 380.66_2 and have NEVER yet seen any WiFi issues.

 

[Tekneek]

380.66 and 380.66_2 are the first ones I have had trouble with. Seeming reliability for a dozen hours or so, but then some devices were unable to connect and nothing resolved it short of a factory reset and rebuilding the config. Another dozen hours or so later, I would have to do it again. After a few days of this, I reverted back to 380.65_4 and the entire network has been stable since. I am not sure what the problem was, but I tried disabling airtime fairness and the other suggestions I saw mentioned, but the network continued to devolve into chaos no matter what I set it to. Since it isn't happening to everyone, I can only imagine there is something unique about my situation that doesn't play well with the new firmware.

For the record, it was a few Apple devices and Rokus that would eventually be unable to connect to the network each time. Issues that I never had with them previously, with the router and devices in the same geographic locations.

 

[Naftali Oziel]

I have used all the Merlin versions including alphas and betas on my AC3200 for the last 3 years.

Now running the latest 380.66_2 and have NEVER yet seen any WiFi issues.

Ok thank you

 

[Naftali Oziel]

380.66 and 380.66_2 are the first ones I have had trouble with. Seeming reliability for a dozen hours or so, but then some devices were unable to connect and nothing resolved it short of a factory reset and rebuilding the config. Another dozen hours or so later, I would have to do it again. After a few days of this, I reverted back to 380.65_4 and the entire network has been stable since. I am not sure what the problem was, but I tried disabling airtime fairness and the other suggestions I saw mentioned, but the network continued to devolve into chaos no matter what I set it to. Since it isn't happening to everyone, I can only imagine there is something unique about my situation that doesn't play well with the new firmware.

For the record, it was a few Apple devices and Rokus that would eventually be unable to connect to the network each time. Issues that I never had with them previously, with the router and devices in the same geographic locations.

The most stable one I have found to date is 380.64_2. If you continue to have issues fall back to that, I have two WiFi backup and primary just in case of these anomalies.

 

[Murtaza12]

have you been able to resolve the issue or did you revert back. Hesitating to upgrade but using mine as AP only.

Apologies for the late reply, have been too lazy to revert back. I wouldn't upgrade to 380.66, I'll probably go back to 380.65_4 as well since that was the best one I've used on the AC3200.

 

[mis103]

I can concur. I have come on here looking to see if any one else has reported wifi issues with 380.66 and 380.66_" I always upgrade with every version and have had persistent issues after latest update to .66

Some devices connect, some dont. Then the connection drops. Shows no internet or is basically at a non functional speed.

I have disabled airtime fairness on all channels as per the release notes. but this has not had any benefit.

I also had the issue outlined here where bands would disappear and reappear intermittently.

 

[Murtaza12]

I can concur. I have come on here looking to see if any one else has reported wifi issues with 380.66 and 380.66_" I always upgrade with every version and have had persistent issues after latest update to .66

Some devices connect, some dont. Then the connection drops. Shows no internet or is basically at a non functional speed.

I have disabled airtime fairness on all channels as per the release notes. but this has not had any benefit.

I also had the issue outlined here where bands would disappear and reappear intermittently.

The 5GHz radio appeared randomly today on an Android phone, but disappeared shortly after and could only be detected by Apple devices and all laptops at home.

Honestly can't find the time to downgrade or upgrade either, grrr this is so annoying.

 

[MarioCaires]

I just had similar issues with my AC87 and Nexus 6P running the Android O Dev 2...
As was told before, some devices have issues connecting to the higher channels on the 5G band at 40/80MHz bandwidth. Could only connect to 20Mhz bandwidth which "only" gives 170Mbps link!
Change your 5G bands channels to something like 36 and you should be good.

 

[Murtaza12]

I just had similar issues with my AC87 and Nexus 6P running the Android O Dev 2...
As was told before, some devices have issues connecting to the higher channels on the 5G band at 40/80MHz bandwidth. Could only connect to 20Mhz bandwidth which "only" gives 170Mbps link!
Change your 5G bands channels to something like 36 and you should be good.

They connected to the 80 MHz channels just fine before though! Both my Galaxy S8 plus and OnePlus 3 detected the networks and could connect to them, but now they can't.

The 5GHz radios are already set to Channel 36 and Channel 100, and they show up fine on every other device, except Android phones.

 

[Deadaus]

I am having the same issue with the RT-AC3100, had to return one and the second is now doing the same (drops 5Ghz band). I have the latest Merlin installed, will try to go back to 380.65_2 and see what happens. I recently flashed the stock back because I have no time to play with this. Did everything, disabling, etc. I should not have to turn off options since I paid for them.

 

[RMerlin]

I should not have to turn off options since I paid for them.

Asus/Broadcom can only control one side of the equation: the router. If someone's wireless clients doesn't work with Asus, then there's not much Asus can do about it. That's why those settings exist, so you can adjust according to what your clients need/support.

For instance, Samsung's MU-MIMO support in some of their smartphones is broken, causing it to fallback to single stream instead of dual stream. Asus cannot fix Samsung's bugs for them, so the end user has to disable MU-MIMO to prevent their Samsung phones from dropping to half of their speed.

If you want absolutely something that is a plug-and-forget, then you'll have to buy EVERYTHING from the same manufacturer, where they control both ends of the connection.

 

[Murtaza12]

Asus/Broadcom can only control one side of the equation: the router. If someone's wireless clients doesn't work with Asus, then there's not much Asus can do about it. That's why those settings exist, so you can adjust according to what your clients need/support.

For instance, Samsung's MU-MIMO support in some of their smartphones is broken, causing it to fallback to single stream instead of dual stream. Asus cannot fix Samsung's bugs for them, so the end user has to disable MU-MIMO to prevent their Samsung phones from dropping to half of their speed.

If you want absolutely something that is a plug-and-forget, then you'll have to buy EVERYTHING from the same manufacturer, where they control both ends of the connection.

I have no issues with what speed it connects at, however neither my Galaxy S8 nor OnePlus 3 (which isn't even a Samsung device), can detect the 5GHz networks after updating to 380.66, and regardless of what I downgrade to, it still doesn't show up on any Android devices.

 

[RMerlin]

I have no issues with what speed it connects at, however neither my Galaxy S8 nor OnePlus 3 (which isn't even a Samsung device), can detect the 5GHz networks after updating to 380.66, and regardless of what I downgrade to, it still doesn't show up on any Android devices.

Test with channel 36 to determine if it's a compatibility issue between your devices.

 

[Murtaza12]

Test with channel 36 to determine if it's a compatibility issue between your devices.

Setting it to Channel 36 shows up as Channel 42 when checked using inSSIDer on my laptop.
Regardless of whether I set 36, 40, 44 or 48, it still won't show on any Android device.

 

[RMerlin]

Setting it to Channel 36 shows up as Channel 42 when checked using inSSIDer on my laptop.
Regardless of whether I set 36, 40, 44 or 48, it still won't show on any Android device.

Are you sure your Android devices support the 5 GHz band? If they can't see it on channel 36 but your laptop can, then most likely your Android devices only support 2.4 GHz.

 

[Murtaza12]

Are you sure your Android devices support the 5 GHz band? If they can't see it on channel 36 but your laptop can, then most likely your Android devices only support 2.4 GHz.

Again, not possible since all of them could connect just fine to it before the 380.66 update.

The Galaxy S8 sure does support 5GHz.

Sent from my SM-G955F using Tapatalk