Asus 386.12_4 Wireless Channel

[ncplay91]

I just flashed AsusWRT Merlin 384.12_4 on my RT-AC88U and it works fantasic!

But I think there's a bug with the 2.4Ghz wireless channel selection because I see that even if I set my channel manually (between 1-11)
it does switch to the designated channel but only temporarily before it goes back to channel 10 the next day (when I do 'Site Survey') which is very congested in my area..

Rebooting the router doesn't seem to solve the issue of 'always revert back to channel 10 the next day' anyone else experiencing this? and how can we solve this issue

 

[OzarkEdge]

I just flashed AsusWRT Merlin 384.12_4 on my RT-AC88U and it works fantasic!

But I think there's a bug with the 2.4Ghz wireless channel selection because I see that even if I set my channel manually (between 1-11)
it does switch to the designated channel but only temporarily before it goes back to channel 10 the next day (when I do 'Site Survey') which is very congested in my area..

Rebooting the router doesn't seem to solve the issue of 'always revert back to channel 10 the next day' anyone else experiencing this? and how can we solve this issue

When weird things happen, you will be asked, "Did you Hard Reset the firmware and configure it from scratch?"

FW Reset FAQ

Reset button/webUI Restore/node removal - clears settings in NVRAM; reboot restores fw defaults from CFE

Hard Reset via WPS button/webUI Restore+Initialize - also clears data logged in /jffs partition

OE

 

[ncplay91]

Is there a way we can clear the NVRAM without hard resetting the router? I have 2 nodes attached to it and it can be difficult to get them reconnected again
the weird thing is that this bug only happens with 2.4Ghz... the 5Ghz working perfectly fine...

 

[wouterv]

The short answer is: NO.
I assume you installed 386.12_4 (not 384).
What was the previous firmware version and when was the last full reset and manual configuration from scratch?

 

[OzarkEdge]

I have 2 nodes attached to it and it can be difficult to get them reconnected again

Oh really... and what else is not working properly on your network?

OE

 

[ncplay91]

The short answer is: NO.
I assume you installed 386.12_4 (not 384).
What was the previous firmware version and when was the last full reset and manual configuration from scratch?

Yes you are correct.. typo on my end.. it's 386
the previous firmware was from original AsusWRT 3.0.0.4.386.48260... it makes my router weak somehow..
and yes, when I flashed Merlin, I did wipe out everything and set it up all over again right from the scratch.. I don't know why the channel always get back to 10 after several days...

 

[ncplay91]

Oh really... and what else is not working properly on your network?

OE

It could be difficult to connect a new mesh wirelessly!
I did enable WPS but I couldn't connect the mesh.. so at the end I use ethernet cable.. it's a hassle but I think I reckon everyone has the same issue on this one.. not just me?

 

[wouterv]

Wireless channel, mesh, WPS. This goes from one to the other.
Asus AiMesh does nothing with WPS.
Maybe start to explain your network setup with modem, router and AiMesh (or other kind of) nodes, including the equipment types and firmware versions.

 

[ncplay91]

Wireless channel, mesh, WPS. This goes from one to the other.
Asus AiMesh does nothing with WPS.
Maybe start to explain your network setup with modem, router and AiMesh (or other kind of) nodes, including the equipment types and firmware versions.

So I have the RT-AC88U (main router), RT-AC68U and 66U_B1 for nodes.. all devices have merlin 386.12_4 firmware..
I just factory reset all 3 devices and then setup the main router configuration to the point that it's functional on its own as a router before I proceed to setup the Mesh system wirelessly..

When I click the "Search Available Node" I did discover the 2 nodes that I've prepared for mesh-ing.. then I proceed with the only button that exists (forgot the name but there's only 1 button so you can't miss it) to make the node to be part of my mesh system (wirelessly) at this point WPS is off..

The system will then try to connect the router and the node together, and it will always failed roughly at 34% then return some error saying "Mesh unsuccessful perhaps because someone is configuring your nodes, make sure they are within 3 meters, and yada yada".. It's not the case... the nodes have just been freshly reset to default manufacturer settings and I am not configuring it in anyway.. and they're just sitting next to each other... but they always fail to connect.. I read somewhere that we should enable the WPS on, no effect.. at the end of the day, I just connect the mesh with Ethernet cable and it guarantees success..

I think the system is still buggy.. I have tried everything I could to fix it to no avail.. what's even more head scratching is that my 2.4Ghz is only 10% the speed of my paid plans..
did try to find the best channel, tweak the bandwidth between 20/40 Mhz, nothing...

I am not sure if this is Merlin related issue? because I don't believe when someone say "Your router is just old, it can no longer do things properly"

 

[wouterv]

I have no extended AiMesh experience, my first suggestion would be to add nodes one by one (power one, search, add) add the second node when the first one is complete.
AiMesh is developed and still in progress, I assume the latest 3.0.0.4.388 and 3.0.0.6.102 versions include further enhancements to AiMesh compared to the 3.0.0.4.386 based versions.
To my understanding AsusWRT Merlin makes no changes to the stock AiMesh part of the firmware.

The 2.4 GHz speed is issue is a different story, to properly test it I suggest to test with a bare router to start with (without AiMesh nodes configured and attached). You don't specify your ISP speed.
Wireless speed on 2.4 GHz with (in crowded area's unavoidable) 20 MHz bandwidth will roughly give maximum 45 Mbps wireless speed per data stream (2 streams will sum up to about 90 Mbps).
On 5 GHz with your 802.11ac system at 80 MHz bandwidth you can think of about 200 Mbps wireless speed per data stream (2 streams summing up to 400 maybe 500-600 Mbps).
Longer distance and more disturbance leads to lower wireless speeds.

 

[heywire]

So I have the RT-AC88U (main router), RT-AC68U and 66U_B1 for nodes.. all devices have merlin 386.12_4 firmware..
I just factory reset all 3 devices and then setup the main router configuration to the point that it's functional on its own as a router before I proceed to setup the Mesh system wirelessly..

When I click the "Search Available Node" I did discover the 2 nodes that I've prepared for mesh-ing.. then I proceed with the only button that exists (forgot the name but there's only 1 button so you can't miss it) to make the node to be part of my mesh system (wirelessly) at this point WPS is off..

The system will then try to connect the router and the node together, and it will always failed roughly at 34% then return some error saying "Mesh unsuccessful perhaps because someone is configuring your nodes, make sure they are within 3 meters, and yada yada".. It's not the case... the nodes have just been freshly reset to default manufacturer settings and I am not configuring it in anyway.. and they're just sitting next to each other... but they always fail to connect.. I read somewhere that we should enable the WPS on, no effect.. at the end of the day, I just connect the mesh with Ethernet cable and it guarantees success..

I had this problem with pairing AC66U_B1 as a node in an Aimesh network a while ago. Absolutely refused to pair. And I tried everything. Hard reset, different fw versions on both main router and the AC66U_B1, different ways of initiating the pairing in the Asus web interface, via mobile, and setting up the AC66U_B1 as an Aimesh node wired to a laptop before connecting it to the Aimesh network and trying to pair it - you name it, I tried it.

Found out that this is a common problem. But never figured it out. Had to resort to an AC68U I also had (which is supposed to be the same model, uses the same Merlin fw file), then it worked immediately.

You can find some more info through this google search (just an example, you can try variations for more precision, but you get the point):

ac66 b1 aimesh pairing failed site:www.snbforums.com - Google Suche

Do post an update and tell us what you find out.

 

[ncplay91]

I have no extended AiMesh experience, my first suggestion would be to add nodes one by one (power one, search, add) add the second node when the first one is complete.
AiMesh is developed and still in progress, I assume the latest 3.0.0.4.388 and 3.0.0.6.102 versions include further enhancements to AiMesh compared to the 3.0.0.4.386 based versions.
To my understanding AsusWRT Merlin makes no changes to the stock AiMesh part of the firmware.

The 2.4 GHz speed is issue is a different story, to properly test it I suggest to test with a bare router to start with (without AiMesh nodes configured and attached). You don't specify your ISP speed.
Wireless speed on 2.4 GHz with (in crowded area's unavoidable) 20 MHz bandwidth will roughly give maximum 45 Mbps wireless speed per data stream (2 streams will sum up to about 90 Mbps).
On 5 GHz with your 802.11ac system at 80 MHz bandwidth you can think of about 200 Mbps wireless speed per data stream (2 streams summing up to 400 maybe 500-600 Mbps).
Longer distance and more disturbance leads to lower wireless speeds.

I had this problem with pairing AC66U_B1 as a node in an Aimesh network a while ago. Absolutely refused to pair. And I tried everything. Hard reset, different fw versions on both main router and the AC66U_B1, different ways of initiating the pairing in the Asus web interface, via mobile, and setting up the AC66U_B1 as an Aimesh node wired to a laptop before connecting it to the Aimesh network and trying to pair it - you name it, I tried it.

Found out that this is a common problem. But never figured it out. Had to resort to an AC68U I also had (which is supposed to be the same model, uses the same Merlin fw file), then it worked immediately.

You can find some more info through this google search (just an example, you can try variations for more precision, but you get the point):

ac66 b1 aimesh pairing failed site:www.snbforums.com - Google Suche

Do post an update and tell us what you find out.

Thanks for the answer guys! Yeah I figured Ai Mesh system still needs more work to be done..
my ISP speed is 150 mbps, when connecting to 5Ghz, I get to that speed just fine.. but when connecting to 2.4 Ghz, the max speed I got was 20 mbps and I sit next to the main router.. which is a head scratcher.. as for the channel I am using ch. 4 with 40 Mhz width because it's crowded here.. I did try switching to 20 Mhz.. there's no effect...

I was thinking at least if I sit next to the main router, I should be getting around 50 mbps+ (like you said, 45 mbps+) but I am just getting 20 mbps on a good day and 0.3 mbps on a bad day...! Is this because I have mesh setup?

 

[Tech9]

as for the channel I am using ch. 4 with 40 Mhz width because it's crowded here.

You must be using 20MHz wide channel only. Test which one has more available bandwidth and better throughput. Nothing else you can do.

 

[wouterv]

Use a Wi-Fi Analyzer on a computer, e.g.:

WiFi Analyzer — Matt Hafner

matthafner.com

And make it visible how crowded the 2.4 GHz band in your environment is, if you use a laptop for testing: walk around, try different rooms with the analyzer and you might see different results because of disturbance from different sources.
Do the same for 5 GHz.

Here a sample result for 2.4 GHz:

On 2.4 GHz it is very common to use channel 1, 6 or 11 only because these have the least overlap to each other, using channel 4 puts you in between two often used channels and you get disturbance of those two channels.
As said by Tech9: it is usually trial and error to find your best channel.
This picture visualize channels on 2.4 GHz and shows the issue of 20 MHz bandwidth and the impossible use of 40 MHz bandwidth:

The analyzer result at 5 GHz makes me a lot happier (the better result is because the range of 5 GHz signals is about half of 2.4 GHz):

Other common issues are disturbance close to the router, check the following:

1. A free line of sight between the router and client devices is most ideal.
2. Keep as much as possible free space around the router, do not place the router in a cabinet, do not place it on top of another electronic device.
3. Keep the router on distance from your modem, your TV, wireless telephones, microwaves and Bluetooth devices.
4. Keep the router on distance from materials that absorb or disturb radio signals e.g. metal objects, concrete walls or floors and water filled objects.
5. Keep an eye on the router temperature, place the router on a hard surface to allow natural ventilation through the router box.
6. Experiment with the location of the router and antenna orientation.

You may also try those settings in: Advanced Settings - Wireless - Professional - 2.4 GHz

• Modulation Scheme: Up to MCS 7 (802.11n)
• Airtime Fairness: Disable
• Explicit Beamforming: Disable
• Universal Beamforming: Disable

 

[ncplay91]

I think... the culprit is "Bluetooth Coexistence"... I did set it to "Enabled" and since I tried turning it off, I start seeing improvements on 2.4 Ghz
funny of me thinking my wireless mouse and keyboard were using bluetooth... modern keyboard and mouse are using 2.4Ghz wifi instead of bluetooth making "Bluetooth compatibility" obsolete. So if any of you are experiencing what I have experienced, "Bluetooth Coexistence" is probably the culprit..

I would suggest turn Beamforming features Enabled even for wireless N

 

[heywire]

In my experience, the need for mucking around with all sorts of detailed settings and selecting channels manually etc. is often indicative of a bad firmware revision.

I therefore recommend trying to revert to the last working version before wasting hours on end trying to tease out what is more likely a workaround for a temporary bug in the firmware release timeline rather than an actual limitation in your setup/environment. The result if the former is true being that you will be running suboptimal settings resulting in worse performance going forward.