Asus RT-AC3200 issues and impressions

[SylCoca]

I will see the odd hitch in connection here and there,feels like it may be that switch in bands. I lost connection typing this on my phone for a second or two back to lte as I logged in on the site from phone just now.

Same intermittent disconnect on mine also. I have the newest firmware, and I have the disconnects on Lan, and Wan connections. Something is awry.

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks for sharing...it's the first time I have seen the security (Trend Micro) and the adaptive QoS. Pretty darn impressive!
Merlin, is this what the DPI build for the AC56U adds?

Yes, but it's only experimental. The DPI engine requires a wireless driver compiled with support for it, and since Asus didn't release an RT-AC56U with the DPI engine, I'm forced to reuse the wireless driver from the RT-AC68U, which might bring some unforeseen issues. So far the results seem positive however.

 

[MXM]

I've been playing around with the RT-AC3200 for a couple of days now. I running on Firmware 378_3883.

Here's a few issues I noted so far...

1. Administration Tab, System Tab
.... Changing the Time Zone is not possible since the Time/Month/Hour list boxes are empty and nothing can be selected
.... Nothing else can be updated on this page since the the above mentioned problem will not let the page be saved
.... Any attempt to save this page always ask for a new admin username and password

2. OpenVPN
.... Not able to start the OpenVPN server. Stuck in Applying Settings.
.... Sometimes able to update Advanced Settings but then stuck on Applying Settings
.... Able to enter Static Key but click the Save button has no effect. Static Key is never saved
.... OpenVPN not usable because of these problems


I'm running it with Smart Connect On and wireless performance seems to similar to what I was getting with the RT-N66U. I did leave AI Protection off. And not using Smart QOS either. Will need to do more work to see what Smart Connect is really doing.

Not having the MAC ids/IP addresses associated with a device name name sucks too...

Seems to me this ASUS Firmware falls short, as expected....

MM

 

[SylCoca]

For 1) put into your router login name, them change the time to Greenwich mean time..apply.

Then you can go back to the same administration screen and change the zone to anything you want to.

I was able to get the open VPN stable, by deleting the crl verify and crl.pem.

I was able to eliminate the connection drops, by turning off the smart connect, and manually setting up each antennae. Sort of defeats the purpose of the router, but it does seem stronger in the upper reaches of my home, versus my ac68u.

Is there a way to combine the 5GHZ antennas if you are NOT using smart connect?

 

[MXM]

For 1) put into your router login name, them change the time to Greenwich mean time..apply.

Then you can go back to the same administration screen and change the zone to anything you want to.

The issue is anytime you select a place with DST (Daylight Savings Time), the new options pop up but you cannot change any of them...

But I did go ahead and saved it once with GMT, and after that GMT save, I am now able to select time zones with DST and it does populate the list boxes for Time/Month/Hour properly...

As to OpenVPN, I reset the router and now I am able to see the OpenVPN advanced settings. The problem I am running into now is that HMAC authorization is not working.

If I turn HMAC authentication off, when a device tries to VPN connect, I get a syslog message saying TLS Error: Auth Username/Password was not provided by peer

When I turn HMAC authentication on, and place the HMAC key in the Static field, then the syslog message says HMAC key authentication failure...

Tried a variety of things and seems the HMAC implementation is not right because this was working fine on my RT-N66U

 

[Stephen]

I've been playing around with the RT-AC3200 for a couple of days now.

...wireless performance seems to similar to what I was getting with the RT-N66U....

MM

Is the range on the 2.4 and the 5 similar to the RT-N66U?

 

[jegesq]

Question for anyone with the new RT-AC3200:

I've played around with the demo firmware GUI found at this link:
http://ec2-54-202-251-7.us-west-2.co...stallation.asp

Based on this demo of firmware version 3.0.0.4.378_3989 running on the AC3200, it looks like the only "Operation Modes" available (first tabbed page in "Administration" in the GUI) are Wireless Router, Access Point and Media Bridge. "Repeater" mode is missing.

And yet the User's Manual (http://www.asus.com/us/Networking/RTAC3200/HelpDesk_Manual/) for the AC3200, at page 87, paragraph 2, under "Operating Modes" clearly indicates that "Repeater Mode" should be available, and even contains a picture in the manual showing all four possible operating modes (including Repeater in addition to Router, AP and Media Bridge).

So the question is, does the actual AC3200 firmware installed on a physical production unit have the option to set up the AC3200 in Repeater Mode or doesn't it?

After all of the problems with Media Bridge (as well as the fact that it reduces some of the functionality that one gets with Repeater mode), I would be really surprised if Asus removed the ability to use the AC3200 as a repeater.

What would be even better (and this is for Merlin for future consideration, if it's at all possible to work this out) would be to have the ability to set one of the three available radios (either the 2.4ghz, or one of the two 5ghz radios) to function as a "Repeater Mode" and still have full dual-band functionality with the other two radios.

 

[MXM]

Is the range on the 2.4 and the 5 similar to the RT-N66U?

I don't see much of a difference, if anything just a slight improvement with the RT-AC3200.

But in the RT-N66U, I was forcing the Channel Bandwidth to 40 but when running the RT-AC3200 on Smart Connect, all the settings are locked and it is running my 2.4 on a bandwidth of auto (which ended up in 20 likely due to interference).

 

[MXM]

Question for anyone with the new RT-AC3200:


So the question is, does the actual AC3200 firmware installed on a physical production unit have the option to set up the AC3200 in Repeater Mode or doesn't it?

I just looked at it and I do not see a Repeater Mode...

 

[RMerlin]

So the question is, does the actual AC3200 firmware installed on a physical production unit have the option to set up the AC3200 in Repeater Mode or doesn't it?

The option is currently disabled in the source code. No idea if this is just temporary until they get around to implement it, or a permanent restriction of the hardware platform.

export RT-AC3200 := IPV6SUPP=y HTTPS=y ARM=y BCM57=y AUTODICT=y BBEXTRAS=y USBEXTRAS=y EBTABLES=y SAMBA3=y MEDIASRV=y MODEM=y MODEMPIN=y BECEEM=y PARENTAL2=y ACCEL_PPTPD=y PRINTER=y WEBDAV=y CLOUDSYNC=y SWEBDAVCLIENT=y USB="USB" GRO=y APP="installed" BUILD_NAME="RT-AC3200" PROXYSTA=y DNSMQ=y SHP=y NVRAM_64K=y RTAC3200=y BCMWL6=y BCMWL6A=y BCM7=y TUNEK="n" BCM5301X=y DISK_MONITOR=y BTN_WIFITOG=y OPTIMIZE_XBOX=y ODMPID=y LED_BTN=y LED_BTN_MODE=y BCMSMP=y XHCI=y DUALWAN=y REPEATER=y USER_LOW_RSSI=y OPENVPN=y TIMEMACHINE=y MDNS=y TFAT=y NTFS="tuxera" HFS="tuxera" VPNC=y BRCM_NAND_JFFS2=y JFFS2LOG=y BCMFA=y XHCIMODE=y BWDPI=y DUMP_OOPS_MSG=n DHDAP=y GMAC3=y HSPOT=n LINUX_MTD="64" DEBUGFS=y NVSIZE="64" TEMPROOTFS=y SSH=y DROPBOXCLIENT=y FTPCLIENT=y SAMBACLIENT=y NOWL=y EMAIL=y DISABLE_REPEATER_UI=y ADBLOCK=n

 

[jegesq]

The option is currently disabled in the source code. No idea if this is just temporary until they get around to implement it, or a permanent restriction of the hardware platform.

export RT-AC3200 := IPV6SUPP=y HTTPS=y ARM=y BCM57=y AUTODICT=y BBEXTRAS=y USBEXTRAS=y EBTABLES=y SAMBA3=y MEDIASRV=y MODEM=y MODEMPIN=y BECEEM=y PARENTAL2=y ACCEL_PPTPD=y PRINTER=y WEBDAV=y CLOUDSYNC=y SWEBDAVCLIENT=y USB="USB" GRO=y APP="installed" BUILD_NAME="RT-AC3200" PROXYSTA=y DNSMQ=y SHP=y NVRAM_64K=y RTAC3200=y BCMWL6=y BCMWL6A=y BCM7=y TUNEK="n" BCM5301X=y DISK_MONITOR=y BTN_WIFITOG=y OPTIMIZE_XBOX=y ODMPID=y LED_BTN=y LED_BTN_MODE=y BCMSMP=y XHCI=y DUALWAN=y REPEATER=y USER_LOW_RSSI=y OPENVPN=y TIMEMACHINE=y MDNS=y TFAT=y NTFS="tuxera" HFS="tuxera" VPNC=y BRCM_NAND_JFFS2=y JFFS2LOG=y BCMFA=y XHCIMODE=y BWDPI=y DUMP_OOPS_MSG=n DHDAP=y GMAC3=y HSPOT=n LINUX_MTD="64" DEBUGFS=y NVSIZE="64" TEMPROOTFS=y SSH=y DROPBOXCLIENT=y FTPCLIENT=y SAMBACLIENT=y NOWL=y EMAIL=y DISABLE_REPEATER_UI=y ADBLOCK=n

Thanks Merlin. If it's just a firmware switch that can be changed to "DISABLE_REPEATER_UI=n" that would turn it back on again, do you have any plans to test enabling it in your FW version?

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks Merlin. If it's just a firmware switch that can be changed to "DISABLE_REPEATER_UI=n" that would turn it back on again, do you have any plans to test enabling it in your FW version?

If Asus disabled it it's obviously for good reasons. My guess is, they haven't implemented support for this router's special case, as it has two different 5 GHz radios.

 

[cofetym]

When you are buying ASUS Routers, you are unknowingly accepting their secret EULA of beta testing their costliest hardware for them.

I did the same last year when I purchased RT-AC68U within a month of release.
Now that it has settled down after numerous firmware updates, I am unwilling to upgrade to newer model fearing I would have to go through the same horrors all over again.

Some international consumer protection agency must come forward and punish such companies which release unfinished products to the market. Clearly RT-AC3200 is not working as advertised at launch.

Unfortunately the consumer is the weakest link. Stop! Stop!Stop! Jumping on these new routers until they get them sorted.
If we continue to do so we only have ourselves to blame and we don't really need a consumer protection agency.

Asus unlike some other brands I've dealt with, keep up with firmware updates pretty frequently.
Bigger Kudos to the Open Source geniuses, that make things more tolerable. Thanks! (enough said).

 

[hackintoshsr]

Only 3rd day with the router, but I can tell you what I have experienced so far.

Smart connect is on, and I actually prefer it that way besides the issues I have been having.

Internet drops are intermittent with several devices I have. I don't move locations with them either, so it just decides to switch bands or just drop connection for a split second or so. If you refresh the page you are wanting, it will come back, but there is a nice 5-10 second hiccup that doesn't need to be there.

Other than that speeds are great. Range is a little less than the 87U, but it covers my size of house fine. It doesn't have the problems seen on the 87u with the 5GHZ band, but it does intermittently drop any connection with smart connect vs. dropping out completely with the 87u for minutes at a time.

That is all I have so far. I know it isn't super scientific, but hopefully it helps out any purchasers considering buying.

 

[cc666]

RT-87

Only 3rd day with the router, but I can tell you what I have experienced so far.

Smart connect is on, and I actually prefer it that way besides the issues I have been having.

Internet drops are intermittent with several devices I have. I don't move locations with them either, so it just decides to switch bands or just drop connection for a split second or so. If you refresh the page you are wanting, it will come back, but there is a nice 5-10 second hiccup that doesn't need to be there.

Other than that speeds are great. Range is a little less than the 87U, but it covers my size of house fine. It doesn't have the problems seen on the 87u with the 5GHZ band, but it does intermittently drop any connection with smart connect vs. dropping out completely with the 87u for minutes at a time.

That is all I have so far. I know it isn't super scientific, but hopefully it helps out any purchasers considering buying.

For everyones information since the last Asus firmware update for the RT-AC87 this problem has been fixed. I have been running 7 days perfectly not 1 disconnect on either band.

CC

 

[hackintoshsr]

For everyones information since the last Asus firmware update for the RT-AC87 this problem has been fixed. I have been running 7 days perfectly not 1 disconnect on either band.

CC

Yeah I had 3885 on 87U. I still had the 5ghz issues. For what it is worth

 

[Stephen]

Only 3rd day with the router, but I can tell you what I have experienced so far.

... speeds are great. Range is a little less than the 87U...

That is all I have so far. I know it isn't super scientific, but hopefully it helps out any purchasers considering buying.

Do you know how the speeds and range (2.4 and 5) on the 87U compare to the RT-N66U? I'm trying to get a sense of how the AC-3200 compares to the N66U.

 

[hackintoshsr]

No sorry I don't. I did have an AC68U and it seemed to have slightly better range than the 3200. It is pretty early firmware to tell for sure though and I haven't gave it a proper test like smallnetbuilder would. I just have a wifi analyzer app that shows the db and percent reception. It seems to be a little lower than my AC68 while sitting in my living room 60ft away or so from router.

 

[Jwagner010]

I am looking to get the ac3200 but would like to know the maximum number of manually assigned IP addresses allowed? Can someone confirm this for me? On page 65 of the Manual it shows a screen shot of the UI that says the limit is 64 (I can live with that) but on page 66 the manual says the limit for Manually assigned IP address is 32. What is it, 32 or 64?

 

[tommintooter]

Difference?

Aside from the additional 5Ghz frequency, how is this better than the ac87r/ac87u model of asus? From what I've read it has the same hardware components. and the Speed of the 5ghz of the AC3200 is only up to 1.3gbps while the AC87R/AC87U has 1.750Gbps.