Asus RT-N66U stability and heat issues in access point mode

[achim]

Hi folks,

I am really frustrated with the Asus RT-N66U in terms of stability and heat issues in access point mode. And this is after I sent my Asus RT-AC66U back with exactly the same issues. I need your help to get this sorted. I am not a very technical person.

Problem Description:
When I bought the Asus RT-N66U and installed it first in Access Point mode, it worked like a charm. However after a few days I didn’t have internet connectivity anymore and the router was extremely hot (it was dangerous to seriously burn your fingers). Clients sometimes could connect but dropped very often but they could not get internet connectivity. At other times clients could not connect at all. A day later and after resetting the router it worked again for a day or 2. Now it is finally not working. The problem exists in 2,4GHz and 5GHz (sometimes 5 GHz works for a while), It is so frustrating as sometimes id did work and sometimes not although I did not touch anything at all.

What I have tried:
Resetting, updating to different ASUS firmware and NVRAM resets did not help. Whenever I let the router cool down for more than 12 hours and switched it on again I noticed the same issues. I m currently running firmware 3.0.0.4.270 (and tried 3.0.0.4.370 and 3.0.0.4.354).

My Configuration:
I have one DSL router with internet connection and DHCP etc. The access point is connected via CAT6 to the first router. I would like to run the Asus as access point to have only one sub-network so that I can use printers etc.
I really would appreciate your help on this and I have seen other people having the same issue.

Best Regards
Achim

 

[jlake]

Can you post a screenshot of inSSIDer?

Can you you describe where you have the Asus router located? Is it in on a table? Shelf? Closet? Carpet? What's the temp of the room? How far away from other electronic equipment is it ? Are you stacking your modems/routers on top of each other?

What's the local LAN IP address of your modem?

 

[achim]

Hi jlake,

I am not sure how to do the screenshot of SSID? Maybe you can help me here.

The router is located in a pretty cool room. It sits upright with the Asus stand connected on a table. Air can flow so this should not be the problem I guess. There is no other electronic equipment in the room, only a radiator at the wall which is switched off.

I have now switched into router mode and everything seems to work fine so far. Whenever I switch into access point mode then it fails again.

Settings:
Main DSL Modem/Router as 192.168.1.1 and DHCP (range 100 to 200) switched on
Asus access point configuration was: ASUS RT-N66U in access point mode, 192.168.1.4, WLAN standard settings except b/g protection switched off
Asus router mode which works (at present):ASUS RT-N66U in router mode gets dynamic IP address on WAN side (i.e. 192.168.1.101), LAN is 192.168.2.1, DHCP for 2nd subnet

Cheers
Achim

 

[jlake]

http://www.metageek.net/products/inssider/

http://graphicssoft.about.com/cs/general/ht/winscreenshot.htm

 

[achim]

Hi jlake,

thanks for the help.

Below you can find the screen shot.

I assume the issue is with changing into access point mode. only then I expereience the instability.

Would there be a way to use router mode and switch off DHCP etc. to achive an access point like configuration (but without the need to use the Access point mode in administration setting)?

Achim

 

[jlake]

How many wireless AP's do you have? Do you need all of them? Can you disable the wireless radio on your modem/router? Or do you need it?

Try changing the Asus channel to 1. Use 20 Mhz for all your AP's channel bandwidth.
You can also try different channels to see which one works best.
If you have 5Ghz adapters, you may want to try them too.

 

[achim]

Thanks for your proposals.

I have only one access point. The rest is all from my neighbours I am afraid.

I will try you proposals, but I do not think this is the isssue as the router runns smootly (so far) in router mode. the issue seems to be the access point mode.

 

[jlake]

When troubleshooting, you have to take it one step at a time. I'm not ignoring your concerns about router mode vs AP mode-- and heat.

The following three steps usually improve wireless issues on 2.4 Ghz.

1. Use 20 Mhz only
2. Change the channel-(inSSIDer says you might have better luck on chan. 1)
3. Remove the wireless profiles from your computers and "forget" the network on your Android/iOS device. Use the links below if you don't know how to do that.

http://kb.linksys.com/Linksys/GetAr...less_Network_Profiles_.xml&pid=80&converted=0

http://www.cultofmac.com/143029/how-to-forget-a-wi-fi-network-on-your-ios-device-ios-tip/

Regarding the heat issue, my RT-N66U internal temp runs typically at 53 degrees C. according to Merlin firmware. I have a very accurate laser temp gun, and the warmest external temperature I can find on it is 38.9 degrees C. (102 degrees F.) I am using the stand too. My room temp is probably not typical for most people as I have it in an air conditioned basement (70 degrees F). Most newer routers run warmer than older routers. That's normal. I have a linksys router that has a bottom external temperature of 51.7 degrees C. (125 degrees F.) Which is normal.

Anyway, try those three steps above.

 

[achim]

Hi jlake,

the RT-N66U seems to work now in access point mode. Not sure why though. but it works.

What I have done:
1) I reset the router to default settings and run the assistant to set up the RT-N66U in router mode. The router worked stable for about 2 days.
2) I changed to access point mode and this time set "Get LAN IP Automatically?" to "yes" and "Connect to DNS Server automatically" to "yes" as well. (before I had a manual set up)

This seems to work now. Also temperature is normal between 51 and 55 degrees celcius. Channel is now working at channel 1 as suggested (automatically detected by the device).

Thanks for your help on this. It should be sorted now.

Achim

 

[dbinit]

Bless you my friend... I've been fighting with an RT-N66W for several days now trying to get it to work.

I tried several different firmware versions from both Asus and Merlin (and even tried a version of Tomato Shibby). Everything would appear to work fine, but then wireless devices would only be able to connect for a minute or two after reboot and then stop working.

Every time I would reset the router settings I'd choose to Skip Setup Wizard, then choose Access Point mode.

I tried toggling every setting I could think of but nothing worked. Thinking it was fried, I chucked the RT-N66U in the trash and dug out an old RT-N16 only to have the exact same issue (I think it's why it was in storage in the first place).

Finally I saw this post and decided to try Router mode (I'm already behind a U-Verse router so I never thought to try that). Now everything works fine and dandy... Argh!

So I'm guessing that something about skipping the setup wizard at the beginning screws up the settings somehow... although that doesn't really explain why Tomato didn't work.

Oh well, I created an account just to say thanks! And I dug the RT-N66W out of the trash.

Hi jlake,

the RT-N66U seems to work now in access point mode. Not sure why though. but it works.

What I have done:
1) I reset the router to default settings and run the assistant to set up the RT-N66U in router mode. The router worked stable for about 2 days.
2) I changed to access point mode and this time set "Get LAN IP Automatically?" to "yes" and "Connect to DNS Server automatically" to "yes" as well. (before I had a manual set up)

This seems to work now. Also temperature is normal between 51 and 55 degrees celcius. Channel is now working at channel 1 as suggested (automatically detected by the device).

Thanks for your help on this. It should be sorted now.

Achim

 

[Flying Dutchman]

I hope there is someone around here with a good memory .

Since a couple of months I have replaced my RT-N66U by another one and given the "good old" N66U to my daughter. I installed the 66U as Access Point (firmware is Merlin's 3.0.0.4_270.26b; this old version is one of the best regarding coverage and I used this for years myself without a single issue).

But now the N66U has stability and overheating issues:
- the temp is between 60 and 62 degrees C
- maximim speed is dropping from 100 Mb/s (just after a cold start) to less than 1 Mb/s when hot

Will a reflash with newer firmware solve the problem?
As my daughter is not living very close by I first would like to know the answer before I spend the travel.

Thanks,
Bernd

 

[joegreat]

Since a couple of months I have replaced my RT-N66U by another one and given the "good old" N66U to my daughter. I installed the 66U as Access Point (firmware is Merlin's 3.0.0.4_270.26b; this old version is one of the best regarding coverage and I used this for years myself without a single issue).

Hi Bernd,

You are running a really, really old version of firmware on your daughter's router (compared to the most recent Merlin version .55) - this is really a bad situation in feature, bugs and security updates!

It's true that the later firmware version have limitation in range (due to tighten regulatory rules), but still the N66U is on of the best routers when it comes to range discussions. On the other hand you have to remember: WLAN communication is a two-way topic - the devices need also to support the long range with higher power or better antennas...

There is a solution for you: use the fork from here, which stayed on the older WLAN drivers of Merlin's version .43 (for the better range), but updated the firmware to meet the latest bug fixes and security updates - not so much in features, but who cares on an old router for it.

I am running the N66U in AP mode for range extension (over my AC68U main router), fully overclocked, with no issues in temperature: 2.4 GHz: 52°C - 5 GHz: 52°C - and the WLAN speed is as good as it can be on a N-type router (up to 150 MBit), plus fully stable.

Not really sure if the updated firmware solves your issues, but I would give it a try due to the fixed bugs and security issues. On the other hand the good old N66U could also bite the dust...

With kind regards
Joe

PS.: If you jump to the much newer firmware, you really need to
- do a factory reset after the update and to reconfigure things manually (or use User NVRAM Save/Restore Utility to backup things on a USB drive)
- forget (remove) the profiles on all WLAN devices and re-connect to the router/access point again

Only with this steps you will ensure to have the best connection and coverage!

 

[Flying Dutchman]

Hi Bernd,
You are running a really, really old version of firmware on your daughter's router (compared to the most recent Merlin version .55) - this is really a bad situation in feature, bugs and security updates!

It is not bad at all. When using in AP-mode you don't have to deal with the listed security risks. I asked one day on this forum and got the reply: "don't worry when in AP-mode".

Hi Bernd,
Not really sure if the updated firmware solves your issues, but I would give it a try due to the fixed bugs and security issues. On the other hand the good old N66U could also bite the dust...

I opened the unit and it as clean inside as it was out of the box. It got terribly hot; you can't have your fingers on it.

Hi Bernd,
It's true that the later firmware version have limitation in range (due to tighten regulatory rules), but still the N66U is on of the best routers when it comes to range discussions. On the other hand you have to remember: WLAN communication is a two-way topic - the devices need also to support the long range with higher power or better antennas...

When running the 270_26b firmware I could use my Samsung tablet and Sony Xperia Z1C on the back seats in my rather large garden. With the later firmware it never worked. So the two-way balance was OK first, but is broken now due to FCC rules which do not apply in my country. Unfortunately Asus forgets "the rest of the world" when pleasing the FCC.

Hi Bernd,
Not really sure if the updated firmware solves your issues, but I would give it a try due to the fixed bugs and security issues.

I got the Asus RT-N66U back and did a firmware update to the latest Merlin one (with all the necessary resets / reboots etc). I manually installed some settings and put the unit back in AP-mode. It got hot again and when hot, the throughput of data went down to less than 1 kb/s: useless.

CONCLUSION: the unit is broken. Some hardware is failing, causing the extra heat, which, in return, stops the 2.4 GHz radio from working. The 5 GHz radio keeps running full speed, but can not be used by lacking radio on the client side.

Thank you for your reply and thoughts. I will buy her a new one (RT-N66U is still being produced as I write).

Bernd