Release Asuswrt-Merlin 386.7 is now available for all models

[capncybo]

Everything related to wifi is out of my control.

I was afraid you'd say that.
But on the Brighter side... I'm embarrassed to admit, I just noticed the following:
DFS State: Idle Time elapsed: 0h 0m 0s Channel cleared for radar: none

It's Tucked right between the: Wireless 5GHz (info) & the Device Chart
Found via: System Log >Wireless Log

That easily shows if the router actually thought it detected radar & dropped 160MHz & all 5GHz clients.
Hopefully this will assist others as well.

 

[heysoundude]

It all depends on where you live...
In the city, near any automatic doors & sensors.
Are Police cars with Radar, or Street Signs with Radar Speed Warnings nearby?
Any Aircraft or Helicopters passing by?
If any radar waves are detected...
The router is mandated to leave, which requires the... disconnect/re-connection dance.

I'm trying to move all my client devices to the 5GHz band (so I can clear up the local airwaves in the 2.4GHz range for my neighbours, and shut off 802.11n to be full 802.11ac and eventually higher), so this would be a fairly significant issue for me, as I live -just- within the published Control Zone of my local airport. 80MHz is big enough for me, thanks.

 

[jj22038]

as I live -just- within the published Control Zone of my local airport.

Just curious, where could I find the "published Control Zone" for my local airports?

 

[bigpcjunky]

I agree... & certainly hope there is something RMerlin can do to improve 160MHz functionality on an AX86U (& perhaps other problematic routers).
Perhaps I mistakenly assumed "the poor reliability" of 160MHz with our AX86U router was due to our physical location.
When actually... the 160Mhz disconnects could be the result of newer code/drivers introduced sometime around the release of 386.7
However, I do understand much of the WiFi related code is "Closed Source"... so we may be SOL ;-(
But if I sweet-talk the wife...
Perhaps she'll let me roll-back the firmware & retest our network.
Or I could just try it when she sleeps, except... schools out & those teenagers stay up all hours of the night using the damn internet LOL

I also have an AX86U and this release keeps knocking me out of 160MHz. The ASUS release from 6/21 doesn't seem to be as bad as the Merlin build but that might be me making a quick judgement and not testing long enough.

I went back to the 386.5_2 release and 160MHz has been solid. Hopefully none of the security updates I'm missing in that release won't bite me in the butt.

 

[capncybo]

I also have an AX86U and this release keeps knocking me out of 160MHz. The ASUS release from 6/21 doesn't seem to be as bad as the Merlin build but that might be me making a quick judgement and not testing long enough.

I went back to the 386.5_2 release and 160MHz has been solid. Hopefully none of the security updates I'm missing in that release won't bite me in the butt.

I guess what a person really needs to decide is...
-How fast of a speed is actually acceptable for their WiFi? +
-Can they tolerate (any/many) 5G disruptions to their WiFi?
Note: Many security/doorbell cams & alarms now utilize WiFi & (disconnecting/reconnecting) is really problematic.

Without 160MHz: I have several clients that show ~866/780/650 Mbps (TxRx) & actually deliver transfers >300Mbps
But my ISP package is only 300/15... Hence, my existing 80MHz 5G WiFi speed is really quite acceptable.
And 160MHz probably isn't needed.
Especially if every time the police officers set up a radar-trap ~ 50m from my house... all 5G devices disconnect/reconnect/disconnect...

However If someone "typically" copies large files (to/from) a NAS-Drive... perhaps there is a benefit.
But with any primary computer location I'd say... Maybe find a way to Ethernet-wire that system.

 

[bigpcjunky]

I guess what a person really needs to decide is...
-How fast of a speed is actually acceptable for their WiFi? +
-Can they tolerate (any/many) 5G disruptions to their WiFi?
Note: Many security/doorbell cams & alarms now utilize WiFi & (disconnecting/reconnecting) is really problematic.

Without 160MHz: I have several clients that show ~866/780/650 Mbps (TxRx) & actually deliver transfers >300Mbps
But my ISP package is only 300/15... Hence, my existing 80MHz 5G WiFi speed is really quite acceptable.
And 160MHz probably isn't needed.
Especially if every time the police officers set up a radar-trap ~ 50m from my house... all 5G devices disconnect/reconnect/disconnect...

However If someone "typically" copies large files (to/from) a NAS-Drive... perhaps there is a benefit.
But with any primary computer location I'd say... Maybe find a way to Ethernet-wire that system.

I'm WiFi only. I can't direct wire Ethernet cable because I live in a place built in the 70's. High ceilings w/no attic or usable crawl space.

Radar detection isn't really causing the 160MHz to 80MHz channel change (only once) in the 386.7_0 build or ASUS 6/21 release. The other 5 times between 6/23 to 6/26 it was something else, but I've been busy w/family health stuff to dig through the logs.

I think the beta 1 build problems were radar related, but not really in the 386.7 release. Reverted back to 386.5_2 on 6/26 and zero kicks to 80MHz since then.

 

[RMerlin]

I'm uploading test builds to https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/test-builds . If you have IPv6-related issues, please try these builds as they include a potential fix submitted by @Tvlz .

 

[OzarkEdge]

But on the Brighter side... I'm embarrassed to admit, I just noticed the following:
DFS State: Idle Time elapsed: 0h 0m 0s Channel cleared for radar: none

It's Tucked right between the: Wireless 5GHz (info) & the Device Chart
Found via: System Log >Wireless Log

That easily shows if the router actually thought it detected radar & dropped 160MHz & all 5GHz clients.
Hopefully this will assist others as well.

I believe DFS State: Idle etc. means your current bandwidth and control channel settings do not require DFS channels... so no DFS is in play.

OE

 

[capncybo]

I believe DFS State: Idle etc. means your current bandwidth and control channel settings do not require DFS channels... so no DFS is in play.

OE

Thanks I know (As I'm currently NOT using DFS) what I was trying to share was...
-Where in the WebGUI someone can easily look to verify If their router detected radar & dropped DFS

 

[Treadler]

I'm uploading test builds to https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/test-builds . If you have IPv6-related issues, please try these builds as they include a potential fix submitted by @Tvlz .

IPv6 working fine here, passes 100% on the various IPv6 test sites.
Prior to 386.7, I could never get the full 100%, there was always some little issue. No ‘real world’ problems though.

 

[bigpcjunky]

Thanks I know (As I'm currently NOT using DFS) what I was trying to share was...
-Where in the WebGUI someone can easily look to verify If their router detected radar & dropped DFS

I use an obscure free Wi-Fi Scanner from LizardSystems. I worked with the author about a year ago to fix an AX86 related crash and suggested some minor improvements. Cool guy. It allows me to quickly check the channel and width. Then I login to the router and save the log and reboot the router. I can search the log for 'radar' and try to figure out what caused the 'wlceventd' if I don't find 'radar' in the log.

 

[scaramonga]

 

[matthew_eli]

I'm uploading test builds to https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/test-builds . If you have IPv6-related issues, please try these builds as they include a potential fix submitted by @Tvlz .

I tried 386.7_1 test build on my RT-AX86U and it seems all like in the 386.7, I mean regarding IPv6; in my case /48 prefix assigned by my ISP still become a /64, but @Tvlz told me it's normal

 

[GoNz0]

Start your console inspector and see if it any errors. In Firefox F12

Just went to do this and the bloody things working now, must have been a chrome issue they fixed in the last update.

 

[gerardr]

I'm uploading test builds to https://www.asuswrt-merlin.net/test-builds . If you have IPv6-related issues, please try these builds as they include a potential fix submitted by @Tvlz.

Dirty upgrade from 386.7 to 386.7_1 test build with no issues for my relatively simple setup after 6hrs+, on RT-AX3000 (RT-AX58U firmware). Can't really test IPv6 much since my ISP still does not support it.

 

[Bitrudeuk]

I did a dirty upgrade from previous Merlin firmware to 386.7. Everything running smoothly, though I did notice today that on the WAN connection page, my DNS server settings had reverted to ISP automatically assigned ones, rather than my VPN ones I had previously manually added? Not sure if that stems from this latest release or not, as I had not checked the WAN page for a while and only noticed today that I now had an assign box and a pop up window?

 

[John Fitzgerald]

I did a dirty upgrade from previous Merlin firmware to 386.7. Everything running smoothly, though I did notice today that on the WAN connection page, my DNS server settings had reverted to ISP automatically assigned ones, rather than my VPN ones I had previously manually added? Not sure if that stems from this latest release or not, as I had not checked the WAN page for a while and only noticed today that I now had an assign box and a pop up window?

That's new with 386.7.
If you have been doing dirty upgrades for a while you most likely will want to do a Factory Reset and start from scratch.

 

[Bitrudeuk]

That's new with 386.7.
If you have been doing dirty upgrades for a while you most likely will want to do a Factory Reset and start from scratch.

Thanks, I must have overlooked that part in the change log... Or not understood the change log, which is quite possible too!

I actually had to do a factory reset last night after tinkering with the VPN director and mucking everything up, though assumed everything was still ok from before it, so re-upped my save settings from after the upgrade. I'll run through each section tonight and make sure everything else is ok then!

Thanks for the quick reply!

Running with the ISP assigned DNS kind of undermines the VPN right? Though I did do a DNS leak test and my ISP is not leaking, so maybe my VPN is auto assigning DNS for me?? Think i'll manually add them later to be safe though...

 

[ColinTaylor]

Running with the ISP assigned DNS kind of undermines the VPN right?

No, you set the VPN DNS behaviour in the VPN Client settings. (But that is off-topic for this thread)

 

[dlandiss]

Without 160MHz: I have several clients that show ~866/780/650 Mbps (TxRx) & actually deliver transfers >300Mbps
But my ISP package is only 300/15... Hence, my existing 80MHz 5G WiFi speed is really quite acceptable.
And 160MHz probably isn't needed.

Totally agree. I get 345Mbps downloads from my Spectrum ISP, and would happily trade some of that for more range. Although my AX86 has better range than my AC86, which in turn was better than my AC68, which was better than my N66; more range is always useful here in this 120-year-old brick house.

Since it is said that the Wi-Fi drivers have not changed I think the improvement comes from better radio circuits.