AX88 Ignoring WiFi Channel Selection

[iadjunct]

I have the RT-AX88U. I've set up my WiFi to use channel 100 for the 5 GHz network.

However, it's actually using channel 149, which is the single worst channel for it to automatically select (because all my neighbors' access points also selected 149). I'm determining the channel both from option-clicking my WiFi icon on the Mac and from airodump-ng on Kali.

How do I get it to *actually* use the channel I selected?

2.4 GHz Settings:

Hide SSID: No
Wireless Mode: Auto; NOT optimized for Xbox; b/g Protection
HE frame support: Enable
Bandwidth: 20/40 MHz
Control Channel: Auto
Extension Channel: Auto
Auth Method: WPA2-Personal
WPA-Encryption: AES
Protected Management Frames: Disable

5 GHz Settings:

Hide SSID: No
Wireless Mode: Auto; NOT optimized for Xbox
HE frame support: Enable
Bandwidth: 20/40/80/160 MHz
Control Channel: 100
Extension Channel: Auto
Auth Method: WPA2-Personal
WPA-Encryption: AES
Protected Management Frames: Disable

 

[thiggins]

5 GHz Settings:

Hide SSID: No
Wireless Mode: Auto; NOT optimized for Xbox
HE frame support: Enable
Bandwidth: 20/40/80/160 MHz
Control Channel: 100
Extension Channel: Auto
Auth Method: WPA2-Personal
WPA-Encryption: AES
Protected Management Frames: Disable

Try disabling 160 MHz bandwidth, i.e. select 20/40/80.

 

[iadjunct]

Try disabling 160 MHz bandwidth, i.e. select 20/40/80.

Why would that change things? The channel it’s picking isn’t even 160MHz-capable.

 

[Jayce Ooi]

I have the RT-AX88U. I've set up my WiFi to use channel 100 for the 5 GHz network.

However, it's actually using channel 149, which is the single worst channel for it to automatically select (because all my neighbors' access points also selected 149). I'm determining the channel both from option-clicking my WiFi icon on the Mac and from airodump-ng on Kali.

How do I get it to *actually* use the channel I selected?

2.4 GHz Settings:

Hide SSID: No
Wireless Mode: Auto; NOT optimized for Xbox; b/g Protection
HE frame support: Enable
Bandwidth: 20/40 MHz
Control Channel: Auto
Extension Channel: Auto
Auth Method: WPA2-Personal
WPA-Encryption: AES
Protected Management Frames: Disable

5 GHz Settings:

Hide SSID: No
Wireless Mode: Auto; NOT optimized for Xbox
HE frame support: Enable
Bandwidth: 20/40/80/160 MHz
Control Channel: 100
Extension Channel: Auto
Auth Method: WPA2-Personal
WPA-Encryption: AES
Protected Management Frames: Disable

Try power off manually to reboot. Soft reboot can't change channel sometime. Happen to me too...

 

[Grisu]

service restart_wireless should solve it too
or turn off Wifi and turn on again
had same on my RT-AC86U before I sold all of them.
For me it has been the same on 2,4G and 5G.

And nobody here confirmed thats a problem, everyone said only my problem and bad unit or something like that and all fine for all the others!
I think they all never tried it on theirs as they stick on ch. 149 and didnt try other channels.

And here a very simalar problem with apply/on-off buttons: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ax88u-static-ip-address-problems.56181/#post-482713
I am using firefox and IE and Edge, has been all the same in my case with channel settings, tested them all ...

 

[iadjunct]

More information:

My 2.4 was set to Auto (which also picked the busiest possible channel... wtf), and I changed it to 11 (wondered if it inherited the "auto" setting for 5 GHz by mistake). It restarted, and it was on channel 100 like it should be on. My Canary devices (at the peripheries of the WiFi range) suddenly stopped having random disconnects. Then it randomly changed itself to channel 36. I didn't log in and change *anything* and it changed from 100 to 36 (which again is one of the worst channels it could possibly pick).

WHY is it picking channels by itself? I'm telling it NOT to auto-pick channels, and it changes them anyway. To make matters worse, it picks literally the worst possible channels (I've never understood why *every* auto channel selector picks the worst possible channel...)

 

[Grisu]

because 100 is a DFS channel and router is finding (wrong or correct radar signals or anything he cant verify to be another wifi), so it changes to another (auto-)channel, you cant do anything. Most times this are wrong findings, but router doesnt know better.

 

[iadjunct]

because 100 is a DFS channel and router is finding (wrong or correct radar signals or anything he cant verify to be another wifi), so it changes to another (auto-)channel, you cant do anything. Most times this are wrong findings, but router doesnt know better.

There’s no way to disable this? At all?

C’mon Asus, let me disable this awful “feature.”

 

[thiggins]

DFS channels are shared with public safety radar. FCC requires that APs monitor the channel for radar signals and immediately change to another channel if radar is detected. So, manufacturers have no choice.

 

[iadjunct]

DFS channels are shared with public safety radar. FCC requires that APs monitor the channel for radar signals and immediately change to another channel if radar is detected. So, manufacturers have no choice.

So basically a 160MHz width cannot be achieved because all the 160MHz ranges collide with a DFS region so any stray RF in that band that MAY look like a radar will cause it to switch... Fantastic.

So, will 802.11ax also avoid the entire DFS region for its allocations?

 

[thiggins]

So basically a 160MHz width cannot be achieved because all the 160MHz ranges collide with a DFS region so any stray RF in that band that MAY look like a radar will cause it to switch... Fantastic.

So, will 802.11ax also avoid the entire DFS region for its allocations?

11ax operates under the same rules. 160 MHz won't be practical for most users until the 6 GHz band is opened.
11ax's key contribution will be more efficient use of bandwidth via OFDMA... after the bugs are worked out and devices that support OFDMA make their way into the field.

 

[aln82]

I have the RT-AX88U. I've set up my WiFi to use channel 100 for the 5 GHz network.

However, it's actually using channel 149, which is the single worst channel for it to automatically select (because all my neighbors' access points also selected 149). I'm determining the channel both from option-clicking my WiFi icon on the Mac and from airodump-ng on Kali.

How do I get it to *actually* use the channel I selected?

2.4 GHz Settings:

Hide SSID: No
Wireless Mode: Auto; NOT optimized for Xbox; b/g Protection
HE frame support: Enable
Bandwidth: 20/40 MHz
Control Channel: Auto
Extension Channel: Auto
Auth Method: WPA2-Personal
WPA-Encryption: AES
Protected Management Frames: Disable

5 GHz Settings:

Hide SSID: No
Wireless Mode: Auto; NOT optimized for Xbox
HE frame support: Enable
Bandwidth: 20/40/80/160 MHz
Control Channel: 100
Extension Channel: Auto
Auth Method: WPA2-Personal
WPA-Encryption: AES
Protected Management Frames: Disable

Did you find a solution?