brand-new RT-AC68U, 802.11n misbehaving. (last available FW on board)

[Mik_Muk]

Hello everyone,
We faced with a pretty odd issue.
For some reasons the router loses, so to speak, responsiveness (web-pages and web interface become not available within a minute) with workstations and laptops which are equipped with intel N6235 wifi card. It happens by 802.11n connection only. The wifi sign is always ok (Win7), there wasn't even yellow triangle on it.
If we use 'legacy' mode which provides 802.11a,b,g it works fine.

We've tried another laptop which is equipped with Atheros wifi card. There wasn't any problem there by 802.11n.
Treatment: right mouse click on Windows wireless communication 'disconnect/connect', a minute of proper work, then the problem persists again.

As a side note: We have Keenetic lite 2 in our office, it works fine (802.11n) with all range of our workstations and laptops.

Any hints, advices on this issue, please.

fw: 3.0.0.4.384_45717-gadd52a8

BR

 

[OzarkEdge]

Have you reset the router to factory defaults before configuration?

OE

 

[Mik_Muk]

Yes, it has been done several times. We are struggling with this issue for a couple of days.
At the moment it is set to 'legacy' mode. Otherwise, it's just a pain.

just after I've pulled out the router from the box, I was not able to get web-interface. Then I used patch cord to perform configuration.
So first suspicion that it's not working stuff I've got while getting web-interface via failed wifi. Since all machines are set to 802.11n by default.

 

[Grisu]

wont help you but something to read: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/wireless-modes-broken-2g-802-11b-g-n-and-5g-a-n-ac.47783/

 

[Domdus]

Hi,

Maybe wrong direction, but I remember having a similar issue with the Intel N6235 wifi - and its drivers years ago. (Wifi dropped after minutes)
Your issue might be related to the specific wifi client/adapter, not to the RT-AC68U itself as other wifi clients seem to work fine.

In my case the problem was related to the driver for the N6235 - causing a lot trouble at that time. (regedit fixes etc.)
Meanwhile the issue disappeared, possibly got fixed by a newer driver version.
You may want to check for the latest driver at Intel's download center, the driver is called "Intel® PROSet/Wireless Software and Drivers for Intel® Centrino® Advanced-N 6235".

Just double-checked: Writing from a laptop equipped with Intel N6235, driver version installed is 15.18.0.1 (Win 10) and wireless connected (802.11n) to an AC68U, absolutely stable.

BR

 

[L&LD]

I think you are over-customizing your clients and router set up.

Leave wireless mode to Auto and remove all customization from the client devices drivers too.

 

[Mik_Muk]

Hi,
Your issue might be related to the specific wifi client/adapter, not to the RT-AC68U itself as other wifi clients seem to work fine.
BR

First measures we performed It was a recheck if wifi drivers are up to date (we reffered to manufacturer's support pages).
We did more. We managed to update N6235 driver on Dell workstation, Dell laptop and Samsung laptop to newest drivers provided by Intel itself. Unfortunately nothing changed for the better.

The Intel N6235 wifi is quite popular wifi card, I dread to think how many thousands of cards are already installed in laptops and workstations.
Since AC68U is not compatible with this card after several years of improving measures (ac68u was announced not in 2018!!!), that is saying something.

So, I would consider a thought, that Asus continue to miss something important (regarding 802.11n and N6235) in its firmware.

Furthermore, I'm rather shoсked how quite weak Keenetic lite 2 easily handles with all range of clients available in our office.

P.S. 5GHz 802.11ac works fine (Win10); 2.4GHz 802.11g works fine; 2.4GHz 802.11n is still a pain.

BR

 

[Domdus]

The N6235 is very popular indeed and there are tons of forum threads about wifi drops with 802.11n and any router. More in detail, the problem seems to appear in 2.4GHz mode, but not in 5GHz.

That could explain why I don't experience the problem in my home environment - the laptops N6235 is connected to the 5GHz band. I will test it later back home switching to 2.4 band.

In any case, keep the AC68U with most default settings. Disabling 802.11n (legacy mode) on Router side would be a big loss for all other clients.
You can turn off 802.11n for the specific client in the adapters driver - device manager -> advanced -> "802.11n support something". Maybe that helps for the moment.

BR

 

[Mik_Muk]

The N6235 is very popular indeed and there are tons of forum threads about wifi drops with 802.11n and any router. More in detail, the problem seems to appear in 2.4GHz mode, but not in 5GHz.

Yeah, nowadays the 2.4GHz 802.11n most widespread wifi mode/standard. So, any router must handle it excellently. If it's planned to sell thousands of them.

BR

 

[Domdus]

Yeah, nowadays the 2.4GHz 802.11n most widespread wifi mode/standard. So, any router must handle it excellently. If it's planned to sell thousands of them.

BR

I totally agree. That's why it felt like a disaster with the N6235 back in the past (was like 4 years ago), fiddling with those drivers and still having constant dropouts.

Today it seems resolved for me, no idea how. I tested the adapter connected to 2.4GHz band in n-mode. Throughput bounces around a bit due to many other 2.4 networks here, but no dropouts, web pages and routers web interface are always reachable.

RT-AC68U settings for 2.4GHz band:
wireless mode: auto
channel: 6
channel width: 20 MHz

Professional tab (2.4GHz) settings changed:
airtime fairness: disabled
universal beamforming: disabled

BR

 

[Mik_Muk]

Today it seems resolved for me, no idea how. I tested the adapter connected to 2.4GHz band in n-mode. Throughput bounces around a bit due to many other 2.4 networks here, but no dropouts, web pages and routers web interface are always reachable.

BR

It seems this guy is living its own life. Yesterday we had some success with him while playing around with RTS threshold and other related things. Then, everything was returned to its default state and 802.11n had been a sweety some time,
We still have a couple of days for struggling. We were promised brand new Ulta. We will see what's the beast that. If it will be less problematic stuff, we get rid of Asus.


btw, to developers, where did you hide a setting called Fragmentation threshold? Can't find that in the list.

An update:

5Ghz, 8011.2n tested and it's ok. Everything is by default.

What's wrong with 2.4 8011.2n???