ET8-No 6E with Gnuton's Merlin 388.2_2_0-gnuton1

[KJ67]

Have tried flashing Gnuton's Merlin 388.2_2_0 build to my ET8 pair (in AP Mode with wired backhaul) several times, including restoring factory default and re-configuring after flashing. No 6E clients can connect on the 6GHz frequency. It appears there is no 6G being broadcast for clients to connect to out of router or mesh node.

Given Wi-Fi drivers are closed source and supplied by ASUS, this could be because ASUS has (pathetically) not released an update for ET8 in a year (last ASUS ET8 firmware version released August 4, 2022).

Just making sure I am not missing something. The features page does not show 6GHz as a capability either, but curiously shows 5G-2, which the ET8 does not have.

Just to clarify this is about 6GHz signal (WiFi 6E), not WiFi6 (802.11ax). Wifi 6 works fine with Merlin on the ET8 - just not the 6GHz frequency.

 

[edd1968]

Have tried flashing Gnuton's Merlin 388.2_2_0 build to my ET8 pair (in AP Mode with wired backhaul) several times, including restoring factory default and re-configuring after flashing. No 6E clients can connect on the 6GHz frequency. It appears there is no 6G being broadcast for clients to connect to out of router or mesh node.

Given Wi-Fi drivers are closed source and supplied by ASUS, this could be because ASUS has (pathetically) not released an update for ET8 in a year (last ASUS ET8 firmware version released August 4, 2022).

Just making sure I am not missing something. The features page does not show 6GHz as a capability either, but curiously shows 5G-2, which the ET8 does not have.

Just to clarify this is about 6GHz signal (WiFi 6E), not WiFi6 (802.11ax). Wifi 6 works fine with Merlin on the ET8 - just not the 6GHz frequency.

Have you tried if the issue is still present with the new official ASUS firmware 3.0.0.4.388_23759 dated 2023/08/03 ?

Thanks

 

[naitkris]

I have the same issue - just bought the ASUS ET8 H/W Ver. 1.0 (MFG Year 2024) and with the latest ASUS official firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_23759 (dated 8 March 2023) WiFi 6E works fine both as a separate 6GHz SSID and when using Tri-Band Smart Connect - I am running just one ET8 unit now as a standalone router. However with the latest GNUton's Asus Merlin 3004.388.7_1-gnuton1 (dated 10 June 2024) the 6GHz SSID shows up in the ASUS web based interface but it is not actually broadcasting and none of my WiFi 6E clients see the network. I played around with changing a few different settings but nothing I tried worked.

 

[garysteel]

Have tried flashing Gnuton's Merlin 388.2_2_0 build to my ET8 pair (in AP Mode with wired backhaul) several times, including restoring factory default and re-configuring after flashing. No 6E clients can connect on the 6GHz frequency. It appears there is no 6G being broadcast for clients to connect to out of router or mesh node.

Given Wi-Fi drivers are closed source and supplied by ASUS, this could be because ASUS has (pathetically) not released an update for ET8 in a year (last ASUS ET8 firmware version released August 4, 2022).

Just making sure I am not missing something. The features page does not show 6GHz as a capability either, but curiously shows 5G-2, which the ET8 does not have.

Just to clarify this is about 6GHz signal (WiFi 6E), not WiFi6 (802.11ax). Wifi 6 works fine with Merlin on the ET8 - just not the 6GHz frequency.

HI and this is probably useless but I have incorrectly installed the AXE95Q version on my XT8 by mistake instead of the AX95Q, just a suggestion to check the version you have been using is the AXE and not the AX. You probably have but just a thought. Although the jpg shows AXE95 it does not show the actual firmware version used.

Good luck anyhow.
G

 

[naitkris]

HI and this is probably useless but I have incorrectly installed the AXE95Q version on my XT8 by mistake instead of the AX95Q, just a suggestion to check the version you have been using is the AXE and not the AX. You probably have but just a thought. Although the jpg shows AXE95 it does not show the actual firmware version used.

Good luck anyhow.
G

Thanks for the reply but yes I double checked that - flashed the ET8 with the AXE95Q version, specifically RT-AXE95Q_3004_388.7_1-gnuton1_puresqubi.w which is the latest GNUton's Asus Merlin release.

 

[Kenobi5469]

I have the same issue - just bought the ASUS ET8 H/W Ver. 1.0 (MFG Year 2024) and with the latest ASUS official firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_23759 (dated 8 March 2023) WiFi 6E works fine both as a separate 6GHz SSID and when using Tri-Band Smart Connect - I am running just one ET8 unit now as a standalone router. However with the latest GNUton's Asus Merlin 3004.388.7_1-gnuton1 (dated 10 June 2024) the 6GHz SSID shows up in the ASUS web based interface but it is not actually broadcasting and none of my WiFi 6E clients see the network. I played around with changing a few different settings but nothing I tried worked.

Are you using a Samsung device by any chance?

Solved - Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Doesn't Detect 6Ghz Band on Wifi Router

Hi all, Got my hands on the S24 Ultra and found out that it can't detect nor connect to the 6Ghz band on my Asus RT-BE96U. It can detect my 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz bands as Wifi 7-capable (They've both got the little Wifi 7 icon showing in Available Networks) but once I connect to either band, the...

www.snbforums.com

Re: Unstable WiFi

Hello all, thanks for reaching out in regards to this matter. Having certain apps not work with Wi-Fi stably can be a frustrating experience. It is possible that the app(s) themselves need cleaning. You can follow this guide here to rule that out...

us.community.samsung.com

 

[naitkris]

Are you using a Samsung device by any chance?

Solved - Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra Doesn't Detect 6Ghz Band on Wifi Router

Hi all, Got my hands on the S24 Ultra and found out that it can't detect nor connect to the 6Ghz band on my Asus RT-BE96U. It can detect my 5Ghz and 2.4Ghz bands as Wifi 7-capable (They've both got the little Wifi 7 icon showing in Available Networks) but once I connect to either band, the...

www.snbforums.com

Re: Unstable WiFi

Hello all, thanks for reaching out in regards to this matter. Having certain apps not work with Wi-Fi stably can be a frustrating experience. It is possible that the app(s) themselves need cleaning. You can follow this guide here to rule that out...

us.community.samsung.com

I am (Samsung Galaxy S23+) but it is updated to latest software for the S23+ and with the latest official ASUS ET8 firmware it was able to connect fine - issue only occurs after I flashed my ET8 to the Gnuton firmware.

 

[Kenobi5469]

Re: Unstable WiFi

Hello all, thanks for reaching out in regards to this matter. Having certain apps not work with Wi-Fi stably can be a frustrating experience. It is possible that the app(s) themselves need cleaning. You can follow this guide here to rule that out...

us.community.samsung.com

I've been seeing these threads where Samsung devices can't see 6ghz on occasion and frequent disconnects, etc. Perhaps the firmware version gnuton/stock differences were merely a coincidence?

 

[naitkris]

Re: Unstable WiFi

Hello all, thanks for reaching out in regards to this matter. Having certain apps not work with Wi-Fi stably can be a frustrating experience. It is possible that the app(s) themselves need cleaning. You can follow this guide here to rule that out...

us.community.samsung.com

I've been seeing these threads where Samsung devices can't see 6ghz on occasion and frequent disconnects, etc. Perhaps the firmware version gnuton/stock differences were merely a coincidence?

Could be however to reduce the chance of any coincidence I tried each firmware (stock and Gnuton) twice and only posted here after I kept seeing the same issue with the Gnuton firmware despite repeated attempts and also playing around with different settings.

 

[Kenobi5469]

Hmm in that case looks like Gnuton has a discord and has discussions on his GitHub so maybe you'll have more luck there?

 

[naitkris]

Thanks for the reply. OK, issue is now solved! See below.

After doing lots of tests including comparing the output of "nvram show" of the latest Gnuton firmware for the ET8 (RT-AXE95Q_3004_388.7_1-gnuton1_puresqubi.w) for which I faced the issue with WiFi 6E "not working" against the latest official stock firmware for the ET8 (ZENWIFI_ET8_3.0.0.4_388_23759-gfd1c030_puresqubi.w) for which WiFi 6E is working fine I noticed the below difference:

Gnuton firmware:
wl2_sel_bw=160
wl2_sel_channel=197

Official stock firmware:
wl2_sel_bw=160
wl2_sel_channel=69

So for the 6 GHz they both default to 160 MHz channel bandwidth which is fine but the Gnuton firmware sets the default channel (which it is set to when "Auto" is selected - and "Auto" is selected by default) to channel 197 while the official firmware sets it to channel 69. Most countries and regions only support up to channel 93 (so up to 6425 MHz frequency) and it appears as per https://eu.community.samsung.com/t5...ifi-5ghz-and-6ghz-channels-based/td-p/9918035 and elsewhere that Samsung (and perhaps others) have region locked their WiFi 6E clients to only connect to the 6 GHz channels for WiFi 6E as per where the mobile handset was purchased (for me this is strange as they are a WiFi client and not a WiFi broadcaster - and people travel with their mobile handsets to different countries and regions, but anyways...). So in my case my Samsung Galaxy S23+ was purchased in the UAE (where 5925-6425 MHz is currently adopted) while my ASUS ET8 is from the US (where 5925-7125 MHz adopted), see https://www.wi-fi.org/regulations-enabling-6-ghz-wi-fi

Based on this, and also based on a lot of testing and reading that I have done, it would be good if the future version of the Gnuton firmware for the ET8 could have the default 6 GHz channel instead be 53 (which I found to work very well after a lot of testing), 69 (same as official stock firmware), or 37 - these three channels are supported by practically all countries and regions as per https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels#6_GHz_(802.11ax_and_802.11be) and all three are in the list of PSCs (Preferred Scanning Channels) as well - thus allowing maximum clients from all over the world to connect to the 6 GHz WiFi 6E.

 

[Kenobi5469]

I'm glad you were able to solve it!