How to add more 5ghz channels

[MarkyPancake]

When I use my UK supplied Virgin Media Superhub 2 in router mode, it has many more 5 GHz channels to choose from than the Asus/Merlin firmware.

 

[richto]

I tried every channel available while set to AU, GB and US so far, some of them showed as working on the wifi log, some showed as chan 36. I couldn't connect to any of them though. The only time I can connect to them is while using EU, and then I only get 3 channels, all of which clash with the wii U pad.
I will go through every single channel / combination if I have to until I find one that works.
Unfortunately it's a little time consuming and the teenagers get twitchy if our internet goes off

I was also wondering if changing the country code but not the regulation domain might work.

Same here on RT66U - seems to be a bug when set to GB country code - no devices see 5G at all.

 

[DrTeeth]

Okay guys. here's the definitive solution to this issue. Been there, done that, got the badge.

I have an N66U using Merlin 374.41.

1) There is no EU regulatory area for wireless. That setting is just the lowest common denominator for the WHOLE of Europe.

2) Setting the GB zone for the latest Merlin firmware locks the 5GHz on one (of the lowest) channels no matter what it is set to in the GUI. From my limited testing, the wireless driver in the stock firmware is fine with the GB zone. Merlin uses an optimised driver that Asus cannot use AIUI, and the GB locale does not work correctly.

3) There are many separate regulatory zones to which one can set the router that have the same power output and channels as GB. I have set mine to Iceland - that was my first try too and it worked! There is only one channel which is not legal in the UK on 5GHz and I will not use that. There are about 20-ish similar regulatory areas from which to choose.

I also set 2.4GHz to Iceland for the extra power legally available to UK users. I am operating my router 100% within the UK regulations.

All the instructions and details are in this forum...somewhere. Happy searching .

 

[richto]

Thanks - providing a link would have saved everyone from searching though.... "Iceland" provides no relevant hits.

From your suggestion I found that the code KR for Korea seems to work well for me.

 

[BreakingDad]

Are you getting extra channels that work doing this ? I tried again last night, with KR, and still I can see on the wireless logs the channel is active but I pick up nothing on the pc on 5ghz band. The only time I can see 5ghz channels is with EU enabled and then only 4 channels. Which is no good for my purposes as the 4 channels clash with the wii controller so Im stuck with 2.4ghz for now.

 

[bbsc]

Is there a way to add more channels, other than 36,40 and 40 to the 5ghz band?

No problem.
For RT-N66U (all possible channels):

nvram set pci/1/1/ccode=#a
nvram set pci/1/1/regrev=0
nvram set pci/2/1/ccode=#a
nvram set pci/2/1/regrev=0
nvram set regulation_domain=#a
nvram set regulation_domain_5G=#a
nvram set wl0_country=#a
nvram set wl0_country_code=#a
nvram set wl0_country_rev=0
nvram set wl0_reg_mode=off
nvram set wl1_country=#a
nvram set wl1_country_code=#a
nvram set wl1_country_rev=0
nvram set wl1_reg_mode=off
nvram commit
reboot

It will make possible:
Channels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 at 2,4GHz, power up to 200mW.
Channels 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165 at 5GHz, power up to 200mW.

 

[BreakingDad]

Thanks will try this later, probably in the middle of the night when my family stop using MY internet.

I just hope that I can see any of these channels when I do it, I've got them to show up on the wireless log, but they don't show up when I search for them on the client side unless I use EU.

Really hope this works, will be so grateful if it does.

 

[DrTeeth]

This tip works here, but I did come across a 'gotcha' on 2.4GHz.

My printer could not see my 2.4GHz network when the locale was set as above, viz totally unrestricted.

All was well when I set it back to EU, leaving my 5GHz network set to unrestricted.

 

[BreakingDad]

Still not working, although the router I believe is transmitting the channels, I'm starting to think the problem is with the USB N66 receiver. Looking at its set up configuration it seems to be limited to the same 4 channels and I have no idea how to add more. I tried changing the region on it and makes no difference. Back to the drawing board.

 

[wonderous]

No problem.
For RT-N66U (all possible channels):

nvram set pci/1/1/ccode=#a
nvram set pci/1/1/regrev=0
nvram set pci/2/1/ccode=#a
nvram set pci/2/1/regrev=0
nvram set regulation_domain=#a
nvram set regulation_domain_5G=#a
nvram set wl0_country=#a
nvram set wl0_country_code=#a
nvram set wl0_country_rev=0
nvram set wl0_reg_mode=off
nvram set wl1_country=#a
nvram set wl1_country_code=#a
nvram set wl1_country_rev=0
nvram set wl1_reg_mode=off
nvram commit
reboot

It will make possible:
Channels 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 at 2,4GHz, power up to 200mW.
Channels 34, 36, 38, 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165 at 5GHz, power up to 200mW.

My country allows the use of all of the above channels for wifi network.

nvramed the above on my N66u, stock firmware .276, this makes the 5GHz hidden channels (100-140) show up in the list. However upon selecting any of the unhidden channels (100-140) and applying, my router refuses to any of use those unhidden channels but instead defaults to channel 36. If i select any of the other normally shown bands (36-64, 149-165) the work normally. Hope someone could help, thanks.

 

[DrTeeth]

However upon selecting any of the unhidden channels (100-140) and applying, my router refuses to any of use those unhidden channels but instead defaults to channel 36. If i select any of the other normally shown bands (36-64, 149-165) the work normally. Hope someone could help, thanks.

I am using the latest firmware from Merlin 374.43 and noticed different behaviour. I can select, for example, 104 and it changes, but when I tried to change it back to the previous channel, it would stay on that channel and show 'auto' in the control channel box. It was not that difficult to find a close channel to which it would change.

 

[Chrysalis]

To further add to what drteeth said.

When I used GB, the 5ghz was locked to 20mhz channel 36 it ignored what was chosen in the GUI.

Setting to iceland did not fix it.

Setting to no region ie. no regulation did fix it. Not only can I now set the channel properly and have working 20/40/80 width but also the signal output is much better.

I dont like saying it but asuswrt-merlin on the newest builds I consider broken outside of the .us.

 

[GoNz0]

To further add to what drteeth said.

When I used GB, the 5ghz was locked to 20mhz channel 36 it ignored what was chosen in the GUI.

Setting to iceland did not fix it.

Setting to no region ie. no regulation did fix it. Not only can I now set the channel properly and have working 20/40/80 width but also the signal output is much better.

I dont like saying it but asuswrt-merlin on the newest builds I consider broken outside of the .us.

all sorted for me now, CFE flashed no region "#a" and factory reset, now I have every channel!

 

[Chrysalis]

I just ran the cli commands and that was enough to work for me, didnt need to reboot.

How did you cfe flash it tho?

 

[RMerlin]

all sorted for me now, CFE flashed no region "#a" and factory reset, now I have every channel!

And now you are breaking local regulations, which might put you in legal troubles.

CFE modification should only be used to fix incorrect regions being set, not to work around your local regulations. These exist for a very good reason, not just to annoy you.

 

[Chrysalis]

Merlin some of us can only use our legal setups with the region #a, because non .usa regions are broken.

e.g. I have #a but I am using legal uk channels. I dont know if my power output is legal tho.

 

[RMerlin]

Merlin some of us can only use our legal setups with the region #a, because non .usa regions are broken.

e.g. I have #a but I am using legal uk channels. I dont know if my power output is legal tho.

Then set it to GB rather than some random undocumented value.

My message was targeting those messing with this because they wanted to gain access to channel or output levels not normally allowed in their region. Like people trying to use channel 13 in the US.

 

[DrTeeth]

Then set it to GB rather than some random undocumented value.

My message was targeting those messing with this because they wanted to gain access to channel or output levels not normally allowed in their region. Like people trying to use channel 13 in the US.

Merlin, GB is broken in the driver in your firmware.

 

[DrTeeth]

all sorted for me now, CFE flashed no region "#a" and factory reset, now I have every channel!

How did you do it and how risky was it?

TIA

DrT

 

[GoNz0]

And now you are breaking local regulations, which might put you in legal troubles.

CFE modification should only be used to fix incorrect regions being set, not to work around your local regulations. These exist for a very good reason, not just to annoy you.

Well no I am not, I am using UK legal channels, UK legal power output, both are set to 30% power. Just because it has more channels doesn't mean I am going to abuse them.

If I set GB is screws things up including the power output, that is crippled but why would Asus give a frack as they don't use it in production so I am left without a choice.

Oh wait I could go DD-WRT and select the country of my choice apart from GB for some odd reason. But I like your firmware so I opted to DIY a fix and not take the piss at the same time.

if Asus sorted out the product I wouldn't have to piss about hacking the bootloader to correct what is basically laziness, shipping a product to the Uk with EU firmware on it, if it wasn't for your firmware I would be back on netgear. I am starting to regret buying a 2nd 68u, I should have bricked my 1st 68 and got Amazon to refund me and buy a pair of Netgears but I keep getting dragged back to the Merlin release because it's so damn good if you are prepared to spend an hour sorting out the downfall Asus built in.

None of my old routers meet local regs, so when the cops go arresting people for having old hardware that doesn't meet regs I may be worried

How did you do it and how risky was it?

TIA

DrT

you need to follow this http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showpost.php?p=133249&postcount=124

replace the region code with #a

the script the guy made takes the guess work out of it, on top of his hard work I now check the filesize is identical after the accident when I clicked insert and murdered my n66u.

make sure you have the mtd-write file from the asus official "cfe update to allow overclocking".

You also need to set the file permissions to allow them to write, its all in that thread after the post I linked to.

I used puttytel for a telnet client and winscp to drop the files and set permissions in jffs.

Oh and it needs a factory reset to kick in the changes, my access point restored the settings but the main router only restored some so a manual reconfiguration may be on the cards if you get 1 wifi name the same as you left it and one asus 5g as the other!