Everyones experiences and information added to the subject of wireless radio settings with these models is appreciated.Here's mine FWIW. Our AC-RT3200 is running 380.68_4, with solid coverage over 2000 square feet, no interference on the main floor or from any oustide source. I had some GUI/speed and openvpn issues which were resolved, nothing re the radios. I never attempted the 30-30-30 DD-WRT routine, as it's never proven to have any beneficial effect with these models. One time a minor radio problem developed when I futzed with the 2.4 band while the grandkids android tablet and phone was visiting. I tried resetting 2.4ghz to 20 instead of 20/40, and tuned to asingle channel. It made things worse so I've left it on 20/40 spread and auto since. The 5 ghz settings have worked great on 20/40/80 auto. For all practical purposes, I've stayed with RMerlins suggestions which have always performed welld.
I spent the first month after we bought the router, experimenting with many well-meaning tips and suggestions, but found it was a waste of time for me. It's always going to be different for everyone, given the environment, walls, rooms/density of materials, total volume to cover, neighbors devices - we only have three neighbors within half a mile and they all use 2.4 ghz on older routers, only one even bothers using WPA. We have a closed system for our reason; anyone that runs a non-hidden SSID finds their name and address listed on a published county wireless map as a potential AP or target for the public (and bored kids). Having our SSIDs closed has never presented an issue; our devices sync quickly and automatically. No wardrivers have ever been spotted in the area, and they'd be spotted at once. Our signal doesn't reach outside past the porce to be noticed. Years ago I knew the security aspects of 'hidden' SSIDs in higher density populations, and this way works for us. The number/type of devices/chipsets in house has never affected the radios; we found one emission that did fixed it. The power company has wireless radios in all new residential power meters, for their supposed smart grid. One of the company crew mentioned they installed the things instead of replacing the guy who retired, who used to drive around reading meters, power companies aren't known for their veracity. We placed mesh and shielding around the back and sides of the meter to 'beam' it away from inside toward their receiver, to good effect. We don't have any IoT trash devices, like a remote-controlled lock, fridge or toaster that wants to phone home to hackers in china. A wireless telephone handset once had wi-fi acting up for a day. The wife mentioned she couldn't find the phone she used the day before; it turned up three feet from the router, problem solved. I moved the large microwave oven to the far side of a kitchen, which had an immediate positive effect.
Many leave their gear running for days and use auto-scheduled reboots. I used to do it that way, but some years back changed to powering all portions of our systems completely down at night, with power removed, and when we're away. It's all powered up again in sequence each morning. We save a good amount on the electric bill, and have never had ill effect on the system, and no longer worry about middle of the night power outages common to the area. I don't mind waiting a couple of extra minutes each morning until everything syncs up fresh. I was tired one night and neglected the nightly power-down, which was a night that half the county valley suffered a complete blackout for nearly 4 hours. The next morning was interesting to say the least. Our openvpn tunnel autostarts with the router, and it didn't want to sync or restart properly. Apparently nothing leaked and there were no lingereing issues. Having A/C kill the system at once isn't recommended especially if your battery backup doesn't last through the event. Thanks for sharing, and please keep the experiences and info coming.
