[Release] Asuswrt-Merlin 384.13 is now available

[LetMePutDa]

2.4Ghz is strong in all places in my house, even outside I can reach it, but I have high speed connection and I want to use 5Ghz when I am in range, but I don't want to think about like hmm am I on 2.4 or on 5Ghz now, and check it every time on phone, because it wont switch me automaticlly from 2.4 to 5Ghz when I'm in range, and vice versa but in that case when 5Ghz is not in range anymore it leaves wifi on phone just turned on and not connected to anything, and I have to connect it manually to 2.4.

There is a network setting, at least on android phones, where you can save your networks 2.4 and 5g and it should switch automatically when your in range.

 

[Grisu]

I have copied and pasted your directions for future reference. I overclock it daily (I set router scheduled reboot every morning). For the last 2 days testing with overclocking and active cooling seems to be working -- CPU running in the low to mid 60's C. Like you said maybe hold off setting it in the cfe until "long time testing" and satisfied its working satisfactorily. Thanks!

btw, should there be a space between "asuscfecommit=1" and "&&"?

Yes thanks, there should be a space, I edited previous posting. Or you can type every single command in one line without &&.

I know about that but I do it that way because I always do the firmware updates on stock clocks and by script method it's as easy as renaming the script and reboot.

No need to edit scripts all the time for firmware updates.
You can change it once in cfe and lower speeds in nvram for updates, cfe only gives the upper limit and it is loaded to NVRAM after factory reset.
So you can run slower all the time without reboot using 'nvram set clkfreq=800,666 && nvram commit' and change back with same command but higher values.

 

[Grisu]

Is there any way when you enable smart connect to pick manually channels and not to let router set it for you ? I find smart connect cool because when I go too far from router at home it automaticlly puts me on 2.4Ghz network, and when I get back to the range of 5Ghz it reconnect me to 5Ghz. I like that option but I don't like when router is picking channels on it's own, and he really picks the worst ones...

Still didn't find out why my phone is switching back to 2.4Ghz @ 144Mbps when smart connect is enabled. It connect at first to 5Ghz but when you put phone in sleep for like 10 minutes it switch back to 2.4Ghz @ 144Mbps.

Maybe with SmartConnect it uses only 20MHz bandwith and let free channels for others WiFi, thats why its not up to 300.
But whats the problem with it, there is really no need to have it faster outside!

 

[Thermaltake]

OK then, improve your 5GHz coverage and use your high speed connection all the time without the need to switch to 2.4GHz. High speed connection and switching to 2.4GHz band doesn't make sense.

I really don't want to buy repeater for it, it doesnt make sense for me. I am willing to use 2.4 when 5Ghz is not in range and that's okay to me, but I want it to switch automaticlly.

There is a network setting, at least on android phones, where you can save your networks 2.4 and 5g and it should switch automatically when your in range.

They are both saved, and it's switching from 5Ghz to 2.4, but when I get back to 5Ghz range I have to connect it manually.

 

[Asad Ali]

No need to edit scripts all the time for firmware updates.
You can change it once in cfe and lower speeds in nvram for updates, cfe only gives the upper limit and it is loaded to NVRAM after factory reset.
So you can run slower all the time without reboot using 'nvram set clkfreq=800,666 && nvram commit' and change back with same command but higher values.

It's just same thing, I'm holding one ear and you're also holding same ear from around the head. In the end it's just user's preference.

 

[Val D.]

I am willing to use 2.4 when 5Ghz is not in range and that's okay to me, but I want it to switch automaticlly.

This Smart Connect thingy never ever produced any smart results in my tests. I found it doesn't really work with dual-band routers. The only benefit is one single SSID, everything else is big drawbacks. It does dumb things switching AC 2x2 clients 10ft away from the router from 5GHz 866Mbps connection to 2.4GHz 72Mbps connection. It does dumb things selecting the most overcrowded WiFi channels and the total throughput of the network goes into the ditch. It does work OK only on tri-band routers moving clients from one 5GHz band to another 5GHz band.

 

[Thermaltake]

This Smart Connect thingy never ever produced any smart results in my tests. I found it doesn't really work with dual-band routers. The only benefit is one single SSID, everything else is big drawbacks. It does dumb things switching AC 2x2 clients 10ft away from the router from 5GHz 866Mbps connection to 2.4GHz 72Mbps connection. It does dumb things selecting the most overcrowded WiFi channels and the total throughput of the network goes into the ditch. It does work OK only on tri-band routers moving clients from one 5GHz band to another 5GHz band.

I can agree more with you.

 

[LetMePutDa]

They are both saved, and it's switching from 5Ghz to 2.4, but when I get back to 5Ghz range I have to connect it manually.[/QUOTE]

It also matters in what order they are saved. 5g should be the first and then 2.4 second. It matters for me and it always switches back to 5g for me. I also don't use smart connect on the router.

 

[Thermaltake]

It also matters in what order they are saved. 5g should be the first and then 2.4 second. It matters for me and it always switches back to 5g for me. I also don't use smart connect on the router.

5G is first and 2.4 is second, but when signal is good on 2.4 it wont switch to 5G on it's own.

 

[Val D.]

Smart Connect discussion is not really related with Asuswrt-Merlin. It works (or it doesn't) the same way in stock ASUS firmware. Separate thread for Smart Connect, perhaps?

 

[JoeHz]

Disable any fancy advanced feature that are unique to the Killer, they are often problematic regardless of the router used.

Well, yes, but its curious that the firmware change seems to have quite the correlation to issue with Killer. I'll try the driver only route.

 

[JoeHz]

Yes and I'd further point out to @JoeHz that on the Killer Networking support site you can download a "driver only package" which excludes all the silly extras that Killer Networking developed and which aren't necessary for the functioning of that WLAN card.

I'll be giving that a shot in a moment, but what I found troubling was that I could generate a hotspot from my 4G phone and the machine could connect to it but not the 86U with the recent firmware. That , and downgrading it would resolve the issue. I'm happy to do what it takes to rule this out, but the correlation is pretty darn stark.

 

[RMerlin]

384.13_1 was released for the RT-AC87U, fixing AP mode that was preventing the router from booting.

 

[AndreiV]

5G is first and 2.4 is second, but when signal is good on 2.4 it wont switch to 5G on it's own.

The 5GHz AC phones I have owned had a setting for WiFi " Prefer 5GHz " which makes the phone choose 5GHz when it is available.

 

[FJ40Dan]

Hi -

I have updated to 138.13 but when it reboots it is still at 384.9

What might I have done wrong?

Thanks! Dan

 

[jass]

Hi -

I have updated to 138.13 but when it reboots it is still at 384.9

What might I have done wrong?

Thanks! Dan

I assume you have updated to 384.13...
from which earlier version. If running Windows, have you tried ctrl + f5?

 

[JoeHz]

Okay, it was suspicious but not damning. Back on latest firmware and the machine no longer has the Killer Control Panel, et al, and now can connect. It was fine for a while before too, so I'll chime in if it loses its little silicon mind again.

 

[Mutzli]

Hi -

I have updated to 138.13 but when it reboots it is still at 384.9

What might I have done wrong?

Thanks! Dan

This happens often with the RT-AC87U, even more so when you have any USB ports occupied with a drive or 4G modem. Unplug all USB devices, reboot the router, wait about 3-5 min, check if you have at least 75MB free before trying to flash a new firmware. Sometimes I had to use an Ethernet connection, it didn't work over WiFi.

 

[maxl96]

@RMerlin
Should I update to .13_1 even if I don't use AP mode or can I stay on .13 without running into issues?

 

[Asad Ali]

@RMerlin
Should I update to .13_1 even if I don't use AP mode or can I stay on .13 without running into issues?

If you're using Asus RT-AC87U then you should update even if you don't use AP mode because otherwise the firmware update notification will keep flashing.