RT-AC66 Guest Network Problem

[owlyn]

Currently using Merlin 380.65_2. I finally got around to setting up a guest networks for my Smart TV and Amazon Fire Stick. The idea is to prevent them from accessing the rest of my network. Anyway... I prefer to use 5G. However, since switching the Fire Stick to the guest 5G network, it will not stay connected on 5G on the guest network, yet it will stay connected on the regular 5g network. It stays connected on the 2.4G guest network no problem. The TV stays connected on the 5g guest network as well. The Fire Stick is plugged into the USB port on the back of the TV.

Any ideas? Is the TX power lower on guest networks?

 

[ColinTaylor]

I don't believe the power level is any different on guest networks. I've just checked my router and the detected power levels are identical.

You don't say what/how your Fire Stick is connected to. But 5GHz doesn't like going through solid objects at the best of times, placing it directly against the back of a TV/monitor containing lots of metal parts is always going to be a challenge.

If you're not already doing so, try using the separate mains power adapter for the Fire Stick instead of one built into a TV/monitor. I found that using the USB port on my TV caused my Fire Stick to be unstable.

 

[owlyn]

The Fire Stick connects directly to an HDMI port on my TV, and is powered by a separate power connection. I know that being behind the TV, etc. can cause a problem, but nothing so far explains why it does work on the regular 5g network, but not the guest 5g network.

 

[adampk17]

Do you have an HDMI extension? With that you could try repositioning the fire stick out from behind the TV. That may help.

 

[RMerlin]

Any ideas? Is the TX power lower on guest networks?

A guest network is just a virtual interface, it's not a separate wireless radio. Everything at the radio wave level is exactly the same as with the main wifi interface.

 

[owlyn]

Do you have an HDMI extension? With that you could try repositioning the fire stick out from behind the TV. That may help.

I don't have an HDMI extension, but keep in mind that it does work on the regular 5G network.

 

[owlyn]

A guest network is just a virtual interface, it's not a separate wireless radio. Everything at the radio wave level is exactly the same as with the main wifi interface.

That is what I thought, so what could cause it to work on the regular 5g network, but not the guest network?

 

[john9527]

That is what I thought, so what could cause it to work on the regular 5g network, but not the guest network?

Does the guest network SSID/key contain any special characters/spaces which can cause problems?

 

[owlyn]

Does the guest network SSID/key contain any special characters/spaces which can cause problems?

No, just upper/lower case and numbers. The Fire Stick starts to connect, but then says the signal is too weak and disconnects.

 

[owlyn]

I think I solved the problem. If I am correct, the problem is on the Fire Stick side. I had connected it to a guest network on another router I was testing, using the same SSID as is on my ASUS. That test router had better penetration on the 5g band than the asus (it has beam forming, though I don't know if that had any effect). When I switched the stick back to the ASUS router, the problem began. After doing a little Googling about the Fire Stick connection problems, I found that it doesn't forget networks*. Being that I used the same SSID on both routers, it thought it was the same network, and I am guessing that it stored some signal/signal level information from the test router, which the ASUS did not match. To test this, I created an additional 5g guest network with a different SSID, and it connected fine. So, you may ask, why did it work on the regular 5g connection? Because I never used the regular SSID on the router I was testing. Basically:

The stick was used on the regular SSID only on the ASUS router, never on the test router, so it worked when I switched back from the test router to the ASUS.
The stick was used on the test router, but only on the guest SSID. It worked on the test router.
I then created my first 5g guest network on the ASUS, using the same SSID as was on the test router. When I tried to switch the stick to this guest SSID on the ASUS router, it failed to connect.
I create a never-before used SSID for a guest network on the ASUS, and the stick connected.

* A new version of the Fire Stick firmware was delivered today, and it now has an option to forget networks. I do not plan on trying it, as what I have configured now works fine.