RT-AC68U Terrible Wireless Signal

[martinr]

Then all I can suggest is that you try the Nuclear Reset

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/major-issues-w-rt-ac86u.56342/page-4#post-495710

and if that doesn’t help, go back to Asus stock firmware and see if that still works. If the manual and minimal reset did not fix it, then something more serious may be the cause; the Nuclear Reset should help determine if that is the case.

 

[FTC]

I hope yours is not the same case, but what you describe is exactly what happened to the primary radios (5-1 and 2.4Ghz) on my RT-AC3200 all of a sudden and maybe related to a thunderstorm that happened more or less at the same time. I tried to recover it through various firmwares, resets, power supply changes and finally declared it dead. I still have it but there is no way to get a wifi signal on that radios with a decent power level... That router had served me well for over 4 years, so I took the plunge and bought my current rt-ax88u.

 

[AndreiV]

could it be that your isp is just having wirless problems

or your isp is having problems with is wifi signal

Is it magic mushroom season again ?

 

[martinr]

I hope yours is not the same case, but what you describe is exactly what happened to the primary radios (5-1 and 2.4Ghz) on my RT-AC3200 all of a sudden and maybe related to a thunderstorm that happened more or less at the same time. I tried to recover it through various firmwares, resets, power supply changes and finally declared it dead. I still have it but there is no way to get a wifi signal on that radios with a decent power level... That router had served me well for over 4 years, so I took the plunge and bought my current rt-ax88u.

And how is it; are you pleased or do you wish you had the old workhorse back?

 

[Sanna1967]

or your isp is having problems with is wifi signal

We talking about Wifi Strenght issue on an Asus router,its not an ISP problems

 

[FTC]

And how is it; are you pleased or do you wish you had the old workhorse back?

Quite happy.. you can read a bit about my experience in https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-rt-ax88u-experiences-discussion.49427/page-19#post-491987

At this time I am already running Merlin 384.12 and @Merlin got fixed two of the found nits : The ntp sync startup delay and a memory leak that happened only with european models. Still very stable.

 

[martinr]

Quite happy.. you can read a bit about my experience in https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-rt-ax88u-experiences-discussion.49427/page-19#post-491987

At this time I am already running Merlin 384.12 and @Merlin got fixed two of the found nits : The ntp sync startup delay and a memory leak that happened only with european models. Still very stable.

Thank you; very interesting. And I’m guessing that, because you didn’t post an update after a couple of weeks, there was nothing to add - no change. Makes me realise I should dip into the other forums now and again!

 

[bbunge]

Do you have different SSID's for 2.4 and 5 GHZ bands? If not, you should. Set the 2.4 GHZ for channel 1, 6 or 11 and the 5 GHZ on a fixed channel of your choice.

Sent from my SM-T380 using Tapatalk

 

[lazyme]

Got this problem too. Router was working great for few years, last running on Merin 384.13. At one day Wifi power simply disappeared, even close to the router signal is low and unstable.
LAN interface is working just fast as usually

 

[miroco]

Did you check the frequency spectrum? This might sound obvious, but since WiFi is based on wireless technology, walls and windows are more or less transparent for that technology and therefore suceptibale to others operating on those same frequencies. Maybe you got a new neighbor with the latest and greatest WiFi-router, or a router with illegal power output, illegal frequencies or a misbehaving microwave oven...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2.4_GHz_radio_use

 

[lazyme]

Did you check the frequency spectrum? This might sound obvious, but since WiFi is based on wireless technology, walls and windows are more or less transparent for that technology and therefore suceptibale to others operating on those same frequencies. Maybe you got a new neighbor with the latest and greatest WiFi-router, or a router with illegal power output, illegal frequencies or a misbehaving microwave oven...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2.4_GHz_radio_use

well, I did. and the problem is reproduced on both interfaces and in 2 different locations. Different resets didn't help. Looks like Wifi module died?

 

[lazyme]

Got this problem too. Router was working great for few years, last running on Merin 384.13. At one day Wifi power simply disappeared, even close to the router signal is low and unstable.
LAN interface is working just fast as usually

After a problem was investigated by an engineer the source of the problem identified as one of the 5GHz amplifiers , SKYWORKS PSE5003L1-NP, which is dead. Repair is quite costly and does not make much sense.

 

[route]

After a problem was investigated by an engineer the source of the problem identified as one of the 5GHz amplifiers , SKYWORKS PSE5003L1-NP, which is dead. Repair is quite costly and does not make much sense.

If you turn the 5Ghz radio off, does the 2.4Ghz radio work correctly?

 

[Smokindog]

Just for grins, have you tried a different power supply? It sometimes helps. Over the years these kind of issues have come up with inexpensive consumer equipment. Also, if possible, use a replacement supply with a slightly higher amperage (not voltage). This along with complete factory reset is usually one of my first and last things to check/try before declaring defeat

 

[lazyme]

If you turn the 5Ghz radio off, does the 2.4Ghz radio work correctly?

unfortunately not. The solution was to remove some element from the motherboard, leaving broken chip without power. This restored power for other chips, making router working as good as before on 2.4GHz, and hardly noticeable little worse on 5GHz.

 

[lazyme]

Just for grins, have you tried a different power supply? It sometimes helps. Over the years these kind of issues have come up with inexpensive consumer equipment. Also, if possible, use a replacement supply with a slightly higher amperage (not voltage). This along with complete factory reset is usually one of my first and last things to check/try before declaring defeat

Well, the problem was confirmed by a thermal sensor. The broken chip had a temperature much higher than the rest of the board.

 

[Smokindog]

Well, the problem was confirmed by a thermal sensor. The broken chip had a temperature much higher than the rest of the board.

And I'm not saying the power wart is the issue but if it's bad and putting out low voltage that could also cause over heating of some components. If it's putting out low amperage it could cause issues. Those power warts are failure prone. It's just an easy and inexpensive thing to try. I keep all my old power bricks through the years and I can always find one or more "in the box" to try.

Have you at least tried?

 

[lazyme]

And I'm not saying the power wart is the issue but if it's bad and putting out low voltage that could also cause over heating of some components. If it's putting out low amperage it could cause issues. Those power warts are failure prone. It's just an easy and inexpensive thing to try. I keep all my old power bricks through the years and I can always find one or more "in the box" to try.

Have you at least tried?

I did it first, used power supply from other router - obviously without any luck... My friend engineer also first checked voltage on the board in different places, to make sure it is not power schemes failed...

 

[dip13]

bump...
ran into this discussion as I'm having the same issue. Installed latest Merlin on my AC68U and was able to pair AIMesh while next to my router. When I unplugged to move it upstairs, I could not get a signal. I did the entire reset and only able to log into Admin GUI if I was 1 foot next to the router.
Did I blow my wifi motherboard as well? Bricked it?