RT-AC87U 5Ghz Network Gone for some clients... How?

[highseas]

My AC87U's 5Ghz network has disappeared for some of my connected devices. It worked fine for 5 months. Now, my Android phone, Android tablet and Surface Pro (Win 8.0) can see and connect to the 5Ghz network fine. But my Nest thermostat, Honeywell alarm panel, sony bluray players and 5 laptops/desktops running XP, Vista and 8.1 cannot see the 5Ghz network at all any more. If I try and connect manually by entering the SSID, it tells me the network already exists.

I have rebooted, reset, rolled back firmware version, installed latest firmware, changed SSID names, changed encryption, turned off encryption and made sure the "Hide SSID" was not on.

Any ideas why devices that had no problem with 5Ghz before, now can't see it? Or why some devices can? I'm getting ready to send it for service!

All devices connect fine to the 2.4Ghz network.

 

[RMerlin]

Try with both a low channel number (such as 36) and a high one (such as 161) to compare. Some devices don't work on the entire range of channels, based on the region for which they are designed.

 

[TonyH]

My AC87U's 5Ghz network has disappeared for some of my connected devices. It worked fine for 5 months. Now, my Android phone, Android tablet and Surface Pro (Win 8.0) can see and connect to the 5Ghz network fine. But my Nest thermostat, Honeywell alarm panel, sony bluray players and 5 laptops/desktops running XP, Vista and 8.1 cannot see the 5Ghz network at all any more. If I try and connect manually by entering the SSID, it tells me the network already exists.

I have rebooted, reset, rolled back firmware version, installed latest firmware, changed SSID names, changed encryption, turned off encryption and made sure the "Hide SSID" was not on.

Any ideas why devices that had no problem with 5Ghz before, now can't see it? Or why some devices can? I'm getting ready to send it for service!

All devices connect fine to the 2.4Ghz network.

The key word to keep in mind is "network already exists"

My AC87U's 5Ghz network has disappeared for some of my connected devices. It worked fine for 5 months. Now, my Android phone, Android tablet and Surface Pro (Win 8.0) can see and connect to the 5Ghz network fine. But my Nest thermostat, Honeywell alarm panel, sony bluray players and 5 laptops/desktops running XP, Vista and 8.1 cannot see the 5Ghz network at all any more. If I try and connect manually by entering the SSID, it tells me the network already exists.

I have rebooted, reset, rolled back firmware version, installed latest firmware, changed SSID names, changed encryption, turned off encryption and made sure the "Hide SSID" was not on.

Any ideas why devices that had no problem with 5Ghz before, now can't see it? Or why some devices can? I'm getting ready to send it for service!

All devices connect fine to the 2.4Ghz network.

I'd turn radio off on all devices in trouble, then try one device only at a time to see if any one of them works. At times one sick device can hose up the whole network.

 

[highseas]

The key word to keep in mind is "network already exists"


I'd turn radio off on all devices in trouble, then try one device only at a time to see if any one of them works. At times one sick device can hose up the whole network.

I'll give it a try tonight. Thanks...

 

[Haggster]

Set the DTIM interval from 3 to 1 and lower the standard value for the Beacon Interval to something really low like 37 (in case of other 5GHz APs that are nearby using prime numbers is best practice, as this reduces the probability that their beacons will be sent out at the same time).

Also keep tx power set to 100 and set the Network Key Rotation Interval to either zero or to its maximum value.

Make sure you don't use static DHCP assignments for your clients and lower the lease time to one hour maximum.

Finally, disable both beamforming options in case they are enabled and make sure that the router is getting some fresh air so it doesn't run too hot. If you're using the latest beta firmware or the latest Merlin firmware which both have the current update of the 5GHz driver but you're still having problems even though you followed all of the above, then things are not looking good for those devices.

Always use non-DFS channels.