RT-N66U firmware 3.0.0.4.374_979 and iPhone 5 5GHz problems

[pdp1]

With firmware 3.0.0.4.374_979, the 5GHz band is EXTREMELY spotty with my iPhone 5. It shows up in the wireless survey in the iPhone 5 settings, but when I try to connect, about 98% of the time the iPhone gives a message saying it cannot join the network. And the few times it does join successfully, it works for a minute or less and then disconnects again. I tried with my wife's iPhone 5 as well, same thing, so I don't think it's an iPhone 5 problem specific to my phone.

I reverted back to 3.0.0.4.374_720 and everything is good with the iPhone 5 on the 5GHz band.

Has anyone else experienced this? Or is my RT-N66U defective?

BTW, 2.4GHz has no issues with my iPhone 5, on either firmware. And FYI, I have different SSIDs for each band and hiding or broadcasting the SSID doesn't make a difference.

 

[jlake]

The link below provides universal trouble shooting steps.

Hiding your SSIDS is generally a bad idea. I don't have iPhone 5 but I have ipad mini that I think uses same Broadcom BCM4334 chipset. I never experienced any problem like you on .979.

In theory, you shouldn't have to clear nvram when going from .726 to .979, but I did and didn't have problems. For 5 ghz, I just leave the wireless settings alone (default). I use WPA2 personal security.

.276 is the best stock ASUS firmware for wireless. But I think it's not recommended to use .276 if you use Aicloud.

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=12453

 

[pdp1]

The link below provides universal trouble shooting steps.

Hiding your SSIDS is generally a bad idea. I don't have iPhone 5 but I have ipad mini that I think uses same Broadcom BCM4334 chipset. I never experienced any problem like you on .979.

In theory, you shouldn't have to clear nvram when going from .726 to .979, but I did and didn't have problems. For 5 ghz, I just leave the wireless settings alone (default). I use WPA2 personal security.

.276 is the best stock ASUS firmware for wireless. But I think it's not recommended to use .276 if you use Aicloud.

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=12453

Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it. I tried with and without hiding my SSID and it didn't make a difference on .979. I also tried most of the items in the troubleshooting list and no luck either. That is when I decided to downgrade to .720, which like I said seemed to fix the problem... BUT, this morning even on .720, my iPhone 5 started having problems with 5GHz again. It still is much better than .979 in that the iPhone can easily see the SSID broadcasted, but when I go in and out of range of 5GHz, the iPhone 5 will not reconnect automatically... I either have to 1) turn on and off wifi on the iPhone and pick the 5GHz SSID manually or 2) reboot the router. Even if the iPhone reconnects to the 2.4GHz automatically after coming back in range, manually connecting to the 5GHz won't work unless I do one of the above two items. I also tried clearing the NVRAM multiple times and even Resetting the Network settings on my iPhone (and iPad 3)

Something seems pretty amiss with 5GHz on my router. Might be time for an RMA unless there are any other ideas?

 

[jlake]

What happens when you use .276 firmware? Be sure to restore factory defaults after flashing and configure manually from scratch.

 

[pdp1]

What happens when you use .276 firmware? Be sure to restore factory defaults after flashing and configure manually from scratch.

I haven't tried .276 yet, I'll give it a spin tonight. And I clear NVRAM before and after flashing firmware, just in case!

 

[jlake]

There's no need to clear nvram before flashing. Just after.

Make sure you don't attempt to hide SSIDs.

The wireless driver found in both 726 and 929 was never intended to be used with the rt-n66u. And it's not completely stabile. Hopefully ASUS/broadcom is working around the clock on a new SDK for the RT-n66u. (Fat chance).

 

[pdp1]

There's no need to clear nvram before flashing. Just after.

Make sure you don't attempt to hide SSIDs.

The wireless driver found in both 726 and 929 was never intended to be used with the rt-n66u. And it's not completely stabile. Hopefully ASUS/broadcom is working around the clock on a new SDK for the RT-n66u. (Fat chance).

You mention .726, did you mean .720? Because that is the one I'm currently using. Also, I actually have the rt-n66w, the white one... the label on the box stated HW version B1, so I'm assuming all the n66u firmware's will work fine on it. Just thought I'd bring that up to cover all bases.

Thanks again!

 

[jlake]

Yes I meant .720. Sorry for confusion.

Yes N66u firmware on asus website works with n66w.

 

[pdp1]

Tried .276 last night at it seems similar to .720. When I go out of range when using 5GHz, it takes an abnormally long time to reconnect to the router after I come back in range. At least it does do it automatically now, but it still not ideal. I can live with how it works, but I just can't shake the feeling that something might be wrong with my router. Not sure if RMAing is an option since everything does technically work with .276. Only with .979 does 5GHz not work at all (or barely work).

 

[wouterv]

I doubt if it is wise to setup mobile devices with a 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz connection to the same router. The range of 5GHz is by nature much less than 2.4 GHz. Where 2.4 GHz can easily "penetrate" a few concrete walls or floors and reach every corner of an average house, 5 GHz does NOT. 5 GHz is in general suitable to cover one space (which is where the router is located), one room, without passing any concrete walls or floors.
With a mobile device you easily walk out of the 5 GHz coverage, the process to determine to fall back to 2.4 GHz or visa versa takes time.
For the laptop here setup for both frequencies I see that when ever it falls back to 2.4 GHz, it stays at 2.4 GHz untill I manually force it back to 5 GHz.
I suggest to use 5 GHz only for fixed devices or those that never go out of range and 2.4 GHz for mobile devices and those further away from the router.

 

[pdp1]

I doubt if it is wise to setup mobile devices with a 5 GHz and 2.4 GHz connection to the same router. The range of 5GHz is by nature much less than 2.4 GHz. Where 2.4 GHz can easily "penetrate" a few concrete walls or floors and reach every corner of an average house, 5 GHz does NOT. 5 GHz is in general suitable to cover one space (which is where the router is located), one room, without passing any concrete walls or floors.
With a mobile device you easily walk out of the 5 GHz coverage, the process to determine to fall back to 2.4 GHz or visa versa takes time.
For the laptop here setup for both frequencies I see that when ever it falls back to 2.4 GHz, it stays at 2.4 GHz untill I manually force it back to 5 GHz.
I suggest to use 5 GHz only for fixed devices or those that never go out of range and 2.4 GHz for mobile devices and those further away from the router.

I tried that too, only use the 5ghz band for my iphone. Like I said, with 979, the iphone rarely even can discover the 5ghz SSID and when it does, it won't connect. And with 720 and 276, when the phone goes out of range and comes back in range, the SSID is again no longer discoverable or joinable, unless I wait a abnormally long period of time or I turn off and on the wifi radio in the iphone. I'm going to RMA the router.

 

[kaiguy]

Sorry if I missed it, but is there a reason you don't want to use Merlin's firmware (Asuswrt-Merlin)? Here is the latest firmware as of the writing of this post.

He has been updating stock Asus firmware with certain fixes, and also has a build for the n66 that uses the old wireless driver (SDK5). Running the SDK5 version has solved my 5 GHz problems with Apple products (specifically my MBP).

I haven't used the stock Asus firmware at all since the first day owning my N66U...

Edit: Need to note that if you do end up going to this version you will need to reinput all of your settings manually, as well as recreating the wireless profile for your wifi network in your phone and other devices.

 

[pdp1]

Sorry if I missed it, but is there a reason you don't want to use Merlin's firmware (Asuswrt-Merlin)? Here is the latest firmware as of the writing of this post.

He has been updating stock Asus firmware with certain fixes, and also has a build for the n66 that uses the old wireless driver (SDK5). Running the SDK5 version has solved my 5 GHz problems with Apple products (specifically my MBP).

I haven't used the stock Asus firmware at all since the first day owning my N66U...

No, I'm not adverse to running 3rd party firmware. In fact, I tried DD-WRT on it, but soon realized the 5GHz throughput maxed out around 48Mbps on my iPhone for some reason. Maybe that also has to do with the problems I'm having?

But in all honesty, the ASUS stock firmware has most of the features I need so I decided to just revert back to it. Maybe I'll try out Merlins tonight, I haven't sent it back in for RMA yet.

However, considering I can rarely even discover the 5GHz band (with latest stock FW) using my iPhone 5 and even more rarely connect to it successfully, makes me think it's more than just a firmware problem.

EDIT: when you say "recreate the wireless profile in your phone" on iOS devices, do you mean "Forget this Network" and then reconnect to it?