RT-N66U totally ignoring wireless setting why?

[mightyoakbob]

Hi,

I had this proble with .260 firmware that came with the router and now its exactly the same on the latest Merlin beta. I have the 2.4GHz network set to 40 MHz on channel 11. This will work for a time and then it will decide it doesn't want to do that anymore and goes to channel 1 20MHz.

I check the setting and they still say channel 11 40MHz but in reality it's not. I'm beginning to consider going back to the WRT54GL as the Asus cannot sustain anything any better for even a day.

Can someone please tell me why it is ignoring the settings can anything be done about this or is it a bin job, the thing is driving me to drink.

Thanks

Bob.

 

[RMerlin]

Hi,

I had this proble with .260 firmware that came with the router and now its exactly the same on the latest Merlin beta. I have the 2.4GHz network set to 40 MHz on channel 11. This will work for a time and then it will decide it doesn't want to do that anymore and goes to channel 1 20MHz.

I check the setting and they still say channel 11 40MHz but in reality it's not. I'm beginning to consider going back to the WRT54GL as the Asus cannot sustain anything any better for even a day.

Can someone please tell me why it is ignoring the settings can anything be done about this or is it a bin job, the thing is driving me to drink.

Thanks

Bob.

Could simply be interference causing the router to downgrade. 40 MHz requires multiple channels, and is very susceptible to interference. In general it's not recommended/reliable enough on the 2.4 GHz band unless you have no other source of interference (from either neighbors or your own house).

 

[mikeg]

I recommend you to install insSSIDer on one of your pc:s and see what channels are occupied around your place.

Hi,

I had this proble with .260 firmware that came with the router and now its exactly the same on the latest Merlin beta. I have the 2.4GHz network set to 40 MHz on channel 11. This will work for a time and then it will decide it doesn't want to do that anymore and goes to channel 1 20MHz.

I check the setting and they still say channel 11 40MHz but in reality it's not. I'm beginning to consider going back to the WRT54GL as the Asus cannot sustain anything any better for even a day.

Can someone please tell me why it is ignoring the settings can anything be done about this or is it a bin job, the thing is driving me to drink.

Thanks

Bob.

 

[mightyoakbob]

Could simply be interference causing the router to downgrade. 40 MHz requires multiple channels, and is very susceptible to interference. In general it's not recommended/reliable enough on the 2.4 GHz band unless you have no other source of interference (from either neighbors or your own house).

So if the channels are used by others, all be it at a much reduced signal level, the Asus will take it upon itself and completely ignore me?

Is there no way to tell the Asus to ignore the other signals?

Thanks

Bob.

 

[crazyea]

Happens to me too. I set channel 11 because its almost empty. Then my router sits on channel 1. So I chnaged it to channel 6, and then back to 11 and now it stays on 11.

 

[mightyoakbob]

I recommend you to install insSSIDer on one of your pc:s and see what channels are occupied around your place.

I have done, that is the only way I know what the Asus is actually sending out. I do think it should tell you somewhere if it does this and why.

In my small-ish but never the less detached house there are multiple wi-fi signals on all 1,6 and 11 and a different set on the front to the back of the house. Unless you live in the country there is no way to find a clear channel anywhere. They are though, 30 dB below mine.

Of all the wireless kit we have, only 1 item supports 5GHz. I was disappointed to find that two newish laptops didn't do 5GHz and my wife's Kindle keyboard can't even do wireless n so I even have to settle for compatibility mode on 2.4GHz.

I do now wonder why I bothered, in reality there is little if any improvementl over a WRT54GL. I've learnt a lot but it's very disappointing indeed.

Thanks

Bob.

 

[RMerlin]

So if the channels are used by others, all be it at a much reduced signal level, the Asus will take it upon itself and completely ignore me?

Is there no way to tell the Asus to ignore the other signals?

Thanks

Bob.

There are some regulations to follow. Some of them are part of the 802.11n standards, and are integrated into the driver (developped by Broadcom). For official certification, they can't just ignore it. Now at which level does the driver decides there's too much interference, I have no clue.

One thing you can try to change is the Interference Management option, on the Wireless -> Professional page. It will determine at least in part how the driver should handle itself in case of interference. Note that this option isn't present in all FW versions.

Also don't forget it goes both ways: if you interfere with another router, then the owner of that other router will also be affected. Wireless relies a fair bit on "good neighborhood" as people have to share a somewhat limit radio spectrum.

The sad fact is, the 2.4 GHz band was never intended for 40 MHz channels. There's barely enough room for three non-overlapping channels total. It was hacked on top of 802.11n as a temporary measure to allow an increased throughput while retaining legacy compatibility with other 2.4 GHz-based routers. 5 GHz is the future.

 

[RMerlin]

I do now wonder why I bothered, in reality there is little if any improvementl over a WRT54GL. I've learnt a lot but it's very disappointing indeed.

Thanks

Bob.

802.11n at 20 MHz is already faster than 802.11g. And that's not mentionning the RT-N66U's range is much better overall. Faster CPU and more RAM also means it will better handle multiple concurrent connections (if you do Bittorrent, for example).

For your laptops, consider the possibility of upgrading their wireless cards. Some laptops are easy to upgrade - I upgraded my Asus K53E with an Intel Centrino 6230 mini-PCIe card. For 23$ it increased performance to 300 Mbits, and also added 5 GHz support (as well as Bluetooth). You just need to ensure your laptop would accept such a card.

 

[mightyoakbob]

802.11n at 20 MHz is already faster than 802.11g.

Yes, that is true.

And that's not mentionning the RT-N66U's range is much better overall.

Not seen anything in practise to back that up. I'm unable to stream from BBC iPlayer with anything like the stability I could with my WRT54GL. Two minutes on SD video at most before buffering and then the stream collapses. This with the laptop only about 3M from the router.

Faster CPU and more RAM also means it will better handle multiple concurrent connections (if you do Bittorrent, for example).

OK, That's probably true but no-one in the house has seen any advantage yet.

For your laptops, consider the possibility of upgrading their wireless cards. Some laptops are easy to upgrade - I upgraded my Asus K53E with an Intel Centrino 6230 mini-PCIe card. For 23$ it increased performance to 300 Mbits, and also added 5 GHz support (as well as Bluetooth). You just need to ensure your laptop would accept such a card.

Is this something plugged into the side of a laptop or is it a replaced card inside?

Just had a look at the 5GHz output using the Sony laptop that does 5GHz. There is no other networks there but mine appears highly unstable. It's set to 40MHz wide but keeps switching between 20 and 40 every 10 seconds or so. Surely this is not normal?

I have also upgraded the Intel drivers for the wireless on the laptop but it made no difference.

Thanks.

Bob.

 

[RogerSC]

Not seen anything in practise to back that up. I'm unable to stream from BBC iPlayer with anything like the stability I could with my WRT54GL. Two minutes on SD video at most before buffering and then the stream collapses. This with the laptop only about 3M from the router.

Thanks.

Bob.

I'm able to stream via wireless on 2.4 or 5GHz. from my computer to my living room. Don't know what bandwidth that BBC iPlayer requires, but streaming works with my Roku and Netflix at about 30-40 feet. Sounds like you may have some configuration work to do, playing with settings and the antennas as well.

On the other hand, your router may be broken, that's always a possibility for the conditions that you describe.

Do you know what bandwidth that the iPlayer requires?

By the way, I have a WRT54GS that has been reliable, but retired to backup because the wireless-n routers are a lot faster, and have better range when configured and working properly. Especially the rt-n66u, which has the best range and speed of any router I've had.

Thanks.

 

[RMerlin]

Is this something plugged into the side of a laptop or is it a replaced card inside?

Just had a look at the 5GHz output using the Sony laptop that does 5GHz. There is no other networks there but mine appears highly unstable. It's set to 40MHz wide but keeps switching between 20 and 40 every 10 seconds or so. Surely this is not normal?

The Intel Centrino 6230 is an internal card, so it's more convenient than using an USB adapter. However some laptop manufacturers will use a whitelist stored in the BIOS to limit the model of cards you are allowed to use internally, so you have to do some prior research before going ahead with an internal upgrade.

On the 5 GHz band it shouldn't switch constantly, especially if nothing else uses that band locally. I have my RT-AC66U 5 GHz set to 80 MHz (but only have 40 MHz 802.11n interface in my laptop) and it's very stable. So it's possible that you might simply have a defective unit. I would try getting it replaced under warranty if possible.

 

[mightyoakbob]

On the 5 GHz band it shouldn't switch constantly, especially if nothing else uses that band locally. I have my RT-AC66U 5 GHz set to 80 MHz (but only have 40 MHz 802.11n interface in my laptop) and it's very stable. So it's possible that you might simply have a defective unit. I would try getting it replaced under warranty if possible.

I think you may be correct, thanks. Got a new router from Amazon which doesn't have this problem and the 5GHz is stable and 40MHz wide.

It does have a problem with throughput though and on a 5GHz 450Mb/s connection manages no more than 3MB/s. Any ideas why it's so poor?

 

[mightyoakbob]

I think you may be correct, thanks. Got a new router from Amazon which doesn't have this problem and the 5GHz is stable and 40MHz wide.

It does have a problem with throughput though and on a 5GHz 450Mb/s connection manages no more than 3MB/s. Any ideas why it's so poor?

Oh dear.

Less than 24 hours with the replacement router and it has developed the same problem the previous one had. Although I did set my wife's Sony laptop to connect on 5GHz and it worked with the albeit awful 3MBs throughput until we tried it today. The laptop wouldn't connect and the 5GHz network had gone. I looked on the iPad and it had gone from there too.

Running insssider on the Sony saw the same 40 then 20 then fade to nothing then back at 40MHz bandwidth we had with the first router. I did take a look at the temperatures and found the 2.4 to be 53c and the 5.0 to be 51c.

Another odd thing is that although I has set hide ssid on both networks, it only worked properly on the 2.4, on the 5 it was on then off then on then off ......

I am starting to wish I had never got purchased this router, it's given hours of frustration and problems and unreliabilty and not much else I regret to say.

Cheers,

Bob.

 

[RMerlin]

You didn't mention which exact FW version you are using, but I would recommend using either Asus's 220, or Asuswrt-Merlin 270.26b. 354.27 is a beta version (give it a try still, it might actually work out better for you), and Asus's 260 had a wireless driver that was reported to be problematic for some people.

 

[Metalmyth]

I wish people would give a real answer to this instead of skirting the issue as being done in this thread.

Yes the 802.11 N introduced a standard called "The Good Neighbor WiFi Policy"
which has a very convoluted explanation but boils down to this...if there are neighboring WiFi networks operating 2.4 in the 20 MHz range and you are in the
40 Mhz range the router will kick down to 20 so you don't step all over their signal. In the process this breaks channel bonding and the benefit of the doubled speed gets kicked to the curb, all in the name of being a "Good WiFi Neighbor"

Some of us don't care and just want a router that does what we tell it to do..and all the Dudley Do Rights get on their high horse and lecture about respecting others blah blah

The only reason I bought the RT-N66u was that it ignores this standard:

NOTE: This router has a 2.4 GHz 40 MHz only mode. This is in violation of the 802.11-2012 spec. When set to this mode, the router did not fall back for either test.

For those that are interested this testing and the above quote is right from this site:

http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-features/31744-bye-bye-40-mhz-mode-in-24-ghz-part-2

It should be noted that this was with Firmware 3.0.0.3.112 so downgrading the router to this version will allow 40Mhz in the 2.4. What I and many others would like to know is exactly what version of the Firmware/wireless drivers did this stop being possible?

RMerlin can you give any input on when this changed? Your firmware is a popular alternative so if we know when the change was implemented we all would have a good idea as to how far we can upgrade.

Sorry for the attitude but why can't people just answer the question and keep their opinions/values in check

~MetalMyth~

 

[mightyoakbob]

You didn't mention which exact FW version you are using, but I would recommend using either Asus's 220, or Asuswrt-Merlin 270.26b. 354.27 is a beta version (give it a try still, it might actually work out better for you), and Asus's 260 had a wireless driver that was reported to be problematic for some people.

Thanks for the advice. I am using 354.27 and I have managed to get the 5GHz to come back on. How? Switch off hide ssid on 5GHz. Haven't tried the speed yet though. There does seem to be an issue with hide ssid on the 5G but, it can 24 hours to show up.

I have also noticed that many small changes to wireless config need a reboot or I get very odd things happening.

Bob.

 

[RMerlin]

RMerlin can you give any input on when this changed? Your firmware is a popular alternative so if we know when the change was implemented we all would have a good idea as to how far we can upgrade.

I have no idea. The driver is closed-source. That's why nobody can tell anything for sure - none of us has access to the driver code, or has any idea what and when Asus is making any changes to it.