RT-N66U Tx power..again

[LexB]

Hello All,

I am not really an rooter buff, just a casual user with a problem. With the stock Asus firmware I was unable to lower Tx power. I have changed to Merlin because I hoped that it'd be possible with that.

Reason I want to lower Tx power is not because I am afraid of EM radiation or anything. The reason is that I have several other access points around the house and need to control tx power in order to manage the overlap. With the standard setting my clients keep connected to the Asus when other (and faster) access points are closer. Lowering tx power is very helpful, and in fact necessary, to make sure that clients always connect to the closest access point.
Another reason is that I have found (with other access points) that lower power can make connections more stable and in some cases even faster. Don't ask me why.

I started with 380.65 which is the latest version of Merlin. Tx power adjustment does not seem to work.
I had read somewhere on the forum that version 376 works, and it does. I am currently on 376.49_2 and have set tx to 20%. Perfect. I may increase to perhaps 30% but certainly not more.
I have also tried 378.56_2. Does not work anymore.

I now have several questions and hope someone is able to answer them for me.

1) Why has this important setting been disabled? Is it possible that it can be re-enabled in future versions?

2) What is the newest version of the firmware that still has this feature enabled?

3) Is it still safe to use such an older version? Please note that I am an casual user and wouldn't have gone to Merlin for any features other than lowering the tx power. But I am concerned with possible security and stability issues.

regards,
Lex

 

[Zirescu]

1) Many threads on the forum about this - main reason is due to FCC changes that requires that the end user cannot override the radio power settings.
2) You could use John's fork of the firmware which uses an older version of the wireless driver and back ports security fixes. https://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-asuswrt-merlin-374-43-lts-releases-v23e1.18914/
3) There have been many security fixes since that firmware so suggest you use the latest or the fork.

Have you tried using the Roaming Assistant setting under the Wireless Professional settings?

 

[mstombs]

Merlin 380.62_1 for N66U has Tx power adjustment on the Wireless "Professional Tab", not sure if it works however I leave mine at max "Performance". I thought you could also use the Asus mobile app to change?

 

[LexB]

Thank guys for the answers. All firmware versions I tried have the power adjustment slider. In the newest version they don't seem to do anything anymore though. I do understand that we don't want to exceed FCC requirements, but I would assume the FCC only sets maximum permissible values. I don't see the problem with lowering the tx power.

Anyway, I tried Zirescu's suggestion and am now running a firmware called Merlin-fork 374.43_2-23E1j9527. I don't know what fork is, but infer that it is an older firmware version that was kept up to date with bug fixes and security updates? I this is correct it would be perfect for me.

The new fork firmware works well and I am able to change tx power. But now I have a new problem in that I can only select channels 36 -48. I was using channel 132 since the lower channels are already in use. Does anyone know why I suddenly have this restriction (and perhaps knows how to circumvent it?).

Thanks,
Lex

 

[joegreat]

Thank guys for the answers. All firmware versions I tried have the power adjustment slider. In the newest version they don't seem to do anything anymore though. I do understand that we don't want to exceed FCC requirements, but I would assume the FCC only sets maximum permissible values. I don't see the problem with lowering the tx power.

Yep, that's already a long story: The vendors are overdoing the FCC regulations and applying minimum settings to all regions - even if the region/country allows higher transmission power.

 

[john9527]

The new fork firmware works well and I am able to change tx power. But now I have a new problem in that I can only select channels 36 -48. I was using channel 132 since the lower channels are already in use. Does anyone know why I suddenly have this restriction (and perhaps knows how to circumvent it?).

The ability to use the higher channels wasn't part of the original firmware, but was backported for the N66.
login to the router and enter
nvram set wl_dfs_enable=1
nvram commit

then reboot the router and the upper channels should be available for you.

 

[LexB]

John, it a miracle. It worked! I now even have more channels than before! Thank you all so much for your help.

@john9527: Should do this after every update or will these settings stick?

 

[john9527]

Should do this after every update or will these settings stick?

It will stick until/if you do a factory reset....then you'll need to reset it.

EDIT: Just one thing to remember....this is a full DFS implementation. So it if detects radar conflicts they will be logged in the syslog and you may want to try a different channel.