RT88u some clients on 2.4 not connecting - SOLVED

[necostanzo]

I bought a like new RT88u to increase my network range to my detached garage, but I'm having issues on some clients connecting to this router.
#1. My Honeywell wifi thermostat won't connect to the router... (unable to get ip address)... To fix this issue, I enabled guest network and it connects fine without any security.
#2. I have a Netgear EX7000 in the detached garage. I have it setup correctly and it works, but when I try to connect any device to the extender it hangs at "obtaining ip address".

I've tried both the latest stock firmware and the latest merlin... Neither one works.

I've reset the router, unplugged it, started my settings from scratch, and even disabled the trendmicro AI... I'm not home right now, but was hopeful that I could get some direction to solve when I get home.

BTW, I use WPA2 aes security... Is there an exploit that was recently patched that involves using this security? Is there a time issue? I'm wondering why some of my wireless devices work, but others don't and why is the router not giving ip addresses to devices that connect via the extender...

I had been using a linksys EA9400 without any problems, but it just doesn't have the range... In fact, I don't get a 5g signal in my garage from the linksys but the RT88u is able to transmit a 5g signal...

Thank you for any assistance.

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[DonnyJohnny]

What firmware u using.
Remember having such problem with my old router not on Merlin.
Think use shorter password with only alphanumeric. No special character.
Protected Management Frames Should be disable.
Play around with the channel bandwidth 20/40... use 20mhz and use channel 1 or 6

Regarding the security, i assume you talking about KRACK which is patched in the new firmware 382 series. The security affect router being used as repeater and if the client side is not patch, it is still flawed. In your case, is the extender patched?

 

[necostanzo]

Yes... Password is 9 characters long (alpha & numbers only)

Amazon echo connects
WiFi thermostat no
Android phone - connects fine when direct to router, but won't connect if I try to connect to the extender (which worked perfectly fine with linksys router)


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[necostanzo]

Firmware was latest Asus then latest stable merlin... I didn't try any beta

I'm not home, so I can't check directly

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[DonnyJohnny]

IP conflict?
Try set static IP for the extender or let ac88u assign a static IP for it under LAN DHCP

 

[necostanzo]

Update: uploaded latest Merlin 382 beta, reset, rebooted, and manually reconfigured router.
On the EX7000 (Netgear AC1900 extender) rebooted, updated 1.0.58 firmware, manually reconfigured...
On the ASUS router I gave the EX7000 a static IP.
I also noticed on the Netgear support website they had a 1.0.60 hotfix firmware that I think I had applied previously. It mentioned something about a WPA2 security fix (I assume it was for the KRACK).
I also made sure the time on my ASUS router was correct. I think that the time was off previously.

So bottom line is that it's all working now, but I'm not sure if it was the beta firmware that fixed it or not using the Netgear hotfix update. Since it's working I don't feel like messing with it anymore.

PS: I tried to connect my Honeywell thermostat directly to the RT88u and it worked. I'm thinking that the beta firmware was the fix. I'm not sure what the problem was in the latest 380 build, but the 382 beta fixed all my 2.4ghz connection issues.

Cheers, Nick