Unable to 5GHz network

[tokyo_networking]

I am running an ASUS RT-AC66U with firmware 3.0.0.4.374.35_4 and are unable to connect (see) the 5GHz network with my Dell Latitude E6430 with a Dell Wireless 1540 (Broadcom BCM943228HM4L) card running Windows 7. My Thinkpad running Intel wireless and my iOS devices dont have a problem seeing and connecting to the RT-AC66AU.

I have also tried this with an external IO-Data WN-AC433U (Ralink MT7650 based) with similar results.

Here are my observations:

• I am running the latest Broadcom driver I could find: 5.100.82.139
• Using inSSIDer 4, I can see appear and disappear the 5GHz network within a second when disabling and enabling the device.
• After it disappears, it never appears again. During the short period, the singal strength shows as -57dB.
• A clean install of Windows 7 did not make a difference.

After about to give up, I changed the Control Channel on the router from Auto (inSSIDer indicated channel 155 being used) to 48 and I was able to see the 5GHz network !

The ASUS only shows channels 36, 40, 44, 48, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165 (is this changeable?) and only the lower channels seem to work on the Dell.

Anyone knows what is going on?

 

[L&LD]

Yes, it seems this is normal depending on the specific geographic location the devices (clients and router) were bought.

 

[icece]

Wireless drivers are always behind local regulation, sometimes years, or wireless driver assume wrong regulation domain. You can adjust the regulation domain of your Asus router and your wireless driver. Documentation might available via search and Google search.

 

[Redyak]

Yes, it seems this is normal depending on the specific geographic location the devices (clients and router) were bought.

Iám living in the netherlands and only have 36,40,44,48 in the asus.
The wirelessroutermodem from my ISP is a cisco and has also 100, 104 108 112.

 

[tokyo_networking]

Yes, it seems this is normal depending on the specific geographic location the devices (clients and router) were bought.

That raises a number of questions.

(1) The channels shown to be supported by the ASUS are the channels for the US regulatory domain. Is this defined in the firmware or hardware?

(2) The ASUS supposedly does not broadcast a 802.11d beacon by default. If we assume the Broadcom driver is using a different regulatory domain and blocking channel 155, where is it getting that information?

(3) Why would the Lenovo Thinkpad with an Intel Wireless card and iOS devices accept channel 155, while the Dell does not? Maybe (2) answers (3) as well.

 

[tomdjpn]

That raises a number of questions.

(1) The channels shown to be supported by the ASUS are the channels for the US regulatory domain. Is this defined in the firmware or hardware?

(2) The ASUS supposedly does not broadcast a 802.11d beacon by default. If we assume the Broadcom driver is using a different regulatory domain and blocking channel 155, where is it getting that information?

(3) Why would the Lenovo Thinkpad with an Intel Wireless card and iOS devices accept channel 155, while the Dell does not? Maybe (2) answers (3) as well.

Hi there
Assuming you are in Japan (based on your name), you should preferably set your ASUS for JP or EU regulatory domain. (EU might be safer, since JP have been really slow to officially approve 80MHz channels, and I'm not sure how it's defined in the ASUS). By selecting EU rather than US, you will prevent your ASUS from using the high channels (149-165) which are only allowed in the US. Of course, this only matter in Auto channel select mode.
To do this, you need to do this on the ASUS from terminal:
nvram set pci/1/1/ccode=EU
nvram set pci/2/1/ccode=EU
nvram set wl0_country_code=EU
nvram set wl1_country_code=EU
nvram set regulation_domain=EU
nvram set regulation_domain_5G=EU
nvram commit
... then reboot.

On your other point, many devices are hardcoded with region and this can't (easily) be changed - they may or may not obey a 11d beacon if they get it. So for example if you purchased your Dell in Japan or Europe, it's likely set in the firmware/driver to JP/EU region already so won't listen on the high channels.

Finally, the reason you don't see some of the channels available to be manually set on the ASUS (even in US regulatory domain) is that they are DFS channels, which only auto mode can use (since first it must sense if any radars etc are using the same channel).

 

[tokyo_networking]

Thanks for the information. I will try this out. I do have a few follow up questions.

On your other point, many devices are hardcoded with region and this can't (easily) be changed - they may or may not obey a 11d beacon if they get it. So for example if you purchased your Dell in Japan or Europe, it's likely set in the firmware/driver to JP/EU region already so won't listen on the high channels.

I tried both a Dell driver from the Dell US website and a Broadcom driver with the same results. I am also confused why a Japanese Lenevo and SoftBank iPhone just work fine.

I am not familiar with 802.11d, but does it take the information from the access point the client is associated with, or could other access points broadcasting 802.11d with JP region setting impact/confuse the client? Would turning on 802.11d on the ASUS be another option?

 

[tomdjpn]

Hi
For client devices, normally the region is not in the downloadable driver, but rather is within the part of the firmware that is flashed to the chipset. So you don't just change region by changing the driver language.

In 5 GHz band, only passive scanning is allowed (no active scanning) - due to varying DFS rules in each country. The compulsion is on the AP to only transmit beacons on channels suitable for that region. The STA just listens, and if it hears the beacons it's allowed to respond. Any device that can become an AP (even a soft AP) on 5 GHz must respect the region. For other devices, it just depends on their implementation.

In your case, the correct thing to do is to either change your AP region to EU or JP, or to manually fix its channel to one of the allowed channels.
In Japan the high channels are used for other mobile/wireless systems, so if you try to use them you may create interference (which is illegal) or suffer it.
It's not like there's a shortage of other channels you can use. If you're worried that neighbours may use primary channel 36 too, then set the region to EU/JP and configure Auto channel - then your AP should use DFS channels if it senses they are better.

By the way, 11d only corresponds to 2.4 GHz band.

 

[Maghook]

According to german c't magazine Asus hasn't implemented DFS up to now in their wrt firmware. Asus promised that they will implement DFS via firmware upgrade at least for the RT-AC68u, but that that's not the case up to now.
So maybe they'll do, maybe they don't. Thus the limitation in EU for channels btw. 36 - 48 and no higher ones.

 

[crni_panter]

5GHZ unused channels in Germany (EU)

Hello,

i am from Germany and trying at the moment to build a good WLAN AC network at home. I have a question regarding the 5 GHZ channels on the Asus AC66U. Hope you can help me with it.

This is my configuration:

- a "Fritzbox 7490" WLAN AC Router with 5GHZ DFS (which allowes in Germany to use the higher 5 GHZ channels 50-140)
- a ASUS AC66U Router as a media bridge to allow my Rasp PI and other devices to connect to the WLAN AC network

Unfortunately in Germany (and Europe in General) the higher 5 GHZ channels are blocked on the ASUS router.
When i setup my fritzbox router (with DFS) to a channel over 48 the ASUS router wont find it.

I installed the RMerlin custom firmware on the AC66U and tried the following command line inputs over cmd:

nvram set pci/1/1/ccode=US
nvram set pci/2/1/ccode=US
nvram set wl0_country_code=US
nvram set wl1_country_code=US
nvram set regulation_domain=US
nvram set regulation_domain_5G=US
nvram commit
reboot

I tried it a few times. Also with the original firmware (then over telnet), but my router is not acceisble afterwards and i always have to do a factory reset.
What am i doing wrong? My intension is to unlock the 5GHZ channels (50-140) on the ASUS (like it is the case outside the EU) to receive the signals of my fritzbox router.
As i will only receive signals with the Asus and not send them, there is also no security issue with radar stations and weather stations. DFS is working on my primary router.

Can somebody help me?