Unreliable 5Ghz wifi with AC87R

[goldenegg]

I recently picked up a AC87R to replace a N66U. The range on this router is terrific and has allowed me to remove a second access point I had in the house.

Unfortunately, I'm having issues with the 5Ghz network. It works well for a while and then it simply stops working. Sometimes you can connect to it, but you can't do anything on the network (either local or over the Internet). Other times it'll drop connection and you can't reconnect. The only way to fix the problem is to reboot the router.

This problem has happened with Asus firmware 3.0.0.4.378.4950 and I'm currently running the latest Merlin firmware (378.53) with the same issue. I'm done factory resets and the problem still continues. Changing 5Ghz channels doesn't help either. I don't have other 5Ghz networks in my immediate area though, so that shouldn't be an issue. No errors appear in the log when it occurs. The light for the 5Ghz network remains on and the router admin page doesn't show any issues either.

The problem doesn't affect the 2.4Ghz or wired networks.

The only devices I have which use the 5Ghz network are a early 2011 Macbook Pro and a few iOS and Android devices. They all experience this behaviour.

I've seen some older threads about issues with the 5Ghz wi-fi. but never any resolution. Any chance I have a defective unit or are the problems with 5Ghz on this unit still being ironed out? I'll likely contact Asus support tomorrow, but wanted to get input for people here first.

EDIT:

Just wanted to add that these are the average temps I tend to see for the unit:

2.4Ghz - 47C
5Ghz - 58C
CPU - 80C

 

[RMerlin]

Try disabling beamforming. It has greatly improved stability for numerous users.

Part of the problem is also on Apple's end. After a few iOS updates, they still seem to be struggling with resolving the issue. Part of the problem is their overly aggressive power management, and also the fact they like to play weird games for some odd reasons (such as randomly changing MACs for some obscure reason).

 

[goldenegg]

Beamforming is already disabled.

My Macbook Pro is my primary system and that's where I tend to see the issue first. When the wireless drops, that's when I check on my other devices and see that they have the same problem.

I'm using 40MHz because I don't have any AC devices and 80MHz gives me much slower performance.

 

[RMerlin]

You can try this beta, it helped for some people: http://www.snbforums.com/threads/rt-ac87u_3-0-0-4_378_5587-unofficial-beta-firmware.24492/

 

[goldenegg]

Thanks. I'll give it a try. I'll reset the router again as well, just in case.

 

[goldenegg]

I updated the router before going to sleep last night and everything seemed good. When I woke up this morning, my Macbook was unable to connect to the 5Ghz network. All my other devices were able to connect fine. I rebooted the router and the Macbook was then able to connect.

This is very odd.

 

[CaptainSTX]

Also try using a lower channel. I run one of my radios on 149 and sometimes devices and WiFi scanners don't see this AP but they have no issues ever seeing and connecting with my other AP on 36.

 

[sfx2000]

Part of the problem is also on Apple's end. After a few iOS updates, they still seem to be struggling with resolving the issue. Part of the problem is their overly aggressive power management, and also the fact they like to play weird games for some odd reasons (such as randomly changing MACs for some obscure reason).

I haven't see issues with overagressive power management, but their AWDL (Apple Wireless Direct Link) driver, along with discoveryd (mDNS resolver replacement) have been a bit frustrating... on both Mac's and iDevices...

The MAC randomization thing, when attached, it's a constant and fixed value - only happens when the device is not attached to a Basic Service Set (either infra or ad-hoc) - it's a privacy enhancement to basically defeat the WiFi scanners at Shopping Malls and other public areas where companies like to do geo data mining for foot traffic analytics - these are little WiFi devices that send out Probe Requests and track the responding MAC addresses... Makes it a bit of a challenge when troubleshooting - wish they had a UI switch or something to temporarily disable that feature...

 

[Teymur]

Beamforming is already disabled.

My Macbook Pro is my primary system and that's where I tend to see the issue first. When the wireless drops, that's when I check on my other devices and see that they have the same problem.

I'm using 40MHz because I don't have any AC devices and 80MHz gives me much slower performance.

Here is how I fixed the issues with my iOS devices connecting to 5 Ghz:

Network Key Rotation Interval : set to 0
Disable all Beamforming
Beacon Interval: set to 50.

After I had done all that, I haven't seen any issues at all. And the 5Ghz now is very stable both on Merlin's 378.53 and the asus's latest 3.0.0.4.378_5134

 

[goldenegg]

After my last reboot, my 5Ghz has been fairly stable. It occasionally start getting some high latency, but it tends to go away.

If my problems come back, I'll try dropping the beacon interval to 50. I'm not at all comfortable setting my key rotation to zero, due to the security implications there.

EDIT:

5Ghz dropped again, but only on my Macbook Pro. All other devices were able to use the 5Ghz network. No errors in the router log and no errors in OS X that are helpful in figuring out what's wrong.

This is an improvement though, since it's only my Macbook having issues now. Hopefully this is something they can fix with further firmware updates. I still believe this is a router issue, as rebooting the router fixes the problem every time.

 

[Find the Door]

Had too many issues with the 5ghz band on the 87r

Had many upnp issues with prior models. Upgraded to the 3200 and have had a wonderful reset free experience.

 

[Haggster]

Had too many issues with the 5ghz band on the 87r

Had many upnp issues with prior models. Upgraded to the 3200 and have had a wonderful reset free experience.

Interesting; you're not the first one who's writing this. Funny, how a brand new model can be more stable than one that has been released almost a year ago - especially since some people love telling us that we shouldn't be surprised to have problems if we buy a brand new model and that it's apparently always better to wait for a year and not to buy the latest.

In my case: I had problems with mine, but not anymore. I realized that all remaining problems are device-specific. I thought that there's still something wrong with the 5GHz AP of my router since my Nexus Player would keep disconnecting, but then I noticed that the same happens when I connect it to the 2.4GHz band. And it's also the only device that's disconnecting now - and I've got loads of devices, ranging from low-fi 2011 era Netbooks to somewhat better Core i5 based Windows machines, phones with 2.4 and 5Ghz Wi-Fi, tablets with 802.11ac and with 2.4GHz only, a Chromebook and whatnot. Rock solid wi-fi stability with all of them, without any exceptions at all, not even for a second.

My settings:
2.4GHz set to "N only", Channel bandwidth 40Mhz, Control Channel 13, Preamble: short, Airtime Fairness disabled. (the rest left untouched as per default)

5GHz: Channel bandwidth 80MHz, Control Channel 48, Network Key Rotation Interval 0, DTIM Interval 1, Beacon Interval 79, , IEEE 802.11h support disabled (but when logging on via SSH and checking the actual value, I can see that it is enabled anyway), 802.11ac Beamforming: Disable, Universal Beamforming: Disable. The rest default.

Restarting the router automatically at 5AM every 24hrs (this may be contributing to the fact that I don't have any problems, as a lot of people report problems and say that the problem goes away temporarily when they reboot). Oh and I'm using a laptop cooler, which should avoid any heat related instabilities:

2.4Ghz - 39°C
5Ghz - 52°C
CPU - 57°C

 

[fax]

..... 5GHz: ..... Network Key Rotation Interval 0, ...

Please watch out for potential damages as router will be under stress, ASUS developer does not reccomend this...

Dear Keigo,
Please do not set Network Key Rotation Interval : set to 0
In the long run the device will drown.
Please stay default 3600.
Best regard,
JK

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/94094566-post3554.html

 

[Haggster]

Please watch out for potential damages as router will be under stress, ASUS developer does not reccomend this...

http://forums.hardwarezone.com.sg/94094566-post3554.html

Thanks a lot for that info! Would that be as in software or hardware problems? As I wrote, my router is restarting every 24hrs and I also checked the CPU utlization when idle, which is 1% and 0% consistently, most of the time, plus the temperatures are OK, therefore I'm wondering what negative effects settings that option to "0" could really have.

 

[fax]

Possibly hardware? May be not really linked to currenltly measured measured parameters? Sorry, I have no more details to add.

 

[Haggster]

Possibly hardware? May be not really linked to currenltly measured measured parameters? Sorry, I have no more details to add.

The only area that I could imagine in which the hardware can suffer would be through continuous writes to the router's internal flash memory, as this is the only component that degrades over time. However, how could setting that value to "0" cause any writes to the NAND storage?

 

[goldenegg]

So I just got off the phone with Asus support, as I'm still getting disconnects on the 5Ghz network every couple of days. The rep I spoke to said he was certain I just have a bad router and he gave me a case number to exchange it at Best Buy.

I highly doubt this will fix this issue, but has anyone else talked to Asus about this problem? Were you also told to replace the router?

 

[MasterBash]

yep, I did and still got the same issue.

 

[goldenegg]

That's what I figured.

I bought the router on May 6th, so I still have a week to return it. I'm honestly considering replacing it with either the Asus AC3200 or Netgear Nighthawk X6. Not really sure what do to.

 

[Find the Door]

That's what I figured.

I bought the router on May 6th, so I still have a week to return it. I'm honestly considering replacing it with either the Asus AC3200 or Netgear Nighthawk X6. Not really sure what do to.

Go with the 3200. Zero issues since booting it up. Been running 3 weeks strong without a reboot (or reason to). That's two weeks longer than my 87r ever ran interrupt free.

Honestly reminds me of the WRT54G days (that stable). 87r is a hardware issue with the new chip. Half this forum thinks it'll be remedied with a firmware update - for their sake I hope I'm wrong in saying I doubt it will.