WiFi 160MHz

[drinkingbird]

You are right, but such devices are rare, and even in the early days of WiFi 6 there are still many devices that do not support 160mhz.


Since the downgrade, the AX86U has been working at 160mhz, which proves that the problem is firmware related. @RMerlin

More likely driver related which he has no control over, if Asus updates it, it makes it into Merlin firmware too.

 

[Shino]

More likely driver related which he has no control over, if Asus updates it, it makes it into Merlin firmware too.

I contacted ASUS support, after dozens of days of inefficient communication and futile operations, they just replied "this is the expected result, it will not be modified", I don't know what I'm working on these days.

 

[drinkingbird]

I contacted ASUS support, after dozens of days of inefficient communication and futile operations, they just replied "this is the expected result, it will not be modified", I don't know what I'm working on these days.

Asus doesn't make the driver, so at some point broadcom or whoever makes the chipset in your router will update the driver, and Asus will incorporate it into the next firmware, and Merlin will include that updated firmware into his.

 

[Shino]

This is a very bad change, ASUS does not consider the user experience at all, which brings frequent network outages. My samsung device would lose internet connection right after 160mhz drops to 80mhz, I had to reconnect to WiFi, the 5 minutes automatic switch back was just a waste of time.

 

[Shino]

When you roam between AP devices at 160mhz, you have to wait more than 5 minutes for the node to ramp back to 160mhz from 80mhz, which makes roaming a joke. It might even be worse if you're in a place where multiple routing devices overlap.

 

[drinkingbird]

When you roam between AP devices at 160mhz, you have to wait more than 5 minutes for the node to ramp back to 160mhz from 80mhz, which makes roaming a joke. It might even be worse if you're in a place where multiple routing devices overlap.

Nothing to do with Asus, that 5 minute radar scan is mandated by regulations.

 

[Shino]

Nothing to do with Asus, that 5 minute radar scan is mandated by regulations.

Are you saying that the regulations stipulate that it needs to scan for 5 minutes from 80mhz to 160mhz? It is also a rule to drop to 80mhz within 1 minute? Is it really suitable for practical application to rigidly follow the rules and make frequent changes?

 

[L&LD]

Yes. Mandated by law.

 

[drinkingbird]

Are you saying that the regulations stipulate that it needs to scan for 5 minutes from 80mhz to 160mhz? It is also a rule to drop to 80mhz within 1 minute? Is it really suitable for practical application to rigidly follow the rules and make frequent changes?

Is it suitable to follow the law? Typically, yes.

 

[PrivatePerson]

The same problem. AX86U
On the firmware Merlin 388.2_2 160mhz lasted ~ 3-4 days
On the firmware Merlin 3004.388.4 ~ 1 day.
As always. The newer the worse.

 

[RMerlin]

If you live in an area where there are too much interference for using 160 MHz wide channels, then no driver can change that. Just like maintaining 40 MHz channel width on the 2.4 GHz band is next to impossible unless you live in the woods.

I use 160 MHz here in an area with almost no interference in the DFS channel range, and I have zero problems. My tablet is constantly connecting at 160 MHz (so does my laptop, but that one is on the 6 GHz band). With my previous phone and router I was also having my phone reliably use 160 MHz channel width.

 

[PrivatePerson]

I am of the opinion that broadcom or asus constantly degrade communication for the sake of legislation.
Next to me there is only 1 Wi-Fi network at a frequency of 5GHz. And no DFS radars. And the router itself should rise from 80 to 160 after a while.
Thank you for your work, but ASUS could make a backdoor in order to use in your firmware to bypass regional restrictions on power and DFS radars.

 

[bbunge]

I am of the opinion that broadcom or asus constantly degrade communication for the sake of legislation.
Next to me there is only 1 Wi-Fi network at a frequency of 5GHz. And no DFS radars. And the router itself should rise from 80 to 160 after a while.
Thank you for your work, but ASUS could make a backdoor in order to use in your firmware to bypass regional restrictions on power and DFS radars.

Well, you don't know about RADAR. Could be weather RADAR, could be airborne RADAR or could be your microwave oven.
Setting that worked well for me is to set channel to 36 at 20-40-80-160 MHz. Do not mess with the professional settings. When I ran those my AX86U would switch fro 80 to 160 MHz when a client with 160 MHz capability connected. Yes, I got hit by RADAR as there are a few low flying military flyovers here. Now I have 2.4 GHz at 20 MHz on auto channel and 5 GHz on 80 MHz auto channel with DFS enabled. Those settings for me are rock solid. This afternoon I transferred about 150 GB of files to my NAS from the AX laptop writing at 110 to 120 MB/s and I believe that is the data rate of the GB Ethernet from the router to the NAS.

 

[drinkingbird]

I am of the opinion that broadcom or asus constantly degrade communication for the sake of legislation.
Next to me there is only 1 Wi-Fi network at a frequency of 5GHz. And no DFS radars. And the router itself should rise from 80 to 160 after a while.
Thank you for your work, but ASUS could make a backdoor in order to use in your firmware to bypass regional restrictions on power and DFS radars.

How could you possibly know there is no radar?

 

[Ripshod]

but ASUS could make a backdoor in order to use in your firmware to bypass regional restrictions on power and DFS radars.

Surely that would bypass the safety measure that legislation insists on, and force removal of the approval these devices rely on. No approval - no router. It's not about the interference to you but the interference you cause to others. The RADAR was there first.

 

[Morris]

If you live in an area where there are too much interference for using 160 MHz wide channels, then no driver can change that. Just like maintaining 40 MHz channel width on the 2.4 GHz band is next to impossible unless you live in the woods.

I use 160 MHz here in an area with almost no interference in the DFS channel range, and I have zero problems. My tablet is constantly connecting at 160 MHz (so does my laptop, but that one is on the 6 GHz band). With my previous phone and router I was also having my phone reliably use 160 MHz channel width.

We see somone complain that they can't use 160 wide channels at least once a week and then a page or two of incorrect information. Possibly you can change the 5-GHz professional mode page to display a message that 160 wide channels have been disabled due to your reginal authorities regulations regarding DFS channels.

 

[AntonK]

I am of the opinion that broadcom or asus constantly degrade communication for the sake of legislation.
Next to me there is only 1 Wi-Fi network at a frequency of 5GHz. And no DFS radars. And the router itself should rise from 80 to 160 after a while.
Thank you for your work, but ASUS could make a backdoor in order to use in your firmware to bypass regional restrictions on power and DFS radars.

"...for the sake of legislation.... but ASUS could make a backdoor... to bypass regional restrictions on power and DFS radars."

 

[Morris]

"...for the sake of legislation.... but ASUS could make a backdoor... to bypass regional restrictions on power and DFS radars."

I feel it is wise to keep aircraft safe in the sky.

 

[drinkingbird]

"...for the sake of legislation.... but ASUS could make a backdoor... to bypass regional restrictions on power and DFS radars."

And be barred from selling their items in most countries, great idea.

 

[bbunge]

A company in the US agreed to pay a one million dollar fine for making and selling devices that defeated diesel emissions devices. Break the law and in time you will pay.