Would you recommend using Merlin to fix 2.4Ghz channel flakiness?

[HeffRaleigh]

First time poster, been reading a ton of existing posts though. Thanks for all the contributions!

So...I purchased a RT-AC88U about 2 months ago. 5Ghz and wired are incredible. 2.4Ghz worked for a week then things couldn't connect and communicate to that channel. Did some research and set the band to 20Hz and channel to 6. Ta-da! Worked great for 5 weeks. With no changes, it seems 2.4Ghz has gone AWOL once again.

I did a ton of troubleshooting - tried changing the channel, setting to "Legacy", even using the magical Bluetooth Coexistence "feature". No dice.

Before I do a hard reset to factory settings, I was wondering what the thoughts on the forum are regarding increased 2.4Ghz reliability with Merlin.

I figure if I'm going to go through the hassle of a reset and re-establishing my config (I am addicted to MAC filtering), I'd check with this esteemed group to see if this is me grasping and hoping for a solution vs something that might actually work.

Thanks in advance for the guidance and inputs!

 

[AndreiV]

As the radio drivers would be the same in both stock and Merlin I wouldn't expect a cure.

Factory reset would be a starting point , maybe use John's restore utility to assist with settings :
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/user-nvram-save-restore-utility-r25a.19521/

 

[HeffRaleigh]

As the radio drivers would be the same in both stock and Merlin I wouldn't expect a cure.

Factory reset would be a starting point , maybe use John's restore utility to assist with settings :
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/user-nvram-save-restore-utility-r25a.19521/

Thanks @AndreiV for the quick reply and info. I was afraid of that. :-(

But...bright side...I really like what I've seen via the link you provided. Many thanks for that!

 

[AndreiV]

Let us know how you get on.

You'll find this the best forum on the net, there are a lot of really friendly people here to give support.

 

[HeffRaleigh]

Will do! Surprisingly, I got a fairly quick reply from ASUS. I had already done all that they recommend except turn off Explicit and Universal beamforming for 2.4Ghz. Did that to no avail. Looking for the next step.

I've noticed that the tone and helpfulness is excellent on this forum. Nice to see! I hope to be able to give back at some point.

 

[Xentrk]

Will do! Surprisingly, I got a fairly quick reply from ASUS. I had already done all that they recommend except turn off Explicit and Universal beamforming for 2.4Ghz. Did that to no avail. Looking for the next step.

I've noticed that the tone and helpfulness is excellent on this forum. Nice to see! I hope to be able to give back at some point.

In a recent release, It was recommended to try and turn off airtime fairness if you have wifi issues. This setting was first reported to cause issues with printers. See the changelog for the details.

 

[HeffRaleigh]

Thanks for the tip @Xentrk I'll give it a try in the AM.

 

[HeffRaleigh]

First time poster, been reading a ton of existing posts though. Thanks for all the contributions!

So...I purchased a RT-AC88U about 2 months ago. 5Ghz and wired are incredible. 2.4Ghz worked for a week then things couldn't connect and communicate to that channel. Did some research and set the band to 20Hz and channel to 6. Ta-da! Worked great for 5 weeks. With no changes, it seems 2.4Ghz has gone AWOL once again.

I did a ton of troubleshooting - tried changing the channel, setting to "Legacy", even using the magical Bluetooth Coexistence "feature". No dice.

Before I do a hard reset to factory settings, I was wondering what the thoughts on the forum are regarding increased 2.4Ghz reliability with Merlin.

I figure if I'm going to go through the hassle of a reset and re-establishing my config (I am addicted to MAC filtering), I'd check with this esteemed group to see if this is me grasping and hoping for a solution vs something that might actually work.

Thanks in advance for the guidance and inputs!

Update - 8-31-17 8:35 PM ET - I have a hard time giving up on things. So...I decided to activate my 2.4Ghz guest network and leave it "open". I connected my printer, connected my laptop, and low and behold it worked as expected. Interestingly, if I turned in WPA and created a passkey, it failed. Hmmm...

In the interim, Asus wants to RMA my router and fix it under warranty. Funny thing is...they want me to somehow run my network without a router for up to 10 days. If I dig out my old Linksys, I may as well just get rid of the Asus.

Before that happens, I'll try the latest suggestion from @Xentrk

Stay tuned!

 

[JDB]

If you have a printer then it's almost guaranteed to be airtime fairness - well known issue that some printers mess that mechanism up as they have old wireless chipsets in them.


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[HeffRaleigh]

Thanks @JDB ! Good to have confirmation on the airtime fairness switch.

My printer is 3 years old, but probably old enough to have an last-gem chipset. I also have a wifi enabled Big butt Fan which, I'm guessing, doesn't have the most modern kit in it. Might be wrong.

Unfortunately, I need to wait until later today to experiment with this setting. I'll report back with results as soon as I can.

Thanks again, folks!

 

[HeffRaleigh]

Well folks...Airtime Fairness on 2.4Ghz = Disable. No joy. All 2.4Ghz devices appear to connect, but are not accessible on the network. So...

I did some digging and sniffing. Looks like these devices are picking up 169.254.x.x address instead of the assigned range of 192.168.x.x Wow! Where is that coming from?

Any thoughts before I RMA this thing?

Update on the RMA - They will do an advanced RMA where they will ship me a new router and I'll ship back my current one. No charge to my cc if I execute the return within 14 days. Seems reasonable as this I'm not making any progress troubleshooting.

 

[JDB]

169.245 is a self assigned IP a device will give itself if it gets no DHCP response. So it's basically not able to talk to the router.

Maybe you do have a duff one. Soon find out with the RMA.


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[HeffRaleigh]

Thanks @JDB ! Obviously I didn't realize that. Weird thing is that it thinks it's connected to the router. SSID, Channel, etc. all would make you think it's connected. Appreciate the tip on the IP self assign.

I tried one more thing - set a static IP for the printer on the router and added it to the printer. I can ping it with mixed results. Some successes and some timeouts. Can't print to it though. I then tried connecting my fan via 2.4Ghz with the same results - no luck.

Heading down the RMA route pronto. Tired of messing with this even though I'm learning a lot about the router via the process.

Thanks, all, for the assists!

 

[Klueless]

Well I'm not that bright and at the risk of being "Captain Obvious";

• Turn off baby monitors, cordless phones, remote control toys, etc.
• Run a WiFi analyzer
  • See how your signals look
  • See if any of your neighbors are competing with you
• Turn off all WiFi printers
• Turn off / disconnect all your wireless devices
  • Turn them on one by one and observe what happens

I am guessing you already have, probably came under "ton of troubleshooting" but, just in case ...

 

[HeffRaleigh]

Thanks @Klueless !

Tried that approach almost exactly as described. My 2.4Ghz has 13 devices on it even though I only own 3. I love in a fairly dense high rise environment, so not much control over the other 10 devices.

I did run my wifi analyzer (one of the cool things I found while investigating - my Mac has a pretty awesome set of network analyzing tools!) and tried channels 1 and 4 as well as 11 out of a Hail Mary Pass, last ditch effort attempt. No joy on any.

Really appreciate the advise and guidance, though.

 

[Xentrk]

This is the first time I have heard issues with the 2.4 Ghz on the AC88U. I have only heard complaints about the 5Ghz channel not working on the AC88U. I experienced this myself on the third one I purchased and had to RMA it. Sounds like Asus is taking care of you. Hope you have better luck with the replacement. I have been very happy with the three I support.

 

[HeffRaleigh]

That's encouraging @Xentrk

There is some other flakiness of late that makes me think I have a bad unit. I've had to remove the power and plug it back in the last 3 times I made setting changes under Professional. Guessing the 2.4Ghz issue was an early symptom. Hopefully the new unit will be the answer.

 

[JDB]

My 2.4Ghz is naff too. But it's environmental as a TP Link router behaved the same way - I think it's my smart power meter as it seemed to go wrong after that was installed, I'm guessing it's broadcasting rubbish and I know it uses the 2.4 range.
I actually run a second network broadcast from my Apple Time-capsule which I connect older b/g devices and reserve the Asus 2.4/5 network for n/ac devices.


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[Xentrk]

My 2.4Ghz is naff too. But it's environmental as a TP Link router behaved the same way - I think it's my smart power meter as it seemed to go wrong after that was installed, I'm guessing it's broadcasting rubbish and I know it uses the 2.4 range.
I actually run a second network broadcast from my Apple Time-capsule which I connect older b/g devices and reserve the Asus 2.4/5 network for n/ac devices.


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I hope @HeffRaleigh gives us an update after he received the new router. Since he lives in a "dense high rise environment", I am not ruling out that his neighbors have devices that may be interfering with the 2.4Ghz band.

@HeffRaleigh, did you have another router using 2.4 Ghz band before you purchased the AC88U?

Good little article on 2.4 ghz Electromagnetic Interference
http://api.ning.com/files/0LF5F*AzP...renceat2.4GHzWikipediathefreeencyclopedia.pdf

 

[sfx2000]

Interestingly, if I turned in WPA and created a passkey, it failed. Hmmm...

Make sure the passphrase is ascii text - A-Z, a-x, 0-9 - don't try non-ascii or emoji's etc... and keep it under 16 characters.