Xbox360 wireless connection problem

[NeutralGold]

Am I the only one who finds it disconcerting that they added a "optimize xbox" tick box instead of just fixing and re-compiling a supposedly faulty wireless driver?

I really hope this isn't a hack and instead they worked with Broadcom to fix the driver code if that was the problem.

Although if the problem was a bad WiFi implementation on the Xbox itself, then Asus should have contacted Microsoft with the information they found.

I think it's a little early to make any assumptions at this point. It did cross my mind the same as you as soon as I seen the little tick box. All my other wireless devices seem to be connected and working as usual. But what ever fix it is, we can also assume that in case it broke functionality in other devices, that option could be there as a quick way to turn it off. It is a test build.

Unlikely but either way, I think it would be best to wait and see how it turns out in an official release.

I sure wish I could have this fix in a build of Merlins firmware since I'm having to go with out his added features that I use quite a bit.

Routers been going for a little more than 8 hours and I haven't had any problems so far. I'm curious if anyone else here got the firmware as well, I would love to hear feedback from other people. Especially from folks who have more devices on their network than I do.

 

[Bad Teddy]

I think it's a little early to make any assumptions at this point. It did cross my mind the same as you as soon as I seen the little tick box. All my other wireless devices seem to be connected and working as usual. But what ever fix it is, we can also assume that in case it broke functionality in other devices, that option could be there as a quick way to turn it off. It is a test build.

Unlikely but either way, I think it would be best to wait and see how it turns out in an official release.

I sure wish I could have this fix in a build of Merlins firmware since I'm having to go with out his added features that I use quite a bit.

Routers been going for a little more than 8 hours and I haven't had any problems so far. I'm curious if anyone else here got the firmware as well, I would love to hear feedback from other people. Especially from folks who have more devices on their network than I do.

Well you be sure to let Jeremy know that you're feeling lonely as a tester and want me to keep you company.

 

[NeutralGold]

Well you be sure to let Jeremy know that you're feeling lonely as a tester and want me to keep you company.

lol I hear that!

 

[RMerlin]

Am I the only one who finds it disconcerting that they added a "optimize xbox" tick box instead of just fixing and re-compiling a supposedly faulty wireless driver?

Although if the problem was a bad WiFi implementation on the Xbox itself, then Asus should have contacted Microsoft with the information they found.

You never had to deal with Microsoft I guess

 

[thiggins]

Beta firmware for Xbox 360 Slim WiFi

I received this from ASUS, who has given permission to post it.

This is beta firmware and specifically meant to address Xbox 360 Slim Wi-Fi compatibility.

RT-N66U - https://www.dropbox.com/s/4yzax5voo7g0nft/RT-N66U_3.0.0.4.47c38f_345.trx

AC66U - https://www.dropbox.com/s/jg3kd4b3gnu2tdy/RT-AC66U_3.0.0.4.47c38f_345.trx

After updating, do the following to ensure proper connection:
1. Enable "optimize xbox" in Advanced setting --> wireless--> general
2. Power off RT-N66U/RT-AC66U
3. Power off XBOX
4. Power on RT-N66U/RT-AC66U
5. Power on XBOX

 

[jphughan]

I'm hoping that this "Optimize XBOX" checkbox is only going to exist in this pre-release firmware as an easy way to isolate the intended fix in this firmware to confirm that it really does make the difference between a broken and working Wifi experience on the Xbox and that the rest of the firmware works as expected. If this checkbox makes it into an official release, I would have to assume that there's some downside to enabling it, in which case I would expect ASUS to have release notes explaining what that might be and ideally even provide some technical documentation explaining what exactly the checkbox does.

I'll try to test this firmware tonight to see whether it also fixes things on my Blu-ray player with its Atheros Wifi chipset since it's been exhibiting the exact same behavior that Xbox owners have been discussing here.

 

[Bad Teddy]

Welp glad to be beta testing this because I may have already found an issue.

My Killer Wireless 1202 (another Atheros-based chip, though I forget which) can no longer access my 5GHz network it seems.

At first I thought the whole network was just down, but my phone is actually still connected to it. I'll look into the issue when I get home though, so nobody panic. Might have something to do with having the "Optimize for Xbox" only checked for one frequency, as only my 2.4GHz network has it checked given that the slim can't use 5GHz. But like I said, I'll look into it when I get home. Xbox is happily connected though.

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Update 2/27:
Alrighty, after tinkering around with a few things I made another problem develop.

First of all, ticking "Optimize for Xbox" on the 5GHz frequency did NOT help my issue with my Killer Wireless 1202 connecting to my 5GHz frequency. It still can't connect (won't even show up -> hidden network if you're curious)

Secondly, ticking "OfX" on the 5GHz frequency actually BREAKS my phone's connection with the network. The device in question is an HTC One XL (AT&T version One X). I'm not sure of the WiFi chipset it uses, but given that it's a Qualcomm device I'm betting it's an Atheros chip.

So as it stands, my laptop has to connect to my 2.4GHz frequency to function at all.
My phone can connect to the 5GHz network, but ONLY if the "OfX" option is NOT ticked.

Which is of course very problematic for me, so I'm gonna spend some time playing around with things to see if I can come up with a solution

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Update 2/27 #2

Annnnd problem solved. Easy workaround even if I don't like it.

For whatever reason, having my 5GHz frequency set to "Hide SSID" makes my laptop unable to connect to it now. Therefore, simply setting "Hide SSID" to "No" corrects that issue. The OfX setting has no effect on it one way or another on that particular frequency.

Now what's odd is that my 2.4GHz network, which is also hidden, has no problem being connected to by any of my devices.

I can try to break it if need be, but since the only thing even on that network is my Xbox it might be difficult (my PC and Laptop only switch to it if the 5GHz frequency can't be reached). Seems to be working just fine at the moment.

 

[NeutralGold]

I received this from ASUS, who has given permission to post it.

This is beta firmware and specifically meant to address Xbox 360 Slim Wi-Fi compatibility.

RT-N66U - https://www.dropbox.com/s/4yzax5voo7g0nft/RT-N66U_3.0.0.4.47c38f_345.trx

AC66U - https://www.dropbox.com/s/jg3kd4b3gnu2tdy/RT-AC66U_3.0.0.4.47c38f_345.trx

After updating, do the following to ensure proper connection:
1. Enable "optimize xbox" in Advanced setting --> wireless--> general
2. Power off RT-N66U/RT-AC66U
3. Power off XBOX
4. Power on RT-N66U/RT-AC66U
5. Power on XBOX

I'm glad now everyone gets a chance to try it out. I find it odd though because I've been dying to share it but I was told not to. Oh well..

For any of you that find any issues with the firmware leave a message here and I'll make sure Jeremy gets notified when I go back to update him on stability.

 

[Bad Teddy]

I'm glad now everyone gets a chance to try it out. I find it odd though because I've been dying to share it but I was told not to. Oh well..

For any of you that find any issues with the firmware leave a message here and I'll make sure Jeremy gets notified when I go back to update him on stability.

Looks like I'll be a great tester, I've got two problems now, and hopefully one helps fix the other. Anywho to keep from cluttering the thread I'll just keep updating my earlier post.

 

[lilstone87]

I know this is only a test build for you guy's with xbox problem's. But the file name for this build seems a little odd to me, but I don't know exactly how asus names there test build's. As a lot of the leaked beta release's we have seen seem normal with there file name, yet this one end's with .47c38f_345.trx has me wondering if this is a actual .345 build, most likely not though.

 

[bluepoint]

@Bad Teddy

Why do you need to hide the SSID? Even if you hide it, scanners can see it anyway.

 

[Bad Teddy]

@Bad Teddy

Why do you need to hide the SSID? Even if you hide it, scanners can see it anyway.

Because that 3 or 4 seconds it would take to get inSSIDer fired up (or whatever it may be) is 3 or 4 more seconds I've got to boot your arse off my network as far as I'm concerned.

Also, I had a strange issue regarding security on one of my older routers that pretty much left me with hiding my SSID as my only pseudo-security measure for a while (wireless security appeared to be active, but the network password could actually be skipped [aka, put in random stuff for the pass] and it would allow the connection in case you're wondering). So ever since, I've always hidden it.

The other reason being... I havn't really found a reason NOT to hide it (not in recent years anyway)

It might not be security against anyone who knows what they're doing, but it's security against everyone who doesn't ^_^

 

[RMerlin]

Hiding your SSID means anytime you power up a client configured for that SSID, that client will be broadcasting the SSID name as it's looking for it. So in essence, it's even less secure if you are using a laptop and connecting elsewhere, as you will be broadcasting your home SSID everywhere you go with your laptop.

I'm not sure if Microsoft has since fixed that security hole (it was first revealed a few years ago), but since then it's been pretty much a consensus that hiding a SSID doesn't improve your security - in some cases it makes things actually worse.

 

[Bad Teddy]

Hiding your SSID means anytime you power up a client configured for that SSID, that client will be broadcasting the SSID name as it's looking for it. So in essence, it's even less secure if you are using a laptop and connecting elsewhere, as you will be broadcasting your home SSID everywhere you go with your laptop.

I'm not sure if Microsoft has since fixed that security hole (it was first revealed a few years ago), but since then it's been pretty much a consensus that hiding a SSID doesn't improve your security - in some cases it makes things actually worse.

As I understood it, that only applies if your devices are set to automatically search for that particular connection, right? (Connecting to network while it's not necessarily broadcasting, etc)

 

[bluepoint]

@Bad Teddy

Hiding your SSID only introduces problem with your clients in finding it easily as you have experienced, some of them will have a hard time seeing it. Would be wireless riders will always be equipped to find your SSID, non tech will not even try if they see the connection encrypted. Wpa2 encryption with long non dictionary passphrase will be enough protection even if your SSID is exposed.

With inSSider it can even see hidden stations I think. Try to hide your wireless then fireup inSSider, do you see it?

 

[jphughan]

As I understood it, that only applies if your devices are set to automatically search for that particular connection, right? (Connecting to network while it's not necessarily broadcasting, etc)

Sort of. Microsoft fixed the issue of clients broadcasting their entire list of known SSIDs by adding the "Connect even if the network is not broadcasting its name" option in properties for a given SSID. But I believe if you choose to use a hidden SSID, you're FORCED to enable that option and thus have that network's name broadcast by the client. If I'm right (and I'm not certain I am), the added security of that checkbox is merely that the client no longer broadcasts its list of known SSIDs that are broadcasting their names from the base station anyway.

The easy test would be to uncheck that option in the properties of an SSID that is NOT being broadcast and seeing whether your client can still connect to that network by manually selecting its name in the network list -- assuming that known SSIDs of hidden networks are even shown there.

 

[Bad Teddy]

Yeah that's the point I was trying to make. I connect to my network(s) just fine without that option ticked.

Edit: ... Or maybe I don't. Apparently my 2.4GHz frequency is also not hidden. ...It says it is, but it isn't lmao.

Edit 2: ... For whatever reason, BRIEFLY, my "hidden" 2.4GHz network is visible and can be connected to. It does eventually disappear, but for a while it shows up. Only seems to exhibit the behavior if my PC still has the connection saved as an option to connect to, but nontheless with that behavior I can only assume that even without the option ticked it means my laptop is briefly attempting to look for the network (and thusly, broadcasting it).

Obviously that's a PC issue and not a router issue though. I can't help but wonder whether or not it has something to do with my wireless card's software, but I'm too lazy to fiddle with it and end up with a broken wireless card (again) at the moment.

 

[Bad Teddy]

@Bad Teddy

Hiding your SSID only introduces problem with your clients in finding it easily as you have experienced, some of them will have a hard time seeing it. Would be wireless riders will always be equipped to find your SSID, non tech will not even try if they see the connection encrypted. Wpa2 encryption with long non dictionary passphrase will be enough protection even if your SSID is exposed.

With inSSider it can even see hidden stations I think. Try to hide your wireless then fireup inSSider, do you see it?

That's the point I was making. inSSIDer and its like may be able to see such networks, but at least you'd have to actually look for it to find it.

Like I pointed out before... it was moreso of a I havn't had a reason NOT to use it thing. Though if what Merlin pointed out is still true , I could see it as being an issue. Although, my WiFi typically isn't on when my laptop isn't in my home, I suppose I could always accidentally leave it on one day and have it broadcasting my SSIDs for a moment. Or does it not even matter that it's off to begin with?

 

[Bad Teddy]

Welp, pretty much no problems on my end minus the one I already mentioned. Seems somewhat stable.

Edit: Mmmk... and now for whatever reason my 5GHz network is down. Second time it has done this, except the 1st time it came back up a few seconds later. Had to restart the router this time.

 

[NeutralGold]

Well, I just sent an update to Jeremy letting him know how things went with my firmware test. I didn't have a single problem the whole week I ran it. I don't have any 5ghz devices and my 5 ghz radio stays off so I couldn't test anything on that band.

Since there isn't anything else I can test on my end, I decided to go ahead and switch back to using Merlins build like I was before. I can live with my devices only using wireless g connections for now. Hopefully we won't have to wait to long for a stable fix that makes everyone happy.