5ghz Signal Dies

[RMerlin]

Well I just tried that link again without problem's. As I told a person on here the other day, you may want to try a different browser to download it from.

Asuswebstorage links do have a daily download limit. That file wasn't meant to be widely distributed, hence the issues with everyone trying to download it.

 

[lilstone87]

Asuswebstorage links do have a daily download limit. That file wasn't meant to be widely distributed, hence the issues with everyone trying to download it.

Oh okay, I just know i tried it, and was allowing download's at the time i tried.

 

[doubleroll]

Seems like good news! (depending on your answer to the following):
How long did it take for the 5 GHz signal to drop, in your case at least, with the previous firmware?
Would the drop already be noticeable after the amount of time that you have had this beta firmware installed?

If so it might be time for me to finally to unpack my RT-AC66U (bought it a long time ago) and sell my RT-N66U.
I was planning to sell my RT-AC66U (if they could not resolve this issue).

I would get the 5GHz drop every day. So far no drops yet. Looks promising. One thing to note, I did have frequent disconnects with my PCE-AC66 with the router 5GHz settings in default. I switched to 80MHz and CH 153 and seems stable now.

 

[SCADAMON]

Testing .352 for the past 24hrs... Seems Stable so far.
The only concern I have is the power out adjustments seem to go flat above the default setting. Is there a way to tweak just a bit more power out (3-5 dBm) to increase my coverage area? I have a large area to cover. Attached picture shows readings from 5 meters from router via inSSIDer. All of my neighbors are far enough away as to no cause any interference (35 dBm down from me). Would "Asus RT-AC66U 9dBi RP-SMA Antenna Kit" help???
I am looking forward to RMerlin's next release, I do like his tweaks, (temp, tools, ect...).

 

[mikeg]

Well , today I noticed a signal strength drop of about 10 bm on the 5 GHz
band of the AC66U , compared with the 5 GHz on the N66U and the TP-Link which still have the same signal strength as before. The drivers improved performance but the drop in signal strength is still there.

To people still having issues with the 5 GHz band , I got this answer from Jeremy at Asus today :
Try this version of beta firmware:
3.0.0.4.352
https://www.asuswebstorage.com/navigate/s/65BEA3BC99A1492194AB409498C737214

I'm not sure if it has updated drivers, but the performance seems to be improved over the last few versions.

This beta.version indeed have new Broadcom drivers : 6.30.102.9 ( r366174 ).
I updated to this beta fw today and will see how it works,

 

[njweb]

Well , today I noticed a signal strength drop of about 10 bm on the 5 GHz
band of the AC66U , compared with the 5 GHz on the N66U and the TP-Link which still have the same signal strength as before. The drivers improved performance but the drop in signal strength is still there.

Thanks! That is too bad.
Did you check 2.4 GHz signal strength?

Have you compared 2.4 and 5 Ghz throughput and signal strength (before the 5 Ghz signal drops in strength / dies) between the N66U and the AC66U?

To me the biggest differentiator between routers, assuming they are stable etc., is their ability to reach the far corners of my home and that is where 2.4 GHz performance is going to be the one to check / compare.

I might open my AC66U in the next few days, time permitting, and run some tests between the two, but once I open it the resale value of the AC66U will drop.

 

[mikeg]

No , I did not check on the 2.4 GHz band as I only have smart phones and Ipod connected th this band.
The strange thing is that the 5 GHz signal strength went back in strenth so now I have a loss of about 3 dbm instead of 10 dbm. Looks like Asus hand Broadcom has some work still to do on the drivers.

Thanks! That is too bad.
Did you check 2.4 GHz signal strength?

Have you compared 2.4 and 5 Ghz throughput and signal strength (before the 5 Ghz signal drops in strength / dies) between the N66U and the AC66U?

To me the biggest differentiator between routers, assuming they are stable etc., is their ability to reach the far corners of my home and that is where 2.4 GHz performance is going to be the one to check / compare.

I might open my AC66U in the next few days, time permitting, and run some tests between the two, but once I open it the resale value of the AC66U will drop.

 

[doubleroll]

I have yet to see any drops in the 5GHz band. So far I have not had to hit apply on the 5GHz wireless settings page. I realize its not perfect but much improved. 2.4GHz looks to be improved as well, as I am getting better streaming on my Google TV which is located way on the other side of my home. Can't wait for the official release, so far much better than my Linksys 4500...

 

[njweb]

No , I did not check on the 2.4 GHz band as I only have smart phones and Ipod connected th this band.
The strange thing is that the 5 GHz signal strength went back in strenth so now I have a loss of about 3 dbm instead of 10 dbm. Looks like Asus hand Broadcom has some work still to do on the drivers.

Thanks for the feedback. Still debating what to do with mine.

The Asus USB-AC53 wireless USB adapter is FINALLY available now (but only online), about 4 or 5 months late.
I was tempted to try it, but truth be told, I have no pressing need since my wifi adapters are working great for my specific needs; so I will probably wait for the need to develop, by which time prices will have dropped and / or a new model or even newer technology will be out.
I suppose it would be nice for file transfers though (I don't do them that often).

 

[SCADAMON]

For me both the 2.4 & 5 are still stable as I posted above; but another odd thing I have noticed with this ver. is on the "Network Map - Client Status" page, It is not updating even after a refresh as new clients come on. Currently I have 18 clients all on line but "Client Status" will only show 11. The Client status is not resolving the names either.

 

[njweb]

I have yet to see any drops in the 5GHz band. So far I have not had to hit apply on the 5GHz wireless settings page. I realize its not perfect but much improved. 2.4GHz looks to be improved as well, as I am getting better streaming on my Google TV which is located way on the other side of my home. Can't wait for the official release, so far much better than my Linksys 4500...

Right, it sounds like the 5 GHz drops might be specific to the user's network environment to a certain extent since many have not had the 5 Ghz issues at all. I suspect it might be a specific combination of surrounding networks, the various networking devices in the vicinity, the specific drivers being used in those devices, router and client settings and so on.........

Good news re. the 2.4 GHz. Since one of my Smart Blu-Ray players - Panny BDT220 - is having issues (through no fault of the RT-N66U - getting 4 bars of signal strength on the BDT220 implying it may be a transmit power issue with the BDT220's adapter), I could try the AC66U with the BDT220.

However, my network switch for the downstairs family room just arrived anyway, so I have switched the BDT220 connection to wired.
I am probably going to leave it that way since my Roku 3 is about10 times faster at loading Netflix's homepage the BDT220, so why even bother spending another 4 hours trying to get the BDDT220 to connect via wireless at long distances if I'm going to use my Roku 99.9% of the time for streaming anyway.

 

[doubleroll]

For me both the 2.4 & 5 are still stable as I posted above; but another odd thing I have noticed with this ver. is on the "Network Map - Client Status" page, It is not updating even after a refresh as new clients come on. Currently I have 18 clients all on line but "Client Status" will only show 11. The Client status is not resolving the names either.

What I have noticed is that on the main page the Wireless networks name for the 2.4 and 5 GHz are the same which is incorrect. Where as in the advanced they are correct, they way I have them setup with two unique names. Also, when I browse to the router home page it loads
http://router_IP/start_apply2.htm and I get a blank screen with firefox.

 

[mikeg]

I will wait for test results with the new Asus USB AC too One reason is to read how it performs when someione have tested it and the other is like you that the price will have dropped after the release date.
If you have not opened your AC66U you can return it and wait a couple of months to see how the AC67U performs.

Thanks for the feedback. Still debating what to do with mine.

The Asus USB-AC53 wireless USB adapter is FINALLY available now (but only online), about 4 or 5 months late.
I was tempted to try it, but truth be told, I have no pressing need since my wifi adapters are working great for my specific needs; so I will probably wait for the need to develop, by which time prices will have dropped and / or a new model or even newer technology will be out.
I suppose it would be nice for file transfers though (I don't do them that often).

 

[abailey108]

I have RMerlins newest beta firmware on my router. 270.26. 5ghz signal still randomly dying. I think I found the entry in the log precisely when it happened:

Mar 23 20:37:50 kernel: wlc_dump_aggfifo:
Mar 23 20:37:50 kernel: framerdy 0x10 bmccmd 4 framecnt 1
Mar 23 20:37:50 kernel: AQM agg params 0xfc0 maxlen hi/lo 0x0 0xffff minlen 0x0 adjlen 0x8
Mar 23 20:37:50 kernel: AQM agg results 0x8000 len hi/lo: 0x0 0x0 BAbitmap(0-3) 0 0 0 0

Merlin or anyone else... what do you think?

 

[RMerlin]

I have RMerlins newest beta firmware on my router. 270.26. 5ghz signal still randomly dying. I think I found the entry in the log precisely when it happened:

Mar 23 20:37:50 kernel: wlc_dump_aggfifo:
Mar 23 20:37:50 kernel: framerdy 0x10 bmccmd 4 framecnt 1
Mar 23 20:37:50 kernel: AQM agg params 0xfc0 maxlen hi/lo 0x0 0xffff minlen 0x0 adjlen 0x8
Mar 23 20:37:50 kernel: AQM agg results 0x8000 len hi/lo: 0x0 0x0 BAbitmap(0-3) 0 0 0 0

Merlin or anyone else... what do you think?

There's nothing beta about 270.26 BTW.

 

[abailey108]

You're right. When I downloaded it I just saw the b at the end of the file name and it made me think beta. My bad.

 

[mikeg]

I updated the fw to Asus official .354 and noted the Broadcom drivers are the same as in the Beta .352 . So now I will wait and see if the same issue occur with the 5 GHz signal.-

Well , today I noticed a signal strength drop of about 10 bm on the 5 GHz
band of the AC66U , compared with the 5 GHz on the N66U and the TP-Link which still have the same signal strength as before. The drivers improved performance but the drop in signal strength is still there.

 

[SCADAMON]

Testing .352 for the past 24hrs... Seems Stable so far.
The only concern I have is the power out adjustments seem to go flat above the default setting. Is there a way to tweak just a bit more power out (3-5 dBm) to increase my coverage area? I have a large area to cover. Attached picture shows readings from 5 meters from router via inSSIDer. All of my neighbors are far enough away as to no cause any interference (35 dBm down from me). Would "Asus RT-AC66U 9dBi RP-SMA Antenna Kit" help???
I am looking forward to RMerlin's next release, I do like his tweaks, (temp, tools, ect...).

Testing Official ASUS 354 version now. Still seems stable, I still have the same issues with adjusting power out.

 

[dws]

Bought the RT-AC66U a couple days ago. Pre-installed firmware from factory was 266. Had no issue at all. Strong signals both 2.4 and 5Ghz

Yesterday I installed version 354. Now the 5Ghz is total useless. Signal drop and hard to connect. Low speed. Before 40Mbit/s, now 1mbit/s

2.4Ghz is however improved. Strong signal and gain speed from 20Mbit to 30Mbit

Used device: Galaxy Nexus

 

[DaveMishSr]

Bought the RT-AC66U a couple days ago. Pre-installed firmware from factory was 266. Had no issue at all. Strong signals both 2.4 and 5Ghz

Yesterday I installed version 354. Now the 5Ghz is total useless. Signal drop and hard to connect. Low speed. Before 40Mbit/s, now 1mbit/s

2.4Ghz is however improved. Strong signal and gain speed from 20Mbit to 30Mbit

Used device: Galaxy Nexus

I had issues over the weekend with 354 and went back to 270.26b. Today I redownloaded the firmware to make sure it wasn't corrupted and reflashed 354. I also wiped the NVRAM after flashing and reloaded my setting from a config file. It is running great and 5GHz signal strength rivals 2.4GHz signals on my patio. That is a first.