AC87U disconnection on 2.4ghz.

[MasterBash]

On 5ghz, but thats because I am using the latest stable firmware, RMerlin 52_2.

Currently using N66U as bridge, I usually get full speed on both 2.4 and 5ghz, I am about 18 feet from the router.

However, after using it for an entire day, I had 195 instead of the usualy 450. Technically, that would be fine, but I could not access ANYTHING at all. In fact, during games I disconnect and could not reconnect by simply waiting it out.

I did not try resetting yet, but I am back on wired for now. I am unable to find a stable band on this router.

By the way, I used wireless on the N66U before I got the AC87U... No disconnections whatsoever, but I used a Wireless adapter over wireless bridge. This is my first time using a bridge, is this usually as stable as using an adapter? What could be causing this problem on 2.4ghz? I will wait the 4950 version of RMerlin for the 5ghz... but the 2.4? Why?

By the way, I do use MAC Filtering. I know it doesnt do much security wise, but its there, I dont see any downside to using it. Also, there are no other APs around.

Thanks.

 

[Jong]

Can't answer the specifics about your bridge setup, but 378.4950 is the current, stable firmware available from Asus and a big step up from 4608.

There is no "4950 version of RMerlin". The current RMerlin release version is .52, which includes most of the important things in Asus 4950. .53, currently in closed alpha, has the rest. So, I'd first upgrade to either Asus 4950 or RMerlin .52.

 

[MasterBash]

Oops, I apologize. I didnt mean 4608. I meant to say RMerlin 52_2... Which I thought was based on the 4608 firmware. So I am guessing my 5ghz dc is also due to this.

I just dc'd again just now, on 2.4 ghz.

Simply got an Ethernet cable connected to a LAN port on the N66U, which connects wirelessly to the AC87U. I simply selected Media Bridge in admin on the N66U and selected the network. I never had problems without the bridge when I was using my N66U as primary router only. There arent many relevant settings when using it as a bridge, only obvious things to get it working like IP to primary router... Unfortunately, I do not have a working wireless adapter anymore, which is why I am now using a bridge.

I will try with MAC Filtering off see if it works. I mostly use it just for fun... and I get dc'd on both 2.4 and 5ghz.

The Link Rate is actually all over the place, between 11-450. No idea if its supposed to be like that.

 

[MasterBash]

5ghz disconnects every 30secs to one minute. That is without MAC Filtering. I am going to try 2.4ghz and see if it works. I am out of clues. Could it be the DPI engine causing dc? Wireless bridge? When I tried with my WNDR3700 as my wireless bridge, I kept getting dc'd every couple seconds on 2.4ghz. Its actually working on 2.4ghz with the AC87U as primary router and N66U as wireless bridge, except for getting disconnected like once in a while.

Both at -40 RSSI. 5ghz has nothing connected to it except my N66U. 2.4ghz is more stable despite having one more router in the neighbourhood and a few devices that I own connected to it.

Still not stable enough though. I do not want ANY disconnections. Testing out 2.4ghz atm without MAC Filter.

Very disappointed on 5ghz though. Totally unusable.

 

[MasterBash]

Got an update. I tried another device on 5ghz and everything was fine. It appears the problem is when using the media bridge. I cant tell if its my AC87U being faulty or the N66U...

Both of them work fine when used as router with devices connecting to them, no bridge.

 

[MasterBash]

I ran pingplotter while being connected to 2.4ghz and everytime was fine.

5ghz would not work. It keeps disconnecting everytime. Other devices work but not my wireless bridge (N66U), is there a way to diagnose whether its my n66u or ac87u causing those disconnects on 5ghz? I tried 40 and 80mhz. Nothing. Like I said, without a media bridge, both routers on 5ghz work fine when set as router with other devices connected to them. Probably some form of incompatibility.

Thanks.

 

[fax]

Sounds like your problem is fixed in the latest ASUS beta firmware 5134.

ASUS@SG said:
Dear all,

RT-AC87U: 3.0.0.4_378_5134 Unofficial beta

Changelog:
Fix: [Media Bridge] Can't connect to P-AP by 5GHz DFS channel
Update: QIS ver. 1.5
Update: traffic monitor
Fix: reduce media server memory usage
Fix: [USB Application][Media Server - Windows media player
Fix: WAN Status LED

* No hard reset require from build 4950

Download: http://goo.gl/ppJuct

Best regard,
JK

 

[MasterBash]

Still happen on 2.4ghz. Just now, my netbook disconnected 1 minute after my media bridge (n66u) did. It happens 2-3 times a day on my media bridge, but I dont know on other devices. This is according to the wireless log.

However, my android phone has been connected for 27 hours straight. I am using static IP for all devices and now I just set control channel 6 instead of auto (which was set to 7 on auto).

No idea if it will make a difference, but this is not cool.

 

[MasterBash]

The latest firmware definitely does not address my issue. Its not that I cant connect, as explained below... Its rather odd.

Well, I fixed the 2.4ghz issue. The Control Channel on auto was causing it. The channel was set to 7. I don't understand why, but when I set it to 6 manually, everything worked. The only other AP in my neighbourhood is on Channel 6 too. I am confused as to why Auto caused disconnections with my Media Bridge. A bug, maybe?

Now, the big problem... 5ghz. It does NOT disconnect it seems like. However, I get packet loss evey ~30seconds or so and websites wont load, as if I would be disconnected, however... You can see the "Connected" is over 10 minutes, yet I could barely access the internet. I don't know how to interpret this but it seems very very weird to me :

First, the SNR on 5ghz varies between 19-75dB, very unstable.
Second, the noise. -41 dBm? What? I have very few 5ghz devices. The only other thing is a DECT phone, but thats not even 5ghz, its 5.8ghz.

I dont get it... I am 15-20 feet away from the router.

EDIT: On a laptop, the closer I get to the router on 5ghz, the higher the noise. On laptop it was -39 dB but the net was working fine. The RSSI was -45, so it makes no sense. Is the router misreading it?

 

[Jong]

You realise that " 5Ghz" wifi starts in most of the world at 5180Mhz and goes up to 5825Mhz. If you are using an 80Mhz band @CH149 that goes from 5745 right up beyond 5800. The part of the "5Ghz" spectrum that starts at CH149 is actually called the "5.8 ISM Band". So, I've no idea if your phone is the whole cause of the problem, but it's quite possible, even likely, it could be conflicting. Also, that band is often used by wireless ISPs so, although your walls should protect you to some extent, you could be getting some wifi interference too.

You've tried other lower channels?

Edit: The noise values reported by Quantenna on 5Ghz do seem higher than we might expect. On my AP and Router (different channels of course) noise is around -52dbm. I've seen others reporting in the 50s, so that seems normal for this device (and I have no transmission problems with it), if odd otherwise.

-41 is of course A LOT worse - not 25% worse but 10 TIMES worse. It does sound like you have a really noisy channel there. Or, if it affects all channels, you have a broken 5Ghz radio.

Edit 2: RSSI is a measure of signal strength, not noise, so there is no contradiction in having a good RSSI but bad noise - they are not related. Similarly, as you move close to your router you would expect RSSI to become a smaller negative number (closer to ~-27dbm max), but noise wouldn't necessarily change, unless of course you are moving closer to some source (not necessarily the main source) of noise.

 

[MasterBash]

Currently testing a new channel. I know what RSSI and noise are. However, the 72 SNR value isnt making sense with that kind of RSSI and noise, right?

I used higher channels because I kept reading that the power is much higher (up to 3 times) than the lower channels.

The values are about the same (-46dB RSSI and -45 noise) while using lower channels. It works better, but I am still getting packet loss, which is because packets are being dropped like before. Its much less, but its still there, I dont have this problem on 2.4ghz.

So, a faulty radio?

EDIT: Laptop works fine on 5ghz, no packet loss. Weird. Maybe its the Media Bridge? But it works fine as primary router...

So in summary :

N66U 2.4ghz as media bridge to AC87U -> works as long as Control channel is selected manually on the AC87U.
N66U 5ghz as media bridge to AC87U -> Wireless log shows no disconnections, but I do get massive packet loss, as if the connection is not working so I cant really access websites, sort of like a disconnection.
Laptop to AC87U -> Works fine, no packet loss, no disconnections.
Laptop to N66U -> Works fine, no packet loss, no disconnections.

It looks like its strictly a media bridge problem. The Auto Control channel on 2.4ghz and anything on 5ghz. I cant tell if its actually my AC87U or N66U though. Both have latest firmware.

 

[Jong]

I assumed noise was variable and SNR/noise were being calculated/smoothed differently. If noise actually varies between -100dbm and -40dbm and, maybe, the router displays the worst noise figure it sees over a time period, that would explain the SNR. But we are guessing!

Maybe log a good old fashioned support ticket about your media bridge problems. -45dbm noise still sounds very poor. I guess you could check all the antennas are properly connected and orientated.

But then again, you may just have problems doing what you want to do. I'm no media bridge expert, I'll be honest, but I'm not clear exactly how you are configuring this on the N66U and AC87U. Maybe you could spell this out for me, or others?

The last post in this thread spells out the minefield that is wireless bridging! http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-1895864/devices-media-bridge-mode.html. It's worth saying that the N66U and AC87U have different 5Ghz chipset manufacturers, so that might not be helping.

 

[MasterBash]

Ya, I opened a support ticket but they tell me to try the same thing over and over again. They even told me to change the MTU, lol.

So my N66U is 15-20 ft away from the AC87U, sitting on my computer (I tried to put it in the middle of my room, plugged somewhere else to make sure the interference wasnt anywhere near my computer). I selected Media Bridge in the Administration tab on the N66U and it asked me to put IP address/dns on auto or manual, I set it to manual with a different IP address than my primary router.

So like
192.168.1.1 - router
192.168.1.2 - bridge

I entered subnet and gateway, gateway being my primary router.
DNS pointing to primary router.

Thats it. There are no other settings that has anything to do with connecting to the main router in media bridge mode.

Obviously, I had to select the network to connect to, thats about it.

The AC87U is standing on a wall.

I am aware that the chips are different. However, the other 802.11n devices can connect to the 5ghz radio just fine.

 

[Jong]

As I understand it all bridges (WDS or client-mode) are somewhat fudged and while any device may work as a regular client, that's not necessarily true for bridges, which generally are more reliable between the same chipset. Forgive me, because I don't have an N66U and it looks like the documentation online is out of date, but it sounds like you are trying to set up an Asus proprietary client-mode bridge (which doesn't look like it was available in the original firmware). This could easily have problems between two very different generations of kit. Have you tried a WDS bridge (settings on one of the wireless tabs)? I know there are downsides to this, but it would be interesting, just for testing. It is possible, though, that WDS mode will have problems too between the different chipsets.

But, it may all still be due to low SNR. Regarding Asus support, surely the noise/SNR figures should be interesting to them. Try taking to router to another location and just booting it up to eliminate noise near where you are. Then, if you are still getting noise in the low 40s and SNR spiking below 20 I would just tell them you have a faulty router and insist on an RMA. Alternatively, will the store not swap for you?

 

[MasterBash]

I will definitely try swap it out for a new one. However, I am trying to make sure it is truly the router. I put it in the middle of an open room, 5ft away from my bridge and i had spikes of up to 800ms all the time.

I did not try WDS, because it has many negative things about it. I will try switching routers though. N66U as primary and AC87U as bridge to see if it works.

 

[MasterBash]

So, after further test with the N66U as primary router and AC87U as bridge, everything works fine. The noise is -82 instead of ~-45. Big difference. All devices work great on it.

What conslusion can I draw from this? N66U is buggy as Media Bridge, AC87U is buggy when a Media Bridge is connected to it, faulty radio?

 

[Jong]

My guess is it's not really a bug in either, but a compatibility issue between the 2 chipsets. They would probably work fine paired with another of the same type and unless they claim compatibility with a list of other devices that's probably all they have to do. For interest, you could try putting the AC87 into n-only mode when you try it as the router. But it's hard to say and I'd still say it's totally fair to swap the router to try and improve that SNR.

 

[MasterBash]

Thats probably some compatibility issue. New one does the same. However, I am quite happy I got a new one, temps are 8C less than the old one. =D

No idea if this issue can be fixable with a firmware update. I might get another RT-AC87U or EA-AC87 in the future. I believe the noise level is simply a reading bug or something.

 

[Jong]

So the noise is the same or different on the new router?

 

[MasterBash]

Same. No idea if the reading is simply a bug. All devices show RSSI = Noise level on 5ghz only, but devices that are not media bridge work. 2.4ghz shows -92 noise and -40 RSSI.