[AX86U Pro] WIFI not working well after updating from stock to Merlin

[Tech9]

Well, 5ghz doesn't reach enough

Some people use repeaters and reach further. AX-class repeaters are available as well as Asus AiMesh. You know what you are doing, I guess.

 

[Neo-ST]

Then turn smart connect off.

I turned 5ghz off with SC enabled. My phone was using 2.4. It still had disconnects where it doesn't with stock fw. Other devices too. So I don't see a point in turning off SC when neither 2.4 or 5 don't work well under Merlin.

Some people use repeaters and reach further. AX-class repeaters are available as well as Asus AiMesh. You know what you are doing, I guess.

I don't want to use repeaters just so I can use Merlin. If anything, it would confirm that Merlin has problems.

 

[RandomUser777]

I turned 5ghz off with SC enabled. My phone was using 2.4. It still had disconnects where it doesn't with stock fw. Other devices too. So I don't see a point in turning off SC when neither 2.4 or 5 don't work well under Merlin.



I don't want to use repeaters just so I can use Merlin. If anything, it would confirm that Merlin has problems.

Just at home, I have a spread of ~30 devices, N to AX class, all running perfectly fine with Merlin.

I use same SSID for 2.4 and 5, and have used it with smart connect off and on, no problems either way.

Currently SC is off and both bands and all devices are behaving fine. For months.

Nothing is wrong with Merlin.

In this thread there are 5 AX86U PROs in service, and the only one that apparently doesn't work with Merlin (even though the wireless drivers are the same as stock), happens to be yours.

The issue is either undiscovered operator error, or the router needs to be returned.

 

[Neo-ST]

The issue is either undiscovered operator error, or the router needs to be returned.

1) The operator installed Merlin, did factory reset and left WIFI settings untouched. My phone was having disconnects. Then I turned 5ghz off. It seemed better, but after a few days of testing, it just started having the same disconnects again, although running only on 2.4.
2) If I was to return the router, what would I say to the shop? Hey guys, the router is working perfectly fine, but when I install Merlin, WIFI doesn't work well ?

 

[RandomUser777]

1) The operator installed Merlin, did factory reset and left WIFI settings untouched. My phone was having disconnects. Then I turned 5ghz off. It seemed better, but after a few days of testing, it just started having the same disconnects again, although running only on 2.4.
2) If I was to return the router, what would I say to the shop? Hey guys, the router is working perfectly fine, but when I install Merlin, WIFI doesn't work well ?

Clearly there is something wrong with the router then. The fact that it worked fine with Merlin for a while with 5 off, and for no reason went downhill sometimes later means gremlins are in your router.

I would tell the shop that the wifi is unstable and you want and exchange. Merlin is an approved firmware, it's not like you flashed Tomato or a homebrew.

 

[jerry6]

1) The operator installed Merlin, did factory reset and left WIFI settings untouched. My phone was having disconnects. Then I turned 5ghz off. It seemed better, but after a few days of testing, it just started having the same disconnects again, although running only on 2.4.
2) If I was to return the router, what would I say to the shop? Hey guys, the router is working perfectly fine, but when I install Merlin, WIFI doesn't work well ?

Merlin FW is not the problem , when you go from Asus to Merlin you should do a factory reset and reconfigure manual not import old settings

 

[Neo-ST]

Clearly there is something wrong with the router then. The fact that it worked fine with Merlin for a while with 5 off, and for no reason went downhill sometimes later means gremlins are in your router.

No, it means there are gremlins in Merlin fw, because stock works like a charm (been testing the whole day today. More signal bars than on Merlin).
Btw. found this, people had problems with wifi on Merlin before me, so I don't see a reason to return the router.
Maybe I'll try with some other Merlin version in the future, if they fix these issues.

Merlin FW is not the problem , when you go from Asus to Merlin you should do a factory reset and reconfigure manual not import old settings

I did all that.

 

[RandomUser777]

No, it means there are gremlins in Merlin fw, because stock works like a charm (been testing the whole day today. More signal bars than on Merlin).
Btw. found this, people had problems with wifi on Merlin before me, so I don't see a reason to return the router.
Maybe I'll try with some other Merlin version in the future, if they fix these issues.



I did all that.

That thread is 4 years old and for AC class routers using a previous Merlin compile.

The fact still stands for itself: out of (5) AX86U Pro's, yours is the only one with issues.

Either I ended up with 4 that have some fault that allows it to miraculously work with Merlin, or you ended up with one that has a fault which prohibits use of Merlin.

Occam's Razor.

 

[bennor]

Many devices losing connection constantly with Merlin, but with stock everything works fine.

What devices and how many?
Are they all connected using 2.4Ghz?
Have you used any sort of WiFi analyzer to see what other WiFi signals may be present in your area? (May have missed you mentioned checking this)
Have you tried different WiFi channels?

Seems rather odd that various people in this discussion who have RT-AX86U Pro's don't appear to be having WiFi problems with Merlin firmware yet you do. That would seem, at first glance, to indicate either a specific issue with your router (or its configuration) or some sort of local environmental factors at play. Could even be down to your dwelling construction being a factor.

 

[Magister]

Using Merlin for multiple years here, was on AC68 now on AX86. My GF Samsung phone also always got disconnected. While I was able to go everywhere even remote backyard and still had 5GHz, my GF phone would lose connection on 2.4 in the house. I installed WiFiAnalyzer on her phone, and her phone saw almost no wifi around us, like if the internal antenna was disconnected on her phone. She changed phone and tada! see a lot of networks around her. Problem is Samsung phone.

 

[TheLyppardMan]

I tried that too.
Didn't help.
Why would I RMA it if it works great on stock fw ? Doesn't make sense.

My RT-AX86U Pro works just as well on Merlin as on the stock firmware. Most of my devices are now on the 5 GHz band, so I'm not too bothered about the performance of the 2.4 GHz band, but if it's not performing as well as it should on Merlin firmware, then it would strongly suggest that there is indeed something wrong with your router. Given the high price of the device, why would you want to keep a defective product when you could exchange it for one that actually performs as it is supposed to?

 

[Tech9]

No, it means there are gremlins in Merlin fw

I don't know about the gremlins in Asuswrt-Merlin firmware, but running SmartConnect with single radio enabled as per your screenshots earlier tells me you don't have a clear idea how things work. I know you did multiple resets, but you perhaps applied the same wrong settings after. The fact is folks around run this same firmware on this same hardware successfully. If something was that obviously wrong on a popular model - the Asuswrt-Merlin release thread would be full of error reports. And it isn't.

Why you have Roaming Assistant enabled in Wireless, Professional, for example? It assists your devices roam... where?

 

[Neo-ST]

Ok, I think I might be getting to the bottom of this problem of mine.
Another user from another forum says he had the same problem with his Asus router (weak Wifi signal on Merlin/OpenWRT) but after changing region to DE in OpenWRT, signal was back to full.
I don't see that option in Merlin ?

Digging deeper, I found another user asking for this option:

Does Merlin fw unlock regional wifi channel restrictions?

Hi, If I was to buy an Asus RT-AC5300 in UK and flash it with Merlin firmware, would I be able to select channels such as 157 on the 5ghz band? Also does the UK/EU version of the AC5300 come with DFS channels such as 120? Cheers

www.snbforums.com

And even some script that was made purely to offer region change for Merlin due to these problems:

Change country to unlock channels, increase TX-power. (Use at your own risk)

Change country to unlock channels, increase TX-power. (Use at your own risk) - README.md

gist.github.com

Since my router was bought in EU region, stock fw was probably hard coded to use AU/DE region by default, so that's why it's more powerful.
But Merlin on the other hand, is "global" and who knows which region was hard coded into it. Whichever it is, is not working well for my region.
I must switch the region somehow to AU/DE to get the full power on Merlin.

Anyone knows the easier way to do it, except this script above ?

 

[Tech9]

But Merlin on the other hand, is "global" and who knows which region was hard coded into it.

The region of your router doesn't change. It's hardcoded in the bootloader.

Anyone knows the easier way to do it

Exceeding local RF regulations is illegal and not allowed to discuss here on SNB Forums.