Cannot get repeater mode to behave correclty

[iekozz]

Hello all,

I have a Asus RT-AC66u router with firmware 376.49_5. This is the Merlin firmware, but the same thing happens with the original Asus firmware.

This is my set-up:

ISP modem -> Asus RTAC66U (over wireless connected) -> Clients

It all works, sort of. There are two problems that I see.

1) Any wireless client cannot connect to the 2.4Ghz network. Just before it connects the signal strenght goes from very good to poor, but I'm standing right beside the router. The wireless clients connect fine on the 5Ghz network.

2) I have one pc wired from the lan 1 port to the pc. This works too, but once in ahwile the connection drops.

This has an effect in online games for example when you are suddenly disconnected. I see the following in the logs:

notify wanduck: wlc_state change!
kernel: dnsmq ctrl: cb2a8c0 ^Frouter^Dasus^Ccom


I did alittle googeling and found that this is due to the router asking for a dhcp adress but not getting one fast enough it seems?

What have I tried:

Ofcourse, I already tried different things.

1) use merlin firmware instead of asus one -> No effect
2) Use a static ip-adress for the router -> No effect
3) Reset to default then apply settings again -> no effect

Ussaly I try to solve things on my own, but I am really at a loss here. ANy help would be great!

 

[JPWhite]

Glad to see I'm not the only one with this issue. I went through several versions of stock and Merlin firmware with identical results as you.

Since you got no help here or posted any solution, I think I will use DD-WRT and setup a WDS with several routers to achieve the same.

 

[jegesq]

Sorry to respond so late, but I will, in the event it might help others.

First, if your "modem" is truly just a modem (unclear from your description), then you don't need a Repeater. In that case, you want to set up the AC66 as a "Wireless Router" not as a repeater. Based on the way you described your set up, it is unclear whether you have simply an ISP-supplied modem or a combo "modem/wifi enable router" unit from your ISP.

If it's the latter, then you really just need to make sure your signal is strong enough at the AC66 where you have it located, and that you're inputting the correct info about what channel from your ISP's wifi router you want to "repeat". Also, you need to make sure there is as little ambient or environmental interference as possible and that you look to minimize the number of walls/floors you need to penetrate between the router and the repeater. I've found that repeating a 5ghz channel gives far better results (although it doesn't allow for as much distance/range as would repeating a 2.4ghz channel).

I use 2 AC66's, one as a Repeater and another as a Media Bridge (which is not relevant to this discussion), and they both work great with my AC3200 wifi router. The Repeater is set up to repeat one of the 3200s 5ghz radios. Works flawlessly. The 3200 is located on the second floor of our home, and the Repeater is located downstairs at the rear of our home in a back bedroom used by my wife as an office.

Another suggestion would be to try upgrading to a more recent version of Merlin's FW. I would recommend you stay with the 378.xx versions since people who have used the latest 380.xx firmware have had issues with reboot loops with AC66U's.

But once you upgrade the fw, you should have no problems, since there's really no settings to mess with in Repeater mode on the AC66. Just pick a channel to repeat, put in the SSID password, and you should be good to go.

Keep in mind, repeaters will cut your speed roughly in half from what you would get by connecting your client device directly to your router via wifi. You also need to have the Repeater located near enough to your router where your PHY connection rate (which you can see when you access the GUI of the Repeater) is at least 175mbps, otherwise your AC66 repeater likely won't give you sufficient bandwidth for good streaming. YMMV, but I have had great luck with my AC66s, and if your home is such that you can't run hardwired cable to APs to extend your network (or if it's just not practical to run CAT5 or 6 cable), then it's a nice alternative to extend your network.

If your ISP "modem/router" is capable of being set to assign fixed IP's on your LAN, then you might want to assign a fixed IP to the Repeater (rather than the way you have described what you've tried, i.e., setting a fixed IP in the repeater, which I do not believe is possible from the AC66U's GUI when set to "Repeater" mode). That would avoid any issues you might have with your router's DHCP, although I have to say I have never experienced such issues, ever with my AC66U's when set to "repeater mode".

Lastly, keep in mind that since repeating a channel will roughly halve transfer rates, you will need a fairly decent bandwidth speed from your ISP if you are going to use the repeater for streaming live internet content, and especially for any online gaming. Netflix should be no issue since they have different methods of buffering their data, but for live streaming (e.g., NBA games, NFL, TV, etc.), you will need pretty decent bandwidth to begin with from your ISP. I have TWC 300/20 which is more than adequate for live and gaming, but I would not recommend anything below 50mbps down for reliable streaming with a repeater in the mix.

Good luck.

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