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iPhone does not recognize 5GHz while Windows 10 does plus AiMesh bonus question

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tokyo_networking

Regular Contributor
I have an ASUS AC-1900P bought at best buy and using in Japan.

Initially my iphone does find the 5Ghz band but after a while stops recognizing the 5GHz band until I do a factory reset; restore from a backup and it stops again recognizing the 5GHz band. I have no problem with any of my Windows 10 computers.

Any idea what is going on and what I can improve?

Bonus question: is AiMesh available on the AC-1900P running in Access Point mode?
 
I have an ASUS AC-1900P bought at best buy and using in Japan.

Initially my iphone does find the 5Ghz band but after a while stops recognizing the 5GHz band until I do a factory reset; restore from a backup and it stops again recognizing the 5GHz band. I have no problem with any of my Windows 10 computers.

Any idea what is going on and what I can improve?

Bonus question: is AiMesh available on the AC-1900P running in Access Point mode?

Restoring from backup which one; the iPhone or the router. Try reset network connections in the iPhone (settings, general, reset, reset network connections). The iPhone will reboot and then you'll need to connect to the wifi network again (make sure you have wifi password). All other wifi networks you've connected to will be gone too, so you're forewarned.

edit to add: Make sure you are not hiding SSID's in the router. Apple devices don't like that.
 
Restoring from backup which one; the iPhone or the router. Try reset network connections in the iPhone (settings, general, reset, reset network connections). The iPhone will reboot and then you'll need to connect to the wifi network again (make sure you have wifi password). All other wifi networks you've connected to will be gone too, so you're forewarned.

edit to add: Make sure you are not hiding SSID's in the router. Apple devices don't like that.

This does not make a difference unfortunately.
 
Could there be a conflict in the supported 5GHz frequencies? This presumably being a US configured router (1:ccode=US). I'm not familiar with the ccode setting for Asian routers or their supported frequencies. I suggest testing by manually setting some commonly supported 5GHz frequency.
 
What doesn't make a difference. You didn't say what you tried.
Resetting the network settings, does not make a difference. 5Ghz band is not recognized. Only a factory reset will work, and only for a while. Restoring from a backup after a factory reset and it does not work.
 
Could there be a conflict in the supported 5GHz frequencies? This presumably being a US configured router (1:ccode=US). I'm not familiar with the ccode setting for Asian routers or their supported frequencies. I suggest testing by manually setting some commonly supported 5GHz frequency.
It looks like iOS adjust the supported channels after a while.
When the control channel was set on Auto, it selected channel 161.

Looking at the channels supported in Japan they are 5GHz帯では「W52」で36・40・44・48の4個、「W53」で52・56・60・64の4個。「W56」で「100・104・108・112・116・120・124・128・132・136・140」の11個、計19のチャンネルが使用できます。

Channel 161 is not part of it.

The router supports channels 36, 40, 44, 48, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165.

I now confirmed 36, 40, 44, and 48 do work.

Is it possible to change the configuration of the router to make the Japanese channels?
 
It looks like iOS adjust the supported channels after a while.
When the control channel was set on Auto, it selected channel 161.

Looking at the channels supported in Japan they are 5GHz帯では「W52」で36・40・44・48の4個、「W53」で52・56・60・64の4個。「W56」で「100・104・108・112・116・120・124・128・132・136・140」の11個、計19のチャンネルが使用できます。

Channel 161 is not part of it.

The router supports channels 36, 40, 44, 48, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165.

I now confirmed 36, 40, 44, and 48 do work.

Is it possible to change the configuration of the router to make the Japanese channels?
The ccode (country code) for each band is set in the router's CFE (bootloader). You can see it by running this via ssh:
Code:
strings /dev/mtd0 | grep ccode
I'm guessing that yours says "US". IDK what the Japanese ones are set. Keep in mind that ccode also sets the max transmit power level. Using one higher than your local laws could get you in trouble.
It can be changed but it would be easier to just not choose "auto". In communicating with the router, iOS doesn't set the channel, the router does. So just pick a lower compatible channel that isn't already in use and set the router's control channel to that one.
 
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I am confused. I cannot configure AiMesh in AP mode, but I am able to use it?
You can configure your router as Aimesh-master either in router or in AP mode.
If you have a modemrouter and your first Asus router is in AP-mode you can add other Aimesh nodes to it.

On RT-AC68U it is easy to change the region with few cfe commands, but not allowed to talk about in this forum.
 
newest 384.13 alpha2 introduces Aimesh support!
I have installed 384.13 without any problem.

They AiMesh router is a US model, the AiMesh node is a Japanese model. Interestingly, only channels 36, 40, 44, and 48 are available for selection. These are the only channels shared by both models. I guess the advantage is that I can set it to Auto and I will get a channel “supported” by my iPhone.
 
I have installed 384.13 without any problem.

They AiMesh router is a US model, the AiMesh node is a Japanese model. Interestingly, only channels 36, 40, 44, and 48 are available for selection. These are the only channels shared by both models. I guess the advantage is that I can set it to Auto and I will get a channel “supported” by my iPhone.

Avoid buying Chinese and Japanese ASUS Routers.
Chinese: only Chinese and English GUI Languages.
Japanese: 5Ghz WiFi Channel Limitation - 36, 40, 44, and 48 only.
 
I have an ASUS AC-1900P bought at best buy and using in Japan.

In Japan - use local sourced AP's due to specific regulatory rules about channel usage in the 5GHz band - some channels are not permitted due to other radio resources already in place (for other purposes).

the Radio Law in Japan is quite clear there...

Japan does support DFS channels, but they exclude the UNII-3 band - Channels 149 and up, and even in DFS space, there are limits on things there.

iPhones do honor regional restrictions - not just based on WiFi, but other sources like GNSS and LTE info on the cellular side.
 
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I have installed 384.13 without any problem.

They AiMesh router is a US model, the AiMesh node is a Japanese model. Interestingly, only channels 36, 40, 44, and 48 are available for selection. These are the only channels shared by both models. I guess the advantage is that I can set it to Auto and I will get a channel “supported” by my iPhone.
Hi @tokyo_networking: as you asked in my profile you could contact me via uktechhub.com/forums/
 

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