Noob Advice RE: Blue Cave Losing 2.4GHz Band

[Drinkerbelle]

Okay, this is going to be quite long as I am a network noob; as such, I don’t know which items of information are important, and which may not be. Networking may not be in my wheelhouse (yet), but my senior grey matter is willing to learn... if someone is willing to be patient with me.

If I’m really not in the right place, perhaps someone could kindly direct me to a site where my long query would be better suited?

My BlueCave router has been losing the 2.4 GHz radio band fairly regularly since May (I bought it in January). It still maintains the 5 GHz band, but when my 2.4 band IOT devices disconnect… it is my first indication my 2.4 band has gone on hiatus.

When this happens, the client list in my router UI will not show anything for the 2.4 GHz band. (And if it matters, no, my SSID is NOT hidden.)

When turning on wifi for my phone, laptop, et al., my SSID for the 2.4 GHz band does not appear as a connection option.

My firmware version is the most current (3.0.0.4.384_45708).

I operate in wireless router mode, I've reset my control channel to 11 (from auto) to avoid any congestion from adjacent neighbors (as I live in a condo, and my adjacent neighbors appear to be on 1 or 6).

I disconnected my Blue Cave and connected my older RTN-66U Dark Knight router and had no difficulty with my 2.4 GHz band.

I performed a factory reset for my Blue Cave mid-May, renamed my SSID (differently for both bands), reconfigured from scratch, and tried connecting some devices to a dedicated guest network on the 2.4 band. I’ve changed out my modem to router Cat6 ethernet cable.

I have my router in the exact same location as my previous Dark Knight router, and it is in a location where I've never had any problem with RFI. (It sits atop a cabinet, though I've tried moving the location and orientation -- to the extent that I am able to from my modem -- and the same problem continues to exist.)

The configuration (and dictates) of my condo do not really allow much in the way of flexibility in the location of my modem or router, (or to hardwire). Living in a bit of a Mayberry-like town also limits reliable resources for technical assistance.

In any event, when the 2.4 band has worked, it’s been solid. But sometimes it just vanishes like cheap beer at a frat house.

I contacted ASUS support with this same information, and the only thing more difficult for me than trying to decipher what various networking parlance means on the fly, is trying to understand their requests from me (especially with some of the disparities in grammar).

I am running out of ideas about what is causing this problem, other than thinking there is a problem with the 2.4 radio band.

As far as I can discern, they are asking me to reset my router login credentials to default, and then save a system log and CFG file for their diagnosis. (Additionally, some supplemental information regarding my ISP, modem make/model, my own troubleshooting steps, etc.)

All of this is Greek to me, though they did provide enough cryptic advice that I can likely figure it out.

My question is really two-fold:
1) Once I capture the requested logs/files, can I immediately go back and change my router login?
2) Do these logs allow them access to any of my personal information like my WPA-PSK keys?

Also, is there some glaringly obvious oversight on my part that I am possibly missing?

If you’ve hung in here with this old gal to the bitter end, I sincerely both thank and applaud you for your patience. I would also like to say thank you in advance for any advice or insights you might offer.

 

[L&LD]

I would be wary of doing what was requested of you, myself, with my actual information installed.

Are you able to tell if the neighbors are using 40MHz channel width? If so, Channel 6 will interfere with Channel 11 anyways.

Are you running 40MHz channel width (if so, set to 20MHz)?

Are there any options to disable Universal (possibly also called Implicit) Beamforming?

Any options called Airtime Fairness that are enabled? Or Smart Connect? Or anything similar? Note the name and try disabling it.

Do you have any legacy clients on the 2.4GHz band? Do you have an option for Preamble type (Long or Short) that you can toggle?

Try connecting to the Control Channel 1 as a test and also Channel 6 too (for a day or more, if possible). It may be Channel 11 is close to an environmental interference that is non-WiFi based (and won't show on any scans you can easily do).

Are your SSID's all alphanumeric characters, with no punctuation, special characters or smiley faces used and ideally 8 characters starting with a letter? How about the passwords? Can you test with new SSID's and passwords to rule out this possible issue? If you do test this, do it along with the following steps too.

Can you power down the entire network, including modem, router, and all client devices and physically unplug the units totally, including power cables (from both the equipment and the AC wall outlet, where possible) and any Ethernet and USB cables too. And then leave them unplugged for at least 20 minutes? 60 minutes or more is ideal.

After you've waited the minimum amount of time above or more;

1. plug in the modem and wait for 5 minutes for it to fully boot up.
2. plug in the Ethernet cable between the modem and the router.
3. plug in the power cable to the router and the AC wall outlet and power it up and wait 5 minutes for it to fully boot up.
4. plug in any other wired devices you may have (including switches and the accompanying Ethernet cables as necessary).
5. turn on your client devices.

Have you been asked to perform any of the above by the support agents?

If not and the above doesn't work, what I would do is do a full factory reset with 'fake' settings that you will never use again (including SSID's and passwords). Then send those in after you change the settings back to your own actually used keys.

Hope some of the above works for you and you don't need to send anything in.

For more details on the procedures above, the link in my signature below will give you a lot more to read about to get your router to a good/known state, or, allow you to know with more certainty if the router is indeed having a hardware issue.

If viewing the site on a mobile phone, hold it in landscape mode to see the signature below.

 

[Drinkerbelle]

I would be wary of doing what was requested of you, myself, with my actual information installed.

Are you able to tell if the neighbors are using 40MHz channel width? If so, Channel 6 will interfere with Channel 11 anyways.

Are you running 40MHz channel width (if so, set to 20MHz)?

Are there any options to disable Universal (possibly also called Implicit) Beamforming?

Any options called Airtime Fairness that are enabled? Or Smart Connect? Or anything similar? Note the name and try disabling it.

Do you have any legacy clients on the 2.4GHz band? Do you have an option for Preamble type (Long or Short) that you can toggle?

Try connecting to the Control Channel 1 as a test and also Channel 6 too (for a day or more, if possible). It may be Channel 11 is close to an environmental interference that is non-WiFi based (and won't show on any scans you can easily do).

Are your SSID's all alphanumeric characters, with no punctuation, special characters or smiley faces used and ideally 8 characters starting with a letter? How about the passwords? Can you test with new SSID's and passwords to rule out this possible issue? If you do test this, do it along with the following steps too.

Can you power down the entire network, including modem, router, and all client devices and physically unplug the units totally, including power cables (from both the equipment and the AC wall outlet, where possible) and any Ethernet and USB cables too. And then leave them unplugged for at least 20 minutes? 60 minutes or more is ideal.

After you've waited the minimum amount of time above or more;

1. plug in the modem and wait for 5 minutes for it to fully boot up.
2. plug in the Ethernet cable between the modem and the router.
3. plug in the power cable to the router and the AC wall outlet and power it up and wait 5 minutes for it to fully boot up.
4. plug in any other wired devices you may have (including switches and the accompanying Ethernet cables as necessary).
5. turn on your client devices.

Have you been asked to perform any of the above by the support agents?

If not and the above doesn't work, what I would do is do a full factory reset with 'fake' settings that you will never use again (including SSID's and passwords). Then send those in after you change the settings back to your own actually used keys.

Hope some of the above works for you and you don't need to send anything in.

For more details on the procedures above, the link in my signature below will give you a lot more to read about to get your router to a good/known state, or, allow you to know with more certainty if the router is indeed having a hardware issue.

If viewing the site on a mobile phone, hold it in landscape mode to see the signature below.

You've given me a lot to chew on... probably tomorrow morning after I drag my sorry posterior out of bed. (I'm up much later than my bed time!)

Some of the things you mentioned, I've already done. Others, I'll have to either perform, or dig around to see where settings reside.

Support has not provided any advice, outside of sending them logs/reports.

Thanks again... I'll take another look at this when my eyes aren't nearly so bleary from wanting to sleep.

 

[L&LD]

You've given me a lot to chew on... probably tomorrow morning after I drag my sorry posterior out of bed. (I'm up much later than my bed time!)

Some of the things you mentioned, I've already done. Others, I'll have to either perform, or dig around to see where settings reside.

Support has not provided any advice, outside of sending them logs/reports.

Thanks again... I'll take another look at this when my eyes aren't nearly so bleary from wanting to sleep.

You're welcome.

Try to do the process in the order posted, it makes a difference.