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5GHz all of a sudden just doesn't work at all on AX-58U

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RejZoR

Regular Contributor
What the hell is going on?! I had 5GHz setup and working on laptop on other end of the house and getting good speeds. 2 days ago, my other netbook started saying "Couldn't connect to network" on 5GHz even though it was 3m from router. And now my laptop that's on the other end of house just doesn't see 5GHz WiFi anymore. I haven't changed anything on router and/or on any of devices.

I've tried reconfiguring it and 5GHz just won't show up. Dafaq is going on here?! How can things just go dead all of a sudden without any changes?
 
I am on 384.17 on my RT-AX58U which is very stable. Which firmware are U running?
 
Good point @ColinTaylor , if set to Auto the router may select a channel not supported by the device. Good idea to hard set the channel on the router.
 
I'm using latest Merlin FW. I don't think AUTO is a problem. It worked fine for like half a year and now it would suddenly use some weird channels? Seems entirely unlikely.

I don't get it why with no changes netbook would suddenly be "Unable to connect to this network". I've tried all the frigging combinations, reinstalled whole Windows clean, WPA2, WPA3, WPA2/WPA3, all the damn WiFi standards, wtf?!
 
... and now it would suddenly use some weird channels?
Quite possibly. If it's set to auto when the router boots up it will pick a channel which may be different than the one it had before. It might also be a DFS channel. If the router detects interference on it's channel from radar or another device it may change channel. It's possible that it will choose a new channel that isn't supported by some of your WiFi clients.

Look at the router's System Log > Wireless Log and see what channel it is currently using.

Of course it's possible that the 5 GHz radio is just dead. Looking at the Wireless Log will confirm that.
 
Managed to get it connected to 5GHz. Restarted laptop. Can't connect to network. FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU What the hell is going on. Never in my life I had to set channels by hand and now this frackery. I've had this netbook for years now. How the F is this just suddenly happening.
 
Swearing and cursing here doesn't help us diagnose your problem.

How many devices are connected to the 5GHz band?
Are they all experiencing this problem or just the netbook?
Did you look at the logs?
 
why don't you just set to fixed channel like 36?
 
@RejZoR WiFi isn't an absolute medium like an Ethernet-based LAN might be. It constantly changes not just by what you do to your network, but also what your client devices do (updates, drivers, programs and virus utilities, etc.), your neighbors networks do and even other non-WiFi based interference too.

Test each fixed channel you have available and pick the one with the least issues for you.
 
It seems something changed in Windows because it has massive connection problems when trying to connect to detected networks. But if I manually add the network, specify WPA3, then it miraculously instantly connects to it. That’s the weirdest thing I’ve seen in a while.
 
It seems something changed in Windows because it has massive connection problems when trying to connect to detected networks. But if I manually add the network, specify WPA3, then it miraculously instantly connects to it. That’s the weirdest thing I’ve seen in a while.
If using Win 10, you can reset network. Go to Start button > Settings > Network & Internet > Status > Network Reset at the bottom

Hope this can solve the problem
 
I just don't understand this thing AT ALL. One moment all was fine, the next moment 5GHz WiFi just doesn't work/exist. Or it "Can't connect to this network" error. How you "can't connect"?! I've tried basically all versions of 5GHz configuration. With WiFi 6 / AX, with and without Agile Multiband, with or without MIMO, with or without OFDMA, changed modulation between MCS 9 and 11, changed between WPA2 and WPA3, tried WPA2/WPA3, with and without Perotected Management Frames, without AiProtect, without QoS etc. In some cases it just straight up doesn't show up on that netbook anymore and those times it does, it refuses to connect for whatever stupid reason.

I've also tried resetting network adapter with no change at all. The channel explanation also makes absolutely no sense. Either it works or it doesn't. I've never heard of a case where channels would interfere to such degree it just straight wouldn't show up the network or refuse to connect. At worst it was just slow because it was fighting with other devices for same channel, not just not work at all.

I'm trying to find out if Microsoft has done any changes to the Win10 October 2020 update, but I can't find a single thing mentioning Wireless or WiFi. I've fully reset Windows 10 from cloud copy, but it reinstalled Windows 10 October 2020 update. Only thing left I can think of then is Windows screwing it up so monumentally it won't even connect to 5GHz anymore. Which would make it the most bizarre thing of all times.
 
I think you only messed up with wifi channel. Try change wifi channel to 36 as some wifi adapter only detect UNII-1 channel.
 
@RejZoR WiFi is hard to understand. Not only do neighboring WiFi AP's interact and interfere with our networks, but also, 'invisible' interference too (non-WiFi interference) that can make it impossible for a normal person to understand why the network is no longer stable.

But the way to a stable network is straightforward. And 'understanding' what went wrong isn't a requirement either.

The routers we're using here are not at the level of appliances yet, nor are they a 'known' quantity either that can be easily tracked and fixed on a running network. They can and do 'suddenly' cause issues on their own too.

After trying all the suggestions people offer here, and seeing no improvement, I would suggest a full and complete reset of the router and network devices.

Fully Reset Router and Network

There is no 'full reset of Windows 10' from a cloud copy. That has never worked for any serious issues I've seen. A full and complete 'clean' install is the only thing I've seen work.

An overview of the steps I would take would include following the suggestions in the link above, use new SSID's and do not use any saved backup config files or other old customizations or scripts after fully resetting the router. If you feel you must include customizations that 'once worked', add them one at a time to your network, slowly. Testing fully before introducing another variable.

Edit: at the very least, after doing the above and finding no success with your network, you would at least know that it was the router (hardware?) that was at fault then. And to be clear, I would reset the router fully before I attempted to reset the Windows 10 computers (if at all).
 
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It's not that it's "not stable". It's straight up non functional. Either network doesn't show up entirely or it shows up and when trying to connect it just straight up refuses to connect. All while not changing a single thing on the router itself.
 
It's not that it's "not stable". It's straight up non functional. Either network doesn't show up entirely or it shows up and when trying to connect it just straight up refuses to connect. All while not changing a single thing on the router itself.
I asked you this before but didn't get a clear answer. Is this problem only effecting one device, the netbook? If so then I'd say that this is nothing to do with the router.
 
I asked you this before but didn't get a clear answer. Is this problem only effecting one device, the netbook? If so then I'd say that this is nothing to do with the router.

The other laptop is also a bit wonky. Though I did manage to get that one connected.
 
Have you tried with disabling Wifi 6 (AX) and just use Wifi 5 (AC) ?
 

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