Asus, Broadcom, and problems on 384.5

[appleseed]

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...-5-is-now-available.46575/page-14#post-406085

In case it helps anyone else. Looks like the dhcp issue i observed is what is causing the degredation of service on the 2.4ghz wireless network. Not sure why i'm only getting it on the ac88u and only on the 2.4ghz band. I pretty much isolated every device where i noticed the dhcprequest and dhcpack over and over and moved them to other ssid's. I updated the drivers in where they were available. In some instances like an older dell xps all in one i replaced the nic card, but the problem still occured. I'm going to see if I can get a network packet capture of the problem. Moving devices to other ssid and then back to the 2.4ghz ssid on the ac88u didn't make a difference either. Most of the devices are older n wifi adapters, but the one in the logs i attached is a newer intel ac adapter.

oddly, and if you'll allow me a quick moment of levity, your post reminded me of BSG. I don't want to derail the 384.5 release thread but I knew that I had seen this before.

It was exceptionally frustrating back then with the release of 380.57 (Dec 2015, based on 380_1031 GPL), and then you mentioned degradation of service on the 2.4ghz wireless network, in 2018:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-380-57-is-now-available.29308/page-10#post-226903
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-380-57-is-now-available.29308/page-3#post-226324
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-380-57-is-now-available.29308/page-15#post-227629
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-380-57-is-now-available.29308/page-14#post-227474

Spoiler

"All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt051978...l=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0519789/quotes
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt004618...l=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046183/quotes "...but this time it happened in London 384.5"
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046183/trivia?item=tr1212489

There were problems back then on release of 380.57 of the 2.4ghz network, and it was sporadic just like now (some users reported no problems). So, I don't know what to make of this, and like I said just a quick moment of levity because I know it's frustrating for some of you. I have no point to make other than musing that I think it's Broadcom probably throwing their weight like top-dog in the industry and won't allow Asus the hardware access they really want/need in the binary blobs, so Asus has to make do with what they have to produce a GPL with a few band-aids and scotch tape here and there.

It's probably contractual and will probably continue unless someone from each side can speak technically and contractually about low level updates because they both have much to gain or lose in terms of branding and customer loyalty. But this is ultimately Asus' responsibility for the GPL, so I don't know how much to put on Broadcom, because they chose them despite knowing their slower update schedule for kernel, bios, radios, etc..

I hope this gets looked at by Asus soon because I want to upgrade to 384.5 for missing security patches but I'm wary due to the hassle of possibly not being able to go back. At least back in 2015 you could downgrade but that's not the case anymore.

/end of random thought

 

[joe scian]

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...-5-is-now-available.46575/page-14#post-406085

oddly, and if you'll allow me a quick moment of levity, your post reminded me of BSG. I don't want to derail the 384.5 release thread but I knew that I had seen this before.

It was exceptionally frustrating back then with the release of 380.57 (Dec 2015, based on 380_1031 GPL), and then you mentioned degradation of service on the 2.4ghz wireless network, in 2018:
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-380-57-is-now-available.29308/page-10#post-226903
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-380-57-is-now-available.29308/page-3#post-226324
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-380-57-is-now-available.29308/page-15#post-227629
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-380-57-is-now-available.29308/page-14#post-227474

Spoiler

"All of this has happened before, and it will all happen again."
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0519789/quotes/qt3055282?mavIsAdult=false&mavCanonicalUrl=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0519789/quotes
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046183/quotes/qt0388933?mavIsAdult=false&mavCanonicalUrl=https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046183/quotes "...but this time it happened in London 384.5"
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0046183/trivia?item=tr1212489

There were problems back then on release of 380.57 of the 2.4ghz network, and it was sporadic just like now (some users reported no problems). So, I don't know what to make of this, and like I said just a quick moment of levity because I know it's frustrating for some of you. I have no point to make other than musing that I think it's Broadcom probably throwing their weight like top-dog in the industry and won't allow Asus the hardware access they really want/need in the binary blobs, so Asus has to make do with what they have to produce a GPL with a few band-aids and scotch tape here and there.

It's probably contractual and will probably continue unless someone from each side can speak technically and contractually about low level updates because they both have much to gain or lose in terms of branding and customer loyalty. But this is ultimately Asus' responsibility for the GPL, so I don't know how much to put on Broadcom, because they chose them despite knowing their slower update schedule for kernel, bios, radios, etc..

I hope this gets looked at by Asus soon because I want to upgrade to 384.5 for missing security patches but I'm wary due to the hassle of possibly not being able to go back. At least back in 2015 you could downgrade but that's not the case anymore.

/end of random thought

I originally had problems on 2.4Ghz band. totally dissappearing and 1/2 wifi icon appearing on home page whenever problem manifested itself. However the problem is 100% fixed on my ac5300 by flashing factory default entering all configuration manually especially WIFI - then doing a power cycle on router. DO NOT resinstall from saved config, - I select 20Mhz channel BW for 2.4ghz, airtime fairness enabled, bluetooth coexistence disabled and universal beamforming disabled and USB 3.0 interference enabled and Multi-User MIMI disabled.The 20 Mhz is important the rest not so much. The key to 99% of 2.4Mhz issues is to manually enter ALL configuration from scratch when going to 384.5 and of course factory default flash and power cycle.