Diagnostics for RT-AC68U?

[gogreen1]

Is there a diagnostics program for the RT-AC68U? After a recent firmware update to 3.0.0.4.380_7743, I notice that my laptop occasionally loses its network connection. My iPhone and my desktop (which is hardwired) are working fine.

 

[ColinTaylor]

In a word, no. You could look the router's system log, but if it's a wireless client issue I can almost guarantee there won't be anything there.

 

[gogreen1]

Thank you, ColinTaylor. I suppose I should focus on the laptop then. Device Manager shows the laptop's network adapter driver up to date and working OK. What would be the best way, or ways, to track down and solve this problem?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Tracking down wireless problems is a black art at the best of times, as witnessed by the hundreds of posts on these forums from people with "weird" wireless issues. Even more so when trying to track down an "occasional" issue with just one device.

You could have a look at the router's System Log > Wireless Log page and keep an eye on the device in question. That might give you a clue.

 

[gogreen1]

OK. Well, here's an excerpt of the system log for the last few days. I'm not sure of what I'm looking at. Anything here look suspicious to you? Thanks.

 

[gogreen1]

You may also try by disabling "Airtime Fainess" in wireless-professional

I couldn't find it at first, but I just found it and disabled it. I'll see if that makes a difference. Thanks, Sanna1967.

Does changing this setting require my restarting the router?

 

[doczenith1]

I would also disable all beamforming on the 2.4 Ghz band and the universal beamforming on the 5 Ghz band as those options can cause issues with some clients. The router will reboot if it needs to but a manual reboot can't hurt and sometimes fixes minor glitches.

What firmware version did you have before the upgrade to 7743 and was it working fine with that version?

 

[ColinTaylor]

OK. Well, here's an excerpt of the system log for the last few days. I'm not sure of what I'm looking at. Anything here look suspicious to you?

Nothing to see there.

Do you have the Wireless Log page, rather than the General Log that you posted? It's possible that page isn't present in stock firmware.

 

[gogreen1]

I would also disable all beamforming on the 2.4 Ghz band and the universal beamforming on the 5 Ghz band as those options can cause issues with some clients. The router will reboot if it needs to but a manual reboot can't hurt and sometimes fixes minor glitches.
What firmware version did you have before the upgrade to 7743 and was it working fine with that version?

I've disabled beamforming as you suggested, and after I send this message, I'll reboot the router. The previous firmware version was what I had downloaded after the notification appeared on the interface, so I guess whatever was standard. Is there a place I can view the router's firmware history? And, yes, I think the previous firmware version worked better, although I can't be certain.

The interface does have a wireless log (attached).

I'm going to see how things go today after my reboot. Fingers crossed!

 

[ColinTaylor]

Is there a place I can view the router's firmware history?

No.

The interface does have a wireless log (attached).

I'm assuming that the device in question is only connecting to the 2.4GHz network? Just keep an eye on its entry in the "Stations List". The Tx and Rx rates should be reasonably high (i.e. > 50M) when sending or receiving large amounts of data. Compare the "Connect Time" with the other devices just to confirm that it is the only device being disconnected and not something that is actually silently effecting every device.

If the problem persists you might consider changing the bandwidth from 40MHz to 20MHz. That would increase the range/reliability of the signal at the expense of halving the theoretical maximum throughput.

 

[gogreen1]

I'm assuming that the device in question is only connecting to the 2.4GHz network?

Yes. I hate to be thick, but where would I view the "Stations List"?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Yes. I hate to be thick, but where would I view the "Stations List"?

It says it in the screen shot you provided. It's about half way down. It's the title above the list of connected devices.

 

[gogreen1]

It says it in the screen shot you provided. It's about half way down. It's the title above the list of connected devices.

Got it. Thanks.

I'm not sure if it's fixed, but so far the network connection is steady. Time will tell.

Thanks, everyone, for sticking with me on this!

 

[KevTech]

If you are on the stock firmware and want to see in the log the DHCP messages of devices connecting then you need to change the log level.

nvram set log_level=7
nvram commit

 

[gogreen1]

My wife, who uses the laptop far more than I do, says the 2.4 GHz band connection is now steady and unbroken, so I think the problem is solved. Here are the changes I made:

* Changed the 2.4 GHz band to a channel bandwidth to 20MHz.
* Disabled Airtime Fairness on the 2.4 GHz band.
* Disabled both Explicit and Universal Beamforming on the 2.4 GHz band.
* Disabled Universal Beamforming on the 5 GHz band.

I can't be sure which item did the trick, or if I needed all or just some of these changes to solve the problem. In any case, thanks to all who helped with this problem!