[N66U] Wireless Dropout

[obfuscator]

Hi,

recently I have a problem with my N66U which drops the wireless connection to my devices sporadically. Cannot connect locally to router web interface and to WAN anymore (haven't tried ethernet connection yet). If I deactivate the wireless and reactivate it again with the WPS button at the back (i.e. no complete turn off of the device), the connection comes back. Seems that the wireless hangs in an infinite loop or similar which prevents devices from reconnecting, don't know what the issue is. I also couldn't find any suspicious log messages in the N66U.

I have already tried different recent firmwares (380.57 and below) from Merlin, but no success (and yes, I always set my N66U to factory defaults before and after firmware update). Is there a firmware version for N66U which is the most stable? I read in the forums that the transition from SDK5 to SDK6 driver downgraded the wireless quality of the N66U. Is that true? Should I revert to an older version? If yes, which one?

Btw I only use the 2.4 GHz band, 5 GHz band is deactivated. Channel is 11 at 20 MHz. Mode is N only. Everything in professional tab is at defaults.

I appreciate any help.

 

[L&LD]

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-update-for-374-43-available-v16e1.18914/

 

[pete y testing]

Btw I only use the 2.4 GHz band, 5 GHz band is deactivated. Channel is 11 at 20 MHz.

wow using the 66u in 2.4 gig 150M max only , sure this will give you better compatibility with the likes of apple gear but your missing out on some of the main features of the 66u

 

[obfuscator]

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-update-for-374-43-available-v16e1.18914/

Thanks L&LD, I reverted to that firmware. No dropouts yet, and the web interface also seems to be more responsive. I report back if some dropouts occur.

wow using the 66u in 2.4 gig 150M max only , sure this will give you better compatibility with the likes of apple gear but your missing out on some of the main features of the 66u

Ok, so what do you recommend? 20/40 MHz channel bandwidth to get MAX? My router is one floor and a room away from my bridge (TL-WA901ND), so 2.4 GHz seems to be the best option because of its range and penetration attributes. Most of the devices in the house are N capable. I thought I would interfere my neighbors too much on the 2.4 GHz band if 40 MHz had been enabled (occupies more channels and such).

EDIT: Dropout happened again. 2.4 GHz connection dropped, but Ethernet connection was still available through router to WAN. No suspicious log message in system log which could give some hint.

 

[Zirescu]

Yeah, stay with the 20 MHz bandwidth if you've got multiple neighbours. One other thing that you should do is when you switch the firmware is to delete the settings from the clients and set them up again (especially apple devices). It's a pain, but often will solve the issue.

The 2.4GHz band is a tad notorious for interference due to multiple devices using that band. I'll see some drop-outs and when I go to investigate usually it's due to multiple APs operating on the same channel. Once I switch over to the least congested things improve. If you're running the microwave you might see some clients drop out while it's running.

 

[obfuscator]

Happened several times again with john's fork. Strange is: SSID is still broadcasted and visible to the devices but they cannot reconnect to the router. LAN to WAN connection is still stable. Turning the antennas off and on again (no reboot of the device) reestablishes the WLAN connection to the devices. What the heck is going on? Btw is there a difference between a factory reset over the web UI and a reset over SSH/telnet via mtd-erase nvram? I always used factory reset over the web UI.

(I think this issue has some similarities with this thread.)

 

[johtaja]

Btw is there a difference between a factory reset over the web UI and a reset over SSH/telnet via mtd-erase nvram?

Yes there is, I always reset via telnet/SSH because once I got problem that didn't get fixed via factory reset, but mtd-erase -d nvram fixed it.

 

[Nullity]

Yes there is, I always reset via telnet/SSH because once I got problem that didn't get fixed via factory reset, but mtd-erase -d nvram fixed it.

Interesting. Mind if I ask what the problem was?

 

[johtaja]

Interesting. Mind if I ask what the problem was?

I don't remember exactly what it was, but it was wlan releated. I updated or downgraded or changed from stock to merlin or the otherway, and did factory reset from web gui after that, twice because problems, but it didn't worked correctly. Then I did mtd-erase -d nvram and problem was gone.