NETGEAR R7000 New Firmware 1.0.2.120_1.0.17

[Ziggy]

There is a new firmware version out for the R7000: 1.0.2.120_1.0.17 (see attached thumbnail enlargement for changes).

The NETGEAR genie gets a much needed GUI cleanup too.

 

[theoak]

Such that you do not have to login to see the picture in the first post. This is what my R7000 displayed on the update page:

A new version has been found. Do You want to upgrade to the new version now?

Current GUI Language Version: 1.0.1.22_2.1.33.8
New GUI Language Version: 1.0.2.120_2.1.33.10
Current Firmware Version 1.0.1.22
New Firmware Version 1.0.2.120_1.0.17

Release Notes:
1. [New Feature] Implicit Beamforming
2. [New Feature] Airtime Fairness
3. [Enhancement] VPN Auto Route support
4. [Enhancement] Auto detect uplink bandwidth in Upstream QoS
5. [Bug Fix] Downstream QoS affects https and other normal traffic fix.
6. [Bug Fix] Incorrect manual adding a MAC address to Access Control allow or block list.
7. [Bug Fix] IE Browser can t access Router FTP server.


FYI

 

[slidermike]

I like this new version of the code/gui interface.
Still not as nice as the Asus but better than it was.
Especially appreciate the beam forming features.

 

[RogerSC]

This new firmware is behaving well for me. Very happy with it. Don't see any new bugs on my end, and a couple of features that they promised were added.

On the other hand, I was just told by Netgear support that due to how complicated the "reboot and lose internet connection if IPv6 is enabled" bug report that I entered 3 weeks ago is, they're escalating it to the next support level up. If that leads to fixing it, that's fine. If it's a way to try to keep me happy without fixing it, then it isn't working *smile*. Doesn't seem complicated to me, but I don't know what the firmware source code that they're working with looks like.

Also, I compared the wireless signal strength from this firmware with that using the latest dd-wrt at the furthest point away from my router with everything except the firmware version held constant using WiFi Analyzer, and the stock firmware is about 10dBm stronger on both 2.4 and 5GHz. Did not have time to do throughput measurements, though.

 

[thiggins]

I like this new version of the code/gui interface.
Still not as nice as the Asus but better than it was.
Especially appreciate the beam forming features.

Why? Do you see improved performance from beamforming?

 

[slidermike]

Thiggins,
I understand beamforming and if its a listed feature were supposed to have then I surely want it.
If its a new feature not previously supported (in code) but added to enhance the value then I want it.
I cant say if my wireless is any stronger or more stable with beamforming but see above.

RogerSC,
per Kong on the dd-wrt forums he stated the stock firmware is showing a 10db higher rate over his because he has yet to implement region based max power. He has it set to an across the board 71mw which isn't as strong as it will be once he adds it.
His current code has the ability to manually push the power level for the wireless higher which is what I did & the signal is back where it was compared to stock.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
Signal level did not change on my R7000 w/new f/w. Maybe my divices don't use QAM mode?

 

[slidermike]

Tony,
Per Kong's statement, if you want to adjust the power settings for your wireless then do it from the command line.
----
When I did the tests it did work for me. But I didn't use the gui, as it is much easier to test if you do the following, connect a client via wlan use some tool like inssider and watch the signal timeline, then logon via telnet or ssh and run command:

wl -i eth1 txpwr <value>

e.g. wl -i eth1 txpwr 80


eth1 is 2G and eth2 is 5G. This way you can directly tell if it changes. But I can tell you right now 200 won't work as the radio limits the output, basically like a car you can tell it do go 200, but if the max it can is 150, it won't go higher

P.S. Netgear lets the radio decide based on region settings. To set it to auto you can run:

wl -i eth1 txpwr1 -1

Taken from this thread.
http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewto...tart=240&sid=0132dfc43920ed71c640c95fbc3fffa8

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
I never needed to fiddle with TX power. I run as is on default settings w/o any issues in my house. ~3000 sq. ft. 2 story from basement to the top floor loft. There must be very few R7000 owners compared to RT-AC68U. Not much discussions on R7000. Mine is up for almost 1 month now not counting f/w update time.

 

[thiggins]

There must be very few R7000 owners compared to RT-AC68U. Not much discussions on R7000.

You might think that, judging from the post volume. But remember there is a large ASUS community here due to Merlin's work.

 

[TonyH]

Hi,
He is doing way, way much. Lot of folks expect to be spoon fed and baby sat, not even trying to do anything themselves. Most posts are like "it doesn't work, help me" This is OT, I have a kid in the neighborhood who is on electrician training course. He asked me help him with 3 phase unbalance Delta circuit with math one day. When I started to explain things, I found out he does not even have basics in trigonometry. Just simply lost cause. I gave up. How could I explain to him phase angles, power factor, impedance, etc.? Draw some pictures and tell him, just this is it?

 

[RogerSC]

Hi,
I never needed to fiddle with TX power. I run as is on default settings w/o any issues in my house. ~3000 sq. ft. 2 story from basement to the top floor loft. There must be very few R7000 owners compared to RT-AC68U. Not much discussions on R7000. Mine is up for almost 1 month now not counting f/w update time.

You could take a look at:

http://forum1.netgear.com/forumdisplay.php?f=153

http://www.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=177443

There may be other places that R7000 owners hang out, I don't know. Keep in mind that the Asus activity here includes the rt-n16, rt-n56u, rt-n65u, rt-n66u, rt-ac56u, rt-ac66u, and rt-ac68u, as well as the network adapters occasionally (and I may have missed some *smile*). And having RMerlin's firmware and his help answering questions tends to attract people as well.

But both rt-ac68u and R7000 are both fairly new, and the firmware for both is close to the ground, so there aren't a whole lot of owners of either. Hard to tell which of those has more out there at this point.