RT-AC5300 (380.1355) 2.4Ghz bug?

[rbdan]

I have had my RT AC-5300 running firmware version 3.0.0.4.380.1355 for about a month and I have noticed what I believe is a bug with the 2.4Ghz. I have read a few posts that make me believe that it is a known issue but I would think more people would be complaining if it was. So I want to verify that this is a known bug. (Yes, I did a factory reset after upgrading to 1355 - Twice actually )

When I first installed the router, I set it up using smart connect with all three radios and I noticed that when I came home thru the garage my iPhone attaches to 2.4Ghz due to the distance and I experience extreme connectivity issues. Meaning most functions fail to connect to the Internet.

So I did a few tests:

• I enabled the 2.4Ghz Wireless MAC filter in Reject Mode and added my iPhone. I tested for a few weeks and never had an issue except the 5Ghz signal isn’t quite usable in my garage. This causes problems when the weak wifi gets in the way of LTE. When I try to map a destination or start streaming music before pulling out of the garage is simply doesn’t work due to the fact that it keeps connecting and disconnecting from the wifi due to the weak signal.
• I then enabled the 5Ghz-1 and 5Ghz-2 Wireless MAC filter in Reject Mode and added my iPhone. Within a few hours I experienced connectivity issues even when sitting on my couch which is 10 feet from the router.

I ran these tests on both my iPhone 6 plus and my wife's iPhone 6 with the same results.


So my questions are:

1. Is this a known issue to the community here?
2. Are there any work arounds?
3. Is this a known issue to ASUS?
4. Any ETA on a fix?
5. Does this issue exist in the Alpha (Version 20151231)?

Thank you very much for any info you can provide.

Dan

 

[pete y testing]

When I first installed the router, I set it up using smart connect with all three radios and I noticed that when I came home thru the garage my iPhone attaches to 2.4Ghz due to the distance and I experience extreme connectivity issues. Meaning most functions fail to connect to the Internet.

its not the signal strength its the smart connect detecting the client and forcing it to use 2.4 gig prob due to incorrect info being sent from the iphone to idebtify its self

the simple answer is to just disable smart connect and name the transmissions differently and force the iphone to use one of the 5 gig transmission

i have a htc phone that wont connect to anything but 2.4 gig when the router is set to smart connect but connects fine to 5 gig if smart connect disabled

smart connect relies on the client identifying its self correctly wifi wise and phones seem to have the most issue

 

[rbdan]

Hey Pete,

Thanks for the response.

Question: Shouldn't "Smart Connect" switch my iPhone to 2.4 when I am receiving a weak signal on 5Ghz? That is what appears to be happening but the 2.4Ghz is having issues. Also if I pin my iPhone to the 2.4Ghz network it experiences connectivity issues. Doesn't that point to a firmware issue with the 2.4Ghz?

Just trying to understand what is going on.

Thanks again!
Dan

its not the signal strength its the smart connect detecting the client and forcing it to use 2.4 gig prob due to incorrect info being sent from the iphone to idebtify its self

the simple answer is to just disable smart connect and name the transmissions differently and force the iphone to use one of the 5 gig transmission

i have a htc phone that wont connect to anything but 2.4 gig when the router is set to smart connect but connects fine to 5 gig if smart connect disabled

smart connect relies on the client identifying its self correctly wifi wise and phones seem to have the most issue

 

[pete y testing]

. Also if I pin my iPhone to the 2.4Ghz network it experiences connectivity issues. Doesn't that point to a firmware issue with the 2.4Ghz?

no it points to mac stuff not playing nice

with smart connect disabled i suggest you force 2.4 gig to 20mhz and ensure you use ether ch 1 , 6 or 11 , this should help with compatibility with the mac stuff

what smart connect is supposed to do and what at this point in time it actually does are 2 different things , your iphone can move to a stronger signal by its self without the aid of any help from the router

 

[sfx2000]

With Apple devices, I've seen some odd things with Turbo/NitroQAM in 2.4GHz - try setting the 2.4GHz side to vanilla B/G/N-Mixed mode, and disable anything that suggests the "enhanced" capabilities in that band...

 

[rbdan]

no it points to mac stuff not playing nice

with smart connect disabled i suggest you force 2.4 gig to 20mhz and ensure you use ether ch 1 , 6 or 11 , this should help with compatibility with the mac stuff

what smart connect is supposed to do and what at this point in time it actually does are 2 different things , your iphone can move to a stronger signal by its self without the aid of any help from the router

Pete,

Damn you're good! I just googled that and it make total sense for what I am experiencing.

So here is my solution since I really only want one SSID. I picked up a RP-AC68U repeater and configured it to use Express Way 2.4 GHz mode. So now it communicates back to my RT-AC5300 via 2.4Ghz at approx 156Mbps - 200Mpbs and only broadcasts 5Ghz to the clients. I left my iPhone in the 2.4Ghz Wireless MAC filter in Reject Mode and I'm good to go!

Thank you for your help.
Dan

 

[rbdan]

With Apple devices, I've seen some odd things with Turbo/NitroQAM in 2.4GHz - try setting the 2.4GHz side to vanilla B/G/N-Mixed mode, and disable anything that suggests the "enhanced" capabilities in that band...

Thanks sfx2000. I am going to try this as well, since I would really like to have my 2.4 working as well for when friends come over with iPhones.

Dan