Thanks for the suggestion. Yesterday, before I had changed anything, the 2.4GHz indicator went off for a while, although the signal remained available.
I changed the settings as per your post, then switched router off then back on again, but it's not altered the problem.
The other thing is that it takes virtually no time at all for the 2.4GHz signal to go live after startup, but the 5GHz signal doesn't appear until about 30 seconds later - I'm not sure if that's normal behaviour for this device.
Firmware version is 3.0.0.4.388_23925-g269b2a6
Thanks
Perhaps this might help you for comparison:
I've been running the RT-AX3000 V1 since 2020 as my main and only router, through many stock firmware updates -- so going on nearly 3.5 years of mostly solid mid-range router performance.
Presently staying with the last 386 firmware (3.0.0.4.386.49674) for stability/reliability until I see some of the issues reported here with 388 on this router subside -- especially the latest 388 version just released. There have been a couple of recent posts referring to 5GHz issues. That said, you'd have to see which other firmware versions the V2 can accept as it's a different later model, if you're so inclined to try.
If you've tried multiple firmware versions and a hard reset/reconfig, then I'm fairly skeptical the light issue is a software issue. Vendors love to tell customers to update their firmware to cure all ills to close the ticket, knowing full well it typically doesn't. Doesn't hurt to try, but I'm highly doubtful in your case if it persists across firmwares.
Recognizing that V2 has different hardware (hence why no Merlin support on V2, sadly), sharing experience with my V1:
The 2.4 and 5GHz lights are ALWAYS on as I use both bands all the time. I've never seen them off during normal operation (except bootup/restart, which is normal).
The band "bootup" times have been VERY consistent regardless of firmware version:
- 2.4 GHz becomes visible/available to end clients very close to 1 minute after power up/reboot
- 5 GHz becomes visible/available to end clients very close to 2 minutes after power up/reboot (This might be because I use the full 160MHz channel spread for OFDMA -- my best guess it that it's scanning those frequencies during the extra minute since they are potentially shared with government usage.)
Also use a Wi-Fi scan analyzer on your smartphone in those dropout areas as you could have interference from neighbors. The best one I've found is the free "Wifi Analyzer" app published by "farproc" -- believe it's Android-only.
Suggesting this as the only real issue I've encountered just happened several weeks ago, and it required adding a network extender that completely cured it (didn't need to add a more expensive and larger device for solving 1 device connection):
My 2.4GHz-only garage door opener just suddenly dropped off my network after 3+ years of solid connection to the AX3000. It wouldn't reconnect after MANY troubleshooting steps and hours. The analyzer app showed in that garage area the AX3000's 2.4GHz network signal was completely unstable -- it would only show for maybe a second or two before disappearing, then reappear and disappear continuously. As a separate test, I couldn't properly connect my AX/5G smartphone there either. Whenever it could connect for a couple of seconds before it dropped, there was no internet connection behind it, so it was utterly useless. So something changed.
Using the analyzer app, there were TONS of overlapping 2.4GHz signals across ALL 11 channels in a highly congested neighborhood -- with several even misconfigured to use 40MHz across or between the main 3 and interim channels to add further problems (I had some choice words for those neighbors' setups).
Repositioning the AX3000's orientation and antennas, trying different channels, and removing other potential causes had zero effect. It's always been a very congested Wi-Fi neighborhood, but I figured something likely changed around me that was infringing in my airspace as the 2.4GHz connections work within shorter ranges in the house. Routers can also be set to change channels automatically, so I figure others were added or changed nearby.
So short of faraday-caging by tinfoiling 3 sides of my garage interior (wouldn't that be ridiculous?), I reluctantly bought a cheap-but-good TP-Link extender under $30. It completely solved my problem without noticeably impacting the rest of my network (tested the thoughput as I was expecting to see a negative change). Any higher cost and I might as well invest in a new router and mesh them, but it would've added a noticeably larger device where I needed a small one.
The AX3000 V1 is a very capable mid-level AX router, but it's well-known it suffers from a shorter effective range than others in its class and higher-end routers. Can't speak to the V2 on this point but it's possible it's similar in this regard.
Anyway, hope this helps. Troubleshooting can suck up a lot of time. Hope your issue isn't more serious on the hardware side.
