RT-N56U: Nothing but trouble since firmware update

[ElectricPotato]

Last week I checked my router for a firmware update. There was one - I don't recall which one, but I installed it.
Afterwards I immediately noticed quirky behavior. The wireless signal seemed weaker than before, I couldn't stay connected to devices at the other end of the house like I could before. My laptop would connect, then lose connectivity.
And sometimes the signal would just go away.
My 2.4 network is called BadNet24. My 5ghz is BadNet 5.
Eventually, I couldn't connect to anything wireless at all, I checked and (this was at least a couple of days AFTER the firmware upgrade), the wireless networks were all of a sudden named ASUS_* instead of BadNet_*.

So yesterday I checked for a firmware update again thinking that they must've put out a bad firmware.
Sure enough, there was another available.
I updated. I'm now at:
firmware 3.0.0.4.374_979-gbc8961e

My Nexus 7 tablet, which I've NEVER had problems with, is sitting here right in front of my router. I have a strong signal but it won't connect to BadNet24.
It just says "Connecting..." then "Saved, secured with WPA2."
But the Nexus just won't connect. And it doesn't even see the 5GHZ network. I don't recall if it ever did before, but I think it did.

I work from home so it's been frustrating. This morning I'm on my laptop and all of a sudden I lose connectivity to my company's VPN.
I look in the system tray and it says BadNet24, Limited Access.
So I disconnect from it, then it automatically connects to BadNet5 and it's fine after that.

Anyways - anyone else seeing just very odd behavior on the RT-N56U since the latest firmware updates?

 

[wouterv]

You ran into one of the sad issues with the update tool build in the router, it does not properly link to the real latest firmware version!
Check this link:
http://www.asus.com/Networking/RTN56U/HelpDesk_Download/
Select OS: Others
Select: Firmware
And you will find the latest version, as of now version 3.0.0.4.374.4561.
Download this file, unzip it and upgrade the router manual using the unzipped .TRX file.
The best is to (temporary) use a wired connection to the router for the upgrade.
After the firmware upgrade, revert to Factory defaults (Advanced Settings>Administration>Restore/Save/Upload Settings) and manually configure the router again (do NOT restore an old backup file).

 

[ElectricPotato]

Thanks!

I'll give it a shot.

 

[ElectricPotato]

Okay, done.
So far, so good.
I'll give it a try a little later and see if the rang has returned to normal but so far it all looks good.

Thanks again!

 

[ElectricPotato]

Still having a lot of trouble with the router.
It seems my range has decreased significantly. Like I said in my OP, I've NEVER had an issue with range. I've always been able to sit out on my deck with my laptop and work with never losing my connection.
Now, my VPN is up and down constantly. Even my phone sitting beside me is running Pandora and keeps dropping the connection, so I know it's not my laptop.

Has new firmware decreased the range of the router? I checked and tx strength in the router is set to 100% for both 2.4 and 5Ghz.

If I hadn't upgraded my firmware just prior to these issues I would think that my router had a hardware problem.

 

[cdikland]

Do you remember what version the previous FW was that you say worked better? ou can always revert back to it. No harm in trying anyway.

 

[ElectricPotato]

Unfortunately, I don't remember what version it was but, I may have found a trick that works.
I was still getting disconnects from my laptop, even with it sitting 3 feet away from the router, as it is right now.

I'm no expert in wireless networking so maybe this makes no sense, but I started thinking that the wireless network SSID is the same as it always was so maybe the clients have some kind of cached data for that SSID or... I don't know, it just needs to connect to a new network.

So I changed my BadNet24 SSID to BADNET_24.

I connected my laptop, phone, tablet, and one of my Roku's to it yesterday afternoon and it's been flawless since.

Time will tell if my luck holds out here, but looking good so far.

 

[wouterv]

...I'm no expert in wireless networking so maybe this makes no sense, but I started thinking that the wireless network SSID is the same as it always was so maybe the clients have some kind of cached data for that SSID or... I don't know, it just needs to connect to a new network.

So I changed my BadNet24 SSID to BADNET_24.

I connected my laptop, phone, tablet, and one of my Roku's to it yesterday afternoon and it's been flawless since.

Time will tell if my luck holds out here, but looking good so far.

Your trick is a known solution, I should have mentioned that.
The official solution is to delete the wireless connection profile on the client, and connect to the router again by selecting your SSID and entering the passphrase again. Your solution has the same effect.
Together with resetting the router back to factory defaults, re-creating the wireless profile is related to the new wireless driver in the updated router firmware. The old settings in the router don't match the new driver settings and for some reason also the wireless profile at the client end may be incompatible with the updated wireless signal.

 

[ElectricPotato]

Thanks - Still working well.
I'm about to take the laptop outside to the porch and test the range.

I don't suppose there is a guide online somewhere for configuring the router for best results?
For example - for my 2.4GHz network, should I change b/g Protection, Channel bandwidth? Should I change Control Channel from Auto to a specific number? Would my network be more efficient if I just disabled the 5GHz channel and only use 2.4?

Those kinds of things, I'm curious about.

(and yes - I would ask these questions on the Asus forum for this router but it no longer accepts my password and when I try to reset it, it gives me one of those images you're supposed to type in the words that it spells - but the image doesn't show up)

 

[ElectricPotato]

Back to normal behavior.
I can now sit outside with my laptop and not suffer any disconnects.

 

[wouterv]

Thanks - Still working well.
I'm about to take the laptop outside to the porch and test the range.

I don't suppose there is a guide online somewhere for configuring the router for best results?
For example - for my 2.4GHz network, should I change b/g Protection, Channel bandwidth? Should I change Control Channel from Auto to a specific number? Would my network be more efficient if I just disabled the 5GHz channel and only use 2.4?

Those kinds of things, I'm curious about.

(and yes - I would ask these questions on the Asus forum for this router but it no longer accepts my password and when I try to reset it, it gives me one of those images you're supposed to type in the words that it spells - but the image doesn't show up)

Notice that there is a new firmware version for the RT-N56U: 3.0.0.4.374.5656
This solves a few security related issues and is worth to install.
Upgrade from 3.0.0.4.374.4561 to this version should be ok without reverting to Factory defaults, just upgrade - thats it.

Answering your questions:
For 2.4 GHz the common recommendations, specially for crowded areas, are:

1. Leave the Wireless Mode at Auto (unless you really only have 802.11n clients)
2. Disable b/g protection (unless you still use old 802.11b devices).
3. Set the Channel Bandwidth to 20 MHz.
4. Use InSSIDer at various locations in and around your house and manual select the least occupied channel out of 1, 6 or 11 on the router.

Disabling 5 GHz will not enhance 2.4 GHz, if you really do not have 5 GHz devices you may disable it to keep the radio spectrum clean and save a little energy
It is common practise to use 5 GHz for e.g. streaming data (because it has less interference and hence a better throughput) and use 2.4 GHz for generic Internet use (because it covers a larger area).
5 GHz can usually be left to Auto Wireless Mode and Auto Channel.
It is strongly advised for both bands to use WPA2-Personal with AES Encryption, which is mandatory for 802.11n..

The Asus forum suffers performance issues, it is often slow or does not open at all, submitting posts also often suffers issues. Many users gave up and found their place here.

 

[ElectricPotato]

For 2.4 GHz the common recommendations, specially for crowded areas, are:

1. Leave the Wireless Mode at Auto (unless you really only have 802.11n clients)
2. Disable b/g protection (unless you still use old 802.11b devices).
3. Set the Channel Bandwidth to 20 MHz.
4. Use InSSIDer at various locations in and around your house and manual select the least occupied channel out of 1, 6 or 11 on the router.

I should have checked back in again.

All of a sudden my router started having similar issues again.
Everything was working fine, then all of my wireless devices would lose connectivity. The 2.4GHz network showed up but I just couldn't connect to it.
I went to the web GUI and it said that the 3.0.0.4.374_5656 firmware update was available.
"Sweet!" I said. That'll solve it.
No such luck. Still had issues.
Created a new network - BadNet_24A.
Connected devices to the new network. Would work fine for anywhere from an hour to a day, then lose connection and I couldn't connect back without restarting the router.

I assumed my router had gone bad. Went down to Fry's (an hour away) to pick up a new one but before I left, I just flipped through settings and said, "I wonder would would happen if I change the channel bandwidth?"
I googled and saw that it was a common fix in Asus routers to change to 20Mhz from Auto.
So I changed it, went to Fry's and picked up an RT-N65U (it was $70 after a mail in rebate).

Got home, still connected fine. Today, still connected fine.

So I was about to make another post here and decided to reference this one first and saw wouterv's recommendations quoted above. So I guess I was on the right track.

However, I definitely do *not* live in a congested area. I can only see one neighbor and his wireless SSID. Occasionally I can see another neighbor's SSID that's probably a hundred yards away and that's it.

So, it's really odd that this issue just all of a sudden popped up and switching to the channel bandwidth to 20Mhz resolved it, but I'll take it. And doesn't necessarily have to be caused by living in a congested area.
But I do have a number of Wireless clients in my small home.
2 iPhones, a Windows Phone, MacBook, 2 Windows laptops, 2 Roku boxes, 2 Sony Dash alarm clocks, Sony TV, iPad, Nexus 7 tablet... and that's all that comes to mind - a number of wired clients as well (wired Roku, DirecTV box, PC, etc), though that's irrelevant.

Guess I'll be taking the RT-N65U back to Fry's (probably a good thing since I didn't read reviews 'til after I bought it).

Moral of the story, channel bandwidth is a relevant setting even in a non-congested area. Or would the number of clients count as congestion?

 

[rhea]

Sorry for your problems, ElectricPotato. I wonder if I'm experiencing the same. It's hard to tell as my Comcast connection isn't always reliable, but it seems that I'm losing the wifi connection on the router while wired still holds. My RTN56U has been running alternate firmware for most of the the 22 months I've owned it. Over the past three months, we've experienced intermittent and brief outages (less than a minute but half a dozen times a day--wired as well as wifi) so it seemed to be provider issues. But for the past week, only the wireless connections seem to be dropping. I dropped back to a firmware version that was working well in the fall. Problems persist. My bandwidth was set at 20/40 so I've moved it to 20. Now we wait. I will try ASUS firmware before giving up.
Based on your info, I looked to see if the router was still available at frys.com. The RTN65R is available (through tomorrow) for that price. I paid $109. for the RTN56U which is only 22 months old so I'm not sure I want another ASUS if there is a hardware issue.
Anyway, I appreciate you bringing your problem to the forum so I could get some ideas from you and the responders.