RT-N66U, 5Ghz, rMBP problems

[steve23094]

Hello All,

I just wanted to post some experiences I have with my setup. I'm afraid I don't really have a solution, and I don't expect anyone else will either but I thought I would share in case someone else had the same.

I have an Asus RT-N66U, Running Merlin firmware 3.0.0.4.270.26 and a mid 2012 retina Macbook Pro. Virgin Media is my ISP.

When connected on mixed mode 2.4Ghz all appears to be stable. When connected on 5Ghz (n only) it all appears to be flakey. When browsing the internet using Safari my wifi will occasionally totally lock up, I have to disable it and re-enable it on my laptop to get a connection back.

When playing Team Fortress 2 my connection will drop (Warning: Connection Problems) every five to ten minutes and then re-establish, making the game unplayable. This does not happen when using 2.4Ghz.

I know there is a buggy 5Ghz ASUS wireless driver, but I understood that it was only in Merlin builds after 26.

So one thing I tried was changing the 5Ghz from the fixed low channel to a fixed high channel. I thought I solved the problem because it didn't seem to cause an issue for about a day and then, boom, it was back again.

I don't really know how to diagnose the problem. I assume it's either the Macbook or router as 2.4Ghz seems to work okay so I think I can rule out my cable modem.

 

[-KS-Silence[AU]]

I also have a Retina macbook pro....

I cant blame the Router but IMO....
Why? because my other 5GHz Band devices dont have any issues.....

I have a Asus EA-N66 upstairs that links my rig via 5Ghz to my AC66U in N Mode... it never ever drops.... but my rMBP on 5ghz likes to sometimes just "stall" as in the wireless stays connected but just doesnt work, switch to 2.4ghz on the rmbp and all is well....

My rig also has a TP-Link Dualband N-450 Card and it never has issues on either band...

I have noticed the macs dont seem to support all the channels the Router offers in the 5Ghz Band... but my EA-N66 supports them...


How many other 5Ghz capable devices do you have and how do they go on 5Ghz?

 

[steve23094]

Thanks for your thoughts.

My partner has a New iPad with Retina display which supports 5Ghz. She says that doesn't drop off the connection.

It's interesting you mention an issue with your Macbook too, maybe that's the problem?

Because my issue with TF2 is easily repeatable I'm surprised there are not more complaints about it.

I wonder if I have a faulty wireless card or something?

 

[RMerlin]

I vaguely remember something related to 802.11d that had to be enabled on the router when using Macs. Try a Google search on 802.11d and RT-N66U, something might come up - I can't remember the details unfortunately.

 

[saulos]

I have the MBP mid 2011, iPad 3 , Samsung Galaxy S2 , LG TV, all on the 5G and never see any problem of dropping.
I have dropping only when I tried the Load balancing on the .27dw firmware.
No other issues on normal setting on the router, now I use the latest DW form Merlin (354.29.dw)
No special setting on any client, just WAP2-Personal to secure the WIFI, same for the 2.4 ( iPad,iPhone,many Windows PC)

 

[xaviercharles]

I have a all my apple products connected over 5ghz apart from an iphone 4 and dont have and connection dropping issues.

 

[RdeN]

nvram set wl0_reg_mode=h

This will enable enable 802.11d+h. I use a RT-N66U together with a MBA (2012). I use Merlins FW (26b). 802.11d was not enabled on the RT-N66U. After the command mentioned above, I have this:

(standard input):wl0_reg_mode=h
(standard input):wl1_reg_mode=off
(standard input):wl_reg_mode=off

Not sure what 802.11d (and h) are about, something with sending the country codes from the router to clients.

 

[saulos]

Hi,
for what I can see on the NVRAM Key wl0 is the 2.4G and wl is the 5G, so I don't understand how this can work.
Please look at your
wl0_ssid
and
wl_ssid
values and see what is the ssid is the 2.4 and 5 ssid

 

[RMerlin]

wl0 is 2.4 GHz and wl1 is 5 GHz. wl is just a temporary value written by the webui, which then gets copied to ehtier wl0 or wl1, depending on which you were editing.

 

[thomaspleasance]

nvram set wl0_reg_mode=h

This will enable enable 802.11d+h. I use a RT-N66U together with a MBA (2012). I use Merlins FW (26b). 802.11d was not enabled on the RT-N66U. After the command mentioned above, I have this:

(standard input):wl0_reg_mode=h
(standard input):wl1_reg_mode=off
(standard input):wl_reg_mode=off

Not sure what 802.11d (and h) are about, something with sending the country codes from the router to clients.

Thanks that fix my probem could this be added to
Asuswrt-Merlin firmware?

 

[steve23094]

steve23094

Thanks for everyone's comments.

I have been doing some more research and playing around a bit.

A couple of people have mentioned devices other than the mid 2012 rMBP. As I said my partner's iPad doesn't have a problem. So I believe the issue may lie with the MacBook or the interaction between the MacBook and the router/firmware.

There are a number of heavily viewed threads in the Apple forums about similar issues. I tried some of the suggestions there. It's not Bluetooth interference because I have the same problem with it disabled.

Some people think it might be a heat issue or OSX setting the MTU too aggressively. So these are things other people can try.

Last night I reset the SMC.

Today I played TF2 in Windows 7 (Bootcamp) to see if it was a driver or OS issue, and it was fine. I rebooted into OSX and no problems linking at 5Ghz. I just wish I tested it under Windows before resetting the SMC to narrow things down.

Thanks for the tip about 802.11d, Merlin. I'll keep it in mind for next time, although I'm loathe to play around in the console.

I fully expect to be back saying 'I spoke too soon', as I suspect the underlying issue has not been resolved and it will crop up again. I'll post again if that is the case.

Thanks.

 

[Drew66]

Help...

OK N00b mistake. I ran the "nvram set wl0_reg_mode=h" command in a attempt to get my MBA on 5Ghz and now when I download files (apple update for example) I get "corrupted file" error and "package invalid" on my Android phone for android files... very strange.

Anyway, how to I revert back to previous settings?

Thanks in advance.

 

[RMerlin]

OK N00b mistake. I ran the "nvram set wl0_reg_mode=h" command in a attempt to get my MBA on 5Ghz and now when I download files (apple update for example) I get "corrupted file" error and "package invalid" on my Android phone for android files... very strange.

Anyway, how to I revert back to previous settings?

Thanks in advance.

The default value is "off".

 

[Drew66]

"nvram set wl0_reg_mode=off"?

 

[RMerlin]

"nvram set wl0_reg_mode=off"?

That's correct.

 

[steve23094]

As I suspected the SMC reset didn't work. But I have tried something else which appears to have helped. I have been playing TF2 for a couple of hours without any 'disconnect' error messages.

On OS X I changed the MTU size to 1453, it appears the OS X default of 1500 is too aggressive. If you want to try this then select System Preferences > Network > select your Wi-Fi network > Advanced > Hardware > configure Manually > MTU 1453.

I'm loathe to say that this will definitely solve the problem, we will see and I will be back to re-post anything else if it doesn't.

Can anyone advise if a 1453 MTU size is going to dramatically decrease Wi-Fi performance, or is the percentage difference so small it won't really matter?

BTW. Here is a website that has an explanation on how to test your maximum MTU:- http://www.macgurulounge.com/manually-managing-mtu-size-in-mac-os-x/

Thanks.

 

[sto]

I've had the default MTU set at 1453 on my Macs for more than a dozen years. No problems with my wifi speed. But I'm on a slow DSL feed, so YMMV. See http://osxdaily.com/2012/08/02/fix-os-x-mountain-lion-wireless-connection-problems/ for more.

 

[baltosml]

I had some issues with the MTU size because of my ISP (Clear) and I added the following to my wan-start script to force the router to smaller MTU:

ifconfig eth0 mtu 1400
ifconfig eth1 mtu 1400
ifconfig eth2 mtu 1400

 

[steve23094]

Hmmm... All very interesting.

I was playing some more TF2 tonight and there were issues. But not as bad, more a stutter compared to it actually saying 'disconnect error'. I'll check again tomorrow because it could have been the server itself. But if not I'm guessing my MTU is still not tweaked quite right (I got the figure of 1453 by pinging packets until they had to be split, and then added 28 for the overhead).

I might try a lower MTU.

 

[stdaparks]

Macbook Pro Retina 5GHz

Since I upgraded the firmware on my Asus RT-N66U router I have had significant connection issues to the 5GHz band. I was connected briefly, but for about 10 days I have been struggling.
The Macbook Pro (Retina-late 2012) will not connect. I receive a timeout message consistently. All of our other machines, including a Macbook Pro (non retina) and a Macbook Air connect without issue.
While I am more inclined to blame Maverick for this issue, it seems to have occurred after the Asus firmware upgrade.
This is a significant issue as I am running at 145MBps instead of 450MBps, big problem with large file transfers.