Significant update to 2.4ghz issue (at least on AC3200)

[dreadnought]

I had Amazon replace the AC3200 I recently received that was a nightmare in terms of 2.4ghz. The short story is that I was never able to connect to 2.4ghz even after nearly a day of extremely frustrating troubleshooting.

Today I opened up the replacement AC3200. I kept my initial configuration extremely simple (stock firmware) to see if I could connect to 2.4ghz at any stage of my configuration. I also started this configuration in a segregated office, away from the area where I ran into all the problems with my last AC3200. I noticed that immediately after powering the new AC3200 up I saw not only the two default 5ghz ASUS SSIDs, but also the 2.4ghz ASUS SSID. Nice. I connected to the 2.4ghz SSID and started some configuration, intentionally disconnecting and reconnecting a few times to that SSID just to make sure it was reliable. It was.

Literally within seconds of changing the SSIDs (and adding WPA2 PSKs) from the initial configuration pages, everything went to hell again. The 2.4ghz SSID took much longer than the 5ghz SSIDs to show up in my available networks. I tried to connect to it, and I kept getting asked for the password that I am absolutely sure I was entering properly - a similar issue others here have noticed. After a short period of time, the 2.4ghz SSID "went away" again and was no longer listed in my available networks. I am approximately 5 feet away from the AC3200. The 2.4ghz light on the AC3200 is always on along with the 5ghz light. The 5ghz SSIDs are solid and reliable. I guess I am not absolutely sure that there is cause and effect between the SSID name change/WPA2 PSK addition and the death of 2.4ghz, it could be coincidence that 2.4ghz just died at that time coincidentally. Either way, not good.

The label on the bottom says F/W = 3.0.0.4.380 and HW ver = R2.35.

Something is seriously jacked up with 2.4ghz on at least the AC3200. Has ASUS said anything officially about this? A support person seemed to acknowledge they know there is a problem, mentioning that some customers have found that flashing earlier firmware resolves issues with 2.4ghz.

 

[AndreiV]

Have you tried Merlin's firmware ?

Personally I have never seen any issue with the WiFi on my AC3200's.

Friends and family have this model and they have no issues either.

 

[joegreat]

Something is seriously jacked up with 2.4ghz on at least the AC3200.

...or on your client device!?

By the way: Do you use any special characters in the SSID name or password? This is not supported so better to stay with A(a)-Z(z) and 0-9 characters only!

 

[dreadnought]

Have you tried Merlin's firmware ?

Personally I have never seen any issue with the WiFi on my AC3200's.

Friends and family have this model and they have no issues either.

Yes, on my last AC3200 I actually flashed it to Merlin's latest firmware right away and started having the 2.4ghz issues. I noticed one of our 2.4ghz-only security cameras could not connect to the network, that's when I began focusing on 2.4ghz with my laptop and iPhone in terms of testing. If I didn't have a few 2.4ghz only devices, I wouldn't have any issues because 5ghz seems fine under any firmware, any ASUS device.

I'm thinking of just stealing one of our neighbors access points since I see there 2.4ghz SSIDs reliably. Seriously though I will probably return this second AC3200 and try a Netgear with as close to default settings and report back regarding 2.4ghz in the same location.

 

[dreadnought]

...or on your client device!?

By the way: Do you use any special characters in the SSID name or password? This is not supported so better to stay with A(a)-Z(z) and 0-9 characters only!

Regarding clients, the three I have used in testing are a 2.4ghz-only security camera, a MacBook Pro w/ latest OS X, and an iPhone.

Yes, special characters (slashes) in the password that work fine when I connect to the 5ghz SSIDs. I tried removing them on the last AC3200 and there was no improvement in the reliability of seeing the 2.4ghz SSID in my available networks or being able to connect when I did, but I will try that again today before returning the second AC3200.

Thanks!

 

[kfp]

There’s really no point in doubting if the problem is with stock or Merlin firmwares, or if it is bad clients. There is enough people reporting WiFi issues especially the 2.4Ghz band that this is obviously a driver issue.

Maybe you want to give the latest stock firmware a spin? Most that did reported better 2.4 connectivity.

 

[Stewart Sandro]

Regarding clients, the three I have used in testing are a 2.4ghz-only security camera, a MacBook Pro w/ latest OS X, and an iPhone.

Yes, special characters (slashes) in the password that work fine when I connect to the 5ghz SSIDs. I tried removing them on the last AC3200 and there was no improvement in the reliability of seeing the 2.4ghz SSID in my available networks or being able to connect when I did, but I will try that again today before returning the second AC3200.

Thanks!

I only have special characters in my 5ghz SSIDs. My 2.4ghz SSID is only letters and numbers. I too have a 3200 and had all the problems described here and elsewhere. I was on 384.5 and still had the problems so I took the advise of others here and went back to 384.3 with a factory reset. I have had no problems since.

 

[Lee Glenn]

I had Amazon replace the AC3200 I recently received that was a nightmare in terms of 2.4ghz. The short story is that I was never able to connect to 2.4ghz even after nearly a day of extremely frustrating troubleshooting.

Today I opened up the replacement AC3200. I kept my initial configuration extremely simple (stock firmware) to see if I could connect to 2.4ghz at any stage of my configuration. I also started this configuration in a segregated office, away from the area where I ran into all the problems with my last AC3200. I noticed that immediately after powering the new AC3200 up I saw not only the two default 5ghz ASUS SSIDs, but also the 2.4ghz ASUS SSID. Nice. I connected to the 2.4ghz SSID and started some configuration, intentionally disconnecting and reconnecting a few times to that SSID just to make sure it was reliable. It was.

Literally within seconds of changing the SSIDs (and adding WPA2 PSKs) from the initial configuration pages, everything went to hell again. The 2.4ghz SSID took much longer than the 5ghz SSIDs to show up in my available networks. I tried to connect to it, and I kept getting asked for the password that I am absolutely sure I was entering properly - a similar issue others here have noticed. After a short period of time, the 2.4ghz SSID "went away" again and was no longer listed in my available networks. I am approximately 5 feet away from the AC3200. The 2.4ghz light on the AC3200 is always on along with the 5ghz light. The 5ghz SSIDs are solid and reliable. I guess I am not absolutely sure that there is cause and effect between the SSID name change/WPA2 PSK addition and the death of 2.4ghz, it could be coincidence that 2.4ghz just died at that time coincidentally. Either way, not good.

The label on the bottom says F/W = 3.0.0.4.380 and HW ver = R2.35.

Something is seriously jacked up with 2.4ghz on at least the AC3200. Has ASUS said anything officially about this? A support person seemed to acknowledge they know there is a problem, mentioning that some customers have found that flashing earlier firmware resolves issues with 2.4ghz.

I had terrible problems with 2.4G when I first got the AC3200 a few months back, but that coincided with the latest stock firmware being the 50010 release which is where I believe the issue came about.

I followed the advice in the router console and updated to that by default.

Having eventually found out from a nice lady on the forum here that I needed to roll back to an earlier version, I stayed on that for the best part of a month or so - No 2.4G issues.

Before upgrading to the latest firmware last week, I factory reset my router, then downloaded the 1st June 2018 firmware from the Asus website.

On updating the firmware, I've had absolutely zero 2.4G issues since.

 

[bsdsource]

dreadnought you should try the latest stock ASUS firmware Version 3.0.0.4.382.50624 instead of using Merlin's firmware. Merlin hasn't merged the newer RT-AC3200 source code from ASUS yet into his firmware and the last source code he merged was Version 3.0.0.4.382.50010 which according to Lee Glenn seems to have the 2.4ghz stability issue.

Just to reinforce what others have said reference special characters in your SSID. They should not be used and will only cause you problems if you use them.

Feel free to report back with your findings so others will know if the 2.4ghz stability issue has been resolved with the newer ASUS firmware 3.0.0.4.382.50624.

 

[guho]

Yesterday after too much frustration I also went from Merlin 384.5 to Asus Version 3.0.0.4.382.50624 on my AC3200. Did not perform factory reset so it kept relevant settings. Works perfectly @ 2.4GHz now unlike 384.5. Asus, please Open-source 50624. If I have to choose between Merlin features and solid 2.4GHz, I choose the latter. But I'd rather have both. Thanks.

 

[jerry6]

latest Asus FW did not fix my 2.4 ghz problems

 

[kfp]

FWIW, I compiled Merlin’s firmware with the wireless drivers from 50470 and don’t see the 2.4Ghz issues I was having anymore.

 

[agilani]

FWIW, I compiled Merlin’s firmware with the wireless drivers from 50470 and don’t see the 2.4Ghz issues I was having anymore.

Are you sure its wireless driver related? After setting my channels manually, my 2.4 ghz network has been rock solid. I don't think this version of gpl actually calculates interference snr and rssi correctly. Or it doesn't change the radio channel. I had mine set to auto and never had a problem up to now. After checking this version of code, my repeaters auto channeled to 2 and 3, my router to 4 and two of my amazon firetv/stick have hidden routers broadcasting on channel 4 with a pretty strong signal.

I moved one repeater to 1 and the other to 11. I set the router to 7 and moved the firesticks to one of the repeaters. That way if they are interfering they aren't interfering with the internet router.

 

[kfp]

I’ve always used a set channel with set channel width, so yes I’m sure.

 

[guho]

FWIW, I compiled Merlin’s firmware with the wireless drivers from 50470 and don’t see the 2.4Ghz issues I was having anymore.

Could you share your build please?

 

[jerry6]

Well I figured one of my 3200 had a bad 2.4 radio no FW fixed it , connected at 300 Mbps but would download files at 126 - 300 Kbps max , got an RMA , the one I'm using now is on 384.3 and the 2.4 radio is working well , not sure I'm going to upgrade FW just yet , don't want to find out that 384.5 is going to mess up the 2.4 radio .

 

[Adrien]

just saw that after i created a post regarding similar issues.
https://www.snbforums.com/threads/ac3200-and-2-4ghz-issues.47365/

 

[Adrien]

Well I figured one of my 3200 had a bad 2.4 radio no FW fixed it , connected at 300 Mbps but would download files at 126 - 300 Kbps max , got an RMA , the one I'm using now is on 384.3 and the 2.4 radio is working well , not sure I'm going to upgrade FW just yet , don't want to find out that 384.5 is going to mess up the 2.4 radio .

384.3 does not work for me

 

[Adrien]

...or on your client device!?

By the way: Do you use any special characters in the SSID name or password? This is not supported so better to stay with A(a)-Z(z) and 0-9 characters only!

actually i am.
I have _ in it
Do you really thing that this could be a problem?

 

[Grisu]

actually i am.
I have _ in it
Do you really thing that this could be a problem?

it could!

but I use '_' too for main and guest without any problem in 5G (2.4G a mess).

And Asus themselve use Asus_5G per default!