WI-FI slow / no 5ghz SSID after updating the firmware on my ASUS RT-AX82U.

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[dataman1701]

BACKSTORY (summarized):

The first few times I attempted to update the firmware on my ASUS RT-AX82U, the update failed and it either rebooted itself 15 seconds after wi-fi connected, had unstable connectivity or  “bricked” it for a few days.

I had tried the Reset button & Factory reset via WPS switch.   Only made things worse after re-entering the SSID data over and over.   Yes, I called ASUS support, but no solution worked.     At this stage, ethernet & wi-fi were dead.

After doing my own research, as a last resort, I forced a firmware update by connecting PC to wi-fi hotspot from cell & then manually downloading the firmware file from the ASUS download center.     I then used the ASUS FIRMWARE RESTORATION tool.       My router was manufactured in 2021, so I eventually used the 11/21 version, since other versions were extremely unstable.

After that, my ethernet and Wi-Fi worked, albeit without the 5ghz band and Wi-Fi being slow.     Reluctantly, after a few days I used the GUI to update the firmware to the latest version:

Current Version : 3.0.0.4.388_24963-g7d00a47
The latest version : The router’s current firmware is the latest version.

Ethernet works fine @ 289mbs.    Wi-Fi partially works, but enough to stream videos and support smart-home devices.

 

CURRENT DILEMMA:

• As of this writing, my 5Ghz SSID is not showing on my cell and the 5Ghz LED on the router is not lit, even though the dual-band broadcast is enabled.     I can live without it but just wondering why?
• The download speed of the 2.5Ghz band is low, between 4-12Mbs.

 

Attached is a screenshot of my router’s main GUI.    Further screenshots or feedback of menu items A-U available upon request.

• This topic was modified 8 months ago by dataman1701.

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In light of what @PKCano said here and @Paul-T said here, I believe your current lack of the 5GHz band is most likely a “side effect” (aftermath) of the failed installation of newer firmware for the router that you’ve already documented.

Although PK suggested getting a new router if you find that life without the 5GHz band is unbearable, you’ve already said that you don’t really mind not having that band available.

BUT, from what your screenshot shows, it looks like you’ve got 57 devicess wanting some of your 2.4GHz bandwidth. Based upon prior experience I have with helping some neighbors with very slow 2.4GHz speed, this is probably why your WiFi speed is so slow. You might want to go through the list of devices connected via WiFi to make sure they’re all yours, deleting any from the list that definitely aren’t.

When I helped our neighbors trim the excessive clients from their wireless network, within a couple of days the local cable outfit was in the neighborhood installing cable internet to a few folks who’d been mooching our neighbors’ WiFi signal.

I hope this helps a bit.

2 users thanked author for this post.

dataman1701, PL1

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I agree that the missing 5ghz SSID could be a side effect of the failed firmware update.    I say that because the router was hooked up for 3 days before I attempted the firmware update.    Both bands worked flawlessly & I was getting 80mb download on the 2.5ghz wi-fi band.

I could not log into the router settings via the GUI @ router.asus.com & I needed to set up my guest account.    The previous owner had no idea what they assigned as credentials.   ASUS recommended a factory reset, then to update the firmware.     Since they made it, I took their advice without prejudice.

I looked through the connected devices list & do not see anything that really jumps out as suspicious.    Some have cryptic names so those are ?

To test this theory of it being overloaded, I will rename the SSID & connect to it with my cell.  Since that will be the only connected device, if the problem persists then I’ll keep looking.

 

 

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dataman1701 wrote:

To test this theory of it being overloaded, I will rename the SSID & connect to it with my cell. Since that will be the only connected device, if the problem persists then I’ll keep looking.

While you’re connected to it with your cell, from a computer that’s connected to the router via Ethernet cable, go into the router’s interface and check to make absolutely sure that your cell is the only thing connected to it wirelessly (the number of clients listed on the screen you posted above should be 1, for your cell phone in this case). If it’s NOT, then there are other access issues for you to take a close look at.

Fifty seven is a LOT of wireless connections for ANY router used in the home.

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Will test soon….

 

A smarthome (Alexa, Google Hub/TV Streaming, Plugs, Bulbs, Sensors) has a lot of overhead.

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dataman1701 wrote:

A smarthome (Alexa, Google Hub/TV Streaming, Plugs, Bulbs, Sensors) has a lot of overhead.

After rereading your post here (in the other thread) shortly before you posted right above, that thought definitely crossed my mind. I’d unfortunately overlooked the fact of your having a connected home the first time I read that post. You have my humble apologies for the oversight.

Hopefully your test goes well. Please let us know how it goes!

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dataman1701

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Did you run it through the tests at Gibson Research’s ShieldsUp to be sure your router security is intact?

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dataman1701

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Yes, see attached.

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Have you checked under Advanced | Wireless that the 5Ghz radio is enabled?

Do you have wireless scheduling enabled?

--Joe

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dataman1701

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Yes, thanks for tip.

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Have you tried turning the radio off, then restarting the router, and turning it back on?

--Joe

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dataman1701

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@Dataman64 – Maybe try your questions here if you haven’t already done so:

ASUS AX Routers & Adapters (Wi-Fi 6/6e)

https://www.snbforums.com/forums/asus-ax-routers-adapters-wi-fi-6-6e.56/

1 user thanked author for this post.

dataman1701

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opti1 wrote:

@Dataman64 – Maybe try your questions here if you haven’t already done so:

ASUS AX Routers & Adapters (Wi-Fi 6/6e)

https://www.snbforums.com/forums/asus-ax-routers-adapters-wi-fi-6-6e.56/

Done, thx.

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Bob99 wrote:

dataman1701 wrote:

A smarthome (Alexa, Google Hub/TV Streaming, Plugs, Bulbs, Sensors) has a lot of overhead.

After rereading your post here (in the other thread) shortly before you posted right above, that thought definitely crossed my mind. I’d unfortunately overlooked the fact of your having a connected home the first time I read that post. You have my humble apologies for the oversight.

Hopefully your test goes well. Please let us know how it goes!

Thank you, but no apology necessary.   You, and other respondents, have my humble thanks for your debugging efforts.   I was a computer programmer (from dBase to C#) @ my real job(s) for a long time, so I’m used to testing & intense debugging from unit testing to process of elimination techniques.

That said, I have run my Wi-Fi tests.   I changed the 2.4 SSID & noted the connections.

<span style=”text-decoration: underline;”>See Attachment</span>

A – My test showed 3 connections: my cell & 2 ethernets, which is correct.   I renamed one of the ethernets to make it more descriptive since a lot of the default IDs are cryptic (see C).
B – After restoring my original 2.4 SSID, I noticed my connections dropped to 48.   I do agree with you that this is a lot of connections & it actually surprised me I had that many.     I would have estimated in the high 30s.     I am going to do a walkthrough later & manually count my devices for comparison.
C – After restoring my original 2.4 SSID, my device list quickly populated.   Can I assume renaming a connection here is just for human reference & will not affect connectivity?   My guess is Yes since I’m streaming TV now on a connection I renamed.
D – Ethernet tests were consistent & good.

WI-FI speed testing, with 3 connected devices, attached.

 

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joep517 wrote:

Have you tried turning the radio off, then restarting the router, and turning it back on?

Yes, toggled both radios under the professional tab.    Unplugged it, etc.

 

However, not in this order:

1. radio off
2. restarting the router
3. turning it back on

I toggled the radio & when it didn’t fix it, I toggled it back without restarting.     Do you  like to restart via the GUI or cycle the power?

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I use either way to restart the router. Whichever strikes my fancy at the moment. Often if I use the GUI and nothing changes, I power it off and unplug it just to make sure.

--Joe

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dataman1701

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Three thoughts

1. Check the router CPU usage to see if it is over burdened with so many attached devices
2. Wifi SSIDs can have all sorts of characters, but straying off the fairway is tempting fate. I would stick with just letters and numbers in the SSID. Even if your router can handle spaces and periods, some of your devices might not handle it well. Wouldn’t be the first time.
3. Your experience is a word to the wise about Asus routers. They are best avoided, if for no other reason than there is no tech support. Oh, you may contact their tech support and get a response, but not a useful response. Been there done that.

Get up to speed on router security at RouterSecurity.org and Defensive Computing at DefensiveComputingChecklist.com

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dataman1701

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Michael432 wrote:

Three thoughts

1. Check the router CPU usage to see if it is over burdened with so many attached devices
2. Wifi SSIDs can have all sorts of characters, but straying off the fairway is tempting fate. I would stick with just letters and numbers in the SSID. Even if your router can handle spaces and periods, some of your devices might not handle it well. Wouldn’t be the first time.
3. Your experience is a word to the wise about Asus routers. They are best avoided, if for no other reason than there is no tech support. Oh, you may contact their tech support and get a response, but not a useful response. Been there done that.

1. I looked for it within this extensive menu, found it…. see attachment.
2. I set up those SSIDs probably ten years ago.   Renaming now would be big ask since all of my smarthome devices would need to be re-paired.      Some plugs are behind furniture, etc.
   I used a Netgear N600 for years with these.   Apples & Oranges, I know….. But, the “.” may be an ASUS limitation, since my devices had no problems with it.
3. I’ve always used Netgear (wrt54g, N600), but was given this gaming router since they told me it would be so much faster than “that old piece of junk I was using”.     Well, old got the job done!!   Newer is not always better.

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Clearly CPU horsepower is not the reason your Wifi is slow. Still, its worth checking every now and then. The classic reason for slow Wifi is interference from nearby networks. Easy option is to change Wifi channels. Harder option is use a Wifi scanner and try to pick a good channel on each frequency band. On Windows, install the free WifiInfoView from Nir Sofer at nirsoft.net. Tons of techie info on the Wifi networks in your area.

FYI: On Asus devices, you may want to turn off the Trend Micro extra security features as that gets you spied on.

Special characters is the SSID was more an FYI. A number of IoT devices don’t handle them well. Personally, I had an IoT device that would not connect to my network until I renamed the SSID.

Netgear vs. Asus. 6 of one, half dozen of another. I prefer Peplink and you have experienced one of the big reasons why – their routers maintain two copies of the firmware (router operating system). If you upgrade to a new firmware and you have a problem, its easy to reboot the router back to the older, working copy of the firmware.

A router is a single point of failure, so it pays to have a spare tire in the trunk. That is, have an extra router collecting dust in the back of the closet just for problems like you have had. Ditto for a modem.  And of course, either a surge protector or a UPS to protect these single point of failure devices.

 

 

Get up to speed on router security at RouterSecurity.org and Defensive Computing at DefensiveComputingChecklist.com

2 users thanked author for this post.

dataman1701, opti1

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joep517 wrote:

I use either way to restart the router. Whichever strikes my fancy at the moment. Often if I use the GUI and nothing changes, I power it off and unplug it just to make sure.

Joe,

I gave it the old college try, but nada….

See attachment.

• First, I checked the status of the system status’ wi-fi, [A].
• Next I disabled the 5ghz radio & clicked Apply button @ bottom.   It temporarily shut down the 2.4ghz, rendering smarthome kind of dumb.     Then, everything reconnected within 5min.
• I then soft booted the router, [C]
• Surprisingly, after the reboot,
  • the system status’ wi-fi, [A] remained the same.
  • No 5ghz LED or wi-fi SSID on cell.
• Next, I reenabled the 5ghz radio & did another soft boot.   During the reboot, I watched the LEDs & noticed the 5ghz came on & the 2.4 went off, which is reminiscent of programming changes I used to make in C#, fixing one thing and breaking something else.
• Although, hopeful, albeit for just 30 seconds, the 5ghz led went out again and the 2.4 lit, bringing me back to where I started.
• Note that I did a speedtest with the 5ghz radio off and on, no change.

I’m beginning to think that Speedtest may not be measuring this gaming router correctly since smart home devices all work and I can stream HQ video on multiple TVs @ a time with no buffering.   5ghz radio still a mystery to everyone.

 

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Asus routers have a log file. Perhaps you can copy the log file, starting from when the router was booted (may have to reboot) and send it to Asus for them to interpret. Chances are there is something interesting there.

I don’t think they have a log export function but selecting the text in the web interface and copy/paste into Notepad should work.

Again, try the free and portable WifiInfoView program.

Again, a heads up for anyone thinking of buying an Asus router. Don’t.

Get up to speed on router security at RouterSecurity.org and Defensive Computing at DefensiveComputingChecklist.com

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Just a guess. Take the dots and spaces out of the SSID on the 5G setup.

cheers, Paul

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dataman1701

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Paul T wrote:

Just a guess. Take the dots and spaces out of the SSID on the 5G setup.

cheers, Paul

This router is sick.   Renamed & rebooted – no change.      I’m going to send my log file to ASUS & if they can’t help I’m going back to my reliable Netgear.

My HP wireless printer connection is unstable, too, now after working for 4 years.   uggh…

 

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I had network issues today, did a push button reset.  It may have enabled 2nd most recent firmware version ASUS RT-AX82U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_24963

I downloaded today’s firmware from ASUS

ASUS RT-AX82U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_25004

Version 3.0.0.4.388_25004

98.39 MB

2024/10/09

and manually installed it – not any better unless I pulled AX55 router off the network.

I have 2 AX55’s one wired via switch ports and one using wifi backhaul.

I’m up currently with just the AX82U online.

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dataman1701

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Martin W wrote:

I had network issues today, did a push button reset.  It may have enabled 2nd most recent firmware version ASUS RT-AX82U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_24963

I downloaded today’s firmware from ASUS

ASUS RT-AX82U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_25004

Version 3.0.0.4.388_25004

98.39 MB

2024/10/09

and manually installed it – not any better unless I pulled AX55 router off the network.

I have 2 AX55’s one wired via switch ports and one using wifi backhaul.

I’m up currently with just the AX82U online.

Here’s my version.   Since the drama of force updating by downloading and using firmware restoration tool, and reading where the updates are dependent on the hardware version, I am letting the GUI check for updates.   Hopefully, it has coding to match the correct firmware and hardware versions.

One thing’s for sure: I am not downloading the beta since the production version has given me so much trouble.

 

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Martin W wrote:

I had network issues today, did a push button reset.  It may have enabled 2nd most recent firmware version ASUS RT-AX82U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_24963

I downloaded today’s firmware from ASUS

ASUS RT-AX82U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_25004

Version 3.0.0.4.388_25004

98.39 MB

2024/10/09

and manually installed it – not any better unless I pulled AX55 router off the network.

I have 2 AX55’s one wired via switch ports and one using wifi backhaul.

I’m up currently with just the AX82U online.

I downloaded today’s .zip firmware, too.   To err on the side of caution, I installed a Checksum app and compared to ASUS’ checksum.     That’ll be just one less variable to consider “what went wrong” if update goes wrong again.

Kids watching TV now so can’t apply it to production environment.    I could just see “the look” if I told them I was updating the firmware after killing their stream.

 

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I suggest not to install this version after a few days the wi-fi networks do not work and do not connect to a given 5ghz and 2.4 ghz band the software version is incorrect. The earlier software is good it is about the version: ASUS RT-AX82U Firmware version 3.0.0.4.388_25024 but the latest from: 2025/02/25 there is a problem with the wi-fi card in the router

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