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GT-AX11000 - Totally unreliable 2.4Ghz

Andrew_2468
Level 8
Hi All,

I have an issue with my GT AX11000 router. My router is having issues connecting to pretty much all of my 2.4GHz devices. I have a number of them.
I use the Sonoff Smart switches for various lights and devices around the house. In addition to the smart switches I have a number of Google Smart speakers too.
This issue is intermittent, it may work mostly fine for a week or so. But when you monitor the Network map you can actually see the devices connect and disconnect.
In other instances sometimes NONE of my 2.4GHz devices will connect?
It is like the 2.4GHz radio is on the fritz.

Not even my laptop or cellphone can see the 2.4GHz wireless.

No amounts of reboots, fiddling with settings etc seem to have any affect.
Been on the forums here and on SNB, tried different wireless settings. Still no effect.
Such as:
* Turn off WiFi 6
* Turn off Agile multiband
* Change channel
* Change bandwidth
* Turn off roaming assist ( This helped somewhat as the 2.4Ghz range apparently is poor (But its fine on my cheapie ISP router??))
* Turn off beam forming
* Fiddle with Smart connect either on or off or some variation of this
* I have use the smart connect on all 3 bands, turned smart connect off entirely ( Had 3 separate bands) or had a 2.4GHz band and then smart connect on the
2x5Ghz bands.
* And others I cant even remember
Suffice it to say there has been a fair amount of poking.

Last time when the router would not pick up ANY 2.4GHz equipment, and nothing helped in desperation I did a reset of the device and configured it again manually.
It worked mostly fine for a day or so and then back to its old tricks again where nothing would stay connected for any decent amount of time!?

I have gone through 3 routers (same model) over the last 2 years each time swapped out under a warranty RMA with the supplier.
Each router has had this very same issue.
2.4Ghz is just totally unreliable. I know lots of other forum posts have issues on speed with 2.4Ghz, not an issue here, but constantly my smart speakers or smart switches are unavailable. Essentially anything on the 2.4GHz band.

This issue beyond infuriating.
I have tried multiple firmware version over the last 2 + years, so perhaps not a firmware issue or it is and just not been fixed over the years.

I am lucky enough that I do not have immediate neighbours being in a free standing house. But I still have checked the WiFi channels for congestion there isnt.
My one neighbour's WiFi network is visible but on a different channel (CH2 and mine is CH10 or CH11) and its very low on signal strength, and I have set the WiFi channels manually and tried different variations.

There are no other wireless devices in my house. This is the only router I have powered on.

To troubleshoot the issue further, I dug out my ISP provided router a TpLink Archer C20. Edited its setup to the below.
2.4GHz WiFi is active.
5Ghz is off
DHCP is off and everything else is as it was when it was powered off 2 + years ago.
Plugged a cable into the AX11000 and into a open LAN port on the C20 (Not the WAN port)

On the AX1100
Turned off the 2.4GHz radio in the professional section.

As soon as the TpLink powered on ALL my 2.4Ghz devices are available.?

Please if you have any ideas, share them with me. Perhaps I have missed something?
I am at my wits end. A router at this price point cannot be this useless.

Almost at the point where I am considering installing the Merlin firmware on it to test if this resolves the issue, OR smashing it with a mallet!
But not keen on either as the retailer may take offence and block a further swap out.

Btw: 5Ghz is fine works with no issues.

Thanks all.
My Current firmware on the unit is: 3.0.0.4.386_46065

Footnote, I have included some images of the devices connected and then shortly thereafter with them not connected. Also a screen grab of the log. Forum wouldn't allow a log upload as an attachment.
4,243 Views
31 REPLIES 31

mittenz
Level 8
Switch to merlin frimware asap.

I had tons of issues with rogers internet and merlin frimware has solved 95% of my wifi issues.

mittenz wrote:
Switch to merlin frimware asap.

I had tons of issues with rogers internet and merlin frimware has solved 95% of my wifi issues.


Been using Merlin for years, same 2.4 ghz @ 2 - 3 mbs down. Used to run near 200?

Saltgrass
Level 13
One question and then some suggestions and info.

Why are you running a 10.0.0 .x network, is it a subnetwork?

In case you do not know, the 5 Ghz 2 radio is a 1x1 radio where the 5-1 is a 2x2 and faster.

I have always heard that older devices can slow down or cause problems for a network. If you have any of those, you might try disconnecting them for testing.

If you look in the Admin Professional tab, you can turn off radios. Since you are concerned with the 2.4 GHz network, maybe turn off both of the 5 GHz radios for testing.

If both of the 5 GHz radios are off then you can watch specific 2.4 GHZ devices to see if you are having problems. You have some really slow transfer rates for some devices so I would look at those. I have some cameras on my system and if the Wi-Fi signal is not strong, they get really slow, which makes the router work harder.

All I can suggest is you do testing over a period of time to see if you can discover any problematic devices. I have been happy with my routers but our environments are probably quite different.
Maximus Z790 Hero,
Intel i9-13900k
Intel BE200

2.4 GHz signal should extend further than 5 GHz. That is how I found poor signal in one room as one iPhone X was connected to 2.4 GHz and another (next to the router) was connected to 5 GHz. Upon further investigation sometimes devices in that further away room would connect to 5 GHz but connection strength would be "Weak".

The AXE11000 has a newer firmware but the AX11000 firmware hasn't had an update since January. (First thing I did was check and you are on the latest).

For the 2.4 GHz section, do you have Channel bandwidth set to 20/40 MHz?

I am reading this article it may help:

https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000058989/wireless/intel-killer-wi-fi-produ...

Some key quotes:

Channel 1 will interfere with and receive interference from 2.4 GHz channels 1-5..
Channel 6 will interfere with and receive interference from 2.4 GHz channels 2-10.
Channel 11 will interfere with and receive interference from 2.4 GHz channels 7-11.

On the 2.4 GHz band, set the channel width to 20 MHz and see if that improves reliability. 40 MHz Wireless-N is rarely optimal, as it will interfere with nearly the entire spectrum of Wireless-N channels.

Hi All,

@Saltgrass, No set reason as to why I ran an 10.0.0.x range. I liked the numbers better 😛

Well the issue is that the entire 2.4Ghz is dodge, not a few devices. Most of the devices are all very low throughput devices. They are Sonoff Basic switches.
https://itead.cc/product/sonoff-basicr2/
https://itead.cc/product/sonoff-tx-series-wifi-smart-wall-switches/
They really don't do big data. Essentially just receive commands to turn on or off a device.
Also my google home and Nest Audio speakers, everything else is wired or 5Ghz.
These devices have worked before on all 3 of my routers but they drop on and off the WiFi at seemingly random intervals.
Sometimes they will work for weeks, then other times absolutely nothing.

I will definitely try to turn off the 5GHz and do some more testing and see if I can notice some sort of a pattern.

@jzchen, Yup I do always try to keep up with the latest firmware and over the time I have owned this model router I ave tried quite a few versions.
Yes it is set at 20/40, I have also tried 20 and then 40 individually. But after reading your article, I have set it to 20, and CH1
Great article!
I had traditionally run CH10 or 11 to keep away from the neighbors selected channel even though they are not close. But I can see their network on occasions.
Granted their signal is relatively low in my house.

After a reboot it seems that my 2.4Ghz devices are now listed again. I will keep an eye on them and see how long they stay online for.

@mittenz, yeah I have been eyeing it out for sometime, but wasn't sure about if I needed to switch back. But from what I hear and read, its a simple process each way to and from stock back to stock if needed.

Thanks for the help!

Morning All,

After the reboot last night and fiddling with the settings as sugegsted. this morning none of my 2.4Ghz devices are online.
I only have 3 devices online at the moment. These are on the 5Ghz, my laptop, Cellphone and a Raspberry Pi.
All my Sonoff switches and the google home speakers are unable to connect to the 2.4Ghz. Reboot or a power cycle on these devices has no effect.

Have included some images of the current settings.

Checked the WiFi radar for the 2.4Ghz, it tells me there is lots of interference on channel 1. Channel 6 seems to have the least.
Would have thought that due to my distance from my neighbors WiFi. I am living in a free standing house, so there is quite some distance.
If i had to estimate the distance ,varying from 25 to 40 meters
See the image attached.

I have changed the channel, my 2.4Ghz devices are now all listed.
Will keep an eye on them ans see if they stick around on this channel.

Taken some screen grabs after the channel change.
Note that the router doesn't pick up the other 2.4Ghz networks it picked up this morning.
Not sure if thats relevant. But hey.
Will keep an eye out to see if they stay connected. 1 device is doing the usual thing where it connects, then disconnects.

Here is the last 3 minutes of the system log.

May 30 11:50:02 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:50:02 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:50:06 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): eth6: Auth 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
May 30 11:50:06 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(556): eth6: Assoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:-66
May 30 11:50:23 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:50:23 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:50:27 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): eth6: Auth 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
May 30 11:50:27 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(556): eth6: Assoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:-68
May 30 11:50:44 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:50:44 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:50:48 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): eth6: Auth 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
May 30 11:50:48 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(556): eth6: Assoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:-67
May 30 11:51:05 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:51:05 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:51:09 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): eth6: Auth 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
May 30 11:51:09 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(556): eth6: Assoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:-68
May 30 11:51:26 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:51:26 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:51:30 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): eth6: Auth 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
May 30 11:51:30 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(556): eth6: Assoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:-67
May 30 11:51:47 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:51:47 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:51:51 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): eth6: Auth 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
May 30 11:51:51 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(556): eth6: Assoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:-69
May 30 11:52:08 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:52:08 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:52:12 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): eth6: Auth 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
May 30 11:52:12 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(556): eth6: Assoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:-69
May 30 11:52:29 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:52:29 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:52:33 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): eth6: Auth 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
May 30 11:52:33 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(556): eth6: Assoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:-68
May 30 11:52:50 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:52:50 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:52:54 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): eth6: Auth 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
May 30 11:52:54 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(556): eth6: Assoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:-67
May 30 11:53:11 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:53:11 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:53:15 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): eth6: Auth 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
May 30 11:53:15 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(556): eth6: Assoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:-67
May 30 11:53:32 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:53:32 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:53:36 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(527): eth6: Auth 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:0
May 30 11:53:36 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(556): eth6: Assoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: Successful (0), rssi:-70
May 30 11:53:53 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0
May 30 11:53:53 wlceventd: wlceventd_proc_event(508): eth6: Disassoc 84:0D:8E:65:7A:86, status: 0, reason: Disassociated because sending station is leaving (or has left) BSS (8), rssi:0

Having a look at the connected devices, you can see the duration connected.
The devices connect and drop off and come back.

Just to reiterate, if I use another router this drop off doesn't occur and I am able to pick any channel the devices stay on the entire time.