Wi-Fi 6

[ToreBB]

Update

There was a firmware upgrade to my Asus routers (1 running as AP + 1 mesh point) recently.

It still has WiFi-6 disabled in the 2.4 wifi settings, but now the problem with the Squeezebox Radios loosing connection is back!
Also tried switching my Asus to b/g only for 2.4 but problem is still there!

Btw. I have one SB Radio which is running wired network, and this is not affected (as last time).

Just a friendly warning (again) to avoid Asus AX models for WiFi-6! I will setup a separate "old" 802.11g AP for the SB Rs for now.

Hopefully Asus will solve this problem sometime?!

Tore BB

[paic]

Any news on this topic?
I have RT-AX56U with version 3.0.0.4.384_9424, and if it's not coming a firmware update within the two upcoming weeks I'm going to return the router. From time to time I'n also facing some problems with Chromecast (TV) och Chromecast Audio.
BTW, have anyone tried if Merlin firmware is working better?

[rajdude]

yeah, I also have the exact same problem. Two Squeezebox Radios plus two Asus XT8 routers in mesh config. The only way to make the radios stay connected is to disable WiFi 6.

I have tested all the options posted above and then some, nothing helps. Now I have a case open with Asus. The guys on their tech support chat said since I have already done everything they would normally suggest, they are escalating this case to higher level engineers. So far, they have asked for logs and system config file.


For reference I have tried changing these settings, with no improvement

* Change the Channel Bandwidth: 20 MHz (https://www.asus.com/support/FAQ/1030641/)
* Change the control Channel: 1, 6 or 11
* Change the Authentication Method: WPA/WPA2-Personal .
* Change the WPA Encryption to: TKIP+AES
* Disabling beamforming, both settings
* Setting up the problematic clients in the roaming block list
* Bluetooth Coexistence to enable or pre-emptive
* Modulation scheme to MCS 7 and 9
* Disabling WiFi 6 mode << This solves the problem, but I cannot do this.
The whole point of buying a new router system was to be able to use the new Wi-Fi 6. I have two gaming PCs in my home who can benefit from Wi-Fi 6 enhancements.


As for what Paul suggested above:
Go to [Wireless] > [General] page. Turn off [Enable Smart Connect] and select the [Band] for your network devices.
Ummm, I do not want to do that since that is the whole point of this mesh router system. I do not want to deal with two SSIDs

Disable [802.11ax / WiFi 6 mode]
Tried, works, but cannot/will not disable 6

Disable [Wi-Fi Agile Multiband]
The default setting is already disabled

Disable [Target Wake Time]
Tried, did not help

Disable [Protected Management Frames]
Tried, did not help

BTW, there is a similar thread here:

https://www.snbforums.com/threads/zenwifi-ax-xt8-cannot-connect-squeezebox-radios-logitech.67859/

[rajdude]

Any news on this topic?
I have RT-AX56U with version 3.0.0.4.384_9424, and if it's not coming a firmware update within the two upcoming weeks I'm going to return the router. From time to time I'n also facing some problems with Chromecast (TV) och Chromecast Audio.
BTW, have anyone tried if Merlin firmware is working better?

Uh Oh............I have both those things (Chromecast (TV) and Chromecast Audio), but have not tried connecting them to the Asus router system yet (they seldom get used).........now gotta test them......

[rajdude]

Well, I just connected and tested those two devices with the XT8.
Chromecast audio connects to 5 GHz
Chromecast TV connects to 2.4 GHz only

Looks like they have stable connection.
There! I jinxed it! LoL
Will keep an eye on them though.

What problem did you face, BTW?

Uh Oh............I have both those things (Chromecast (TV) and Chromecast Audio), but have not tried connecting them to the Asus router system yet (they seldom get used).........now gotta test them......

[rajdude]

I'm seeing the same problem with an ASUS AX3000, also running in Access Point mode.

I was wondering if you were able to find a solution to compatibility between the AX3000 and the SB radios?
Asking because I have two radios and want to buy a AX3000

[syrah]

Thought I'll share my experience here as well. Recently swapped out a Nighthawk R7000 for an Asus RT-AX86U. I have two SBTs and they would initially connect and play but would eventually lose connection (not sure whether to the Asus or to LMS which is running on a PC connected wirelessly to the Asus via 5Ghz).

Disabling Wi-fi 6 AX mode on the Asus 2.4Ghz radio did appear to resolve the issue BUT the connection was still not as solid as it used to be with the R7000. It would drop out momentarily (iPeng would say Player not found) and then come back after some buffering. This happened quite consistently with AX mode disabled.

Eventually I tried disabling the auto channel selection (Control Channel, manually set and NOT in auto mode). Thus far the connection has been more stable and reliable.

[rajdude]

Sorry for the late reply. I must have missed the notification......just got one for the next post.

So yeah, I bought the Asus RT-AX3000 and very happy to report that it has absolutely no issues with my two SB radios.
Right out of the box it worked with smart connect enabled.
Then I tweaked its settings: enabled MIMO for everything, beamforming for everything (yeah they say not to, but there is no detriment in my network, so why not)
Disabled smart connect (to make my iOT devices to connect easily)
Channel is auto, no DFS (I live a couple of miles away from an airport) (default settings anyway)
It still works fine!
Same setting on the XT8 pair never worked.

So I called it a day and returned my XT8 mesh set.

I was wondering if you were able to find a solution to compatibility between the AX3000 and the SB radios?
Asking because I have two radios and want to buy a AX3000

[rajdude]

All I can say that it looks like that the higher end models from Asus have some issue. My AX3000 aka AX-58U is set to auto and has no issues. I know, I know, they say set the channel manually but it works fine for me.

At first, I thought that the AX86U is tri band (like the XT8) and that is causing problems.......but then I checked its specs .......that is a dual band also. Interesting.

Thought I'll share my experience here as well. Recently swapped out a Nighthawk R7000 for an Asus RT-AX86U. I have two SBTs and they would initially connect and play but would eventually lose connection (not sure whether to the Asus or to LMS which is running on a PC connected wirelessly to the Asus via 5Ghz).

Disabling Wi-fi 6 AX mode on the Asus 2.4Ghz radio did appear to resolve the issue BUT the connection was still not as solid as it used to be with the R7000. It would drop out momentarily (iPeng would say Player not found) and then come back after some buffering. This happened quite consistently with AX mode disabled.

Eventually I tried disabling the auto channel selection (Control Channel, manually set and NOT in auto mode). Thus far the connection has been more stable and reliable.

[bobharp]

I'm having the same issue with my SB Radio.
I've recently upgraded my home WiFi access points (a pair of EnGenius EWS357AP).
These are dual band AX WiFi 6 devices.

Oddly my SB Boom had no issues connecting to my new access points.
- the display on my Boom is so faded finding that inputting my WPA2 passphrase was quite a chore!

I ssh'd into the SB Radio and confirmed that the passphrase is correct. (e.g. cat /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf).
The SB Radio gets a DCHP IP address.

Any thoughts?

[rajdude]

My take is our beloved devices are now super old devices and have compatibility issues with newer routers.

You could try disabling WiFi6 (if you do not need it, e.g. if you really do not have any WiFi6 capable client).....that may resolve the problem......like it did for my XT8 pair. Unfortunately, for me, the whole point of upgrading my router was to get WiFi 6. I do have two gamer dudes in the house, who have very capable PCs

Another thing is you could try is if by mistake or otherwise, you have WPA3/WPA2 enabled (instead of just WPA2).

Another thing....separate the bands..........although that did not help me.

YMMV........good luck!

If nothing works, and you HAVE to keep the new routers............just setup a wifi network for just these two SB radios........using the old router.....daisy chained after the new router..............that was my backup plan.

I'm having the same issue with my SB Radio.
I've recently upgraded my home WiFi access points (a pair of EnGenius EWS357AP).
These are dual band AX WiFi 6 devices.

Oddly my SB Boom had no issues connecting to my new access points.
- the display on my Boom is so faded finding that inputting my WPA2 passphrase was quite a chore!

I ssh'd into the SB Radio and confirmed that the passphrase is correct. (e.g. cat /etc/wpa_supplicant.conf).
The SB Radio gets a DCHP IP address.

Any thoughts?

[bobharp]

My take is our beloved devices are now super old devices and have compatibility issues with newer routers.

You could try disabling WiFi6 (if you do not need it, e.g. if you really do not have any WiFi6 capable client).....that may resolve the problem......like it did for my XT8 pair. Unfortunately, for me, the whole point of upgrading my router was to get WiFi 6. I do have two gamer dudes in the house, who have very capable PCs

Another thing is you could try is if by mistake or otherwise, you have WPA3/WPA2 enabled (instead of just WPA2).

Another thing....separate the bands..........although that did not help me.

YMMV........good luck!

If nothing works, and you HAVE to keep the new routers............just setup a wifi network for just these two SB radios........using the old router.....daisy chained after the new router..............that was my backup plan.

Thanks. My current work around is to run an Ethernet cable.
I totally agree that the hardware is old.
What really puzzles me is that my SB Boom works!
I'll continue to pick at it.
We like the portability of the SB Radio and hate this disposable economy.
I'm sure there is a workaround. Probably and update to the wpa_supplicant code. I mean it seems to connect and get a DHCP address.

Long live this forum/community, LMS, piCorPlayer, and my SB hardware!

[agbagb]

My understanding - emphatically not of the best regarding wifi protocols! - is that many new Wifi6 routers are factory set to use *only* 802.11ax; and therein may lie a Squeeze-problem. BUT, most (all?) of these new routers can be user-set to deploy any or all of the older 802.11 protocols as well - a, b, g, n etc. SBs seem perfectly happy with b and g - so is the "solution" here to go into the new router's wifi configuration, and see if the older protocols can still be enabled, together with the fast Wifi6 802.11ax as well, for those who really need it?

[rajdude]

if this helps in any way....here is what my experience was:

With the Xt8 routers, the SB radios did connect just fine...I mean to their wifi APs. It played music also just fine.....but only for a few minutes.
After that the APs disconnected the radios. In the router's logs, there were messages saying something like that the AP went offline....yeah, very strange.

I do not think there is anything wrong with the SB radios themselves. I guess that router thought that the SB radios were no longer in range or something and disconnected them. Funny enough, the logs showed that the SB radios were trying to reconnect, but the router did not allow that. I think I have pasted the logs up here somewhere....or maybe in the other thread at the other website (linked above also).


I also like the portability of these radios...we use them on battery all the time. Needless to say, we also love them here and want them to last forever!
Every day, they are the first thing we switch on, play NPR on them all day long and the last thing, usually, we turn off.

My take is our beloved devices are now super old devices and have compatibility issues with newer routers.

You could try disabling WiFi6 (if you do not need it, e.g. if you really do not have any WiFi6 capable client).....that may resolve the problem......like it did for my XT8 pair. Unfortunately, for me, the whole point of upgrading my router was to get WiFi 6. I do have two gamer dudes in the house, who have very capable PCs

Another thing is you could try is if by mistake or otherwise, you have WPA3/WPA2 enabled (instead of just WPA2).

Another thing....separate the bands..........although that did not help me.

YMMV........good luck!

If nothing works, and you HAVE to keep the new routers............just setup a wifi network for just these two SB radios........using the old router.....daisy chained after the new router..............that was my backup plan.

[rajdude]

Well, for backwards compatibility, no router will (should) have this mode on by default. In my experience with two different WiFi6 routers, neither were set out of box to ONLY AX.
That would be strange, because none of the older machines will work....very few clients do AX...I have only two here........PCs which new wifi6 cards.

My understanding - emphatically not of the best regarding wifi protocols! - is that many new Wifi6 routers are factory set to use *only* 802.11ax; and therein may lie a Squeeze-problem. BUT, most (all?) of these new routers can be user-set to deploy any or all of the older 802.11 protocols as well - a, b, g, n etc. SBs seem perfectly happy with b and g - so is the "solution" here to go into the new router's wifi configuration, and see if the older protocols can still be enabled, together with the fast Wifi6 802.11ax as well, for those who really need it?