Posted: Fri Sep 14, 2018 3:02 Post subject: Current status of WRT-3200ACM
This router has been a cluster ****. The official Linksys firmware is garbage. It was last updated in January, supposedly with a permanent fix for the ongoing wifi issues. But plenty of people (including me) still have wifi issues.
I know that DD-WRT was dependent on the closed source Marvel binary driver, which gave DD-WRT issues also.
But I believe an open source driver was being worked on, but wasn't quiet there yet.
My router has been sitting on a shelf since January. Linksys sent me a Velop, and I eventually bought a Netgear R7800, that I am happily using DD-WRT on now.
But I thought I'd give the Linksys a go and see how things have progressed.
Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 19:46 Post subject: WRT3200ACM Wifi Issues
Have tried various builds for the wrt3200acm and all have had problems with the 2.4Ghz radio band. It almost looks like a sawtooth waveform as many times it drops in and out. Had to go back to the oem firmware because at least the wifi stays linear. Every now and then I see a spike and the decibels drop 20db in signal strength. Hope someone can recommend a good firmware build for this router.[/u]
Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 19:54 Post subject: I've given up
I've given up on this router completely. The only saving grace is that I bought it refurbished for only $80 on Amazon. I just can't bring myself to throw it out. I guess I can always use it as a gigabit switch.
I was in a bad spot. My previous router had fried. I needed something quickly and money was tight. Seeing a refurbished "open source" router for $80 seemed like a steal.
Why the fuck would you pick a wireless chipset for your router that doesn't have an open source driver for it?
The last Linksys firmware update for this router was in January, where Linksys says they fixed the wifi issue they had in November and December. But it's not fixed. No new firmware AND Linksys is still selling this router!
During the whole November/December fiasco, Linksys did send a free Velop. But the Velop does't run dd-wrt. I told them I wanted a router that I could install dd-wrt on. That's why I bought an open source router.
Hopefully Linksys will make a v2 version of this router with a wireless chipset that has a proper stable open source driver.
In the meantime, sorry Linksys. After years of faithful purchases starting with my wrt-54g, I am now a Netgear guy.
Joined: 06 Feb 2018 Posts: 48 Location: Vienna, Austria
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 21:34 Post subject:
A friend of mine purchased this device 2 month ago, struggled with DD-WRT from the start and decided to give OPENWRT 18.06.1 a chance just a few day ago. His unit runs flawlessly since then, as he told me today.
Joined: 30 May 2017 Posts: 582 Location: Rural Manitoba
Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 23:27 Post subject: WRT3200acm on OPENWRT
I tried OPENWRT on my 3200 a few weeks ago and stopped testing when I realized that it had the same flaw as dd-wrt in running esp8266 devices and needed wmm disabled.
I did not do any other testing after finding this flaw.
Linksys FW works fine with esp8266 devices, but because it does not have WDS capability, I am forced to stick with dd-wrt.
As long as my 3200 is talking to another 3200 all is well and a virtual radio is used with wmm disabled performance is reasonable.
It would be nice to have the 3200's talk to other wrt routers through wds without resetting every hour and handle older legacy devices without drops, but maybe thatis asking too much.
For now I am happy with my work arounds and the performance (as if I have a choice). _________________ Starlink & DSL -> TPLink TL-R470T+
->
WRT3200acm Master WDS 5GHz 80Mhz CH 100 (+6) r55819
Ath1 2.4Ghz Disabled
99 Static Leases
ExpressVPN
WRT3200acm r55819 WDS Station 5Ghz
Ath1 AP N/G Mixed Channel 11 HT40
WRT1900Ac V1 5Ghz r55819 WDS Station
(Defective, no 2.4Ghz but 5Ghz works great)
WRT1900AC V1 5Ghz AC 80Mhz WDS Station r55819
2.4Ghz AP Ch1 HT20 Mixed
WRT1900ACS SPARE r54914
WRT1900AC SPARE r54914
WRT1900AC V1 5Ghz AC 80Mhz WDS-AP r55819
2.4Ghz AP Ch1 HT20 Mixed
WRT54G DD-WRT v3.0-r37305 micro AP CH 6 Mixed - Not in use
Joined: 13 Jun 2006 Posts: 1608 Location: SE Michigan USA
Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 19:32 Post subject:
apastuszak wrote:
In the meantime, sorry Linksys. After years of faithful purchases starting with my wrt-54g, I am now a Netgear guy.
Good luck with Netgear. They are having their own issues with firmware. Current firmware has many issues if you go with a r8000, r8000p or r9000. R7800 is better, but not problem free. Had and sold r8000 and r8000p because of CRAP firmware. DD-WRT on the r8000 wasn't much better. I suspect they have they same issues with vendor supplied drivers that the 3rd party devs have with the WRT's.
I purchased two WRT3200acm routers and loaded dd-wrt build, after build, after build, and had nothing but issues. I honestly tried not to have my investments turned into dust collectors. Unfortunately my patience ran out and I decided I would not load another new build. I compliment those of you who have stuck with the WRT3200acm, and I am aware that no router is perfect for all owners. I left the Linksys world and purchased an ASUS RT-AC86U and loaded Merlins firmware. I am happier than a tick on a 500 lb dog. The ASUS has run like a well oiled finely tuned sewing machine, and all of my devices, wired and wireless, operate flawlessly. I continue to visit this site on the hope that a fix has been discovered. If that fix is found, I would happily find new homes for my WRT3200acm routers, but not in their present condition.
Yeah some users had mentioned it worked for them but to what extent is it working. Given my abilities in using routers with DD-WRT as long as the wifi is stable and not dropping out that satisfies my needs for now. Some in here have much more requirements from this firmware and hardware that I am not familiar with. To say that some say it works without data means nothing.
Adamcarter is the build you are using one that somewhat works with issues?
Posted: Mon Oct 22, 2018 16:22 Post subject: Who's had a good experience with the WRT3200?
Bought a refurbished WRT3200ACM off eBay back in April and was able to flash it over to DD-WRT without a hitch. I've been very happy with it overall and it's a big improvement over the previous routers I was using.
That said, being a noob I endured the steep learning curve involved with getting more advanced and specialized settings to work smoothly and I spent hours on Google searching for answers and solutions. What really helped me was creating my own set of user documentation to keep track of all the details involved with creating custom configurations, problem solving, and learning all the network commands, protocols, terminology, etc.
While doing all that may have been fine for me, I can understand that having to do all that work can be a major PITA on its own for some people and it's an additional burden for users confronted with buggy/faulty hardware while trying to get beta firmware updates running properly.
I've heard very good things about OpenWRT but I learned of it after already investing a lot of time & effort working with DD-WRT and haven't been compelled to start over.
Is anyone else out there who's had a good experience with the WRT3200ACM?
I just bought a Linksys WRT3200 last night at Microcenter and it's been fantastic (after flashing to DD-WRT of course).
I upgraded to Comcast Gigabit about 2-3 weeks ago, bought a Docsis 3.1 modem and a new ASUS router. I kept having a lot of upstream dropouts and low speed. I was frequently getting 2Mbps or less upload. After a lot of random troubleshooting, I swapped my old ASUS router back in and it worked fine except it's so old it can't even max out the Gigabit speed. I went and picked up the Linksys, suffered through the absolute garbage default firmware they have and eventually upgraded to DD-WRT.
It's been a long time since I've used DD-WRT and I have to say I'm pretty impressed how far it's come. I am so disappointed in shipped router firmware for both ASUS and Linksys that I almost want to make a youtube video about it. Nobody in any youtube video I've seen about routers points out strongly enough that the default firmware blows. You can't do JACK.
ASUS firmware requires you to agree to TrendNET Terms of Use and tracking before you can even ENABLE QoS. What the hell is that egregious crap? Linksys firmware only had two options for DDNS servers among many other missing, basic features. Why even ship a router with firmware when it's not even close to good enough.
So DD-WRT, you saved the day for me and so far it's solid. I'm not getting the problems I'm seeing others get, but then again I hate wifi and try not to use it.
