Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max & 2020 iPad Pro WiFi issues after updating to OpenWrt 21.02.0 (RC1, RC2, & RC3) on WRT3200ACM

Installing and Using OpenWrt
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Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max & 2020 iPad Pro WiFi issues after updating to OpenWRT 21.02.0 (RC1, RC2, & RC3) on WRT3200ACM.

Is anyone else experiencing issues with OpenWRT wireless on a Linksys WRT3200ACM in dumb access point mode with Apple products - seemingly pausing and having to be manually disconnected and reconnected on the iPhone & iPad to work again (or restarting the service in OpenWRT)? An i only use the 5 ghz bandwidth for these products. 2.4 ghz is only being used for a wireless printer.

I can conclusively say the issue is isolated to OpenWRT 21.02 and WRT3200ACM - Because i have two other AP's from Ubiquiti that do not have the same issue. They are the Unifi 6 Long Range AP's. When using the Unifi AP's i don't have this issues.

I originally posted about this after updating to RC1 - But couldn't rule out the current setup as a issue. I erased all configs upon the updating to version 21.02 and manually setup the AP in dumb access point mode per the openwrt wiki guide.

Because of the issue for testing i bought the Unifi AP's to test.

I use pfSense as the firewall handling all dhcp addressing via a 10 Gbe dual port nic running to a brand new Unifi Pro 24 port Poe switch via SFP+ port. I've setup the mac address of the Linksys to always grab a static address. I have also done the same with the Unifi AP's. With the Unifi AP's i setup a seperate SSID for (testing) on just 5 ghz and not one problem on the Apple devices. All cables being used are Cat 6A brand new. There are no vlan's or extra packages installed on either OpenWRT or pfSense - just plain vanilla setup.

Here's the funny thing i have not noticed any issues with any of the Windows or Linux Laptops, PC's, Roku, Nvidia Shield Pro on OpenWRT - It appears exclusively isolated to Apple devices. This has me baffled a bit.

This is a copy of my /etc/config/wireless file - Obviously i've omitted the Mac address, real SSID name, and password. Anything jumping out at anybody??

config wifi-device 'radio0'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option hwmode '11a'
        option path 'soc/soc:pcie/pci0000:00/0000:00:01.0/0000:01:00.0'
        option htmode 'VHT80'
        option country 'US'
        option cell_density '0'
        option channel '161'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
        option device 'radio0'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option macaddr 'xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx'
        option encryption 'psk2'
        option ssid 'thisisthe5G'
        option key 'xxxxx'

config wifi-device 'radio1'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option hwmode '11g'
        option path 'soc/soc:pcie/pci0000:00/0000:00:02.0/0000:02:00.0'
        option htmode 'HT20'
        option country 'US'
        option cell_density '0'
        option channel '6'
        option legacy_rates '1'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio1'
        option device 'radio1'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option macaddr 'xx:xx:xx:xx:xx:xx'
        option ssid 'thisisthe2G'
        option encryption 'psk2'
        option key 'xxxxx'

config wifi-device 'radio2'
        option type 'mac80211'
        option channel '34'
        option hwmode '11a'
        option path 'platform/soc/soc:internal-regs/f10d8000.sdhci/mmc_host/mmc0/mmc0:0001/mmc0:0001:1'
        option htmode 'VHT80'
        option disabled '1'

config wifi-iface 'default_radio2'
        option device 'radio2'
        option network 'lan'
        option mode 'ap'
        option ssid 'OpenWrt'
        option encryption 'none'
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I have a MacBook Pro 2019 that connects to my WRT3200ACM with no issues what so ever. However, I do experience your issue on my Android device. Seems the range is very limited on the 20.x.x series of OpenWRT.

If my android goes to sleep and I wake it up some distance away from the router it may take 10's of seconds to reestablish it's wireless connection. Before I had to toggle the enable / disable wifi on the phone to reestablish the connection until I added:

config wifi-iface 'default_radio0'
        .
        .
        .
        option disassoc_low_ack '0'

I don't experience any issues on the Macbook because it is just sitting on the desk and I don't roam around with it. It's a work computer.

Here are my connection details from Luci. The first one is the Macbook pro and the second is my android device.

image
image1202×478 67.8 KB

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Appreciate the insight and information - the symptoms you describe with the Android sound exactly like mine. An i can be sitting idol in one location for the problems to occur. More importantly the description you describe of the screen going off and into sleep/power saving mode - I didn't even think about that as a culprit. I'll add the " option disassoc_low_ack '0' " to my config and see if that helps remedy the issue. Again thank your and keeping my fingers crossed.

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FYI - Just a follow up to your mention of adding " option disassoc_low_ack '0' " to the bottom of both radio configs - I do believe it has resolved my issue. I've been testing it off and on since yesterday and not noticed any issues so far.

Thank you very much for the very insightful information. Keeping my fingers crossed that it remains stable.

1 Like
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Thanks for the insight. I have the same issue with WRT19x. And the issue seems focused on Apple devices too. For me it also happens on the 2.4GHz. And I have a bonus issue that if no client uses the wifi for some time, the network disappears and I have to manually restart it...

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This fixed the issue for you guys? I’m running 21.02 on the WRT3200ACM and this didn’t do anything for me. My wife still drops out when my phone goes to sleep and when I wake it, no inter net.

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There is a whole thread about the WRT3200ACM here:

It appears to be hit or miss with the wifi. Some people have stated that they had to revert back to 19.7.7 as they claimed 19.7.8 has the same issues as 21.02.

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If this is true, this would be quite unfortunate. However, it may also help narrow down which commit has introduced the issue.