I cannot seem to get the 5Ghz Wireless AC to work on my Archer C7 v2. I have tried numerous CC builds to no avail. Is there something I am doing wrong?

The 2.4GHz wireless works fine.

Any guidance would be appreciated.

Here is the result of uci show wireless

wireless.radio0=wifi-device
wireless.radio0.type='mac80211'
wireless.radio0.hwmode='11a'
wireless.radio0.path='pci0000:01/0000:01:00.0'
wireless.radio0.txpower='17'
wireless.radio0.log_level='3'
wireless.radio0.country='US'
wireless.radio0.channel='auto'
wireless.radio0.htmode='HT20'
wireless.radio0.disabled='0'
wireless.@wifi-iface[0]=wifi-iface
wireless.@wifi-iface[0].device='radio0'
wireless.@wifi-iface[0].network='lan'
wireless.@wifi-iface[0].mode='ap'
wireless.@wifi-iface[0].ssid='Sunset'
wireless.@wifi-iface[0].encryption='psk2'
wireless.@wifi-iface[0].wps_pushbutton='0'
wireless.@wifi-iface[0].key='xxx'
wireless.radio1=wifi-device
wireless.radio1.type='mac80211'
wireless.radio1.hwmode='11g'
wireless.radio1.path='platform/qca955x_wmac'
wireless.radio1.txpower='24'
wireless.radio1.country='00'
wireless.radio1.disabled='0'
wireless.radio1.log_level='3'
wireless.radio1.htmode='HT20'
wireless.radio1.channel='1'
wireless.@wifi-iface[1]=wifi-iface
wireless.@wifi-iface[1].device='radio1'
wireless.@wifi-iface[1].network='lan'
wireless.@wifi-iface[1].mode='ap'
wireless.@wifi-iface[1].ssid='Sunset24'
wireless.@wifi-iface[1].encryption='psk2'
wireless.@wifi-iface[1].wps_pushbutton='0'
wireless.@wifi-iface[1].key='xxx'

follow this thread
https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php … &p=292

see this
https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php … 89#p289289

for testing you can set 5ghz to hwmode=11g.. with ht20 should work as wifi n

Thanks for the advice. Read through some of that and tested various settings to no luck.

Other people with Archer C7s must have gotten this to work...

root@archer:~# cat /etc/config/wireless

config wifi-device 'radio0'
    option type 'mac80211'
    option hwmode '11g'
    option path 'platform/qca955x_wmac'
    option channel 'auto'
    option distance '10'
    option country 'FI'
    option txpower '13'
    option htmode 'HT40'

config wifi-iface
    option device 'radio0'
    option network 'lan'
    option mode 'ap'
    option ssid 'WLAN'
    option encryption 'psk2+ccmp'
    option key 'password'
    option wmm '0'

config wifi-device 'radio1'
    option type 'mac80211'
    option hwmode '11a'
    option path 'pci0000:01/0000:01:00.0'
    option htmode 'VHT80'
    option country 'FI'
    option distance '12'
    option txpower '13'
    option channel '48'

config wifi-iface
    option device 'radio1'
    option network 'lan'
    option mode 'ap'
    option ssid 'WLAN5G'
    option encryption 'psk2+ccmp'
    option key 'password'

5G channel auto might not work and width other than 80MHz.

(Last edited by PJK on 27 Aug 2015, 14:23)

Check if you have kmod-ath10k. It was missing from the rc1 builds for the Archer C7, I don't know about rc3.

Thanks for this. Tried these settings, but no luck.

Thanks. Checked this and it is installed.

The only difference I have is my 5Ghz is set to radio0 and 2.5Ghz to radio1, but I think that only really affects if it maps correctly to the web UI.

Have you tried changing the country to US temporarily to see what happens?

I'm currently only on rc2 awaiting either rc4 or release before upgrading again, but I can't imagine there being a WiFi breaking difference between rc2 and rc3.

So I reflashed with RC3 and my 5GHz works now, but my 2.4GHz isn't working. I'll try RC2 and see what I get.

*edit*

I lied. Both work with RC3. Now if I can figure out why my software package update fails...

(Last edited by forthekill on 9 Sep 2015, 16:25)

Perhaps you have the problem I did where opkg.conf is looking at the trunk packages instead of the rc ones?

Have a look at /etc/opkg.conf or go to System, Software, Configuration in the WebUI.

Make sure the sources are pointing to http://downloads.openwrt.org/chaos_calmer/15.05-rc3/ rather than http://downloads.openwrt.org/snapshots/trunk/, example below:

I have installed the final release of CC myself and I must say this is the least stable I have seen 5Ghz on the Archer C7.

It seems I cannot change the wireless channel without completely rebooting the router now.

check these regarding auto
https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php … 94#p291294
https://forum.openwrt.org/viewtopic.php?id=37896

(Last edited by makarel on 12 Sep 2015, 02:58)

Just wanted to report back that I seem to have solved my stability problem by replacing the ath10k firmware with a newer (I think) version.

For the first time since putting OpenWRT on the thing, my Note 4 stays connected.

It also seems DFS is working so I can use the full set of channels, allowing a decent signal power.

Would you post a little more description of what you did to (hopefully) solve the problem? Thanks.

I have a Zyxel NBG6716 (same AC-chip). Since upgrading to CC final I experience unstable AC. Nothing worthwhile in logs, but frequently drops traffic completely. Have tried the alternate ath10k firmware, but without any improvement.

It is clear that ath10k still has many quirks. Stay with stock if you want better and more stable wireless. Unfortunately such is the case of 11ac open source.

Until Qualcomm Atheros gathers its acts, we are at their mercy

Google "nvidia linux" for some ideas.

Ath10k is quite stable on archer c7 v2 imho. Unless u want to use it as relay bridge.

(Last edited by ximibaba on 29 Sep 2015, 05:58)

Well, on NBG6716 it it now completely useless. Strange, the HW is almost the same I believe - but still this differs a lot... Tested the alternate firmware, but it could not even be loaded.

Unfortunately, QCA9880 has multiple versions. ath10k only supports QCA9880-BR4A and that's why TP-Link Archer C7 v1 is crap. I would feel strange only if NBG6716 has same chipset version as BR4A.

I was now able to load the alternate firmware (made en error first time). Still the 5 GHz appears unstable. Will test more in the evening.

I think atheros firmware is being  improved very fast, just take a look to dev mail list: http://lists.infradead.org/pipermail/ath10k/

I updated from CC RC3 to trunk last week and see a lot of improvement on 802.11ac stability on my Archer C7 (v2), and I suppose the reason is the upgraded ath10k firmware.
Maybe if OpenWRT keeps ath10k firmware up to date, we will see an excellent 802.11ac option in near future!

(Last edited by petiso on 29 Sep 2015, 15:46)

Try trunk snapshot, might be better.

Tested more now. I previously used my MBA 2015, which is somewhat unstable on wifi. Now tested again with another laptop, and also after rebooting the MBA. So far stable, and with really good throughput. Using firmware 10.2.4.48.

Sorry for not getting back sooner.  In case you haven't figured it out:

Replace the ath10k firmware (/lib/firmware/ath10k/QCA988X/hw2.0/firmware-4.bin) with firmware-4.bin_10.2.4.48 (click View RAW on the linked page to download the actual file).

Rename that version back to firmware-4.bin and reboot the router.