downgrade at 4.8.3 firmware
I am very disappointed with the Flint 2. I purchased the device recently and it came with version 4.8.4 installed. Right from the start I noticed the poor performance and decided to update to version 4.9.0. Unfortunately without any improvement. I initially assumed it was a hardware defect, but after reading through the forum I realized that this is apparently normal.
I understand that the Flint 2 has to comply with regulations. If the transmit power was previously set too high and was therefore non-compliant, it obviously needed to be corrected, which is what happened.
I have read all the posts in this thread. What I take away from this is: The Flint 2 had a default transmit power that was far too high, paired with rather below-average hardware. This went unnoticed until now, when GL.iNet apparently decided to enforce compliance with regulations that should have been followed from the very beginning. Now it becomes apparent that this device is nothing special, in fact, it has rather weak hardware. I do feel misled here.
For me, the facts speak clearly: My Fritzbox 7530 delivers significantly better performance at the same location. The Flint 2, by comparison, shows very poor 5GHz Wi-Fi performance even just from one room to the next. Very disappointing.
Maybe I'm wrong and GL.iNet will still release a fix to at least bring performance in line with comparable manufacturers. Otherwise, I will be looking for an alternative.
I could not find an answer to this but has anyone tested whether this backwards change has made any difference to these routers’ WiFi gain when used in wireless repeater mode connecting to an uplink SSID during travel? This is absolutely crucial to me as parent (e.g. hotel) WIFi signal is often poor to begin with. If WiFi reception is also affected then this will spell the end of GL.iNET use for me!
To GL.Inet Staff:
Thanks for clarifying that the changes introduced in v4.8.4 were made for regulatory compliance. I don't think anyone is arguing against complying with local regulations, but I do think there are still some unanswered questions.
Many users have reported noticeably reduced Wi-Fi coverage since v4.8.4, and several have found that reverting to v4.8.3 restores the previous range. That suggests something significant changed, whether it's transmit power, power tables, calibration or another aspect of the wireless driver.
For users in the UK, where the router is correctly configured with Country = GB, could GL.iNet provide a little more technical detail?
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Was v4.8.3 exceeding the permitted EIRP, or was v4.8.4 simply changed to use a more conservative interpretation of the regulations?
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Are the power limits now calculated individually for each regulatory domain, or is there a common global limit being applied?
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Are UK users now able to utilise the maximum legal EIRP for the selected channel and bandwidth, or is there still some margin being left for safety?
I think answering those questions would go a long way towards addressing the concerns raised in this thread. Most of us aren't asking for the router to operate outside the law—we just want to know whether it's making full use of the transmit power that's legally available in our own country.
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4.9.0 has been out for 2 weeks - has n oone tried it and compared wifi strength?
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downgrade @ 4.8.3
What is not clear to me with the regulation change for wifi, is if that was a change introduced by GL-iNet only or introduced by a upstream factor.
Normally in OpenWrt they rarely modify this with a patch, instead they bump the last version from the official remote repo by updating the commit hash in the makefile or downgrade it in app wireless-regdb.
They should make this more clear, I do not suffer from any of these issues with the vanilla OpenWrt latest master build.
Either it is small difference or just not occuring in my country which is NL, or GL-iNet did something they shouldn't do like patching, please let wireless-regdb do this.
Mediatek drivers don't use wireless regdb
I'm happy with the new limits if they meet the law in my country, if the law in my country permits me to have higher limits then I should be able to use that.
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Pretty much what I have been saying since I got my Flint 2, I am happy to stick to regulations if that is the case however what I am not happy about is that the WiFi signal and strength is worse in the exact same location as 2 other stock routers I have tested but it is falling on deaf ears unfortunately.
There is no doubt about it in my eyes that the signal has been reduced much lower than what is actually allowed in certain regions.
I set mine to GB as I am in the UK however it makes 0 difference, Clients dropping to 2.4ghz in only the next room and upstairs which does not happen with 2 other routers I have tested.
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… and still no data provided.
About the best anything anyone/you could do:
Would be to show that their device, is worse than a competitors. Actual data, side by side, etc, etc.
Otherwise, they really have no reason to listen - as far as GL.iNet are concerned, they’ve already checked (multiple times) and it’s operating as it should do.
It really isn't difficult to to get some other routers and compare in the same location is it?
While I want the issue fixed per region correctly it really isn't my job to compile a load of data.
It really isn't difficult to test that the signal is worse than other legally set up routers.
Let me put it this way if it wasn't for the 4.8.3 firmware I would have already sent this router back simply because the signal is worse.
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Same for me. Router has terrible WiFi coverage after update from 4.8.3. Before update I got 600mbps vpn speeds 4 meters away from router, today it’s 300. If I place the PC 30cm away from router I get the full 600mbps speed again, so it’s definitely the weak WiFi signal.
Was planning to stay with this companies routers, not anymore.
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I'm so tired of all this whining and crying, folks if the router it's not meeting your needs return that shit and get you something that it does and keep moving.......
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Where’s the problem? Just un-track this thread. Bitching is the least we can do about this shitty situation.
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Hello,
I have the same problem and I cannot downgrade to 4.8.3. Is there any way to solve it with 4.9.0? At the moment some of my cameras are not reachable.
Thank you
Of course you can downgrade to 4.8.3. Just download it from the official firmware page: https://dl.gl-inet.com/
Be aware you won’t be able to retain your configuration though, so make sure you have a note of your settings, and untick ‘Save Configuration’, otherwise expect issues. As said multiple times, firmware versions from 4.8.4 onwards have the new transmission power limits set differently.
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As a separate but related problem (to the rubbish WiFi range now), have people found that “Access point temporarily full" messages are regularly causing devices to not connect to the router?
I've noticed it most on 5ghz network, which only has 5 devices, but there are about 20 on the 2.4ghz network. What is the actual device limit? Surely not 25 devices across both bands?
There’s no capped limit on connected devices as far as I’m aware and the Flint 2 has a powerful Quad Core processor, so will easily handle that number of devices, depending on processor load and traffic / downloading.
Check your DHCP addressing pool range and make sure there’s enough for the number of devices you have.
Seems to have the full range open, and virtually all devices have a fixed IP address, so I doubt its running out of addresses. Ive definitely only noticed it since running 4.9, so was curious to see if anybody else experienced it!! Thanks!