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Author Topic: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware  (Read 525790 times)

ktz392837

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #615 on: September 20, 2016, 02:50:21 PM »

I am giving the newest firmware a try.

I have noticed attenuation is back in the telnet stats but upload sync speeds are slightly lower for me.  Bitswaps and errored seconds seem much lower.   

Going to stick with it I am sure if I was line reset I would have a higher sync as errorred seconds are much lower so DLM wouldn't have intervened as much.
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starfire

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #616 on: September 29, 2016, 01:25:02 PM »

How are people getting on with the latest V15 FW, any issues to report ?
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broadstairs

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #617 on: September 29, 2016, 03:28:37 PM »

I've had no issues with it, but then I have not had any with V14 before.

Stuart
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ISP:Vodafone Router:Vodafone Wi-Fi hub FTTP

starfire

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #618 on: September 29, 2016, 03:50:15 PM »

OK, thanks.
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Starman

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #619 on: September 29, 2016, 04:38:23 PM »

My 2.4GHz Wi-Fi disappearing seems to have stopped.
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Iam_TJ

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #620 on: October 17, 2016, 01:40:14 AM »

I've just managed to put an Eirecom (model ID 6009) VMG8324 into a boot loop after upgrading its firmware to v15 from v13.

Looking at the kernel/userspace console boot messages (on the serial console) there are problems with several kernel modules failing to 'insmod' so both the brcm_eth and wl network hardware modules fail to load.

Via the CFE I verified the CRC32 of the root FS and default Image match those in the firmware .bin file so it doesn't seem to be due to corruption.

Using CFE I reset the config to default but that hasn't helped.

For now I've switched to a Zyxel (model ID 6006) VMG8924 which is (so far) working fine with v15.
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Iam_TJ

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #621 on: October 17, 2016, 11:01:58 AM »

I've found a problem with v15 on the VMG8924 using the 802.11a/n/ac (5GHz) band Access Point. It may apply to earlier versions too but this is the first time I've actively used the VMG8924 with 802.11a.

Although my laptops and tablets could detect and connect to the AP (AP reporting channel 100 in use) my HTC One M8 with Cyanogenmod could not *after* I had used the Android OS's Wifi > Advanced > 'Wi-Fi region code' option to set it to "Europe" instead of the default "USA".

It took some digging but I eventually figured out thanks to the table on the Wikipedia List WLAN channels page [ 0 ]. Channel 100 uses the same lower frequency base as channels 102 and 106. The difference is the bandwidth of the channels: 20, 40, or 80 MHz respectively.

Channels 102 and 106 are not available in Europe but the Zyxel is operating in USA mode so when I forced the Android phone to use the European domain it could no longer 'see' the AP.

It seems that although the VMG8924 reports it is using channel 100 it is actually using 102 or 106. The default bandwidth is set to 80MHz which would imply channel 106 (the setting is revealed by pressing the "more..." link next to the "Channel" option).

The only settings I can find that can affect this are on the Network Settings > Wireless > (5G AP) > Other page where it has the option "Regulatory Mode" (Disabled,  802.11h, 802.11d).

It seems to me the default should be set to 802.11h on the 802.11a (5GHz) band which would have it apply automatic DFS (Dynamic Frequency Selection) and TPS (Transmit Power Control).

I'm not sure why there's an option for 802.11d as an alternative since you'd really want 802.11h and 802.11d (which transmits the AP country code in the beacons) working together.

It was set to disabled which appears to be the default, which assumes all channels are legal and would presumably be the USA regulatory domain.

The crucial point is there seems to be no way to tell the AP which regulatory domain it should be operating in which, in the absence of 802.11h being in use, could cause interference.

I'm wondering how this 802.11a 5GHz device gained approvals or is even legal to operate in Europe since it is by default able to use channels and bandwidths that are prohibited due to the possibility of interfering with existing services.

[ 0 ] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_WLAN_channels#5.C2.A0GHz_.28802.11a.2Fh.2Fj.2Fn.2Fac.29.5B17.5D
« Last Edit: October 17, 2016, 11:08:56 AM by Iam_TJ »
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Iam_TJ

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #622 on: October 19, 2016, 12:58:52 PM »

More information on the 5GHz band channel and bandwidth selection.

The VMG8924 is currently on channel 60 which according to the standards is a (standard) 802.11a 20MHz bandwidth channel at 5300GHz. There is no alternate HT 40 or 80 MHz channel centred on 5300GHz.

However my PC reports it is using 40MHz:
Code: [Select]
$ iw dev wlp3s0 link
Connected to 28:28:5d:07:76:0a (on wlp3s0)
        SSID: tron5G
        freq: 5300
        RX: 4329133 bytes (21226 packets)
        TX: 515243 bytes (4021 packets)
        signal: -44 dBm
        tx bitrate: 270.0 MBit/s MCS 15 40MHz

        bss flags:      short-slot-time
        dtim period:    1
        beacon int:     100

So when I enforce the Android device to use the European regulatory domain that device can no longer 'see' the channel. This also infers the VMG8924 is *not* respecting its own "802.11 Mode" option which is set to "802.11a/n/ac Mixed" on the Network Setting > Wireless > (5G) > Other page because otherwise it should be able to interoperate with standard 20Mhz devices even when using 802.11n/ac HT (High Throughput) modes.
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PhilipD

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #623 on: October 19, 2016, 01:33:41 PM »

Hi

The firmware of the VMG8324 series is pretty rough in some places so not entirely surprised it isn't working as expected!

You could always try sending their support an email.  Typically the base firmware is okay as that is by and large supplied by Broadcom, it's the ZyXel interface that sits over the top that often doesn't update or set the configuration correctly.

Regards

Phil

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Iam_TJ

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #624 on: October 19, 2016, 11:06:56 PM »

You could always try sending their support an email.

I was planning on doing that but was trying to determine first if this issue was present in earlier firmware since I'd never thought to test out these aspects.

There not being any way to explicitly set the regulatory domain seems at first glance to be a major problem unless the OS was being unusually 'clever' and deducing it from the time-zone, or by GeoIP of the first upstream routers. This doesn't seem to be the case though since this one is set to GMT+0 and yet is operating in the USA regulatory domain so far as I can tell - which is usually the default adopted by Linux in the absence of other CRDA settings.
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PhilipD

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #625 on: October 20, 2016, 07:21:29 AM »

Hi

One thought, try exporting the configuration file and opening that, it might have a country code in there that could be changed and the config file restored back to the router in order to set it.

Regards

Phil

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Iam_TJ

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #626 on: October 20, 2016, 07:16:44 PM »

One thought, try exporting the configuration file and opening that, it might have a country code in there that could be changed and the config file restored back to the router in order to set it.

Good call Phil.  I checked a configuration backup from an Eircom F1000 branded VMG8324 saved March 29th 2016 by, I think, firmware version 7, and it contains several:
Code: [Select]
<RegulatoryDomain>EU</RegulatoryDomain>
I then saved the current config of one of the unbranded VMG8924 devices sent to me by an ISP in Norway (a project to provide a better, fully open source, router OS) and this one shows:
Code: [Select]
<RegulatoryDomain>NO</RegulatoryDomain>
So the next test will be to try changing that and seeing if there is any difference.
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Iam_TJ

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #627 on: October 20, 2016, 11:41:45 PM »

It seems that the RegulatoryDomain in the config is ignored. I've tested with both "EU" and "US" (which have easy-to-spot differences) - but the offered channels/bandwidths are identical.

I monitored the airwaves for beacons and/or management frames broadcast by the AP containing Country Information Elements and there are none. I didn't observe any Country Information Elements on 2.4GHz either.

So it seems as if:

a) the default factory configuration for each SSID definition contains a RegulatoryDomain element but it is not used to tell the Linux kernel via cfg80211/nl80211 or CRDA which domain is active.

b) No beacons or management frame Country Information Elements are broadcast
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george7272

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #628 on: October 21, 2016, 06:08:49 AM »

Can someone tell me the free memory and CPU utilization of a typical use on a VGM8924
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Iam_TJ

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Re: ZyXEL VMG8324-B10A Firmware
« Reply #629 on: October 21, 2016, 08:59:24 AM »

Can someone tell me the free memory and CPU utilization of a typical use on a VGM8924
It'll depend very much on how busy the network is and what services are enabled but here's a VMG8924-B10A v15:
Code: [Select]
~ # cat /proc/loadavg
0.89 0.99 0.97 2/101 25705
~ # free
              total         used         free       shared      buffers
  Mem:       123664       107932        15732            0            0
 Swap:            0            0            0
Total:       123664       107932        15732
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