Peaches and Dulcinea: whut (unfathomables)

We need a decision, Mr. President

Asus Mission critical folderol

https://dongknows.com/asus-rog-rapture-gt-be98-pro-wi-fi-7-review/,
Image link (I hope)
https://dongknows.com/wp-content/uploads/The-Asus-GT-BE98-Pro-has-two-6GHz-bands-each-occupying-the-lower-and-upper-parts-of-the-spectrum.jpg

Indexed Inscrutable terms

"Protected Management Frames" (PMF)

https://www.asus.com/us/support/faq/1042472/

(Whole lotta nothing link,

"PMF...protects"

But Some guy said

7-years is an epoch in computer time, but it's something to consider.

Lore from tomes:

6Ghz Requires WPA3.

WPA3 incorporates PMF.

Non-issue (here's hoping), beeeecause,

I use wpa3-personal exclusively,

at 6Ghz, Per the marketers and gurus of this stuff.

(Not dancing around with MLO and AImesh, at 5 and 2.4 GHZ, which might not use PMF or have different requirements)

OTOH if any problems with connections occur, I'll know where to look.
Possible Scenario:
Router connects to modem fine and dandy, but a few hours or days later, it refuses to connect.

This particular horror movie comes up a lot in consumer reviews.
I'm seriously trying to guard against it, but no firm answers, yet.
A hint:
It MIGHT be some newer feature in the latest routers.
If PMF (because, firmware-choices) were enabled TWICE, uhm, hmm.

Set damn near everything to "Disabled", get the thing to work,
and try fancy-features one-by-one.

It's apparently a time-thing; stuff works, time passes, stuff dies.

(marketing blurb)

AFC + Wifi Location + 802.11AZ all appear (to me)
to be similar, but with different marketers.

--------

I wondered

That red X in the picture
shows the forbidden-area,
and my world starts at "31"
And I was only able to pick a center channel of 33.

A more discreet (I hope) app.
I've agreed to three different things without reading them, I feel the fool.

But it's cute and it works. (It does not reveal hidden networks?)

Informative but discreet (on the display, anyway)

Should I *also* point out that my phone used to take "forever" to link up, if at all?
Now it's happy in mere seconds, but both the router, my phone and my PC have had firmware updates, so IDK.

I don't know why it's winking in and out,
The phone doesn't care (does it?) so I don't
(omg)

Does 4x4 have better range than 2x2? In case I'm mixing metaphors,

Do more antennas matter?
External vs internal??

OK basically:
A smooth surface that was designed to be a part of a mesh anyway,

vs an eight-legged spider.

Says who, 7-11 Guru?
I need a better reference

50% poll 4x4 is a waste
50% poll more range, more mimo.

If you sell routers, work for a factory that makes them,

more expensive=better, of course.
Stock rises, investors get all happy.

But........

If you're already breaking your bank with 2x2 tiny devices, you prolly don't deserve 4x4 (unless you want range???)

(hello?) Grandfatherly type who knows stuff needed here.
no venerable types available, how's about a factory-shill?

Ex Cathedra(?)

No one has convinced me (actually they warned against them!) Asus routers are the best, but they must have reviewers convinced.
For me,

The odd I.O.T. problems, and whatever "MLO" is, are meaningless, because,

This is no palatial estate complete with Wi-Fi cat-shitters, many lightbulbs all designed to phone home, A couple Wi-Fi-fountains.

No. So (I hope) this next section means more now, but maybe not.
Someone else's Mesh empire with all their electronic slaves chanting 24/7 might Need equal access to three different bands each partitioned up electronically to counteract congestion, I don't judge (OK I do but)

The wife wanted a larger telescreen

I think ~~I like~~ Mu-Mimo (I'll go look at the name)

OFD...well, whatever.
Beeeeecause, reading this slightly dated analysis broken down
for the truly esoterica lovers,
Is,
uh,
Damned if you do, damned if you don't.
6 of one, 1/2 dozen the other,
It depends.

My Wi-Fi bravely soldiers on without Mu-Mimo, with no OFDMA.
I don't pontificate here, I'd be contradicting a zillion blurbs and oodles of firmware revisions...

still...

Freezing out ANY web-access would be real nice, it would be a biggie reason to pick one model over another.

CAN you prevent anyone accessing from the WAN?
No one brought it up yet.

Yay, if it's still true

Keeping my Wi-Fi off completely (because it has no wan-access button)
is like sticking plywood over my portal to hell.
I mean, *yeah*, it works, but I'd rather not have the portal.

A person close by has a TP-Link router, with a channel, and a ghost channel sitting on top of it.
Is this some new technology? I wonder.
Two days later, the same router has a hidden, a "MLO" and a third SSID all in the same exact frequency, On top of my signal!
Geez!
It (the three signals) are very narrow, sitting smack dab in the middle of my zaftig signal.
I moved mine. It prolly does not matter, but I get less creepiness.
I was blaming "Netgear," but TP-Link does it too?
If it's some "Mesh" thing, I wonder if Asus (anyone) lets you switch it off?

https://community.synology.com/enu/forum/2/post/119826?page=2

It's a thing, (OK) now, how to get rid of it?
I hope this isn't some quest, it should be easy/obvious??

*My* issue is, even with wi-fi ostensibly Off (no radios) the ghost channels still exist.
No mesh!

It's like some bizarre back-door into the router.

And if Asus does this too, so be it, (I guess), but it sounds a lot like their routers are more mesh-savvy, and they *might* have an "off"-switch, a guy can hope.

I believe users, and reviewers too.
I think meshing different chipsets might be problematic, not sure (lotsa long nights reading tomes, or forget that and plunk down big bucks, IDK)

Blah-blah "A Steal" (lol)

"It died," "Do not buy", can't be ignored, but maybe they're shills, overclockers,

just plain stewpid?(lol)

If you *got* a 10Gbps-port router and never used the ports (because, why)

or, should you use those ports geared down for your sorry setup?

vague ruminations on resetting the router completely on a firmware-upgrade are maybe relevant, maybe not (NVRAM-left-over garbage from the last revision?)

and is it important on *every* upgrade or just the first one?

One Biggie thing I have in my head from one user is the way his WAN would not connect to his modem.
No biggie, unplug the modem, wait a bit, re-plug, or was his problem much more mysterious? (random-MAC or some such?)

This explains tons or is a red-herring, IDK
Pardon me while I copy this picture for another section of this bombast

Please read the very last line:
and rewording it to my satisfaction (sort of,)
MLO is only as good as the devices it connects to.
Hopefully, from the Same brand and year of manufacture.
If your MLO sucks, examine the clients.

Old duffer devices from competing companies, might be pissed off at the newfangled upstart.

It's the "can vary" that worries me.
"Can vary" how?

(be98) MLO sucks, 6Ghz range sucks, AFC is a TBA.

I get it (sort of)

So don't use MLO, Range is ok for this hovel.
(I'm still wondering why the hell anyone would use "MLO" anyway.)

My dinky phone would ignore it, my PC-card might like it (if Qualcomm and Broadcom liked each other, and they don't)
But then a guy wallows in the muck wondering which lesser devices are just good enough, and it gets too complicated.

I imagine that freebie reviewers who state at the top of their page that they get credit for what you click on to buy, aren't the most trustworthy types in the world.
"Sleek", wtf
96u: