Change country to unlock channels, increase TX-power. (Use at your own risk)

README.md

Disclaimer

Following instructions are provided without any warranty, and may even get you in trouble legally. The instructions are provided for testing, learning, preventing e-waste, and should be use with care. We (including contributers + commentators) are not responsible for any damage to your device(s) or any legal issues.

Getting Started

Instructions have been moved to https://github.com/francoism90/asus-router. :)

@Warborn123 Try to work with the wl command. See my comments above how to use it to set country, disable DSF, set tx power, etc., see here or this one.

To help others having the same router model as you, please post the output of the corresponding wl commands here. For instance, wl country list or wl -i eth8 channels (on my GT-AXE11000 eth8 corresponds to the 6G).

When you set a country or channel, then always check with the wl command, if the settings are OK: wl -i eth8 status . Do not check it on your wifi clients!

Your wifi clients, e.g., mobile phone, laptop, have also regulatory settings which affect connectivity, for instance no 6G wifi. Your apple phone will most likeley set its regulatory wifi country to what it reads from telco network. On a rooted android device, you can override this via sudo iw reg set COUNTRY. But since apple is super closed source... nothing to do here...

Intel... well.... they use LAR algorithm to detect the country settings. This is a super shitty thing. Because LAR fails more often than succeeding. And if you are unlucky, it cannot determine a country based on beacon signals from neighbour's wifi and uses "world region", which has no 6G wifi channels. Also note: Win10 and Intel cards = No 6 GHz wifi, you need win11.

Thus, replace your AX210 with Mediatek MT7922. (! only possible if your laptop does not have proprietary intel CNVio(2) interfaces!) The MT7922 works perfect and stable with all my lenovo laptops, also under Ubuntu. No stupid LAR. And as a bonus: You can even use 6GHz wifi with win10.

Thank you for your comments. I'm not sure if I did it right or not, but it seems like the router doesn't support sl commands?

jack@GT-BE98-4D80:/tmp/home/root# wl help
wl: Unsupported
jack@GT-BE98-4D80:/tmp/home/root# wl -i eth8 channels
wl: wl driver adapter not found

But the wl country list from your previous post works for some reason:

jack@GT-BE98-4D80:/tmp/home/root# wl country list
Supported countries: country code and long name
AU      AUSTRALIA
E0
JP      JAPAN
US      UNITED STATES

And surprisingly, when set to E0, AU or JP, both my iPhone and AX210 can find the 6GHz band, but they all have very weak 6GHz transmission power (-48dBm @ 2 meters), only the US location code will give a reasonable transmission power (-36dB, @ 2 meters), so I'm very sad there.

And yes, I would definitely want to change to a Mediatek wireless card, but unfortunately my AX210 chip is embedded in my computer's motherboard, so it's impossible to upgrade unless I buy one of those PCI-E Wi-Fi adapters.

I saw that you mentioned about AX2xx wireless card will likely not work because of the LAR, have you tried the AX4xx family, like AX411? or the BE200? Did Intel remove LAR on those wireless cards? Because I think chances are, the next ASUS motherboard I get will come with an Intel wireless card, unfortunately.

I like Win11, so I have no problem there :)

Lastly, do you know what difference does the country_rev do? My router support 3 country_rev code for the US, but I see no difference changing those numbers:

jack@GT-BE98-4D80:/tmp/home/root# wl country_rev US
count: 3
0 102 103

Thank you!

"Thank you for your comments. I'm not sure if I did it right or not, but it seems like the router doesn't support sl commands?"
It is wl -h and for the interfaces: check which ones you have for instance with ifconig, with Asus usually the highest number is the 6 GHz Wifi, as I said, for my router it is eth8.

😯😨😨

You do not have country ALL???!!!
Shit, did Asus really remove this???!

What happens, if you try for your interface, ethX, 5 or 6 GHz

wl -i ethX down
wl -i ethX country ALL
wl -i ethX up

😯😨😨

You do not have country ALL???!!! Shit, did Asus really remove this???!

What happens, if you try for your interface, ethX, 5 or 6 GHz

wl -i ethX down
wl -i ethX country ALL
wl -i ethX up

Yep, that's right. Now when I set ccode=ALL, it will either change back to the original country (JP) or change to the US (E0,US,AU). You can only change location_code, wl_country_code and wl4_country_code to ALL, but since the ccode is locked, it doesn't really has any effect on the transmission power or frequency band. Let me try the new commands now and see whether that will work🥲

😯😨😨

You do not have country ALL???!!! Shit, did Asus really remove this???!

What happens, if you try for your interface, ethX, 5 or 6 GHz

wl -i ethX down
wl -i ethX country ALL
wl -i ethX up

I just tried all three commands here, and it all gives the same error message wl: Unsupported🫠

Hmmm :-/

Since you have country US as a built-in country, will then setting like wl -i ethXX country US work?

btw, on which merlin verison are you? (I did not see your router model listed on asus merlin wrt page)

Hmmm :-/

Since you have country US as a built-in country, will then setting like wl -i ethXX country US work?

btw, on which merlin verison are you? (I did not see your router model listed on asus merlin wrt page)

Thank you for your reply. Nope, the command still doesn't work, wl: wl driver adapter not found as usual. I'm with the stock firmware, I'm afraid they haven't released a merlin firmware for this router yet. I don't really see the point of using the merlin firmware though, I did manage to unlock the frequency and increase the TX power on stock firmware with my AXE11000 here.

nvram commands are more efficient than wl commands, all you need to do is an nvram commit and the settings survive even reboots. wl commands even with an init start script, once the router reboots you have to run the sh command from the command prompt yourself, as the settings will clear and the router will revert to normal settings. it is not really efficient to rely on wl commands as much as I am curious about the differences from nvram commands and the potential, in practice without a command that you can set after an intentional or accidental reboot it is better to rely on nvram set commands if the router supports it Il ven 22 mar 2024, 23:24 A2E76W3 ***@***.***> ha scritto:

…

***@***.**** commented on this gist. ------------------------------ Hmmm :-/ Since you have country US as a built-in country, will then setting like wl -i ethXX country US work? btw, on which merlin verison are you? (I did not see your router model listed on asus merlin wrt page) Thank you for your reply. Nope, the command still doesn't work, wl: wl driver adapter not found as usual. I'm with the stock firmware, I'm afraid they haven't released a merlin firmware for this router yet. I don't really see the point of using the merlin firmware though, I did manage to unlock the frequency and increase the TX power on stock firmware with my AXE11000 here <https://gist.github.com/francoism90/3dede7973354d067c41bff5e54203fe9?permalink_comment_id=4812096#gistcomment-4812096> . — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://gist.github.com/francoism90/3dede7973354d067c41bff5e54203fe9#gistcomment-4998029> or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BAVJMKFMFBR7S5BBNRI27Q3YZSVTNBFKMF2HI4TJMJ2XIZLTSKBKK5TBNR2WLJDUOJ2WLJDOMFWWLO3UNBZGKYLEL5YGC4TUNFRWS4DBNZ2F6YLDORUXM2LUPGBKK5TBNR2WLJDHNFZXJJDOMFWWLK3UNBZGKYLEL52HS4DFVRZXKYTKMVRXIX3UPFYGLK2HNFZXIQ3PNVWWK3TUUZ2G64DJMNZZDAVEOR4XAZNEM5UXG5FFOZQWY5LFVA4TENZQG44TIONHORZGSZ3HMVZKMY3SMVQXIZI> . You are receiving this email because you commented on the thread. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub> .

nvram commands are more efficient than wl commands, all you need to do is an nvram commit and the settings survive even reboots. wl commands even with an init start script, once the router reboots you have to run the sh command from the command prompt yourself, as the settings will clear and the router will revert to normal settings. it is not really efficient to rely on wl commands as much as I am curious about the differences from nvram commands and the potential, in practice without a command that you can set after an intentional or accidental reboot it is better to rely on nvram set commands if the router supports it Il ven 22 mar 2024, 23:24 A2E76W3 @.> ha scritto:
…
@.* commented on this gist. ------------------------------ Hmmm :-/ Since you have country US as a built-in country, will then setting like wl -i ethXX country US work? btw, on which merlin verison are you? (I did not see your router model listed on asus merlin wrt page) Thank you for your reply. Nope, the command still doesn't work, wl: wl driver adapter not found as usual. I'm with the stock firmware, I'm afraid they haven't released a merlin firmware for this router yet. I don't really see the point of using the merlin firmware though, I did manage to unlock the frequency and increase the TX power on stock firmware with my AXE11000 here https://gist.github.com/francoism90/3dede7973354d067c41bff5e54203fe9?permalink_comment_id=4812096#gistcomment-4812096 . — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://gist.github.com/francoism90/3dede7973354d067c41bff5e54203fe9#gistcomment-4998029 or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BAVJMKFMFBR7S5BBNRI27Q3YZSVTNBFKMF2HI4TJMJ2XIZLTSKBKK5TBNR2WLJDUOJ2WLJDOMFWWLO3UNBZGKYLEL5YGC4TUNFRWS4DBNZ2F6YLDORUXM2LUPGBKK5TBNR2WLJDHNFZXJJDOMFWWLK3UNBZGKYLEL52HS4DFVRZXKYTKMVRXIX3UPFYGLK2HNFZXIQ3PNVWWK3TUUZ2G64DJMNZZDAVEOR4XAZNEM5UXG5FFOZQWY5LFVA4TENZQG44TIONHORZGSZ3HMVZKMY3SMVQXIZI . You are receiving this email because you commented on the thread. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675 or Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub .

Hi, is there any way to force the nvram set 1:ccode=ALL and nvram set wl0_country_code=ALL command? These parameters revert to the original values after I commit the changes and restart the router now on the new model. Thanks.

i didn't know that ccode had this problem too, anyway no, inside asus routers there must be some kind of component either inside the router or in the software, that forces the asus to change the country code and make it go back to how it was originally. nvram set country code doesn't survive any kind of attempt to make it permanent neither with the init start script nor using nvram commit, at every reboot it will always go back to the original one. i don't know what if there is really a way to make the change permanent, maybe using old firmware from old asus models like ac68u it is still possible to do it, but starting from relatively recent models like ac86u and similar such changes cannot be made permanent Il dom 24 mar 2024, 18:22 A2E76W3 ***@***.***> ha scritto:

…

***@***.**** commented on this gist. ------------------------------ nvram commands are more efficient than wl commands, all you need to do is an nvram commit and the settings survive even reboots. wl commands even with an init start script, once the router reboots you have to run the sh command from the command prompt yourself, as the settings will clear and the router will revert to normal settings. it is not really efficient to rely on wl commands as much as I am curious about the differences from nvram commands and the potential, in practice without a command that you can set after an intentional or accidental reboot it is better to rely on nvram set commands if the router supports it Il ven 22 mar 2024, 23:24 A2E76W3 *@*. *> ha scritto:… ***@***.***** commented on this gist. ------------------------------ Hmmm :-/ Since you have country US as a built-in country, will then setting like wl -i ethXX country US work? btw, on which merlin verison are you? (I did not see your router model listed on asus merlin wrt page) Thank you for your reply. Nope, the command still doesn't work, wl: wl driver adapter not found as usual. I'm with the stock firmware, I'm afraid they haven't released a merlin firmware for this router yet. I don't really see the point of using the merlin firmware though, I did manage to unlock the frequency and increase the TX power on stock firmware with my AXE11000 here https://gist.github.com/francoism90/3dede7973354d067c41bff5e54203fe9?permalink_comment_id=4812096#gistcomment-4812096 . — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub https://gist.github.com/francoism90/3dede7973354d067c41bff5e54203fe9#gistcomment-4998029 or unsubscribe https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BAVJMKFMFBR7S5BBNRI27Q3YZSVTNBFKMF2HI4TJMJ2XIZLTSKBKK5TBNR2WLJDUOJ2WLJDOMFWWLO3UNBZGKYLEL5YGC4TUNFRWS4DBNZ2F6YLDORUXM2LUPGBKK5TBNR2WLJDHNFZXJJDOMFWWLK3UNBZGKYLEL52HS4DFVRZXKYTKMVRXIX3UPFYGLK2HNFZXIQ3PNVWWK3TUUZ2G64DJMNZZDAVEOR4XAZNEM5UXG5FFOZQWY5LFVA4TENZQG44TIONHORZGSZ3HMVZKMY3SMVQXIZI . You are receiving this email because you commented on the thread. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675 or Android https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub . Hi, is there any way to force the nvram set 1:ccode=ALL and nvram set wl0_country_code=ALL command? These parameters revert to the original values after I commit the changes and restart the router now on the new model. Thanks. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <https://gist.github.com/francoism90/3dede7973354d067c41bff5e54203fe9#gistcomment-4999411> or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/BAVJMKDDJV5277VVC6FSWNDYZ4DWZBFKMF2HI4TJMJ2XIZLTSKBKK5TBNR2WLJDUOJ2WLJDOMFWWLO3UNBZGKYLEL5YGC4TUNFRWS4DBNZ2F6YLDORUXM2LUPGBKK5TBNR2WLJDHNFZXJJDOMFWWLK3UNBZGKYLEL52HS4DFVRZXKYTKMVRXIX3UPFYGLK2HNFZXIQ3PNVWWK3TUUZ2G64DJMNZZDAVEOR4XAZNEM5UXG5FFOZQWY5LFVA4TENZQG44TIONHORZGSZ3HMVZKMY3SMVQXIZI> . You are receiving this email because you commented on the thread. Triage notifications on the go with GitHub Mobile for iOS <https://apps.apple.com/app/apple-store/id1477376905?ct=notification-email&mt=8&pt=524675> or Android <https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.github.android&referrer=utm_campaign%3Dnotification-email%26utm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dgithub> .

I just noticed that the location of my router sends by the beacon is: DE, which presumably stands for Germany? Although my ccode and location code are set to US. I bought my router(ASUS BE98)here in the UK. Very strange. Can confirm this using S24 Ultra and winfi

I'm more confused about my iPhone 15PM and AX210 that decided not to work with the 6GHz band.

Guys, bad news. I think someone in ASUS saw our posts, after the last firmware update, I cannot change my ccode and country rev anymore... It will remain as US for my router now...

Doesn't work in what method? changing nvram or using wl commands?

when using just this:

nvram set location_code=#a
nvram commit

don't you get all the channels/max power?

Sorry for the misinformation. It still works...My bad.

Hi
Does anyone know how to disable DFS using nvram without changing country/local/transmit power?
I can do it using wl command but it's not persistent.

I think you need to change the country, as the chipset/firmware probably does some testing if it even can be disabled.

You don't have to change the transmit power. It's there as a reference.

Just a reminder: even when setting a different country or TX-power, it doesn't mean it actually works. The Intel chipsets most people have on their end devices, does some hidden checking and makes it really difficult to workaround certain 'hacks'.

So the given instructions, may or may work. It depends on your setup and maybe a bit of luck.

Thanks, I guess I'll stick with wl method using services-start which works for me (but I wish it was persistent)

Hi Does anyone know how to disable DFS using nvram without changing country/local/transmit power? I can do it using wl command but it's not persistent.

Just put all your WL commands in a bash script. Run it manually after a reboot of your router. I mean, I reboot my router once year or so...
Or, put in a script which is run after reboot, see documentation here https://github.com/RMerl/asuswrt-merlin.ng/wiki/User-scripts

That's the way I do it now
Using services-start script and also service-event-end script (so it's running after every change made in wireless settings).
It's still more convinent to make the changes once using nvram which is also applicable to asuswrt and not only Merlin.

This doesn't seem to work for my original AX88U (non pro). Which is originally set to "DE" (Germany) region.

Trying nvram command

I followed all the steps above and uncommented:
nvram set wl0_sel_channel=14/80 # force 2.4GHz channel

To try and set the 2.4Ghz channel to 14. After rebooting the router, it is still set to 13.

Trying Web GUI

I can see 14 as an option the "Wireless" tab in the router control panel.
If I try to set it to 14 in the Web GUI it reboots and sets it to 5 (Auto)...

If I go to Wireless > Professional > Right Click "Inspect" > CTRL+F "Country" > It shows "#a" like it should in the hidden setting.

Any other suggestions? I am just trying to get channel 14 because in the capital city every single other channel is completely saturated...

---

Here is my script. Do I need to replace the country code #a with something else? Is that why it's not working?

#!/bin/sh

# Allow all channels
nvram set location_code=#a
nvram set 0:ccode=#a
nvram set 0:regrev=0
nvram set 1:ccode=#a
nvram set 1:regrev=0
nvram set territory_code=CN/02 # or US/02
nvram set wl_country_code=#a
nvram set wl_reg_mode=h
nvram set wl0_chlist="1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14"
nvram set wl0_country_code=#a
nvram set wl0_country_rev=0
nvram set wl0_reg_mode=h
nvram set wl1_chlist="36 40 44 48 52 56 60 64 100 104 108 112 116 120 124 128 132 136 140 149 153 157 161 165 169 173 177"
nvram set wl1_country_code=#a
nvram set wl1_country_rev=0
nvram set wl1_reg_mode=h
nvram set acs_dfs=0
nvram set wl_acs_excl_chans_dfs=
nvram set wl_acs_excl_chans=
nvram set wl0_acs_dfs=0
nvram set wl0_acs_excl_chans_base=
nvram set wl0_acs_excl_chans=
nvram set wl1_acs_dfs=0
nvram set wl1_acs_excl_chans_base=
nvram set wl1_acs_excl_chans=
nvram set acs_unii4=1

# Channel selection (these don't seem to do anything, so they're commented out)
# nvram set wl0_chanspec=0 # auto select
# nvram set wl1_chanspec=0 # auto select
# nvram set wl_chanspec=0 # auto select
# nvram set wl0_sel_channel=14/80 # force 2.4GHz channel
# nvram set wl1_sel_channel=149/80 # force 5GHz channel

Seems there's nothing I can do to actually use Channel 14 for 2.4Ghz.

Ok adding on to what I have learned from fooling around a bit.

My AX88U shipped with "DE" country. This limited transmission power to 12, i.e.:

admin@RT-AX88U-9B20:/tmp/home/root# wl txpwr_target_max
Maximum Tx Power Target (chanspec:0x100d):      12.00  12.00  12.00  12.00

After copying the example script and rebooting the router:

admin@RT-AX88U-9B20:/tmp/home/root# wl txpwr_target_max
Maximum Tx Power Target (chanspec:0x100d):      26.00  26.00  26.00  26.00

So the Tx power has increased by a bit over double. I can also see from numerous WiFi apps and also the Asus Site Survey/WiFi Radar that my transmission power has increased massively. Note that I have not copied any of the "Risky" transmission lines into my start script. All I have in my start script is what I have in the reply above.

2.4Ghz

• Xperia 1V previously reported the signal strength at -33dBm even at 1ft from the router.
• It now reports -23dBm which I am sure is as sensitive/low as it can record. Remembering that dBm is logarithmic, a 3dBm increase is essentially a 100% improvement, so this is a huge improvement for 2.4Ghz.

5Ghz

• Xperia 1V previously reported the signal strength at -38dBm
• It now reports -30dBm. Still a massive improvement.

I am pretty satisfied with this. It would have been nice to use Channel 14, but I can concur and confirm with others. Setting the channel to 14 will generally reset my router to "DE" region again and put the Tx power back to 12 from 26. This is generally good enough for me.

Hopefully there's no health risks from setting the Tx power so high. I sit about 1.2m from my router. Though I plan to move it into another room when I move my study area. Hence part of the reason why I started investigating this in the first place.

I forgot to add the speeds before and after the 12 -> 26mW change:

Result (Xperia 1V):

• 689/492mbps - 12mW Tx Power
  • 707/485
• 802/460 - 26mW Tx Power
  • 805/481

Result (S7 Tab):

• 763/492mbps - 12mW Tx Power
  • 739/481
• 756/481 - 26mW Tx Power

@825i Increasing Tx Power leads to more noise, it may/may not increase performance. It's basically aim is to increase the range of your router. However, this could also increase heat and load.

If I'm not mistaken, the txpwr_target_max key only indicates the maximum allowed Tx Power, it doesn't increase the value. It's a dynamic value based on the selected country, etc.

Thanks for posting your findings and results. Like said in the disclaimer, it may work for you or not.
In most cases unfortunately it doesn't work, because many WiFi-chipsets have hidden/unknown abilities to check if the receiving/sending values are valid. So even changing the country or Tx Power, it may not change anything to your end-devices.

AX1100 Merlin 388.7 - so far no luck with unlock TX,
wl txpwr_target_max Maximum Tx Power Target (chanspec:0x1003): 12.00 12.00 12.00 12.00

Power really sucks, even cheap router totolink has 100% more efficient at my home.
One wall and AX don't have 2.4Ghz,,,

I tried downgrade to 388.1 and same issue can't change territory and tx.

nvram show | grep -e 'country_code|location_code|territory_code|ccode'
0:ccode=#a
1:ccode=E0
2:ccode=E0
3:ccode=E0
location_code=#a
territory_code=EU/01
wl0_country_code=E0
wl1_country_code=#a
wl2_country_code=E0
wl_country_code=#a

I have Asus GT AXE16000 with Merlin 388.7 Are you able to change region successfully if yes then which method worked for you ?

Finally i found solution, FW is not problem. But seems change parameters by wl -i eth6 and rest (7) (8) doing job, higher tx power can be achieved. And lucky have much more efficient wirelesses network with good range.
When i fully and permanent solve it will post here.
Adapter Temp 45C

Followed steps on a GT-AX6000 from Germany. Tx power did increase and better signal (signal strength from same spot -58dbm to -44dbm). New channels (149 and up) appeared as well. GUI changes seems to not cause issues and I can swap to other channels in GUI. However, whenever I try to connect to channel 149 from an Intel AX211 card, Windows shows I am using wifi 4 instead of wifi 6. Lower channels (36, 44, 48 etc) are fine. Is this an Intel issue like the previous posts indicated? Thanks for the help and good luck everyone.

@pewpewpew47 Could you try forcing 802.11ax in the WiFi settings? You may also need to adjust some parameters.

It could indeed also be the Intel card not accepting the connection as it should.

@QaDoPL Thanks for sharing, I think I'll add the WiFi settings to the README.

Followed steps on a GT-AX6000 from Germany. Tx power did increase and better signal (signal strength from same spot -58dbm to -44dbm). New channels (149 and up) appeared as well. GUI changes seems to not cause issues and I can swap to other channels in GUI. However, whenever I try to connect to channel 149 from an Intel AX211 card, Windows shows I am using wifi 4 instead of wifi 6. Lower channels (36, 44, 48 etc) are fine. Is this an Intel issue like the previous posts indicated? Thanks for the help and good luck everyone.

Most likely yes. And or a combination with the OS. You can try with another client and see if it works as expected.

You can check on our router how your client is connected, this gives you all the details.
Here for eth7 on my router:

wl -i eth7 assoclist
=> MAC_ADR

 wl -i eth7 sta_info MAC_ADR

If you want to dig deeper: Capture 802.11 beacon frames with wireshark. Then you will see what your router is advertising, and how the handshake with the client goes on....

I have updated the instructions to use events, meaning it should work when changing Wireless settings in the GUI.

Could you please test? I have also added to multiple places, as it seems to be the only way to make sure settings are set on boot and such.