Link unable to find host on 5GHz band [~solved]

[ImmaB]

Hello,

So, I'm having a really odd issue.

I recently bought an Asus DSL-AC56U router / DSL modem. When I first set it up, I managed to get the steam link and host PC working fine on the 5GHz wireless band.

Last night when I turned on the link, it refused to find the host when starting up, yet it could find the host when I connected to the 2.4GHz band.

tl;dr: Things work fine when connecting steam link to 2.4GHz band, but the link is unable to find the host on the 5GHz band.

I have tried:

- Resetting my router
- Downgrading router firmware to an older version
- Resetting the link to factory settings
- Turning off firewall on host PC
- I have restarted both devices multiple times
- I've made sure that "enable streaming" is checked in the steam in-home streaming options. I have also toggled this and restarted steam a couple of times

I am at my wits end here. I forked out a ton of cash for this router, and it's getting to the stage where it'll just be easier to use a cable!

Any advice would be appreciated :)

[Sicris]

Try changing the 5Ghz channel. Also try placing the steam link closer to the router, the 5Ghz band has a bit of a harder time going through walls compared to 2.4Ghz.

I've had a similar problem occur not to long ago. Usually the steam link eventually finds the 5 GHz band if you leave it there for a few minutes.

[ImmaB]

Thanks, I'll give that a go. But it's not really a problem of connecting to the 5GHz band. I can connect to either band fine. However, on the 2.4GHz band, the link will be able to find the host. On the 5GHz band, the link can't see the host at all (it shows as offline). It's really bizarre.

The link and host PC are about within a 2 metres of the router - pretty much line of sight with no walls blocking them, and both have great reception.

[ImmaB]

I am starting to think the problem is the router, or the link is somehow ignoring the host PC (I find this doubtful though). I have tried a couple of things lately. My current setup is much like before:

- Host PC on 5GHz band
- Old laptop with steam installed plugged into router via LAN cable
- Steam link on 5GHz band

I reinstalled Windows on my host PC. After installing steam and updating all the drivers, the link picked up the host PC - great success. However this was short lived. When starting up an episode of The Walking Dead, the game froze, and I had to restart the host - connection to the link was lost.

I then came up with the idea of changing the IP range of my router. I changed it from 192.168.1.x to 10.0.0.x. Great success, the link found the host. But again, this was short lived. Without even logging into the PC via the link, the host was lost.

The third and final puzzling thing I discovered was starting up steam on my old laptop, and steam picking up that it could stream from the host PC. This to me kind of rules out any issues the host PC might have had, like a firewall blocking something. It tells me either the link or my router is at fault.

I am puzzled :(

[ImmaB]

A bit of a report back. I suppose one could say this problem is solved?

While the link stil cannot find the host PC when doing its normal network scan, it does find the host after the latest beta update, and setting which IP to connect to.

So my solution to save me from a touch of admin whenever my router recycles IP's is to set the host on a static IP.

What a long exercise this problem has been!