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266 firmware much better signal strength

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I am very happy with 270.26b but c'est la vie! Here are links to 3.0.0.4.266 and 266.23b-dw from my MediaFire account.

3.0.0.4.266:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?cb9bsev1c90g803

3.0.0.4.266.23b-dw.zip:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?7pn54vd928j1l3g



I guarantee anyone to try the 266 firmware, and you will see a 10% increase in signal strength at the minimum on both 2.4 and 5.0 and the mw adjustment on 266 actually works, where all other firmwares it does not make any difference.
 
I guarantee anyone to try the 266 firmware, and you will see a 10% increase in signal strength at the minimum on both 2.4 and 5.0 and the mw adjustment on 266 actually works, where all other firmwares it does not make any difference.

266 uses the exact same driver build as 260 and 246, and there's been numerous reports of stability issues from many users with this specific driver version. There was even a poll where as many as 50% of users mentionned having various stability issues with this driver version versus the driver from build 220. So no, not everyone will get better results, as past reports has shown.
 
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266 uses the exact same driver build as 260 and 246, and there's been numerous reports of stability issues from many users with this specific driver version. There was even a poll where as many as 50% of users mentionned having various stability issues with this driver version versus the driver from build 220. So no, not everyone will get better results, as past reports has shown.

That may be true. But I can positively say that I have had zero issues with 266, and it has much better output and signal strength.

I have been using 266 now for a month with no lockups, no loss connections, and have been having great throughput.

THis is why I highly recommend people to try it and see how it does for them. I am willing to bet they will immediately notice the signal strength is much greater.

Also, I find it amazing that after I bought the power output and signal strength up to Asus tech support that they immediately removed the 266 from their website. As if maybe they ran into FCC problems with the power output? They never would answer me why they removed it.
 
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I am very happy with 270.26b but c'est la vie! Here are links to 3.0.0.4.266 and 266.23b-dw from my MediaFire account.

3.0.0.4.266:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?cb9bsev1c90g803

3.0.0.4.266.23b-dw.zip:

http://www.mediafire.com/download.php?7pn54vd928j1l3g


Oh, just FYI, Merlin's
3.0.0.4.266.23b-dw.zip:

Does not use the actual 266 driver. He told me he still uses the 220 driver his his 3.0.0.4.266.23b-dw.zip


So, If you want to try the 266 driver, make sure to use the ASUS original 266 driver and then report your results.
 
Oh, just FYI, Merlin's
3.0.0.4.266.23b-dw.zip:

Does not use the actual 266 driver. He told me he still uses the 220 driver his his 3.0.0.4.266.23b-dw.zip


So, If you want to try the 266 driver, make sure to use the ASUS original 266 driver and then report your results.

Thanks for the feedback regarding your personal experience with fw 266.

So, to confirm my understanding:
1. You are using Asus' firmware version 266 (not Merlin's firmware) right?

2. You are noting that Merlin's 266 fw actually uses older Broadcom drivers than the Broadcom drivers used in Asus fw 266 (which Merlin noted is due to reports of stability issues with the 266 driver from about 50% of polled users).

I plan to finally open my RT-AC66U tonight (made easier by my having just ordered the USB-AC53) and test it to compare the two routers in terms of wifi signal stability and wifi performance on both bands.
 
Thanks for the feedback regarding your personal experience with fw 266.

So, to confirm my understanding:
1. You are using Asus' firmware version 266 (not Merlin's firmware) right?

2. You are noting that Merlin's 266 fw actually uses older Broadcom drivers than the Broadcom drivers used in Asus fw 266 (which Merlin noted is due to reports of stability issues with the 266 driver from about 50% of polled users).

I plan to finally open my RT-AC66U tonight (made easier by my having just ordered the USB-AC53) and test it to compare the two routers in terms of wifi signal stability and wifi performance on both bands.

That is correct on both counts.

Try it and see what you think. Use InSSider to verify signal strength.

Let us know what you experience.
 
merlin

is there a merlin build with 266 driver?

just flashed the 266 and my 2.4 and 5 are stronger about 10db each!!
 
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is there a merlin build with 266 driver?

just flashed the 266 and my 2.4 and 5 are stronger about 10db each!!


I told you!!!!!


Merlin does not have a 266 version. Merlin's 266 version uses the driver from 220 firmware if I am correct.


I have been using Asus 266 version for a good while now with no issues, great speed and the strongest signals possible.

AND with 266, if you adjust the mw power, it actually WORKS!
 
is there a merlin build with 266 driver?

just flashed the 266 and my 2.4 and 5 are stronger about 10db each!!

No, because there were too many users with stability problems with that driver.
 
266

I told you!!!!!


Merlin does not have a 266 version. Merlin's 266 version uses the driver from 220 firmware if I am correct.


I have been using Asus 266 version for a good while now with no issues, great speed and the strongest signals possible.

AND with 266, if you adjust the mw power, it actually WORKS!

if would be great if RMerlin would do builds with 266 driver for the people who don't have issues... I looked on my note 2 with wifi analyzer app and I see the difference and the speeds are much greater with it!
 
if would be great if RMerlin would do builds with 266 driver for the people who don't have issues... I looked on my note 2 with wifi analyzer app and I see the difference and the speeds are much greater with it!

There are two different routers, with no less than 4 different driver versions in the past 6 months per router. I'm not gonna compile and release 8 different firmwares just because everyone has his own favorite driver...
 
asus need to fix this

There are two different routers, with no less than 4 different driver versions in the past 6 months per router. I'm not gonna compile and release 8 different firmwares just because everyone has his own favorite driver...

damn... the 266 on the ac router with your tweaks = FTW!!!
 
Got my USB-AC53 tonight, which prompted me to finally hook up my AC66U.

So far I am maxing out my ISP connection (58.x Mbps wirelessly; get 59 Mbps wired) on both 2.4 GHz and 5 Ghz bands with firmware 354.
My N66U was slower on 2.4 GHz by a little bit (1 Mbps).

LAN Speed Test results for my AC66U show better throughput than my N66U.


866.5 Mbps link rate on 802.11ac.


The only thing I was expecting is for the 802.11ac LAN Speed Test results to be a lot faster.
I'll have to run some file copies and see how they turn out.

5 GHz signal strength in my bedroom is noticeably weaker than with the N66U. In the living room they are very close.

N66U was -46 dbm (between -43 and -49) in my bedroom, whereas the AC66U is only -53 dbm.

However, the LAN Speed Test and speedtest.net results are both better for the AC66U.
 
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5GHz signal strength is also weaker than with the N66U.

N66U was -46 dbm (between -43 and -49) in my bedroom, whereas the AC66U is only -56 dbm.

BTW, make sure you do your tests using the same channel. Lower-numbered channel have different output power limitations than the higher-numbered ones.
 
damn... the 266 on the ac router with your tweaks = FTW!!!
The thing is there isn't no perfect wireless driver, and never will be. I am a N66U user, and for me the latest wireless drivers asus is using work very well for me. I have a decent amount of device's that connect wirelessly also. For me I see a 2.4ghz band that is more steady, and doesn't bounce around connection speed's. As for the 5ghz band, I don't expect a whole lot because it's limited range.

I have had only one complaint regarding wireless connection since I started using the .3xx build's. Which was related to the 5ghz band having connection speed drop, but pick back up soon after. Which I have had this happen with older build's also. Giving the location of the 5ghz connection, and stuff in between. I would just blame it on the condition's of where everything is, rather then a driver issue. That's not without saying, I would love for one day the range of the 5ghz band to be better, as we all know it's better usage wise.
 
BTW, make sure you do your tests using the same channel. Lower-numbered channel have different output power limitations than the higher-numbered ones.

I got -53 dbm just now by the way (as opposed to -56 dbm).

Thanks for the info! I had the channel set to Auto. I guess I can rerun my N66U tests or, in the interest of time, simply switch channels on the AC66U to see if performance improves.

I posted some findings in a comparison thread.
http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=10577
 
The thing is there isn't no perfect wireless driver, and never will be. I am a N66U user, and for me the latest wireless drivers asus is using work very well for me. I have a decent amount of device's that connect wirelessly also. For me I see a 2.4ghz band that is more steady, and doesn't bounce around connection speed's. As for the 5ghz band, I don't expect a whole lot because it's limited range.

I have had only one complaint regarding wireless connection since I started using the .3xx build's. Which was related to the 5ghz band having connection speed drop, but pick back up soon after. Which I have had this happen with older build's also. Giving the location of the 5ghz connection, and stuff in between. I would just blame it on the condition's of where everything is, rather then a driver issue. That's not without saying, I would love for one day the range of the 5ghz band to be better, as we all know it's better usage wise.


Right, as I coincidentally posted in another thread, I was able to get the full 59 Mbps on speedtest.net and very high speeds on LAN Speed Test on 5 GHz in my challenging family room. I noted there that I was amazed the 5 GHz worked so well that far away (not designed or supposed to reach that far typically).
The interesting thing was that the N66U had better signal strength in the same room (albeit slightly worse throughput and internet bandwidth) and the AC66U signal was borderline.

Agreed, re. no perfect driver.
At this point, I am definitely leaning towards keeping the AC66U to maximize performance from my USB-AC53 adapter.
I will change channels tomorrow and rerun some tests (might not even bother connecting my N66U again, since I have baselines now and just want something comparable - ideally I could set a fixed channel, but I am not looking to be that exact, so long as performance and stability meet my needs I am happy).

EDIT - Great news, I bumped the TX power on my AC66U from 80mW (default) to 100mW on 5GHz (left 2.4GHz for right now) and presto - signal strength was markedly better (went from 2 bars to 4 bars in the furthest reaches of my home - the dbm figures are in the other thread, but the 2 bars to 4 bars makes it stand out and easier for the average user to get a feel for the improvement.

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?p=64929&posted=1#post64929
 
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