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AC87R & USB-AC56 file transfer help?

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rlp2955

Occasional Visitor
Hi all, looking for some help understanding why I am not seeing any difference in file transfer speeds between my old and new networksetup. I just upgraded to the AC87R (from N66U) and also bought the USB-AC56 adapter for my laptop. My hope was that I would see significant increase in file transfer speeds between my laptop downstairs and my USB 3.0 external drive I have plugged into the AC87R router upstairs.

I downloaded and ran the LAN Speed Test application yesterday and here are my results (using 5Ghz connection):

Laptop downstairs to USB drive on router upstairs: 150Mbps Write, 145Mbps Read
Laptop downstairs to wired laptop on Gig Ethernet upstairs: 160Mbps Write, 133 MBps Read

If I disconnect the USB AC adapter and use the wireless N adapter that came with the laptop, I get the following results:

Laptop downstairs to USB drive on router upstairs: 165Mbps Write, 97 Mbps Read
Laptop downstairs to wired laptop on Gig Ethernet upstairs: 36 Mbps Write, 111 Mbps Read

Are these results right? How can my transfer speeds be essentially the same using my internal "N" wireless adapter and then the upgraded AC adapter? Shouldnt I be seeing closer to 400/500 Mbps with AC adapter?
 
It may indicate no rhyme or reason, but it actually depends on many factors, including the quality of the N class adaptor and drivers and the distance and obstacles and orientation differences of the internal card vs. the USB adaptor. The power options might also make a difference. Have you tried High Performance while plugged into the wall power?

Btw, I don't see 36Mbps comparable to 160Mbps on the wired test though?

Also, the USB external drive is also a limiting factor, even with an RT-AC87U. You should really be testing maximum throughput from a wired laptop with preferably an ssd inside.

Have you optimized the channels for your environment? Do you have channel width on the 5GHz channel to explicitly use 40MHz widths to match the USB AC adaptor?

Have you tried orienting your router's antennae to be more perpendicular to the laptop to the floors below?

The specifics matter, as you can see from my questions here. As does the firmware version you are running and also depends on whether you have reset the router to factory defaults after you flashed that firmware too.

You may want to try the 378.52 Alpha 3 or higher RMerlin release too. Seems to have fixed a lot of issues for many here.

Or, you may want to try the hggomes fork of the stable RMerlin version. Offers higher Tx power levels and depending on the distance and obstacles between your router and the laptop, could significantly increase the throughput too. PM hggomes for the download links to his fork. Note that you will need to do a reset to factory defaults and then manually and minimally configure the router to secure it and connect to your ISP too (after flashing to the version you want to try).



Hi all, looking for some help understanding why I am not seeing any difference in file transfer speeds between my old and new networksetup. I just upgraded to the AC87R (from N66U) and also bought the USB-AC56 adapter for my laptop. My hope was that I would see significant increase in file transfer speeds between my laptop downstairs and my USB 3.0 external drive I have plugged into the AC87R router upstairs.

I downloaded and ran the LAN Speed Test application yesterday and here are my results (using 5Ghz connection):

Laptop downstairs to USB drive on router upstairs: 150Mbps Write, 145Mbps Read
Laptop downstairs to wired laptop on Gig Ethernet upstairs: 160Mbps Write, 133 MBps Read

If I disconnect the USB AC adapter and use the wireless N adapter that came with the laptop, I get the following results:

Laptop downstairs to USB drive on router upstairs: 165Mbps Write, 97 Mbps Read
Laptop downstairs to wired laptop on Gig Ethernet upstairs: 36 Mbps Write, 111 Mbps Read

Are these results right? How can my transfer speeds be essentially the same using my internal "N" wireless adapter and then the upgraded AC adapter? Shouldnt I be seeing closer to 400/500 Mbps with AC adapter?
 
The channel bandwidth on the 5Ghz is set to 80Mhz. According to the specs of the USB AC56 adapter, it connects at 80Mhz for AC. I don't want to mess with imaging the router...I was just inquiring because I expected much higher rates right out of the box.
 
and also...when I look at the signal between the USB AC adapter on laptop and the router, it shows 837Mbps connection. Just thought I would add that detail in case it helps.
 
If you're not willing to explore the possibilities (including new firmware and / or settings) then it will be hard to improve anything, no?

Running anything 'out of the box' is a poor way to compare or gauge progress. Most manufacturers would default to 'safe' settings than towards anything that gives the best performance possible.
 
I guess I was just hoping that someone would be able to give me an indication of whether those speeds are what I should be expecting in this environment (wireless AC adapter to wired Gigabit laptop) based on others who may have a similar setup. It seems as if I have wasted money on both a new router and the adapter if I getting virtually the same file transfer speeds. Based on other benchmarks I have seen on other websites, it certainly seems like I should be getting much better transfer rates. When I did setup the router, it automatically recognized new firmware and installed but I didn't do a factory reset. I will certainly try that but not expecting that to make much of an impact.
 
Oh, I see you're relying on the auto update feature of the firmware too. Bad idea.

Download the latest RMerlin firmware and do a reset to factory defaults as recommended.

If you do not wish to put in some effort into getting better performance (no guarantee you will, of course) then you did waste your money for the new equipment.

I don't know what else to offer, or what anyone else can either?

Understand that a wireless router network is not something independent of the environment it is used in, nor of the clients it connects either. Including possibly upgrading drivers or adjusting settings on those clients and of course the already mentioned need to upgrade to a current firmware level (auto update is not to be relied on for that) and setup the router properly again.

I wish you luck. If you're really not satisfied and unwilling to explore the options available, then maybe you can sell and recoup some of your costs?
 

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