Intel AC7260 with RT-AC66U works but not with RT-AC68U Why ??

[Redyak]

Hi RMerlin and other forum members. i wrote this after reading lots of post on SMB.

I have also a strange problem.

In februari 2013 i bought a ASUS RT-AC66U and in may an M2 7260AC Dualband and placed it in my laptop, an Acer 8930G with Windows 7 HP x64.
After fideling around with firmware i stumbeld over the Merlin firmware. I configuered my whole network and i got perfectly 866.7 Speed.
The adaptor was on it most recent firmware the 16.6.0.X.
Agressive Roaming on highest, Band on a/b/g, Highest power, the HT-modus on VHT (which i had read over the net)

Unfortunatly the RT-AC66U went within 9 monts dead because of a not working on/off switch.
After 3 weeks i got the message that he would not be repaired and i got my money back, paying 5€ extra i got the RT-AC68U.

When the 66 was away i upgraded to Windows 8.1 and used the wireless of my provider (Cisco 3928) With 2.4 and 5 Ghz on Draft N.
All worked flawless. When i got the 68 i hoped it would just be a swap but unfortunatly i am already 2 days trying to get it to work.

First with windows 8.1, noting worked i saw once a speed of 866 but after that no more, continious speeds op 58.5 Mbps or lower.
Same settings on de AC7260 and numerious combination on the 68. With the 5G on 80Mhz it would not even connect.

I reverted to my old Windows 7 image from the AC66U time but the same problems where there.

Then i started fresh with Windows 7.
After setting it up with the 68 with merlin and stock firmware based on the 374.501 it went somewhat better.
I got the N 2,4 Ghz working on the full 300Mbps.
Trying to get the 5GHz working resulted with 5GHZ, only N+AC 80 Mhz on channel 36 (i have 36/40/44/48) i got 866 speed for around 2 minutes then the connection drops and will not restore. Reverting to the 2,4 Ghz gives 300Mbps but dropping to 11 Mbps within the minut also when Disabeling the 7260 and the enabeling gives 300Mbps dropping to 11Mbps.

Giving the AC7260 the checkbox, i prefer 5GHZ i get when starting windows 7 directly 866 speed but after 2 minutes gone and not visible anymore on the network.

ASUS came with a new firmware 374.542 last night so i upgraded but still it will not work.

What is wrong with the combo RT-AC68U and the AC 7260. They have the same problems as the combo with the AC66U but that one was working in the end.

Some thoughts ??

 

[L&LD]

Have you deleted your wireless settings from all your client devices?

In each notebook or other wireless device; delete (forget) each network with your old SSID.

In the router, create new SSID for 2.4 and 5 GHz bands along with new passwords.

Actually; I would do a 'reset to defaults' and manually power off the router.

Manually enter any settings you need (including the new ssid's and passwords above making sure there are no spaces or special characters).

Make sure to leave the wireless mode to Auto for both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands.

Set the 2.4 GHz band to 20MHz and the 5 GHz band to 20/40/80 MHz width.

You might also want to use inssider to choose a channel that is free from neighboring WiFi radios. Also keep in mind that what worked last month or even yesterday is subject to change with WiFi - your neighbor(s) may have just picked up a new wireless router too.

 

[drabisan]

Disable completely power management for your wireless adapter.
Most of the time, speed drops to conserve power. It should increase by itself when there's traffic. You should see high speed when you are uploading/downloading something. At least that's the expected behavior.
In Windows PM can be disabled on device properties.
I'm using ubuntu on my laptop and I have PM disable on both battery and AC profiles to "help" the laptop maintain a consistent speed. And it works.

 

[KGB7]

The answer is very simple. Asus cant get their act together and come out with a proper firmware for AC68.

Yes they do try, they fix one thing and at the same time break something else.

So do what i do, and test all the firmwares and find the one that works the best for you.

You also have to test every single setting one by one in Professional settings under Wireless, until you get the best results for you. Yes its a pain in the butt, but untill we have a good firmware from Asus, then that is all you can do in the mean time.


.

 

[elpibe10]

What is wrong with the combo RT-AC68U and the AC 7260. They have the same problems as the combo with the AC66U but that one was working in the end.

Some thoughts ??

That same combo (RT-AC68U w/ .542 firmware & AC 7260 w/ 16.6.0 driver) has been working really well for me.

Stable (& Fast !) connection. I'm getting 280Mbps when tested using Iperf in the same room.

Check your settings and if all is good, then perhaps one of those devices is faulty.

 

[Redyak]

That same combo (RT-AC68U w/ .542 firmware & AC 7260 w/ 16.6.0 driver) has been working really well for me.

Stable (& Fast !) connection. I'm getting 280Mbps when tested using Iperf in the same room.

Check your settings and if all is good, then perhaps one of those devices is faulty.

On the 2,4 GHZ it is perfect but not on the 5GHz.
I lowered the 5Ghz band to 40Mhz instead of 80Mhz and now have almost stable 400Mhz. It look like the 80Mhz is the problem.

I powered all of and started from scratch with W7 but no difference

 

[elpibe10]

On the 2,4 GHZ it is perfect but not on the 5GHz.
I lowered the 5Ghz band to 40Mhz instead of 80Mhz and now have almost stable 400Mhz. It look like the 80Mhz is the problem.

I powered all of and started from scratch with W7 but no difference

I'm on Win 7 too (as well as OS X Mavericks & Ubuntu). Hated Win 8 and still disliking 8.1

In my previous post, I was referring to the 5GHz band. No reason for me to link the AC 7260 with my RT-AC68U on 2.4GHz Band.

My 5GHz is set to 80MHz on the router. On the AC 7260 everything is left at default.

Make sure you choose the right options on the 'Professional' tab in the 5GHz WiFi section of the router.

 

[vhunt3r]

I'm on Win 7 too (as well as OS X Mavericks & Ubuntu). Hated Win 8 and still disliking 8.1

In my previous post, I was referring to the 5GHz band. No reason for me to link the AC 7260 with my RT-AC68U on 2.4GHz Band.

My 5GHz is set to 80MHz on the router. On the AC 7260 everything is left at default.

Make sure you choose the right options on the 'Professional' tab in the 5GHz WiFi section of the router.

What options have you got under the 'Professional' tab?

 

[elpibe10]

What options have you got under the 'Professional' tab?

Roaming Assistant : Disabled
Enable IGMP Snooping : Disabled
Multicast Rate : Auto
Preamble Type : Short
AMPDU RTS : Enabled
RTS Threshold : 2347
DTIM Interval : 3
Beacon Interval : 100
Enable TX Bursting : Enabled
Enable WMM APSD : Enabled
Optimize AMPDU aggregation : Enabled
Optimize ack suppression : Enabled
Explicit beamforming : Enabled
Implicit beamforming : Enabled
Tx power adjustment : 80mW

* those in bold are particularly important for achieving maximum throughput and stability

 

[Redyak]

Roaming Assistant : Disabled
Enable IGMP Snooping : Disabled
Multicast Rate : Auto
Preamble Type : Short
AMPDU RTS : Enabled
RTS Threshold : 2347
DTIM Interval : 3
Beacon Interval : 100
Enable TX Bursting : Enabled
Enable WMM APSD : Enabled
Optimize AMPDU aggregation : Enabled
Optimize ack suppression : Enabled
Explicit beamforming : Enabled
Implicit beamforming : Enabled
Tx power adjustment : 80mW

* those in bold are particularly important for achieving maximum throughput and stability

I took over your settings , different where preamble and beamforming. But no succes immediatly the speed drops tot 58,5Mbps on 80Mhz. Settings the same but 40Mhz gives me again 400Mbps.
So strange that with 2 identical hardware you can get different resluts.
I am still convinced that the 80Mhz is the problem. Or on the sending side from ASUS or receiving on AC7260

 

[Redyak]

I did again some testing.

Driver AC7260 up and downgrade gives no difference 16.5.3 and 16.7.0.(actually still the 16.6.0.8)
Switching channels 36/40/44/48 (the only ones i have) gives no difference
40MHZ keeps good connection on AUTO or N+AC

80MHZ. He tries to connect with 29Mbps gets connected on 704 Mbps for seconds and then dropping tot 58,5Mbps but internet is gone and connection to ASUS not possible. Although i connect to my private network it gives public network within the description. Isays connected with a normal IP not an 169.x.x.x.

What supprisses me is that i can choose between 20Mhz or Auto on 2,4GHZ and 5.0GHz within the settings of the 7260 but not 40Mhz or 80Mhz.

I looked further and find out that the 66U and 68U both have 3 spatial strams thus in theory you can go up to 1,3 Gbps. The AC7260 has only 2 antenna's thus only 2 spatial streams can be used ending up in a max of 866 Mbps but i only can connect at 40Mhz thus ending on 400Mbps (2 streams). the only way is to go to 80Mhz to get the max result because de 7260 and laptop have only 2 antenna's.
I think the ASUS wants to use 3 Antenna's on de 80Mhz which the AC7260 doesn't understand giving a conflict. (my old 66U did understand )

I used stock firmware 501 and 542 and recently the melrlin 37_0 and 37_2 (both based on the 501) but no difference between them.

 

[Redyak]

Roaming Assistant : Disabled
Enable IGMP Snooping : Disabled
Multicast Rate : Auto
Preamble Type : Short
AMPDU RTS : Enabled
RTS Threshold : 2347
DTIM Interval : 3
Beacon Interval : 100
Enable TX Bursting : Enabled
Enable WMM APSD : Enabled
Optimize AMPDU aggregation : Enabled
Optimize ack suppression : Enabled
Explicit beamforming : Enabled
Implicit beamforming : Enabled
Tx power adjustment : 80mW

* those in bold are particularly important for achieving maximum throughput and stability

How are your setting on the general TAB ?
Which channels do you have for the 80Mhz band ?

 

[elpibe10]

How are your setting on the general TAB ?
Which channels do you have for the 80Mhz band ?

Frequency : 5GHz
Hide SSID : No
Wireless Mode : N + AC
Channel bandwidth : 80MHz
Control Channel : 161
Extension Channel : Auto
Authentication Method : WPA2-Personal
WPA Encryption : AES
Network Key Rotation Interval : 0

Choose a clean channel depending on your environment; ideally with no one else on the same range (i.e. 36-48 or 149-165).

 

[Redyak]

Frequency : 5GHz
Hide SSID : No
Wireless Mode : N + AC
Channel bandwidth : 80MHz
Control Channel : 161
Extension Channel : Auto
Authentication Method : WPA2-Personal
WPA Encryption : AES
Network Key Rotation Interval : 0

Choose a clean channel depending on your environment; ideally with no one else on the same range (i.e. 36-48 or 149-165).

SOLVED SOLVED

I am the only one with 5GHZ AC so every channel was free but still no luck.
The only difference was me on W8.1 and you on W7 .
I got my screwdrivers to place the AC7260 in another laptop with W7.
W...T...F.... I switched the MAIN and AUX , AUX is the white one and Black is MAIN or Antenna. Must have switched them while building in my homemade bracket because of the half high of the AC7260.
You guess!! Max connection, stable and fast now. i don't know why the 20Mhz and 40Mhz gave no problems but the 80Mhz did.
When i had my AC66U i put that one on auto or 20/40/80 i think, thus always connecting on 40Mhz.

SO many thank for all the replies and tips.

 

[KGB7]

Try these settings;

Enable TX Bursting : Disabled
Enable WMM APSD : Disabled
Optimize AMPDU aggregation : Disabled


Be sure to Reboot the router once the settings have been applied.

 

[Redyak]

Update:

I installed the latest Rmerlin 38 firmware but still got disconnects.
After close look i saw that it mentiones driver 16.6.0 from intel. But i really installed 16.6.0.8
First i deleted the Network adapter from Devicemanager. The i deleted the Proset software for the AC7260 including the bluetooth.
Then i did a restart and installed the complet Prosetpackage from intel 16.6.0.8 64Bits WINDOWS 7 with compatibility settings Windows 7 and Administrator in my Windows 8.1.
So far so good no disconnects.

Sick and tired i reverted back to windows 7 and did a clean install. The problem must be windows 8.1
The story of Microsoft continus

Win 3.1(1) Perfct
Win 95 bad
Win 98 Perfect
Milleniun bad
XP Perfect
Vista very bad
Win 7 good
Win 8/8.1 very lousy
Win 9 wil be good, you will see