RT-AC56U Miserable 2.4 Wifi expereince

[Fletch84]

RT-AC56U with latest 339 firmware

Device on 2.4 is Nexus 7 2012 tablet.
If I move more than 25 feet away
my speed drops from 34Mb/s to 1Mb/s or less.
This is even with line of sight.

When the performance tanks the Nexus is still showing full signal bars.
No interference in area.
Tried every possible settings combination.

If I swap in my old Linksys everything is fast

The Nexus 7 2012 is a 1x1 device.
Does Asus bother testing these AC routers with 1x1 gear?
I don't expect the world from this router.
I just want a usable connection when it shows I have good signal.

 

[RMerlin]

RT-AC56U with latest 339 firmware

Device on 2.4 is Nexus 7 2012 tablet.
If I move more than 25 feet away
my speed drops from 34Mb/s to 1Mb/s or less.
This is even with line of sight.

When the performance tanks the Nexus is still showing full signal bars.
No interference in area.
Tried every possible settings combination.

If I swap in my old Linksys everything is fast

The Nexus 7 2012 is a 1x1 device.
Does Asus bother testing these AC routers with 1x1 gear?
I don't expect the world from this router.
I just want a usable connection when it shows I have good signal.

I have no problem with my own Nexus 7 2012, and I use it from all across the house, so it's definitely not an issue with the router or the firmware. The issue is most likely with your configuration or your environment. Go through the usual troubleshooting steps posted on the forums.

 

[Fletch84]

I have no problem with my own Nexus 7 2012, and I use it from all across the house, so it's definitely not an issue with the router or the firmware. The issue is most likely with your configuration or your environment. Go through the usual troubleshooting steps posted on the forums.

Thanks for the reply.
I've gone thru the trouble shooting steps with no change.

Since you have both N7 and AC56U here's what I'm seeing. I start 10 feet away with line of sight. Run a speed test. 30 - 35 Mb/s
Then I walk to a room with slightly less signal. 3 Signal bars show on tablet. Run test again.
Test shows speed has dropped to under 1 Mb/s

Now the fun part. If I walk back to the location 10 feet from the Asus I am still stuck at 1Mb/s.It stays stuck at the 1 Mb/s until I toggle N7's Wifi Off then On. Then it's back to 30 Mb/s.


No problems with 5GHz speed as I move around.
Only thing not standard about my setup is Asus is in AP Mode.

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks for the reply.
I've gone thru the trouble shooting steps with no change.

Since you have both N7 and AC56U here's what I'm seeing. I start 10 feet away with line of sight. Run a speed test. 30 - 35 Mb/s
Then I walk to a room with slightly less signal. 3 Signal bars show on tablet. Run test again.
Test shows speed has dropped to under 1 Mb/s

Now the fun part. If I walk back to the location 10 feet from the Asus I am still stuck at 1Mb/s.It stays stuck at the 1 Mb/s until I toggle N7's Wifi Off then On. Then it's back to 30 Mb/s.


No problems with 5GHz speed as I move around.
Only thing not standard about my setup is Asus is in AP Mode.

Have you disabled the Beamforming options on the Wireless Professional page? Sometimes it can cause issues on some environment.

 

[Asusnet]

Try setting your channel bandwidth to 20Mhz. It may be an issue with 20/40Mhz.

 

[Fletch84]

RMerlin. I see beamforming settings for 5 GHz. No beamforming settings for 2.4
Maybe Asus removed them from firmware 339?

Asusnet. I'm think I already tried changing that setting but will try again.

 

[RMerlin]

RMerlin. I see beamforming settings for 5 GHz. No beamforming settings for 2.4
Maybe Asus removed them from firmware 339?

I have them on my RT-AC68U. I expected the same settings to appear on the AC56U as well, but I might be mistaken.

 

[Fletch84]

I have them on my RT-AC68U. I expected the same settings to appear on the AC56U as well, but I might be mistaken.

Not a problem. From looking around here you're a very busy guy.

Thank you, and Asusnet for trying to help. But after trying a number of things I am just plain disappointed with the product. For the casual user who turns a devices on for a short while and sets it aside these routers may be great.

Where I see this product falling short is again on range and consistent connections.
Example, a security cam I have streaming 24/7.
With my previous router the connection history and up time would be a solid blue line for hours or days on end.
With this Asus, the connection bar chart shows the webcam falling offline and reconnecting every few minutes. The bar graph is so broken up it looks like a line of Morse code.

What makes this router strange is the signal level shows as good in these various locations.
However if you go more than 15 feet away from the router, signal level will still show good but connection drop outs start occurring.

And from observing the web cam that may explain what I was seeing with Nexus 7.
Signal level looks good but in truth the device probably isn't connected.


At this point I'm debating whether the problem is this model router or Asus routers in general, as this is my first Asus brand router.
I'll give it another week and hope for a firmware update.
But if nothing improves I only have about a week before I can return it for exchange or refund.

Oh, all the above related to 2.4GHz WiFi
The 5GHz WiFi on this router is the fastest lowest latency I have ever experienced.

 

[Asmodian]

I believe there is currently an issue which affects some environments.

It sounds like Asus is working on it; I know this is a thread about the RT-AC56U, not the RT-AC68U but they are very similar devices and from user reports it seems like this issue affects both devices.

Note: I do not see this issue at all with my RT-AC68U and I have no idea what about a wireless environment might cause it. I can see 5-6 2.4Ghz wireless networks in my neighborhood and I have the AC68U in a closet under the stairs (no line of sight to any device). I do not have security cameras though, multiple people seem to be having issues with security cameras.

 

[RogerSC]

RMerlin. I see beamforming settings for 5 GHz. No beamforming settings for 2.4
Maybe Asus removed them from firmware 339?

Asusnet. I'm think I already tried changing that setting but will try again.

I believe that beamforming only applies to 5GHz. wireless-ac, you shouldn't find that setting in 2.4GHz. configuration.

 

[sijuthomas98]

I believe that beamforming only applies to 5GHz. wireless-ac, you shouldn't find that setting in 2.4GHz. configuration.

Beamforming option does exist in RT-AC68U on 2.4G

 

[RogerSC]

Beamforming option does exist in RT-AC68U on 2.4G

Yes, I see now that wireless-n also has beamforming. I thought that it was limited to wireless-ac, but apparently not the case. Here's an example paper about it that I found interesting:

http://www.marvell.com/wireless/assets/Marvell-TX-Beamforming.pdf

Seems like the manufacturers are pretty high on it. I haven't seen it in operation, myself, but am interested to see what these highly touted benefits are *smile*.

 

[fraggle]

Hi Guys,

Just want to response to the starter of the thread --> same issue!
I really love/loved my RT-N56u Router as long as I updated to the latest firmware (3.0.0.4.374.339) and additionally updated the media server to 1.0.0.33 (or so). Since then, DLNA/UPNP service doesn't work anymore in the network properly (tried everything) . Such a nice ROUTER!!!! Great work Asus! I

Bought a new one two days ago, AC56u (updated to 3.0.0.4.374_339, reset with UI function). I like the UI and the style of the router but the 2.4 Ghz WLAN performance is terrible in terms of 2.4 GHz radio reception. Since, I own both the ac56u and the N56u router I can compare these two. In general, a standard "Wifi Analyzer" App on the android phone is used and shows a receive level difference of 20dBm (5 rooms, "measured" in the neighbor rooms, same channel). I don't understand why this router is performing so much worse than the N56u. I don't want to return this unit ....

Best regards,
Martin

PS: Nice posts and nice people here!

 

[Injuis]

Is anyone else still having this issue?

I've updated to the newest firmware and things have gotten slightly better. I still get times when the 2.4 network just totally dies but it is less frequent.

Also, I found that lowering the Antenna power to 40 mW seems to help

 

[L&LD]

Asus or RMerlin's latest firmware?

Try the 374.38_1 version with a reset to defaults and manually reconfiguring any required settings and see if it improves things for you. It has for many others.

 

[Injuis]

Using merlins 38_1. On default I get horrible speeds. Pretty much no different from my original issue listed here

Some modifications to DTIM, beacon, and tx power seem to help.

 

[L&LD]

Just read your link - ty.

I use a customer's site where he has both an RT-N56U and an RT-AC56U - there is no comparison; the AC56U is the better router (period).

At ~120 feet away through many walls and a commercial floor I can still detect and connect to the RT-AC56U enough to browse, at least, while the N56U which is just 50 feet away behind a door is not detected or is too faint to connect to.

Have you tried a small USB fan on it to see if overheating is an issue?

If you've reset to defaults, turned off the power (or pulled the plug) instead of rebooting and set the wireless mode to Auto, 20MHz (2.4 band) width, only channel 1, 6 or 11 and 100mW power output and the 5GHz band set the wireless mode to Auto, 20/40/80MHz width, 100mW power output and the highest or second highest channel you can select - along with both bands using short preamble - then it seems like your hardware is at fault (which you seem to have proven it is not) or your environment is affecting your new equipment.

You can't compare with G network gear - they only ever had range. Throughput was never a priority with those pioneering devices.

 

[connorm]

if it makes you feel any better the 2.4 on my ac66u is the same way and its horrible. if your within 20 feet you might get 20-30 down but any device at lower then -65db has shirt throughput. i have said it once ill say it again. my d link dir 655 2.4 outdoes the rt-ac66u. pretty pathetic.

 

[Injuis]

if it makes you feel any better the 2.4 on my ac66u is the same way and its horrible. if your within 20 feet you might get 20-30 down but any device at lower then -65db has shirt throughput. i have said it once ill say it again. my d link dir 655 2.4 outdoes the rt-ac66u. pretty pathetic.

We're a small miniority now but it is a little reassuring that it's not just me. I wonder what the deal is with this weird issue. Why is the signal so great but the throughput so low? I have to use my VERY old WHR-HP-G54 to support 2.4ghz devices.

L&LD, I thnk I will try your suggestion of putting a fan on there. My temps are 48 °C (2.4ghz), 50 °C (5ghz), 68 °C (cpu) and that seems a little high. They're usually higher, too.

Man... I expected so much more for such an expensive device. To think i'm still using my old buffalo router, which cost me a cool $40... never again, Asus

 

[Lost Dog]

We're a small miniority now but it is a little reassuring that it's not just me. I wonder what the deal is with this weird issue. Why is the signal so great but the throughput so low? I have to use my VERY old WHR-HP-G54 to support 2.4ghz devices.

L&LD, I thnk I will try your suggestion of putting a fan on there. My temps are 48 °C (2.4ghz), 50 °C (5ghz), 68 °C (cpu) and that seems a little high. They're usually higher, too.

Man... I expected so much more for such an expensive device. To think i'm still using my old buffalo router, which cost me a cool $40... never again, Asus

Those are the same temps that I have... The house is about 69 F and the router is out in the open... I'm amazed at the people who say their CPU runs in the 60C range.