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RT-AC66u wireless performance

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kng

Regular Contributor
Hi,

I have from some time an Asus RT-AC66u, but just recently I bought a new laptop with 802.11ac support.

My problem is that when I transfer files over wireless, the maximum speed I get in my network is around 320 Mbps. On internet, I get maximum of 270 Mbps on 5Ghz after some tweeks. If I'm using the router (Hitron) I have it from my ISP, I can get 500Mbps on tests.

I have the latest official firmware, I am happy with it, but now I discovered this performance problem. What transfer rates do you have with this router? Is it worth an upgrade, if this is maximum possible for this model?
 
The RT-AC66U is an old router with even older components inside (very similar to the older RT-N66U model that came before it).

Almost any new AC1900 class or higher router will outperform it in the 5GHz band.

What specific firmware are you running (latest official can be many things)? Did you do a full reset to factory defaults via the GUI when you installed that firmware and then manually and minimally setup the router to connect to your ISP and secure it (without using a backup .cfg file to restore your previous settings)?

Have you tried each control channel in both bands one by one, (with a reboot of the router and the computer you use to test with) and verified that you have selected the best one for your environment? Do not rely on what a program like inssider might suggest. Simply try each (control) channel one by one and look not only for maximum speed, but also lowest latency too.

Have you changed any settings from defaults in the wireless page settings? Which ones?

How far away are the router and test computer? How many obstacles in between them and what are they (drywall, concrete, exterior wall, etc.)?

Is the router placed centrally for the whole area to be covered and more importantly; is it placed at least a dozen feet above ground level with no objects or walls / ceilings / floors for at least 2 feet in any direction?

There are many aspects of setting up the router properly and the environment it is used in plays a huge part too.

The client plays a critical role too. Have you updated the drivers? What wifi card is it specifically? Does it have a single antennae / stream or does it have more than one?

While the base hardware is capable of exceeding the performance you're getting now, the factors that can affect it (like distance from the client, the obstacles in the way and any interference from other sources such as other wireless networks, airports, radar, etc.) need to be accounted for and adjusted if possible.

The answers to the above questions may point you to getting better performance from your router or at least help you understand why you're not.
 
Firmware version is: 3.0.0.4.376_3861
During the tests I've done, I was at a distance of maximum 2 meters, in the same room, no obstacles between router and laptop. The Hitron router was about 5 meters away and the speed with that was faster. I have not done a full reset after trying different parameters. I did only a disconnect and reconnect to the wireless network. Currently, I am using now Channel Bandwidth 40Mhz , control channel 40, for the best result.

If I enable guest network on 5Ghz, I am able to get even 380 Mbps on download, without any reboot, without changing location. The only difference is that I used guest network without WPA2 as my local network.

You can see current settings in the attachment.

I discovered the network problem just now, because I upgraded the Internet connection from 200Mbps download to 500Mbps download and I bought about 2 months ago a MacBook Pro 2015. As long as I am capable of having 500Mbps over wireless with the same laptop on ISP router at a bigger distance, I suppose that the problem is with my Asus router, or with it's settings.

Last night, I transferred about 55GB through the network, wireless, the speed was about 300Mbps, copying data from my laptop to my "nas" which is connected through gigabit network (cable, not wireless).

When I'm in another room of the apartment and I have 3 walls between router and laptop, I still have strong signal, I like this, the transfer is much slower (doh, it's normal) and I was thinking to buy another wireless router, in order to have a fast wireless network in my house. But if I'm not very happy with ac66u performance, not sure what brand/model should I get. Anyway, until then, I'm trying to see if I can raise speed transfer with this one.
 

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I just did another test with my Asus now, and I see a lot of spikes, that does not happens with the Hitron router.
 

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First of all, your firmware is old (almost 5 months ago now).

http://support.asus.com/download.aspx?SLanguage=en&p=11&s=2&m=RT-AC66U&os=8

I would recommend to upgrade it to the latest beta (yes, it includes many fixes) from Asus the Beta Version 3.0.0.4.378.6117, or even better, the RMerlin 378.55 firmware instead.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/asuswrt-merlin-378-55-is-now-available.25874/


After loading one of the above firmware, reset the router to factory defaults and then manually and minimally configure the router to secure it and connect to your ISP. I also recommend you power off the ISP provided modem/router for at least 10 minute to half an hour too before connecting the firmware updated router after it has been reset.

Use new and unhidden ssid's too and make sure you use simple alphanumerics with no special characters in the ssid names or passwords.

Keep in mind that being too close to a router is just as bad as being too far. While two metres should be enough distance for the best formation of the signal, it may not be enough in all cases (with different designs and clients).

In the end, the RT-AC66U is not a 'performance' model anymore. As already mentioned most AC1900 class routers and above will beat it significantly in the 5GHz band.

The ones I would be looking at would be the RT-AC56U (especially for use as an AP with AC1200+ capable performance in the $100 range), the RT-AC68U or 'P' version from Best Buy which has a higher performing cpu. Or, the pinnacle in Asus hardware at this point, the RT-AC3200.

All the above are recommended with RMerlin's firmware for best stability and performance.
 
Thank you for your answer. I will try to do those steps, just need to find some time for this. Sorry for my late reply, I was in holiday with no laptop or tablet :)

I am not using hidden ssid, and if I will do a reset, I have some work to do in order to reconfigure it. I can import a backup/configuration after reset, but not sure if this will be ok.
 
Try upgrading the FW to the latest version of ASUS WRT Merlin (380.57) @http://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca
 
Try upgrading the FW to the latest version of ASUS WRT Merlin (380.57) @http://asuswrt.lostrealm.ca

Why are you replying to a seven month old post? :)
 
With all the respect to Merlin firmware, I am not tempted to install it, I would rather stay with the firmware from Asus. The issues still persist even after upgrading to the latest version of Asus firmware, now I'm thinking to upgrade either to Asus rt 88ac or 5300ac model.
 
With all the respect to Merlin firmware, I am not tempted to install it, I would rather stay with the firmware from Asus. The issues still persist even after upgrading to the latest version of Asus firmware, now I'm thinking to upgrade either to Asus rt 88ac or 5300ac model.

Your call of course, but if Asus' firmware doesn't solve your issues I think that jumping to an RT-AC88U or RT-AC5300 is a bit drastic, don't you?

Even if I still agree with everything I stated in post #2 so long ago.
 
L@LD you wrote
Almost any new AC1900 class or higher router will outperform it in the 5GHz band.

So my guess, is that any new router will perform better. But, as long as I buy another one, I want to buy a performance router. I don't expect to have my problems solved by switching from Asus firmware to Merlin firmware.
 
L@LD you wrote


So my guess, is that any new router will perform better. But, as long as I buy another one, I want to buy a performance router. I don't expect to have my problems solved by switching from Asus firmware to Merlin firmware.

Maybe, maybe not. But you won't know unless you try (can't understand the resistance, but oh well).

What I would be at least testing in your situation is john9527's fork of RMerlin's firmware. You may find you saved yourself a good part towards a nice vacation or anything else you find worthwhile.
 
L@LD you wrote


So my guess is that any new router will perform better. But, as long as I buy another one, I want to buy a performance router. I don't expect to have my problems solved by switching from Asus firmware to Merlin firmware.

Why not backup your router, flash the Merlin firmware and test. I don't see the logic in wasting money on a new router when software may fix your current issues which are bandwidth limitations.

I also see no mention of the specific device you are testing speed with. The device itself might not be able to support faster speeds as its wireless card may have compatibility issues. I know some Apple devices don't play well with specific routers and such. Have you tested with multiple devices? Have you tested your new laptop on another router to validate you get the throughput you are expecting?

The more information you share the better we can provide assistance.
 
Why not backup your router, flash the Merlin firmware and test. I don't see the logic in wasting money on a new router when software may fix your current issues which are bandwidth limitations.

I also see no mention of the specific device you are testing speed with. The device itself might not be able to support faster speeds as its wireless card may have compatibility issues. I know some Apple devices don't play well with specific routers and such. Have you tested with multiple devices? Have you tested your new laptop on another router to validate you get the throughput you are expecting?

The more information you share the better we can provide assistance.


The device on which I'm testing it's a Macbook Pro, 2015 model. On the router I've got from my provider I am able to have 500 Mbps speed . It's quite hard for me to believe that after so many years since Asus launched the ac66u model, they weren't able to fix any software issue, if this is the cause for my speed issue.

In the past, I used dd-wrt firmware for a Linskys router, since the Linksys firmware did not offered all the features I needed (vpn for example). As long as I'm quite happy (excepting the speed factor) current firmware, and it has all the features I need or I would like to have it, I didn't considered that changing to Merlin will help me.

A couple of weeks ago, I discovered a new issue with the transfer speed: if I'm streaming an 1080p movie from my laptop to my apple tv 4 device (all in the same room, together with the router, connected on the 5Ghz band), the movie does not play "smooth" at all,
 
What router is your providing giving you? Does your Apple hardware, firmware and software match the following? What speed does it say you are connecting to the router at? For example, my Mac shows Transmit Rate:1300

Software Versions:

CoreWLAN:11.0 (1101.20)

CoreWLANKit:11.0 (1101.20)

Menu Extra:11.0 (1110.33)

System Information:11.0 (1100.1)

IO80211 Family:11.1 (1110.26)

Diagnostics:5.1 (510.88)

AirPort Utility:6.3.6 (636.5)

Interfaces:

en0:

Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x152)

Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.21.94.136.1a1)

MAC Address: **:**:**:**:**:**

Locale: FCC

Country Code: US

Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Supported Channels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 144, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165

Wake On Wireless: Supported

AirDrop: Supported

Status: Connected

Current Network Information:

ASUS_5G:

PHY Mode: 802.11ac

BSSID: **:**:**:**:**:**

Channel:149

Country Code:US

Network Type:Infrastructure

Security:WPA2 Personal

Signal / Noise:-34 dBm / -90 dBm

Transmit Rate:1300

MCS Index:9
 
What router is your providing giving you? Does your Apple hardware, firmware and software match the following? What speed does it say you are connecting to the router at? For example, my Mac shows Transmit Rate:1300

Software Versions:

CoreWLAN:11.0 (1101.20)

CoreWLANKit:11.0 (1101.20)

Menu Extra:11.0 (1110.33)

System Information:11.0 (1100.1)

IO80211 Family:11.1 (1110.26)

Diagnostics:5.1 (510.88)

AirPort Utility:6.3.6 (636.5)

Interfaces:

en0:

Card Type: AirPort Extreme (0x14E4, 0x152)

Firmware Version: Broadcom BCM43xx 1.0 (7.21.94.136.1a1)

MAC Address: **:**:**:**:**:**

Locale: FCC

Country Code: US

Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

Supported Channels: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 36, 40, 44, 48, 52, 56, 60, 64, 100, 104, 108, 112, 116, 120, 124, 128, 132, 136, 140, 144, 149, 153, 157, 161, 165

Wake On Wireless: Supported

AirDrop: Supported

Status: Connected

Current Network Information:

ASUS_5G:

PHY Mode: 802.11ac

BSSID: **:**:**:**:**:**

Channel:149

Country Code:US

Network Type:Infrastructure

Security:WPA2 Personal

Signal / Noise:-34 dBm / -90 dBm

Transmit Rate:1300

MCS Index:9


I currently have 2 Macbook pro connected, there is 1 meter distance between them. Based on what the router's firmware is reporting, one is connected at 400 Mbps and the other one (the one closest to the router) is connected at 600 Mbps.
 
I changed the channel for the 5Ghz band from 40 Mhz to 80 Mhz, and indeed, now the router shows 1300 Mbps when I'm connected with my laptop to this router. When I'm trying to do an internet speed test, the speed I get is about 200 Mbps, although my bandwith is 500 Mbps. I disconnected from Asus router and connected to the Hitron which I have from my ISP, I'm doing the same test, but with that I am able to reach 420 Mbps, even if it's 4 meters away than the Asus.

Now, probably Merlin firmware will give some 10% more performance, but I'm not expecting to double the performance of my Asus router. This is why I'm reluctant to installing Merlin on it, and this is why I was thinking to buy another router.
 
Your Hitron modem could be causing the slow downs going to the ASUS router.

Try putting your Hitron modem into bridge mode by doing the following:
Residential Gateway Function -> Click off

Reboot everything and try your speed test again.
 
Your Hitron modem could be causing the slow downs going to the ASUS router.

Try putting your Hitron modem into bridge mode by doing the following:
Residential Gateway Function -> Click off

Reboot everything and try your speed test again.


The Hitron is connected to my router through cable. I will try that but not sure if I'm allowed to, it has a very customised firmware by my ISP, I have a lot of limitations and restrictions, I don't have to many options to change.
 
The Hitron is connected to my router through cable. I will try that but not sure if I'm allowed to, it has a very customised firmware by my ISP, I have a lot of limitations and restrictions, I don't have to many options to change.

Your ISP should allow you to put it in bridged mode but you are right, not all of them allow for such. My confusion is that if you are getting faster speeds and better stability with their router, why are you using the Asus? It sounds like you are trying to solve a problem that doesn't exist.
 

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