5GHz Never-Ending Nightmare

[Poseidon]

I'm having serious issues with the 5GHz range on my RT-N66U.

When I'm immediately next to the router, it works great. Whenever I go to any of my bedrooms (separated by 2 walls; about 35-40 feet from where the router is stationed)....the wireless connection continuously drops and re-connects.

This ONLY happens when connected to 5Ghz and no matter what the device (ie iPhone, Android phone, Tablet, etc).

Does anyone know if this is a router settings-related issue and if so, WHAT should be changed?

This is driving me crazy and I really need to fix it.

I have tried a few different firmwares and even swapped out my RT-N66U for another one but I'm still getting crappy 5GHz performance.

Any suggestions please?

Thanks.

 

[jerry6]

Do you have WMM enabled on the router ? I noticed a choppy 5 ghz connection if it was not enabled . I get great transfer rates on the 5 band , am at least 35 feet away with 4 walls between me and router .
Also depends on what the walls are made of . Concrete wall with re-bar will be almost impossible to get a signal

 

[RMerlin]

Two walls (assuming they aren't too dense) shouldn't be a problem, but still keep in mind that 5 GHz has shorter range than 2.4 GHz, due to the higher frequency used (high frequencies have a harder time traveling through obstacles than lower frequencies - compare your subwoofer with your tweeter speakers for a good example of what I mean).

In my setup, my Xoom tablet can just have a stable 5 GHz connection (varies between 1 and 3 bars out of 5) between the living room and the kitchen, which means 4 rather thin walls.

 

[SoCalReviews]

Don't forget that those 5Ghz connections using the RT-N66U are just as dependent on the quality of the 5Gz radio connections in those devices you are connecting to. It's not just the RT-N66U playing a role in the connections and whether they stay connected. The connections will only be as strong as their weakest link. I am using a dedicated wireless bridge in 5Ghz mode and I am getting a very stable connection to one of my RT-N66Us about two rooms, 60ft away and through two walls but the signal is not that strong (2 out of 5 bars) compared to using 2.4Ghz (5 out of 5 bars). The signal from the RT-N66U seems to be stronger than the wireless bridge which has a stronger signal than most of my wireless devices (but I don't have any 5Ghz devices to test other than my wireless media bridge so this is based on the signal strength of the entire network and the bridge using 2.4Ghz compared to using the internal radio of the devices at the same location as the bridge running in 2.4Ghz mode). It seems logical to me that your 5Ghz devices are at the edge of their connection range and that the drops are a result of their ability to transmit to or receive signals from the RT-N66U. If you want to really test it you could try borrowing (from a friend or if you have an older one) another brand of router in 5Ghz mode in place of the RT-N66U and see if the connections drops occur less, the same or worse. You could also try increasing the RT-N66U's 5Ghz radio Tx power from 80mw to 120mw or higher.