AC-86u wireless download speed is exactly half of the Ethernet speed

[FadgewackeR]

@FadgewackeR If I were you I'd go back to a previous firmware version that you didn't have the problem with to determine whether it's a problem with the current firmware.

Thanks Colin, I've rolled back as far as 384_10 so far... it's still misbehaving.

Cat6 direct to my laptop provides full speed. Cat6 via the router provides full speed.

The wifi link will support the speed, but not maintain it throughout a test. This is the case with the iPhone XR and the Latitude. It's very sporadic... It'll ramp straight up to 150mbps and hold it for 2/3 of the test, then there'll be some bufferbloat registered and then the speed will drop to approx half and maybe, sometimes, spike back up to about 150mbps at the end of the test. Then it'll do something similar, but realistically, the speed is, mostly, returning around 80mbps down average. Up is fine and I get full speed up.

I've had all other devices disconnected and solely tried this on the iPhone ad the laptop and no joy. My wifi channels are not congested - I'm the only one those channels on 5g and I share my 2.4 with one other. No problem.

Weirdly, less than a week ago I was getting full speeds over wifi and A+ A+ A+ ratings on DSLreports on the latest Merlin FW... Now I can't seem to get near.

 

[Martin1982]

We seem to be missing the images.

Sorry, I can't think of anything. Provided that he's connecting on 5GHz he should easily be able to exceed 200Mbps using a Macbook Pro (I can and I'm only using an RT-AC68U).

I did a quick experiment this morning. I used the router (Technicolour) provided by my ISP. It was giving me the full 400Mb/s download and 35Mb/s upload speeds. I did a factory reset on the Asus and the problem is still there....approximately half the expected download speed but the upload speed was as normal. Completely baffled here. I tried the Wifipref app and this was the result......

 

[Martin1982]

 

[FTC]

Hi, just a shot in the air but.. have you tried with airtime fairness disabled in professional wireless settings ?. Also the beanforming options and / or wifi mode can play a role.

 

[Martin1982]

Hi, just a shot in the air but.. have you tried with airtime fairness disabled in professional wireless settings ?. Also the beanforming options and / or wifi mode can play a role.

Hi...just tried it with airtime fairness disabled but it makes no difference :-(

 

[ColinTaylor]

The wifi link will support the speed, but not maintain it throughout a test. This is the case with the iPhone XR and the Latitude. It's very sporadic... It'll ramp straight up to 150mbps and hold it for 2/3 of the test, then there'll be some bufferbloat registered and then the speed will drop to approx half and maybe, sometimes, spike back up to about 150mbps at the end of the test. Then it'll do something similar, but realistically, the speed is, mostly, returning around 80mbps down average. Up is fine and I get full speed up.

TBH This doesn't sound like the problem being discussed in this thread.

 

[ColinTaylor]

@Martin1982 I'm confused by your wifiperf screenshot. You appear to be running the client and server on the same machine (using the loopback address 127.0.0.1). I think you're meant to run the server on one machine and the client on another.

 

[Martin1982]

@Martin1982 I'm confused by your wifiperf screenshot. You appear to be running the client and server on the same machine (using the loopback address 127.0.0.1). I think you're meant to run the server on one machine and the client on another.

Hi....OK, will try to figure out how to run the test properly.

 

[FadgewackeR]

@Martin1982 I'm confused by your wifiperf screenshot. You appear to be running the client and server on the same machine (using the loopback address 127.0.0.1). I think you're meant to run the server on one machine and the client on another.

Hi Colin,

Before I rolled back the drivers, I was getting 82mbps tops. Now it will sometimes spike to 150, it can sometimes hold this for up to 2/3 of the test, before dropping back to anywhere between 30 and 80mbps ish.

153mbps is the best Speedtest result I’ve ever had, and I was getting 151/30 consistent with A+ grades only last week so I’m a little confused.

I can start a new thread based on where I am right now if that would keep things clear, but the thread description was where I was yesterday


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[ColinTaylor]

Hi....OK, will try to figure out how to run the test properly.

I don't have access to any Apple devices at the moment but that software just looks like a GUI version of the standard iperf3 utility. So ideally you'd want to run it in server mode on a PC connected by Ethernet to your router, and in client mode on your WiFi device.

EDIT: @Martin1982 Regarding @FadgewackeR's description of his problem, is that the same as your's? I've been assuming that your throughput is consistently ~50% whereas he is saying that's he's getting 100% for the first 2/3 of the test before falling back to <50%.

 

[Martin1982]

I don't have access to any Apple devices at the moment but that software just looks like a GUI version of the standard iperf3 utility. So ideally you'd want to run it in server mode on a PC connected by Ethernet to your router, and in client mode on your WiFi device.

EDIT: @Martin1982 Regarding @FadgewackeR's description of his problem, is that the same as your's? I've been assuming that your throughput is consistently ~50% whereas he is saying that's he's getting 100% for the first 2/3 of the test before falling back to <50%.

Hi....It was running in client mode from my MacBook over wifi in the screenshot. My problem is not the same as his/hers....depending on which speedtest I use I get either 25% or 50% of what it should be. with the Speedtest app i get around 90Mb/s whereas I get the full 400Mb/s if I do the test using the router from my ISP. I know I could just revert to the ISP provided router, but it's range is pretty poor and I want the VPN facility of the ASUS which reminds me, VPN was not enabled when doing the tests.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Hi....It was running in client mode from my MacBook over wifi in the screenshot. My problem is not the same as his/hers....depending on which speedtest I use I get either 25% or 50% of what it should be. with the Speedtest app i get around 90Mb/s whereas I get the full 400Mb/s if I do the test using the router from my ISP. I know I could just revert to the ISP provided router, but it's range is pretty poor and I want the VPN facility of the ASUS which reminds me, VPN was not enabled when doing the tests.

Thanks for the extra info. When you say 25% or 50%, is that absolutely consistent? By that I mean, if you look at the graph when you go to speedtest.net, is the plot completely flat at 25% or 50% or is it fluctuating and the 25% or 50% number is just the average?

Regarding wifiperf, in your screen shot we can see the target server is 127.0.0.1. So it is not testing the WiFi connection, it's testing the loopback to itself.

 

[Martin1982]

Thanks for the extra info. When you say 25% or 50%, is that absolutely consistent? By that I mean, if you look at the graph when you go to speedtest.net, is the plot completely flat at 25% or 50% or is it fluctuating and the 25% or 50% number is just the average?

Regarding wifiperf, in your screen shot we can see the target server is 127.0.0.1. So it is not testing the WiFi connection, it's testing the loopback to itself.

Hi....yes, it's a completely flat and consistent plot.

 

[Martin1982]

Update......When I use the speedtest.net app to test my ISP supplied router I get the full 400/35 both wirelessly and wired. Doing the same with the Asus I am getting 95-100 download and the full 35Mb/s upload. I am now thinking that there is something wrong somewhere in my WAN settings?

 

[FTC]

Hi, is your router's WAN connection at 1Gb when using the ASUS ? it could be the ethernet cable only connecting at 100Mb... although this does not explain when you were getting 200Mb..

 

[Martin1982]

Hi....How do I tell if the router connection is at 1Gb? The 200Mb/s was using the test at Fast.com. Using the speedtest app I am getting about 95Mb/35Mb wired and wireless

 

[FTC]

Hi....How do I tell if the router connection is at 1Gb? The 200Mb/s was using the test at Fast.com. Using the speedtest app I am getting about 95Mb/35Mb wired and wireless

Look under 'system status' -> Ethernet ports in the main window of the admin GUI.

 

[ColinTaylor]

@Martin1982 I didn't realise that you were using a PPPoE connection. That's not a connection type that I'm particularly familiar with. It's possible that there's a conflict with the MTU size used by the WAN and wireless networks which is causing packet fragmentation. I'm not a MacOS guy, but try looking at your WiFi interface settings and seeing if you can change it's MTU to 1492 (or lower?) and then test again.

Is this still only effecting WiFi connections and not Ethernet?

 

[Martin1982]

Hi, is your router's WAN connection at 1Gb when using the ASUS ? it could be the ethernet cable only connecting at 100Mb... although this does not explain when you were getting 200Mb..

Hi FTC...all the ports are at 1Gb....

 

[Martin1982]

@Martin1982 I didn't realise that you were using a PPPoE connection. That's not a connection type that I'm particularly familiar with. It's possible that there's a conflict with the MTU size used by the WAN and wireless networks which is causing packet fragmentation. I'm not a MacOS guy, but try looking at your WiFi interface settings and seeing if you can change it's MTU to 1492 (or lower?) and then test again.

Is this still only effecting WiFi connections and not Ethernet?

Colin Taylor....Hi...I changed the MTU to 1492 and it made no difference. It doesn't appear to be an issue with the MacBook because if I connect either wired or wifi with the ISP provided router I get the full 400/35 download/upload speeds.