AC68U Wifi Eco mode...why bother?

[wahoowad]

Wifi Eco mode...is the point of this feature to save a few watts of power?

Does it run at reduced power all the time or does it reduce power after X minutes if low activity ?

 

[VANT]

this function is in router app for mobile devices ?

 

[wahoowad]

this function is in router app for mobile devices ?

It's a feature of the router but you can manage it via the app

 

[doczenith1]

Via the router app "Wi-Fi ECO Mode decreases the Wi-Fi power and data rate to save on power usage."

I turned it on and could not find any changes in router GUI. My very unscientific testing using the Android Wifi Analyzer app showed around -38 dBm on 2.4 and -43 on 5. Once I turned on the ECO mode they both seemed to jump around more and each dropped in signal strength. So the opposite of what you would expect. I wonder if it's even supported on the newer firmwares which don't allow adjusting the signal strength.

My 68U still has the transmit power slider but not worth my time to hook it up and test. Perhaps someone else with a router that still has the power slider can report back if the ECO mode in fact does adjust the transmit power.

 

[VANT]

For me, this feature should have a schedule, then it makes sense. Manual setting does not make sense

 

[mershan]

I have an Asus RT-AC3100 router which runs with Asuswrt-Merlin OS, firmware version 386.9
I analyzed the power consumption of the router using TP-Link K115 smart plug (energy monitoring version) and for consistency, I checked with a Tuya energy monitoring smart plug as well and I got almost the same result. My router consumes about 15.2W to 15.5W continuously when it is in idle and without turning on wifi eco mode. Then when I turned on the wifi eco mode it reduces the power consumption to around 14W to 14.5W, just exactly around 1.5W by sacrificing its wifi Tx power.
You can see and operate the same thing in the web GUI by login to the router's home page > Wifi Section > Professional tab and at the very bottom of the page there is an option called "Tx Power Adjustment" and this gives extra levels to adjust it instead of just tap the option in mobile app.(I don't know was it there in the old firmware versions)
After I turned on the feature it was the only option which has changed in the web GUI and the rest of the options were intact.
After all, my personal opinion is it is not worth sacrificing the router's potential if any, just for a 1W.