Added an AP, now entire network speed is very slow

[StringBoi]

Hi all....Sorry, I just woke up and probably left a bunch of stuff out but heres my problem:

I was having issues with my ring cameras dropping often and came to realize our walls are super dense and noticed how much the signal dropped from the center of the apartment to the outside. I had a single ax86u and bought another to add an AP and try to put all the smart devices on one and use the other for the more intense stuff.

Now I'm pretty noob at networking stuff, but read some guides and got the AP setup and everything was working fine until I realized my download speed on the entire network tanked. I would usually get around gig speeds on my wired desktop....now I'm lucky if I can get a constant 100MB. I dug further into the issue and thought it was because the channels were overlapping so I fixed that and I'm still getting terrible speeds. I read somewhere that the AP IP address should start outside the main routers IP but couldn't figure out how to do this. I'm not sure if thats the issue but the AP did get assigned a IP within the range of other devices.

I'm not sure what info would be needed to see what the issue is, but I'll start by posting my wireless config setting on each router and I'll be happy to add whatever else may be helpful.

My main router wireless setting are below

Thank you for any suggestions you may have....greatly appreciated!

 

[StringBoi]

AP Router

 

[L&LD]

What speeds do you get when you power down the AP?

What other changes to your network configuration did you make (i.e. with regards to switches, cables, etc.)?

 

[StringBoi]

Strange enough I get the same slow speeds when I disconnect the access point. I didnt really change anything when setting it up....I let it do its thing and it completed and second router showed up in AP mode and I figured all was well.
I have the modem, to the main router, on main router one port goes to a switch in the living room, one port to a switch in the bedroom, both switches just provide internet for tvs, game consoles and laptops....thats really all. The AP is wired to another port on the main router.....all cables are cat7 and one or two are cat5e going to smartthings hub, hue hub etc . I didnt change anything other than setting the second router up as an AP and then allowing smart home devices to connect to the AP using the 2.4ghz band.

When I noticed things were dragging thats when I started to change 2.4 and 5ghz channels on both routers to avoid overlap....from what I saw, that was achieved so I'm not sure what else could be going on. Would logs be of any help (if so which level of logs)?

 

[CaptainSTX]

AP Router

As part of your diagnostic procedure. Temporarily disable the radios on your AP and then using a device connected to a LAN port on the AP test your speed just to be sure than the AP isn't using WiFi for its backhaul.

Also if you have the cable from the router running from a LAN port to the WAN port on your AP try moving the connection to a LAN port on the AP.

APs used to be simple but adding MESH functionality made things more complicated or at least more confusing.

 

[StringBoi]

Okay, cable from main router LAN is going to LAN port on the AP...both radios turned off on the AP....(Also checked and dont see them show up on any device) and then did a speed test using an AP LAN port and barely 9Mbps. =(

Ethernet backhaul should be turned off correct? That only applies to AiMesh?

 

[Tech9]

My main router wireless setting are below

You have to stop playing with the settings first of all. Or at least get yourself familiar first what they do and what incompatibilities you can expect. To make it more interesting Asuswrt doesn't have dependencies and allows completely meaningless settings. Some good examples are shown on your screenshots.

Legacy on 2.4GHz means 802.11b/g... with WPA2/WPA3, TWT and PMF Capable?? Or Roaming Assistant enabled on an AP with different SSID... where the clients are going to roam?? Reset your routers to factory defaults and go from there. Stay close to default settings and don't copy someone else's ideas or settings.

 

[StringBoi]

I read that the ring devices in particular are best to run at 54mbps and a strong signal.....doesnt the legacy setting limit that antenna to 54mbps? They have all connected fine and stayed connected, which is what I wanted, but everything else went down. Does limiting the 2.4ghz bandwidth effect LAN speed? Look, some of these settings are jibberish to me, which is why I'm here....I had everything set up perfectly before adding the AP and thought if thats not broken, whats to fix.....and added the AP, my apologies. Its going to be a long night then, I was trying to avoid resetting and losing all my connections for the night. Lot of smart devices to re-setup then.

 

[sfx2000]

What speeds do you get when you power down the AP?

What other changes to your network configuration did you make (i.e. with regards to switches, cables, etc.)?

At first glance, this looks like an ARP storm once the AP/Router was introduced... once the new device is attached, APR generally will try to sort things for routing purposes - but if things get into a loop, broadcast storms can happen...

Could be that the Router/AP is still configured as a router, and if one plugs ethernet from the LAN into the LAN port, that can cause some issues depending on how it was originally configured, and the rest of the network.

 

[Tech9]

There is no universal best settings, but if you want better compatibility you can look here:

AX86U Check my settings please

Can anyone chime in on these settings AX86U Merlin 388.1_0

www.snbforums.com

I'm highly in doubt Ring or any other IoT manufacturer recommends 802.11g for their current line of products.

Your LAN speed issue seems like unrelated to the new AP. You have to investigate what's going on with your main router.

 

[sfx2000]

I'm highly in doubt Ring or any other IoT manufacturer recommends 802.11g for their current line of products.

11n is the best place to be for most chipsets. Yes, I recognize that there are vendors that might have some issues, like Espressif on their IoT chips.

Last time I ran into an interop issue related specially 11g was an older Texas Instruments WiFi chip that would crash with HT/VHT items in the Beacon Frames...

 

[sfx2000]

Anyways, this might be as simple as the Asus device still being configured as a router, and not as an AP - so plugging in an ethernet cable on the LAN interface could be a problem as the OS still thinks it's a router, so discovery for routes..

 

[StringBoi]

Thank you all for your suggestions, I'll go through things one by one but I'm guessing resetting both and starting from scratch would most likely be best a this point. I'll tinker a bit more and see if anything improves, at least I'll learn a few more things through suggestions and experimentation.

Am I choosing the right route here? I want to use the main router for gaming, streaming, pc use etc, and separate the IoT/Smart devices by making them connect to an AP?

Thank again for the help....very much appreciated!

 

[bbunge]

First, reset both devices. Set up the router and just input a single SSID. Yes, use the router WIFI defaults including Dual Band SmartConnect and just WPA2-Personal. As you seem to be using Merlin firmware, I suggest you do not use any add ons until you get your network working well. At this point save the router settings so you can go back to a good stable configuration quickly.
Next, add the second router as an AiMesh node to see if it works OK. With the routers you have there is no need to make one for games and the other for IoT devices. Set up a Guest WIFI for the IoT clients if you want.
At this point things should be working well. If you want to try the second device as an AP it is a simple matter to remove it from the mesh without pressing up the router settings. One WIFI setting I would recommend is setting the 2.4 GHz to 20 MHz. Leave the rest of the WIFI settings at defaults.

 

[CaptainSTX]

Okay, cable from main router LAN is going to LAN port on the AP...both radios turned off on the AP....(Also checked and dont see them show up on any device) and then did a speed test using an AP LAN port and barely 9Mbps. =(

Ethernet backhaul should be turned off correct? That only applies to AiMesh?

Try disabling DHCP on the AP, then turn the radios off, then plug the cable from the main router into a LAN port on your AP, power cycle the AP and it should now be working as a switch. Check your speed and see what happens. This is the old fashioned way to convert a router into either an AP (radios on) or a switch (radios off). Works for routers that don't have a built in AP mode.

 

[Tech9]

Try disabling DHCP on the AP

There is no DHCP server in AP Mode.

This is the old fashioned way

Not needed. Asus routers have AP Mode.

 

[CaptainSTX]

There is no DHCP server in AP Mode.



Not needed. Asus routers have AP Mode.

The OP is having issues so I'm recommending fixes since AP mode isn't working. Leave the router in router mode and turn off DHCP server and radios to trouble shoot. Turning off DHCP is a method to make a router function as an AP. ASUS has added confusion to the process by mingling mesh and AP settings.

There isn't any downside in just leaving the router in router mode, disable DHCP and then connect LAN to LAN.

 

[Tech9]

The OP is having issues

Seems like the OP has issues with the main router:

Strange enough I get the same slow speeds when I disconnect the access point.

 

[StringBoi]

Try disabling DHCP on the AP, then turn the radios off, then plug the cable from the main router into a LAN port on your AP, power cycle the AP and it should now be working as a switch. Check your speed and see what happens. This is the old fashioned way to convert a router into either an AP (radios on) or a switch (radios off). Works for routers that don't have a built in AP mode.

Thanks for the info...I will give it a try. Was just about to go ahead and reset everything but I'll be happy to try anything before a reset!