ASUS RT-AX92U - Very Slow 2.4 ghz WIFI

[tgilroy]

I have had ASUS RT-AX92U for a little over a year. Back around Christmas, I started noting issues. Was busy with multiple projects and just lived with it. Recently discovered the problem was restricted to 2.4 ghz. The 5.0 ghz is as fast as I can expect. Have gone multiple rounds with ASUS support. Sent copies of config files, turned on feature to send them logs, turned off AI protection, turned off QoS, turned off Traffic Analyzer. Disabled Smart Connect, tried different settings for bandwith and control channel. Turned off Guest Network. Turned off/disconnected two AIMesh routers (RT-AC86U and RT-AC68R). Rebooted more times than I can count. Did factory reset, after verifying firmware was already on version 3.0.0.4.388_22525.

Still finding awful speeds on 2.4ghz network via my devices that can measure same. Laptop, Iphone, Ipad. Examples measured with Ookla Speedtest:

Iphone:
2.4 14.2 .90 192.168.0.131
5.0 443 10.3 192.168.0.58
Ipad:
2.4 18.9 5.33 192.168.0.96
5.0 571 10.5 192.168.0.244

Lenovo Laptop: 192.168.0.139
2.4 5.59 9.76
5.0 331.46 10.39

All these tests were done with devices 8-10 feet from RT-AX92U.

Considered trying the Merlin software, but see that it is not available for the RT-AX92U.

Seems to me there is a problem with the circuitry for the 2.4 ghz radio. Having very difficult time getting ASUS "support" to help. Allegedly, the unit is still under warranty.

I will admit I have a lot (70-80) devices on 2.4ghz network, but the vast majority are IOT devices which I do not think should be causing congestion. Thermostats, doorbell, clocks, appliances, etc. Most devices used for streaming anything are either on ethernet or 5.0 ghz network.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Tim

 

[Tech9]

Considered trying the Merlin software, but see that it is not available for the RT-AX92U.

Supported by GNUton fork, but it won't change anything Wi-Fi related.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Play with Wi-Fi settings and see what works best for you. Nothing else you can do.

 

[bbunge]

I will admit I have a lot (70-80) devices on 2.4ghz network

There you go. Lots of communication between those pesky IoT devices and the router. WIFI is like Ethernet except for Ethernet we use switches today that eliminate collisions that Ethernet detected. WIFI can't detect those collisions but has a means of avoiding them. Maybe you should not be concerned with the bandwidth tested on the 2.4 GHz if everything else is working as intended. OK to play with the settings but right down what you changed so you can go back. And the WIFI defaults are likely your best bet.

 

[drinkingbird]

I have had ASUS RT-AX92U for a little over a year. Back around Christmas, I started noting issues. Was busy with multiple projects and just lived with it. Recently discovered the problem was restricted to 2.4 ghz. The 5.0 ghz is as fast as I can expect. Have gone multiple rounds with ASUS support. Sent copies of config files, turned on feature to send them logs, turned off AI protection, turned off QoS, turned off Traffic Analyzer. Disabled Smart Connect, tried different settings for bandwith and control channel. Turned off Guest Network. Turned off/disconnected two AIMesh routers (RT-AC86U and RT-AC68R). Rebooted more times than I can count. Did factory reset, after verifying firmware was already on version 3.0.0.4.388_22525.

Still finding awful speeds on 2.4ghz network via my devices that can measure same. Laptop, Iphone, Ipad. Examples measured with Ookla Speedtest:

Iphone:
2.4 14.2 .90 192.168.0.131
5.0 443 10.3 192.168.0.58
Ipad:
2.4 18.9 5.33 192.168.0.96
5.0 571 10.5 192.168.0.244

Lenovo Laptop: 192.168.0.139
2.4 5.59 9.76
5.0 331.46 10.39

All these tests were done with devices 8-10 feet from RT-AX92U.

Considered trying the Merlin software, but see that it is not available for the RT-AX92U.

Seems to me there is a problem with the circuitry for the 2.4 ghz radio. Having very difficult time getting ASUS "support" to help. Allegedly, the unit is still under warranty.

I will admit I have a lot (70-80) devices on 2.4ghz network, but the vast majority are IOT devices which I do not think should be causing congestion. Thermostats, doorbell, clocks, appliances, etc. Most devices used for streaming anything are either on ethernet or 5.0 ghz network.

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Tim

As another reply mentioned, IOT devices are the worst. They do not consume a lot of bandwidth but they are constantly sending out broadcasts, small heartbeats into the cloud, potentially communicating with each other, etc. They are very inefficient. 70 to 80 on a single 2.4 is going to consume most of your resources with garbage broadcast and heartbeat traffic. In fact they often cause each other to lock up and not work properly as the super cheap chipset in them cannot handle processing and responding to all those requests.

Separating them into one or more guest networks with intranet disabled can help some but it won't completely solve it. The reason for this is that every time one device sends a "hey who is there" only a subset of the devices will respond instead of all 70 or 80 of them. Turn off those IOT devices as a test and I bet you'll see your 2.4 performing at normal speeds.

Some here with that many devices have resorted to a dedicated AP/SSID (or multiple SSIDs with intranet access disabled to segment them off) for just the IOT devices.

 

[L&LD]

With a 'soft' limit of around 32 client devices per radio for most consumer routers, the 70-80 IoT devices are certainly putting a strain on the single, 2.4GHz radio/band. Regardless of whether Guest Networks or other tricks are used on this single router. Using a second (and third) router in a wired AiMesh (or AP) mode will greatly alleviate the observed issues.

IoT devices are notoriously unstable as noted in the posts above. My first test would be to change the SSID for the 2.4GHz band and see if the router/network stability improves (over a 24-hour or more time period). This would be without any IoT clients allowed to connect at all, at least during testing.

 

[tgilroy]

There you go. Lots of communication between those pesky IoT devices and the router. WIFI is like Ethernet except for Ethernet we use switches today that eliminate collisions that Ethernet detected. WIFI can't detect those collisions but has a means of avoiding them. Maybe you should not be concerned with the bandwidth tested on the 2.4 GHz if everything else is working as intended. OK to play with the settings but right down what you changed so you can go back. And the WIFI defaults are likely your best bet.

Well, it was disconnects on some of the IOT things that got me digging on this.

Thinking about change of 2.4 password (to force the many IOT devices offline) to see how speed is then on 1-2 test devices.

Other thought - is there reasonably priced software/hardware to identify if just a few devices are the root of the problem? The analyzer in ASUS is not very useful.

With a 'soft' limit of around 32 client devices per radio for most consumer routers, the 70-80 IoT devices are certainly putting a strain on the single, 2.4GHz radio/band. Regardless of whether Guest Networks or other tricks are used on this single router. Using a second (and third) router in a wired AiMesh (or AP) mode will greatly alleviate the observed issues.

IoT devices are notoriously unstable as noted in the posts above. My first test would be to change the SSID for the 2.4GHz band and see if the router/network stability improves (over a 24-hour or more time period). This would be without any IoT clients allowed to connect at all, at least during testing.

Thanks! I will give this process a try.

 

[L&LD]

No software will give you that information (easily).

Manually test and add a few clients at a time (each 24 hour period) and note when the network becomes unstable again.

 

[tgilroy]

As another reply mentioned, IOT devices are the worst. They do not consume a lot of bandwidth but they are constantly sending out broadcasts, small heartbeats into the cloud, potentially communicating with each other, etc. They are very inefficient. 70 to 80 on a single 2.4 is going to consume most of your resources with garbage broadcast and heartbeat traffic. In fact they often cause each other to lock up and not work properly as the super cheap chipset in them cannot handle processing and responding to all those requests.

Separating them into one or more guest networks with intranet disabled can help some but it won't completely solve it. The reason for this is that every time one device sends a "hey who is there" only a subset of the devices will respond instead of all 70 or 80 of them. Turn off those IOT devices as a test and I bet you'll see your 2.4 performing at normal speeds.

Some here with that many devices have resorted to a dedicated AP/SSID (or multiple SSIDs with intranet access disabled to segment them off) for just the IOT devices.

OK. Will see how this approach goes. But I am wondering if IOT devices need intranet to function. Guess I have to test on case by case basis.

 

[drabisan]

For 70-80 clients on a single radio your speed tests are actually good!
Overall you're asking too much. Aggravated by (often) stupid IOT devices.

Solutions? Based on the size of your place, another device in AiMesh solution may work if it's a large enough place. AiMesh uses the same channels for router and node, so if it's a fairly small place...AiMesh would not be a good option.
Another router, in AP mode, on different channel than primarily device and wired back to primary router may be more suitable for you.

Ideally you should start considering moving away from devices that can only do 2.4. That's going to be an expensive game, but you should not expect anything better with such a large number of devices on a single radio.

My personal take away - kudos to Asus! A router that can carry so many devices on a single radio it's quite an achievement. Likely a 50 devices per radio will still provide slow speeds, but it will stable. And that's something to appreciate!

 

[Tech9]

Aggravated by (often) stupid IOT devices.

IoT obsession with voluntarily sharing your daily activities with someone in China. There is somewhere a record how often you turn your lights on, what time you're coming home, when you go on a vacation and where, how often you wash your clothes, perhaps even a picture of you and your family taken from this "smart" doorbell, exact home address with what cars you have in the garage and exact current location taken from the "smart" app on your cellphone. Then people ask for public VPNs and DNS encryption for better "privacy" and "security".

 

[RobJack]

IoT obsession with voluntarily sharing your daily activities with someone in China. There is somewhere a record how often you turn your lights on, what time you're coming home, when you go on a vacation and where, how often you wash your clothes, perhaps even a picture of you and your family taken from this "smart" doorbell, exact home address with what cars you have in the garage and exact current location taken from the "smart" app on your cellphone. Then people ask for public VPNs and DNS encryption for better "privacy" and "security".

I gave up on the privacy thing the day I invited Alexa into my house .