ASUS ZenWiFi Pro ET12 wireless dropping out when Xbox Series X is on

[etgadsby]

Hi, here's an odd one. I have a 2 node ASUS ZenWiFi Pro ET12 system and a Xbox Series X (hard wired). The main node and the Xbox are in the same room fairly close together. When the Xbox is on we see serious wireless performance issues. The Xbox is connected to the wired networking and from what I read means that the it's Wifi has turned off. My only conclusion that the xbox controller wireless is overpowering the signal.

We've had this problem a while but usually there isn't somebody using the xbox at the same time as my wife teleworks. I live in the MidAtlantic and the storm has us all snowed in and now it's becoming a problem again as the kid want to use the Xbox during the day.

Has anybody had this problem and or has ideas on how to remedy it? Thanks!

Some speed tests I've run:
No Xbox:
Wireless
PING ms
7
DOWNLOAD Mbps
486.78
UPLOAD Mbps
924.61

Verizon
Baltimore, MD

Wired:
PING ms
5
DOWNLOAD Mbps
694.36
UPLOAD Mbps
944.90

Xbox Idle:
Wireless:
PING ms
9
DOWNLOAD Mbps
35.64 <-- Notable speed drop
UPLOAD Mbps
73.55

Wired:
PING ms
5
DOWNLOAD Mbps
711.65
UPLOAD Mbps
946.32

A bit about my network topography. I have FIOS connected to a mini PC running Pfsense that's my DHCP server/gateway. This is connected to a gigabit switch. The ASUS ZenWiFi Pro ET12's first node is connected to the "core" switch. It is set to AP mode. The second node connects to the first with Cat6 via a direct connection (doesn't touch the core). The Xbox is also connected to the core. The core and gateway are in the basement. The Xbox and first node are in my TV room on the first floor. The second node is on the opposite side of the house.


Thanks for any and all help!

 

[degrub]

what frequency is the Xbox wireless controller using ?
Can you turn off your 2.4 GHz radios on the ETs and use 5 GHz only ?
Should be plenty of bandwidth on 5 GHz alone for any user. i've been running on 5 GHz on AC class APs with 5 users, including 2 work at home. You might have to add an AP to get the coverage you need.

 

[etgadsby]

what frequency is the Xbox wireless controller using ?
Can you turn off your 2.4 GHz radios on the ETs and use 5 GHz only ?
Should be plenty of bandwidth on 5 GHz alone for any user. i've been running on 5 GHz on AC class APs with 5 users, including 2 work at home. You might have to add an AP to get the coverage you need.

A little research suggests that it's using the same bandwidth as BlueTooth. Of course that M$'s proprietary system so... I have to guess a little.

 

[etgadsby]

what frequency is the Xbox wireless controller using ?
Can you turn off your 2.4 GHz radios on the ETs and use 5 GHz only ?
Should be plenty of bandwidth on 5 GHz alone for any user. i've been running on 5 GHz on AC class APs with 5 users, including 2 work at home. You might have to add an AP to get the coverage you need.

I disabled 2.4 and now the Xbox can be on and wireless speeds are maintained. I am still exploring range. Thanks for the help!

 

[degrub]

On your clients, a RSSI of -65 dBm from the AP transmit should be good enough. Check what the AP is reading for the receive RSSI of the client transmit.

 

[jksmurf]

On your clients, a RSSI of -65 dBm from the AP transmit should be good enough. Check what the AP is reading for the receive RSSI of the client transmit.

I'm currently vibe-coding my way to getting the Router to report RSSI at the Router and what is at the Device, for my Shelly IoT Switches, to try to isolate what is kicking them off occasionally.

i.e. is it IN DEVICE roaming (threshold/interval)
OR
is it the Router RA if you use it (I do not use this for 2.4GHz IoT anyway)
OR
is it the Steering Trigger and STA thresholds for Smart Connect (SC), which essentially just decides 'yes strong enough and close enough for 5Ghz' or noooo... kick you back to 2.4GHz boyo.

I use SC, as I still like it for my non-IoT devices; but unfortunately you cannot separate them with SC on, although I use a 2.4Ghz only SSID for IoTs in GNP.

The battery-powered Shelly devices sleep unfortunately, so cannot get this info, and if the check is done on the Main but the device is on a node, I can get IN-Device RSSI via RPC calls, but the AT -Router RSSI is not available, until I run the same script on a node. I am not tempted to try to get SSH Keys working across nodes atm. Simple is good. Merlin FW Nodes are easy (my plug for having Merlin Nodes over Stock!!), I can use the same RSSI script as on the Main, stock nodes a bit harder, but doable if you copy paste a temporary script each time.

Upshot is as my Main and Nodes are (probably too?) close and you cannot adjust the TX Power per Main or Node (only for "ALL"), you have devices vacillating between them, as to which to latch on to; unless you screw down on the IN-DEVICE thresholds; and hopefully not lose them altogether. And of cousre Shelly Cloud does not work if you bind devices to nodes (known Shelly issue), so that's out.

What fun and games this whole shebang is, I really really really hope that @RMerlin gets a much bigger place sometime soon (would you please all chip in and buy him a bl**dy big Mansion) and he can then see what a cluster AiMesh really is and maybe tell ASUS to up their game.

Sorry got a bit OT, but maybe it helps.

 

[Tech9]

Thanks for any and all help!

Search shows Xbox X issues affecting entire network are reported quite often since the device introduction and to different Wi-Fi equipment. No definite recipe to fix. I see advice for wired, DMZ, UPnP, Port Forwarding for Xbox services, fixed IP address, use of 2.4GHz only when wireless, etc. Glad you found what fixes it for you.

Router to report RSSI at the Router

Still no RSSI information from nodes? I don't remember what was available. Okay... teaser: the "other manufacturer" solution shows not only RSSI from multiple APs, but also allows minimum RSSI threshold per radio in addition to global minimum RSSI for roaming purposes (like Roaming Assistant in ASUS), plus best channel per AP based on individual APs environment scanning... plus AI engine to help you automate the above in case you have 20+ APs in a controlled environment.

 

[jksmurf]

Still no RSSI information from nodes?

No I’m getting that, just not so easily as on Merlin FW with proper scripting …

I don't remember what was available. Okay... teaser: the "other manufacturer" solution shows not only RSSI from multiple APs, but also allows minimum RSSI threshold per radio in addition to global minimum RSSI for roaming purposes (like Roaming Assistant in ASUS), plus best channel per AP based on individual APs environment scanning... plus AI engine to help you automate the above in case you have 20+ APs in a controlled environment.

Stop it …