Channel setup/wifi issues :(

[compile]

I just recently tried cleaning up my small network cabinet that I have in my house. I ended up having to buy a new router (Asus RT-N66U) as my E4200 broke (my daughter thought it was funny to stomp on it).

Here is my equipment:
Rogers Hitron gateway (have it set on bridge mode only as the wireless sucks on it).
Trendnet 8 gigaport switch.
Asus RT-N66U running Shibby Tomato.
I also have a Synology NAS but that is connected to the router.

I'm having WiFi issues. When connected via wired I have absolutely no issues at all. When connecting via WiFi my download/upload speed is almost non-existent and I can't for the life of me figure out why. I've used InSSIDer to try to figure out the problem, but maybe I'm doing something wrong.

I've attached a picture of InSSIDer's scan/info, if someone is willing to help me pick the best channel possible I'd greatly appreciate it. I had a channel selected with the E4200 and it worked perfectly, but unfortunately I don't remember what I did.

I'm currently running 40mhz, chan 1 on 2.4Ghz and chan 153 40mhz on 5Ghz (which I have no issues with, but I only have 1 device that is 3 stream and that is my laptop (Intel Centrino 6300 wireless card)).

Could someone help me figure out what to do to fix this?
My networks are called Internet, and Internet-5G.

 

[Fraoch]

This is kind of a stab in the dark but have you tried 20 MHz channel width on the 2.4 GHz band? It's sounding like this is due to interference and the RT-N66U should operate properly and switch back to 20 MHz when it encounters neighbouring networks (see here) but that's with the factory firmware - perhaps Shibby Tomato does not implement this properly.

I've done a lot of speed tests with my RT-N66U and 2.4 GHz 40 MHz tests lower than 2.4 GHz 20 MHz for me. I attributed this to interference from a neighbouring network. Tim's tests showed it should have switched over to 20 MHz anyway but I still got a noticeable speed drop (not huge like yours though).

 

[compile]

I'm actually in the process of testing 20mhz with Auto channel. So far seems a bit better.

 

[stevech]

Right. For many reasons, 40MHz mode in 2.4GHz is a no-go.

 

[Mark Uhde]

Definitely don't do 40 MHz but in that utter mess, 2.4 GHz will be slow no matter what. I suggest buying dual-band client adapters They're dirt cheap on ebay (gently used).

 

[stevech]

Definitely don't do 40 MHz but in that utter mess, 2.4 GHz will be slow no matter what. I suggest buying dual-band client adapters They're dirt cheap on ebay (gently used).

Not necessarily true. You can have 100 nearby SSIDs detected. What matters is if you use a channel +/- 3 of an SSID that has a lot of busy traffic, heavy use.

Lay terms: SSID are like party line phone numbers of old. Depends on if you have a chatty household near the same channel you're on. Most people don't do heavy streaming on their WiFi. There are tools you can run for a day or two to see if you have an issue, and if so, just change channels (remembering to stay 3 channel numbers away from Mr. Chatty, because WiFi channel centers on are 5MHz, but the signal is 20Mhz wide).

 

[Mark Uhde]

Not necessarily true. You can have 100 nearby SSIDs detected. What matters is if you use a channel +/- 3 of an SSID that has a lot of busy traffic, heavy use.

Lay terms: SSID are like party line phone numbers of old. Depends on if you have a chatty household near the same channel you're on. Most people don't do heavy streaming on their WiFi. There are tools you can run for a day or two to see if you have an issue, and if so, just change channels (remembering to stay 3 channel numbers away from Mr. Chatty, because WiFi channel centers on are 5MHz, but the signal is 20Mhz wide).

True, but without a spectrum analyzer one can take a reasonable guess that 2.4GHz is probably a mess.