Hello all, I have an Asus RT-AC86U. I cannot get the router to recognize or use the 200 mbps I am getting from Spectrum.

[wildoldman]

When I connect my laptop directly to the Spectrum modem I get about 230 mbps. When I connect the modem to the router it is only in the low 90s. All the ports are gigabyte ports but I only get low 90s. All these numbers are hard wired, not wifi. Does anyone know what is holding me back?

 

[bbunge]

Bad cable between modem and router?
Heavy downloads in progress? Windows did release a major upgrade today.
Did you upgrade to firmware 384.82072?

 

[OzarkEdge]

When I connect my laptop directly to the Spectrum modem I get about 230 mbps. When I connect the modem to the router it is only in the low 90s. All the ports are gigabyte ports but I only get low 90s. All these numbers are hard wired, not wifi. Does anyone know what is holding me back?

Have you reset the router and then configured from scratch lately?

Does the router webUI Status show the LAN wired PC connecting at 1 Gbps?

My PC measures 115 Mbps through my AC86U to Spectrum 100/10 cable service.

OE

 

[wildoldman]

Thank you for the information. I have not reset the router at this point yet. I have a surveillance DVR connected and a number of ports forwarded. I was hoping to avoid resetting yet.

I have been in my router 100 times. I cannot find where to look for the webUI status. Would you be able to give me step by step instructions? I could not find a youtube video on my router for this process.

Also, even though I use cheap CAT5E from Amazon and get 100Mbps to the router, could that be an issue?

 

[OzarkEdge]

Thank you for the information. I have not reset the router at this point yet. I have a surveillance DVR connected and a number of ports forwarded. I was hoping to avoid resetting yet.

I have been in my router 100 times. I cannot find where to look for the webUI status. Would you be able to give me step by step instructions? I could not find a youtube video on my router for this process.

Also, even though I use cheap CAT5E from Amazon and get 100Mbps to the router, could that be an issue?

100 Mbps would bottleneck anything faster, of course.

Look in the router webUI default page Network Map\System Status\Status for this status of your router LAN connections:

OE

 

[wildoldman]

When I click on Network Map, then I click on Status under System Status, it shows my Ethernet ports. Can I change the WAN to 1Gbps?

Ethernet Ports

Ports Status WAN 100 Mbps LAN 1 1 Gbps LAN 2 100 Mbps LAN 3 Unplugged LAN 4 Unplugged

 

[OzarkEdge]

When I click on Network Map, then I click on Status under System Status, it shows my Ethernet ports. Can I change the WAN to 1Gbps?

​

Ethernet Ports

Ports Status WAN 100 Mbps LAN 1 1 Gbps LAN 2 100 Mbps LAN 3 Unplugged LAN 4 Unplugged

So, that 100 Mbps WAN connection is not going to allow your 200+ Mbps Spectrum service. Since your laptop connects to the modem and measure 230, your laptop and modem are sufficient. If that is your laptop above connected to the router LAN1 at 1 Gbps, then that connection is sufficient. That just leaves the health of your router WAN port and cable suspect. Try a better WAN cable like the one connected to LAN1.

Edit: Ethernet port speed is auto-negotiated... there is no setting for it.

OE

 

[Ronald Schwerer]

If it isn't the cable (try a known good one), you should be able to re-map the WAN port to one of the LAN ports. I'm on Merlin, but this should work on ASUS firmware. The actual steps might be different but basically: Go to WAN/Dual WAN and enable Dual WAN. There you can choose which is your "Primary" WAN port. Choose one of the known good LAN ports and move your WAN cable to it. It doesn't matter that you have no secondary WAN plugged-in.

 

[Deleted member 51572]

well the WAN port is only connected at 100Mbps, so there's your problem (and LAN port 2). try swapping some ethernet cables. LAN port 1 is connecting at 1Gbps, so swap that cable in temporarily, b/w WAN and modem, to see if the router WAN port re-connects at 1Gbps instead of 100Mbps. CAT5e or better obviously.

 

[wildoldman]

OK, what I have done makes no sense to me but here it is. I just moved my router next to my modem and used factory made 6 foot piece of CAT5E. Now I get 200+ at my desktop computer. What is weird is I have tried 3 different cables, all CAT5E., all shielded, 2 different brands, all under 100 feet long (all home made) and it always showed high 90s. I even swapped modems at my nearby Spectrum store yesterday. I have been making cable for years, but only recently dealing with 200Mbps. My cable tester has always proven reliable. I can't imagine 100 ft would be an issue. I am told all CAT6 is gigabyte capable? I have a weatherproof piece laying around. I guess I will put ends on it and see what happens. Just so you know, I have to keep my router across the house from my modem otherwise my living room TV with a wifi Roku stick won't cooperate 100%.

Thank you very much for all your time! I will return with results from my CAT6.

 

[L&LD]

If you have a spare unmanaged 5 or 8 port 1Gbps switch laying around (or can pick up one to test with) you may want to put that between the equipment too (test at both ends, or use 2 switches).

 

[Deleted member 51572]

so looks like it was your home-made cables causing poor connectivity. obvious lesson here is to always use known good quality cables that are rated for the job, and keep all cable runs as short as possible, particularly b/w the router and modem. i have my doubts that your 'cheap Amazon CAT5e cables' are actually shielded. STP (Shielded Twisted Pair) is considerably more expensive than the more commonly used UTP (Unshielded Twisted Pair).

fyi:
CAT5e UTP is rated up to 1Gbps, over a max distance of 100 metres (~330 feet)
CAT6 UTP is rated up to 10Gbps, over a max distance of 50 metres

glad you solved the problem. cheers.

 

[OzarkEdge]

OK, what I have done makes no sense to me but here it is. I just moved my router next to my modem and used factory made 6 foot piece of CAT5E. Now I get 200+ at my desktop computer. What is weird is I have tried 3 different cables, all CAT5E., all shielded, 2 different brands, all under 100 feet long (all home made) and it always showed high 90s. I even swapped modems at my nearby Spectrum store yesterday. I have been making cable for years, but only recently dealing with 200Mbps. My cable tester has always proven reliable. I can't imagine 100 ft would be an issue. I am told all CAT6 is gigabyte capable? I have a weatherproof piece laying around. I guess I will put ends on it and see what happens. Just so you know, I have to keep my router across the house from my modem otherwise my living room TV with a wifi Roku stick won't cooperate 100%.

Thank you very much for all your time! I will return with results from my CAT6.

I suggest you review your cable building from top to bottom until you can build a cable that connects at max port speed of 1 Gbps. Cables I've built routinely connect at 1 Gbps. Lately I've been using up Cat 5e 100' patch cords for cable stock and Ideal RJ-45 connectors.

Frankly, if you are building your own cables, you should have been able to resolve this bad cable issue... it was the first advice you got in this thread.

Remember the adage, 99% of all networking problems are cabling. Not actually true anymore, but it still helps.

OE

 

[wildoldman]

Well, I guess you are correct. I finally got the ends on my old piece ( about 75 foot long) of outdoor weatherproof direct burial CAT6 cable. Connected it between the modem and router and it took less than 5 seconds to reconnect my wifi signal. 230 on the router!! My CAT5 took longer than a minute to establish a signal.

Now I can finally move on and see what length goes between my netgear switch and router.