Lag using 2.4GHZ

[kingdruid]

I was previously using a WRT610N with my 360 and was able to use the media extender app with no problems. Unfortunately my router broke and I decided to move up and buy this new router from best buy.

The issue I am noticing is lag when in the media extender menu. I looked online and it seems to be a common problem with these routers and xbox 360's. I thought about flashing another build on it like dd-wrt or tomato, but I want to make sure thats actually going to help me or should I return it and get something else?

I'm currently running the latest Asus build 3.0.0.4.260

 

[kingdruid]

I was previously using a WRT610N with my 360 and was able to use the media extender app with no problems. Unfortunately my router broke and I decided to move up and buy this new router from best buy.

The issue I am noticing is lag when in the media extender menu. I looked online and it seems to be a common problem with these routers and xbox 360's. I thought about flashing another build on it like dd-wrt or tomato, but I want to make sure thats actually going to help me or should I return it and get something else?

I'm currently running the latest Asus build 3.0.0.4.260

I also just tried Merlin's firmware and still bad on 2.4Ghz.

Is this router just bad on 2.4Ghz regardless of what firmware we run? I also noticed SMB only runs on 10/100 on this and not gigabit which is another negative on this router. I wonder if I can change the samba client on this to tweak the settings.

 

[RMerlin]

I also just tried Merlin's firmware and still bad on 2.4Ghz.

Is this router just bad on 2.4Ghz regardless of what firmware we run? I also noticed SMB only runs on 10/100 on this and not gigabit which is another negative on this router. I wonder if I can change the samba client on this to tweak the settings.

The router itself has very strong 2.4 GHz. Keep in mind that wireless routers are highly dependent on one's environment. If you have thick walls or a lot of neighbors creating interference in the 2.4 GHz band, no wireless router will give you good results.

You will have to experiment with settings to see what fits best your particular environment. There are a number of tips posted here about using a fixed channel, setting it to 20 MHz, etc... Unfortunately, there just isn't any secret default setting that will work best for everyone - it's just how wireless technology is.

What do you mean by SMB only running on 10/100? There's no relation between SMB and the network link speed negotiated.

 

[kingdruid]

The router itself has very strong 2.4 GHz. Keep in mind that wireless routers are highly dependent on one's environment. If you have thick walls or a lot of neighbors creating interference in the 2.4 GHz band, no wireless router will give you good results.

You will have to experiment with settings to see what fits best your particular environment. There are a number of tips posted here about using a fixed channel, setting it to 20 MHz, etc... Unfortunately, there just isn't any secret default setting that will work best for everyone - it's just how wireless technology is.

What do you mean by SMB only running on 10/100? There's no relation between SMB and the network link speed negotiated.

I had my 610n with the same channel and 20mhz and did not notice this much lag. I don't think its my environment and from the other complaints about 2.4ghz on this and other forums I think there may be something with the hardware.

For SMB I had it running on the 610n also and it would run around 20mb and this one only does 10. I was running dd-wrt though and was able to tweak the samba settings on it. This is on a hardwired connection to the gigabit ports.

 

[RMerlin]

I had my 610n with the same channel and 20mhz and did not notice this much lag. I don't think its my environment and from the other complaints about 2.4ghz on this and other forums I think there may be something with the hardware.

For SMB I had it running on the 610n also and it would run around 20mb and this one only does 10. I was running dd-wrt though and was able to tweak the samba settings on it. This is on a hardwired connection to the gigabit ports.

To be honest, I see the same amount of complains with every other routers out there when it comes to wireless performance. There are quite a few users who reported having solved their particular issues by switching from Linksys to an RT-N66U. And for other users it was the opposite. That's what I mean when I say that it depends on your particular environment - performance vary (both ways) between users. It's not the router's fault.

The only glaring wireless performance issues I'm aware of at the moment with the RT-N66U are specifically with the Xbox 360 (Asus are aware of it and looking into the issue) and some people having issues with firmwares 246 and 260 (reverting back to 220 or using my custom firmware solved their issues). Otherwise, the most common feedback indicate that the RT-N66U is one of the strongest performers wireless-wise.

Top speed I can achieve with the router over SMB here is 15 MB/s (after I did some firmware tweaks in my custom version however, original firmware seemed to top at 12 MB/s read-wise). The speed will depend on numerous issues such as the disk, filesystem, etc... It definitely won't reach 20 MB/s however - so far the Cisco routers are the only one I have seen that can achieve that. Raw disk performance (tested using hdparm) seemed to indicate that 24 MB/s was the max read speed the router's CPU and USB hosts were able to achieve - and that's without filesystem and Samba overhead).

With my firmware you can easily replace smb.conf with your own customized version. I've done a lot of tests last week and the current settings I use are pretty much optimal, but if you do find other settings that have a real impact on performance, please share them.

So if disk performance is a priority, you might be better off either with a Cisco router, or (the best solution IMHO) a dedicated NAS. You might also gain a bit of SMB performance by switching to Asuswrt-Merlin.

 

[kingdruid]

To be honest, I see the same amount of complains with every other routers out there when it comes to wireless performance. There are quite a few users who reported having solved their particular issues by switching from Linksys to an RT-N66U. And for other users it was the opposite. That's what I mean when I say that it depends on your particular environment - performance vary (both ways) between users. It's not the router's fault.

The only glaring wireless performance issues I'm aware of at the moment with the RT-N66U are specifically with the Xbox 360 (Asus are aware of it and looking into the issue) and some people having issues with firmwares 246 and 260 (reverting back to 220 or using my custom firmware solved their issues). Otherwise, the most common feedback indicate that the RT-N66U is one of the strongest performers wireless-wise.

Top speed I can achieve with the router over SMB here is 15 MB/s (after I did some firmware tweaks in my custom version however, original firmware seemed to top at 12 MB/s read-wise). The speed will depend on numerous issues such as the disk, filesystem, etc... It definitely won't reach 20 MB/s however - so far the Cisco routers are the only one I have seen that can achieve that. Raw disk performance (tested using hdparm) seemed to indicate that 24 MB/s was the max read speed the router's CPU and USB hosts were able to achieve - and that's without filesystem and Samba overhead).

With my firmware you can easily replace smb.conf with your own customized version. I've done a lot of tests last week and the current settings I use are pretty much optimal, but if you do find other settings that have a real impact on performance, please share them.

So if disk performance is a priority, you might be better off either with a Cisco router, or (the best solution IMHO) a dedicated NAS. You might also gain a bit of SMB performance by switching to Asuswrt-Merlin.

Thanks I just flashed your version so I can play around with it. The lag I was getting on 2.4ghz is actually on the 360 so the bug they have opened is probably related. Hopefully they fix it soon.

 

[RMerlin]

Let me know how's your SMB performance with my firmware. If it seems to still be capped at 10 MB/s, then start checking your network cables to ensure they are all gigabit-capable (Cat 5e or Cat 6).

 

[kingdruid]

Let me know how's your SMB performance with my firmware. If it seems to still be capped at 10 MB/s, then start checking your network cables to ensure they are all gigabit-capable (Cat 5e or Cat 6).

Working a lot better now with your firmware:
92 MB/s per second on SMB Write.