N66U being out performed by ATT Uverse Wireless Gateway

[K-Dubb]

Hi,

I recently moved into a new house with ATT Uverse. As part of this, they gave me a Motorola NVG589 Wireless modem/gateway. I live in a walkout basement home, and the router is located in the basement toward one side of the house (I know this is not optimal). I found that the NVG589 covered the whole house very well, even in the opposite room upstairs. I then hooked up my N66U with the latest firmware, thinking it would smoke the Motorola, but to my surprise it did not. In fact the N66U has half the useable coverage as the Motorola. I have tried just 2.4GHz on the ASUS as well, but still not usable for half of the upstairs. I have the Asus standing up and it is sitting right next to the Motorolla. Both routers were tested with the wireless on the other off.

Is this an expected outcome? I wired the house for an AP upstairs, but since the NVG589 covers the whole house I am having trouble justifying buying a second Asus. Any help is appreciated as I would prefer to use the ASUS for wireless. I have read the troubleshooting guide specifically : Final advice: just because "it worked fine with that other router" does not mean that it's the new router's fault. Now this is not a new router, but I am just surprised by this outcome. Maybe the NVG589 just has better range but I would think not.

Thanks.

 

[Zirescu]

When you were testing did you test on the same channel? The specs on the Motorola state that it's transmitting at 400mW, but if I recall correctly the N66U got capped at 100mW in the firmwares after 374.43 due to complaints from competitors and FCC slapping ASUS's wrists.

 

[sfx2000]

I recently moved into a new house with ATT Uverse. As part of this, they gave me a Motorola NVG589 Wireless modem/gateway

ATT has been tuning up their UVerse gateways, and the newer ones are actually pretty impressive from a config perspective - you might have a such a beastie...

 

[Deleted member 22229]

When you were testing did you test on the same channel? The specs on the Motorola state that it's transmitting at 400mW, but if I recall correctly the N66U got capped at 100mW in the firmwares after 374.43 due to complaints from competitors and FCC slapping ASUS's wrists.

Actually Asus has there routers capped at 80 mw.. Try Johns fork firmware it has much better range on the N66.

 

[K-Dubb]

Hi,

Yes I read the same specs on the NVG589, but not sure why they would not be regulated the same as ASUS is. Merlin
374.43 is the last version where I can adjust this correct? I am reading that I am still bound by the regional max though correct? I am in the US and I think that max is 200, but maybe I am wrong.

Thanks.

 

[Deleted member 22229]

Hi,

Yes I read the same specs on the NVG589, but not sure why they would not be regulated the same as ASUS is. Merlin
374.43 is the last version where I can adjust this correct? I am reading that I am still bound by the regional max though correct? I am in the US and I think that max is 200, but maybe I am wrong.

Thanks.

All i can say is John's fork has better range on the N66 even if you dont crank it to 200mw in the UI. Give it a try is all you can do.

http://www.snbforums.com/threads/fork-update-for-374-43-available-v13e1.18914/

 

[K-Dubb]

I installed 374.43, and upped the TX to 200. It did improve things, but my internet is still very unstable at distance. Closer they are even. The ATT router is much more stable and has a usable internet speed. I have tested on the same channels but not at the same time. I did a factory reset after installing the fork.