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Poor download speed over WiFi with Asus ac86u 5 GHz

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emsik

Occasional Visitor
I recently purchased an Asus RT-AC86U.

I've now set it up, downloaded and installed the latest version of firmware from Asus and I'm not getting the download speeds over WiFi that I was expecting to get.

My internet plan is 300Mbps down and 300Mbps up (PPPoE). Wired conection is ok but on WiFi i only get half of the download speed so usually its about 160Mbps. Upload speed on WiFi is ok.

I restore the router to stock settings, there is only my isp login and password and the rest settings is default.
I was trying to change channels but there is no difference, i also doesn't see any interference from my neighbors.
I made a test on my laptop which has an ac network card (2x2) and iphone 8 and the result are the same.

Can anyone please advise me on how to increase the download speed over WiFi? or should i just give back the router to the store?
 
Last edited:
These are my results on wifi:
Speedtest

speedtest.PNG


iperf
iperf3.exe -c 192.168.1.39 -P 1 -i 1 -f m -t 10
Connecting to host 192.168.1.39, port 5201
[ 4] local 192.168.1.228 port 49757 connected to 192.168.1.39 port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 43.1 MBytes 360 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 42.1 MBytes 354 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 2.00-3.00 sec 43.8 MBytes 367 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 3.00-4.00 sec 43.9 MBytes 368 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 4.00-5.00 sec 43.8 MBytes 366 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 5.00-6.00 sec 43.8 MBytes 367 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 6.00-7.01 sec 43.1 MBytes 361 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 7.01-8.00 sec 44.1 MBytes 372 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 8.00-9.00 sec 43.5 MBytes 365 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 9.00-10.00 sec 44.6 MBytes 374 Mbits/sec
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 436 MBytes 365 Mbits/sec sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 436 MBytes 365 Mbits/sec receiver
iperf Done.

And wired connection:
speedtest.PNG

Some advise?
 
Last edited:
These are my results on wifi:
Speedtest

View attachment 15986

iperf
iperf3.exe -c 192.168.1.39 -P 1 -i 1 -f m -t 10
Connecting to host 192.168.1.39, port 5201
[ 4] local 192.168.1.228 port 49757 connected to 192.168.1.39 port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 43.1 MBytes 360 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 42.1 MBytes 354 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 2.00-3.00 sec 43.8 MBytes 367 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 3.00-4.00 sec 43.9 MBytes 368 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 4.00-5.00 sec 43.8 MBytes 366 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 5.00-6.00 sec 43.8 MBytes 367 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 6.00-7.01 sec 43.1 MBytes 361 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 7.01-8.00 sec 44.1 MBytes 372 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 8.00-9.00 sec 43.5 MBytes 365 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 9.00-10.00 sec 44.6 MBytes 374 Mbits/sec
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 436 MBytes 365 Mbits/sec sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 436 MBytes 365 Mbits/sec receiver
iperf Done.

And wired connection:
View attachment 15987
Some advise?

You are seeing better than ISP-rated upload over WiFi. I would guess the router is ok and something else is affecting your WiFi download speed.

OE
 
You are seeing better than ISP-rated upload over WiFi. I would guess the router is ok and something else is affecting your WiFi download speed.

OE

Not always ;) Now it shows 330 Mbps. I dont know what it could be, i' ve checked neighbors 5Ghz channels and there is no interference, as precaution i have changed router place, disabled all Bluetooth devices, upload again newest firmware and restore to default settings also Asus Radar doesnt change my channel.
 
test with different clients, I think its releated only to one or few devices.
 
For iPerf testing I've found that adding -w 4M will get you the best wireless results. With my 86U and 2x2 clients I have got speeds in the 600's on a regular basis. Is your iPerf server connected via Ethernet or wireless?
 
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330 is still better than ISP-rated 300.

OE

Probably my ISP gives me 350/350, because on previous n66u router speedtest shows on wired connection similar results (my contract is 300/300).


test with different clients, I think its related only to one or few devices.

I have updated wifi network card drivers to latest in windows and the result is the same, also checked on iPhone 8, Ipad and HTC10


For iPerf testing I've found that adding -w 4M will get you the best wireless results. With my 86U and 2x2 clients I have got speeds in the 600's on a regular basis. Is your iPerf server connected via Ethernet or wireless?
I made two test, once server was connected via Wireless and client was Ethernet and another server was connected via Ethernet and client was wireless . Results are similar.


Today I will try to disable asus radios and connect Access Point to router.
 
Solved... Problem never exist or still exist ;)
I don't know why but in speedetst.net there are servers which shows different speed depending on connection type...
I was choosing default (optimal) server and second nearest server and it shows different speed on LAN and different on WiFi.
Today i changed to another server and it shows on WiFi:
speed_bestgo.PNG


So i don't know what to think about it. Did you ever notice such a behaviour?

I was also trying fast.com, but it shows unbelievable upload:
fast.png

Ps. Just for sure i made a test with Access Point and result are simillar with built in radios.
 
Last edited:
I find that the dslreports speed test gives the most accurate results. It will ping multiple test servers and pick the best few to run the speed test on. With the speedtest.net site you can get a variety of results depending on which server you pick. The closest or lowest ping server does not always yield the best results.
 
I find that the dslreports speed test gives the most accurate results. It will ping multiple test servers and pick the best few to run the speed test on. With the speedtest.net site you can get a variety of results depending on which server you pick. The closest or lowest ping server does not always yield the best results.

True. But speedtest.net is often good enough, and faster to complete which helps when you are running it repeatedly to debug a connectivity issue.

OE
 
True. But speedtest.net is often good enough, and faster to complete which helps when you are running it repeatedly to debug a connectivity issue.

OE

I agree 100 percent but I was trying to address the OP's concern:

I don't know why but in speedetst.net there are servers which shows different speed depending on connection type...
I was choosing default (optimal) server and second nearest server and it shows different speed on LAN and different on WiFi.
Today i changed to another server and it shows on WiFi:
View attachment 15992

So i don't know what to think about it. Did you ever notice such a behavior?

I was also trying fast.com, but it shows unbelievable upload:
View attachment 15993
 
On dslreports it looks like this

dslreports.PNG

Poor (below 300 Mbps) download results are made on WiFi. So I'm confuse by the difference between Wired and Wireless connection.
If there are interferences it should affect download and upload?
I was thinking that maybe the router itself is problem but after connecting an Access Point to router and disabling its radios the situation doesn't change so i'm stuck.

I agree 100 percent but I was trying to address the OP's concern:

Problem is when the same server shows different result when making test from Wifi and Wired connection and another server shows the same speed from both.

On dslreport it always shows poor download speed from Wifi and normal from ethernet

BTW. Thank you for your continued support.
 
Last edited:
On dslreports it looks like this

View attachment 15998
Poor (below 300 Mbps) download results are made on WiFi. So I'm confuse by the difference between Wired and Wireless connection.
If there are interferences it should affect download and upload?
I was thinking that maybe the router itself is problem but after connecting an Access Point to router and disabling its radios the situation doesn't change so i'm stuck.



Problem is when the same server shows different result when making test from Wifi and Wired connection and another server shows the same speed from both.

On dslreport it always shows poor download speed from Wifi and normal from ethernet

BTW. Thank you for your continued support.

I would wire the laptop to the router and bang on speedtest.net repeatedly like 10-20 times to be sure the results are consistent. Then you'll know to the ISP service/router is steady. It just remains to understand the variable WiFi results, which appear across both router and AP WiFi, so may be wireless client or radio environment related(?).

OE
 
Difference between wifi and wired connection:

dslreport.PNG


This small reduction of download/upload speed on wifi is due to change channel bandwidth
Is this normal behavior?
 
Last edited:
For iPerf testing I've found that adding -w 4M will get you the best wireless results. With my 86U and 2x2 clients I have got speeds in the 600's on a regular basis. Is your iPerf server connected via Ethernet or wireless?
These are my results with -w 4M

server wireless
iperf3.exe -c 192.168.1.228 -P 1 -i 1 -f m -t 10 -w 4M
Connecting to host 192.168.1.228, port 5201
[ 4] local 192.168.1.39 port 61912 connected to 192.168.1.228 port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 79.6 MBytes 668 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 79.4 MBytes 666 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 2.00-3.00 sec 84.5 MBytes 709 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 3.00-4.00 sec 80.9 MBytes 678 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 4.00-5.00 sec 81.5 MBytes 684 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 5.00-6.00 sec 80.8 MBytes 677 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 6.00-7.00 sec 80.2 MBytes 673 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 7.00-8.00 sec 81.4 MBytes 682 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 8.00-9.00 sec 80.9 MBytes 678 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 9.00-10.00 sec 79.6 MBytes 668 Mbits/sec
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 809 MBytes 678 Mbits/sec sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 807 MBytes 677 Mbits/sec receiver

iperf Done.

server wired
iperf3.exe -c 192.168.1.39 -P 1 -i 1 -f m -t 10 -w 4M
Connecting to host 192.168.1.39, port 5201
[ 4] local 192.168.1.228 port 50370 connected to 192.168.1.39 port 5201
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-1.00 sec 48.4 MBytes 406 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 1.00-2.00 sec 42.5 MBytes 355 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 2.00-3.01 sec 45.5 MBytes 381 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 3.01-4.00 sec 46.8 MBytes 394 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 4.00-5.01 sec 42.9 MBytes 355 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 5.01-6.00 sec 46.8 MBytes 398 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 6.00-7.00 sec 43.8 MBytes 366 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 7.00-8.01 sec 45.9 MBytes 382 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 8.01-9.00 sec 49.5 MBytes 419 Mbits/sec
[ 4] 9.00-10.00 sec 41.5 MBytes 348 Mbits/sec
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
[ ID] Interval Transfer Bandwidth
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 453 MBytes 380 Mbits/sec sender
[ 4] 0.00-10.00 sec 453 MBytes 380 Mbits/sec receiver
iperf Done.

Does it means that router is faulty? As i understand results, there are in total opposite to speedtest and dslreports results
 
Last edited:
Has anybody actually managed to find a solution for this, as I'm in a very similar position .

86U, clear wifi channels and excellent signal strength and connection rates - UK ISP - 150dn/30up - Latest drivers in laptop for AC card and iphone XR all up to date. Sitting in direct line of site to the router approx 2m away.

Ethernet connection rock solid 150/30 - Wifi - Well, between 70 and 120 down, and upload is as expected - dslreports shows that I'm getting the expected speeds at some points of the test, but never consistently - there is a period of bloat where the connection will drop back to approx 80mbps (after setting off at a bloat free 147) and that's how the test plays out, with a few bloat spikes.

A short while ago I was getting 147/30 (FreshJQoS) with A+ A+ A+... Only thing that changed, my end was an upgrade to the latest Merlin. So I rolled back a few revisions and tried each step of the way - Nothing.

In another thread: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...y-when-routing-to-internet.54580/#post-461562

...it was suggested that the ISP could be the culprit, depending upon how they handle the TCP requests, so I will pick that up with tech support shortly (they're usually pretty good).

Just curious if this was ever solved?
 
Has anybody actually managed to find a solution for this, as I'm in a very similar position .

86U, clear wifi channels and excellent signal strength and connection rates - UK ISP - 150dn/30up - Latest drivers in laptop for AC card and iphone XR all up to date. Sitting in direct line of site to the router approx 2m away.

Ethernet connection rock solid 150/30 - Wifi - Well, between 70 and 120 down, and upload is as expected - dslreports shows that I'm getting the expected speeds at some points of the test, but never consistently - there is a period of bloat where the connection will drop back to approx 80mbps (after setting off at a bloat free 147) and that's how the test plays out, with a few bloat spikes.

A short while ago I was getting 147/30 (FreshJQoS) with A+ A+ A+... Only thing that changed, my end was an upgrade to the latest Merlin. So I rolled back a few revisions and tried each step of the way - Nothing.

In another thread: https://www.snbforums.com/threads/r...y-when-routing-to-internet.54580/#post-461562

...it was suggested that the ISP could be the culprit, depending upon how they handle the TCP requests, so I will pick that up with tech support shortly (they're usually pretty good).

Just curious if this was ever solved?

You must try Upper band Channels to see if it resolves your problem and make sure the link speed on your iphone is showing atleast 866 mbps.

Try changing the channel to 149-153.

I have the same problem with my speeds on AC86U which gets capped around 270 mbps on channel 36-48. I wanted to try channel 149 but it seems my ASUS AC86U router is region locked.
 
I run lower 5 GHZ channels with no issues.
 
I run lower 5 GHZ channels with no issues.
Maybe you're using this as your primary router and with minimal interference.

I'm using this as my 2nd router and I tried both repeater mode and also using an Extender to connect to my Netgear router.

Both methods have failed and my doenload speeds are mostly 270 mbps.

For now my previous dlink Dir 882 router is doing good and giving me speeds between 400-520 mbps as that uses channel 149.

Sent from my LM-G710 using Tapatalk
 

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