Proper way to setup BE88U and N66U to extend range. Daughter getting very poor signal in her room? WDS? Repeater Mode?

[Mognar]

Hi,

Hoping to get some advice on the proper way to extend the range on a wireless network using a BE88U and N66U.

So I finally upgraded my very out of date network and using the BE88U, I get excellent coverage in our home, other than my daughter's bedroom. I added the N66U to the network in repeater mode, figuring that would extend the wifi range, but it doesn't appear to be doing much if anything at all. The reason I say that, is that with the N66U powered on or not, it seems like my daughter may only be connecting to the BE88u with limited bandwidth. We've run speed tests with the N66u on and off and they are dismal with a 10/1 mb down / up (occasionally she will get 90/15 or so u/d. When we moved into another room (closer to the router), she will get 1gb down, 40 up with is out ISP cap. We had this issue prior to upgrading the rourte and I was hoping that the BE88U would cover her room fully.

Obviously I'm not a network expert, so I'm here hoping for help. I read into WDS and not sure if that would make any difference when connecting the N66u, compared to it being in repeater mode as it is now.

So, without having to buy new hardware, what is the best way to configure both routers to try and extend the range another 25 feet or so, so that my daughter has constant. The house on only had 3 coax connectors total... so moving the cable is not an option and being on a slab, trying to run cat6 from the attack down to the 1st floor (2 story house) or visa versa is not an option financially.

I'm sure there are settings that could and should be adjusted. I tried googling for a few hours, but haven't found any articles that helped, so here I am.

Currently, the BE88U is in the living room on the first floor and the N66U is in my daughter's room on the 2nd floor. Both routers are using Merlin, 3006.102.4 on the 88u and 3.0.0.0.4.374.33 on the 66U. Looking at the network map, it shows the 66U connected with 3 out of 4 bars.

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

Mog

 

[ColinTaylor]

Given your situation repeater mode seems the only viable option. As the N66U is only capable of 802.11n on either band you're going to be limited to a 450Mbps link speed at most, but more likely 216Mbps (check this on the Network Map). Maximum throughput is probably 66% of that, and halve that again if repeated on the same band.

An additional limitation is going to be your daughter's client devices. Most clients will have either one or two antennas. This effectively limits their maximum link speed (to an N66U) to 72Mbps, 144Mbps or 300Mbps (with the overheads mentioned above) depending on the band and channel width they're connecting to.

I would try and setup the repeater with the 2.4GHz band as the link to the main router as it will have the strongest connection. Then name the repeater's 5GHz band as something unique like ASUS_RPT5G. Your daughter should connect to this SSID to avoid the halving of throughput problem. Ideally place the repeater at about 2/3 distance from the main router to your daughter's location.

If that doesn't help try the opposite. Factory reset the router and set it up again, this time with 5GHz as the link to the main router and ASUS_RPT24G as the separate SSID for your daughter to connect to.

P.S. You might have to "forget" the main Wi-Fi network SSIDs on your daughter's client devices to stop them automatically connecting to them instead of the repeater.

 

[degrub]

How many walls does the N66U signal have to go through to reach your daughter's room from its current location ? Or do you have line of sight through a doorway ?
These are gypsum (sheetrock) panels over wood studs , typical US construction ?

 

[RMerlin]

Considering the age and the slow wifi it provides, it might be worth looking for an entry level AX router (or even AC) as an alternative expander. In the past I've frequently used TP-Link repeaters on customer networks, they are a good balance of price/performance.

 

[Mognar]

How many walls does the N66U signal have to go through to reach your daughter's room from its current location ? Or do you have line of sight through a doorway ?
These are gypsum (sheetrock) panels over wood studs , typical US construction ?

The N66U is in her bedroom, 10' from where she uses her laptop. That's what's confusing me... I powered the N66U off and she still had the same speeds, so I can't tell if she's connecting to the N66U or not. Tried disconnecting from the network, etc. The BE88U shows the N66U in the network map and shows 3 out of 4 bars. I figured she would at least get 200mb down. Her bedroom is on the 2nd floor, above the garage. So yes, there are several walls. Since I appears I have a decent signal from the N66U to the BE88U, thought we would be good, but that's not the case. If she walks outside her bedroom door, she gets 1gb down from the BE88u.

 

[Mognar]

Considering the age and the slow wifi it provides, it might be worth looking for an entry level AX router (or even AC) as an alternative expander. In the past I've frequently used TP-Link repeaters on customer networks, they are a good balance of price/performance.

Thanks. I'll take a look into them. Was hoping the N66u would be enough to get her by on the weekends she's with me.

 

[Mognar]

Given your situation repeater mode seems the only viable option. As the N66U is only capable of 802.11n on either band you're going to be limited to a 450Mbps link speed at most, but more likely 216Mbps (check this on the Network Map). Maximum throughput is probably 66% of that, and halve that again if repeated on the same band.

An additional limitation is going to be your daughter's client devices. Most clients will have either one or two antennas. This effectively limits their maximum link speed (to an N66U) to 72Mbps, 144Mbps or 300Mbps (with the overheads mentioned above) depending on the band and channel width they're connecting to.

I would try and setup the repeater with the 2.4GHz band as the link to the main router as it will have the strongest connection. Then name the repeater's 5GHz band as something unique like RPT5G. Your daughter should connect to this SSID to avoid the halving of throughput problem. Ideally place the repeater at about 2/3 distance from the main router to your daughter's location.

If that doesn't help try the opposite. Factory reset the router and set it up again, this time with 5GHz as the link to the main router and RPT24G as the separate SSID for your daughter to connect to.

P.S. You might have to "forget" the main Wi-Fi network SSIDs on your daughter's client devices to stop them automatically connecting to them instead of the repeater.

The network map does show the N66U at 216, so you're correct. My daughter is using a 3ish year old MS Edge gaming laptop, not sure of the specs.

The routers are probably no more than 40' apart, but several walls in-between them. The N66U is in my daughter's bedroom approximately 10' away from where she uses her laptop.

How do I set the band that the N66U connects to the BE88U with? All I did was log into the N66U and set it to repeater mode and connect to the SSID on the BE88U. Do I just change the SSID on the 5GHz in the "System Status" section of the network map to create a new SSID using the 5GHz? Once I set it to repeater mode, I lost a lot of the options I had previously. Sorry for the newbie question.

 

[ColinTaylor]

How do I set the band that the N66U connects to the BE88U with? All I did was log into the N66U and set it to repeater mode and connect to the SSID on the BE88U. Do I just change the SSID on the 5GHz in the "System Status" section of the network map to create a new SSID using the 5GHz? Once I set it to repeater mode, I lost a lot of the options I had previously. Sorry for the newbie question.

When you setup repeater mode the first thing it asks you is to choose the remote AP you want to connect to. In this list you should see your BE88U's SSIDs. Next to each SSID will be the band, 2.4GHz or 5GHz.

I have come across a situation where the N66U cannot "see" any APs on the 5GHz. If you need that (the second scenario I suggested) you will need to: factory reset the N66U, use the default "router mode" setup, then set the 5GHz Wi-Fi channel to 36. Now (hopefully) when you switch to repeater mode you will be able to see APs on 5GHz.

But I think RMerlin has the best advice, buy a modern (cheap) repeater. Because the N66U doesn't even support 802.11ac throughput is going to be poor however you configure it.

 

[degrub]

The downside of good wifi in her room is that she may hibernate in the room. If the door is left open, does that make any difference inside the room ?

 

[Mognar]

When you setup repeater mode the first thing it asks you is to choose the remote AP you want to connect to. In this list you should see your BE88U's SSIDs. Next to each SSID will be the band, 2.4GHz or 5GHz.

I have come across a situation where the N66U cannot "see" any APs on the 5GHz. If you need that (the second scenario I suggested) you will need to: factory reset the N66U, use the default "router mode" setup, then set the 5GHz Wi-Fi channel to 36. Now (hopefully) when you switch to repeater mode you will be able to see APs on 5GHz.

But I think RMerlin has the best advice, buy a modern (cheap) repeater. Because the N66U doesn't even support 802.11ac throughput is going to be poor however you configure it.

 

[Mognar]

When you setup repeater mode the first thing it asks you is to choose the remote AP you want to connect to. In this list you should see your BE88U's SSIDs. Next to each SSID will be the band, 2.4GHz or 5GHz.

I have come across a situation where the N66U cannot "see" any APs on the 5GHz. If you need that (the second scenario I suggested) you will need to: factory reset the N66U, use the default "router mode" setup, then set the 5GHz Wi-Fi channel to 36. Now (hopefully) when you switch to repeater mode you will be able to see APs on 5GHz.

But I think RMerlin has the best advice, buy a modern (cheap) repeater. Because the N66U doesn't even support 802.11ac throughput is going to be poor however you configure it.

HI,

So what I did was log into the 66U and changed the 5GHz SSID to a unique name which is being broadcast and I see available on my devices. I'll use this SSID for testing connectivity via my daughter's laptop (she's not feeling well and resting, so don't want to bother her yet). But this leads me to other questions and confusion.

So now, nothing is connected to the newly created 5g SSID on the 66U. When I look at the client list on the 88U, I can see the 66U and it says that two clients are connecting through this device. Everything else in the house is in close proximity to the 88U, so I would rather have everything other than my daughter's laptop connect to the 88U. Is there a way that I can view what these 2 devices are? I've gone through all of the menus on both devices, but haven't found a way to see what these 2 devices actually are.

And since I want all off the devices to connect to the 88U (except my daughter's laptop), how can I have the 66u connect to the 88U only to repeat and broadcast the newly named 5g SSID, but not have devices connect to the 66u via 2.4G? Is this where the WDS functionality comes into play and I would have to create a bridge rather than set the 66U to repeater mode? From my reading so far, it seems since WDS wasn't standardized and doesn't support WPA, I shouldn't use it.

And while this may a bit off topic, something I was going to look into later and better for a new post, thought I would mention it in case you may have some insight. So I did not create any guest networks, but now I see in the Network tab of the 88U that there is a main network and guest network pro network, with half of my devices on one and half on the other... eventually I was planning on creating a "guest network" for guest access and and another for my security cameras to keep them segregated and limit them phoning home. But why is their a network (with the same SSID as my main) listed now and half of my devices are connected to it?

Thanks for your time and help!

Mog

So I've done some more testing... on the 66U, I renamed both the 2.4 and 5gh SSIDS to unique names, so now I can connect my daughter's laptop to both, check speeds on both and this way I know her laptop will be connecting via the 66U. But, on the 88U, I still see "two devices connecting through this device", so 2 other devices in the house are still picking up and going through the 66u, which I don't want. Any way to prevent this? When I look at the network map on the 66U, it shows 8 clients, so I'm assuming it's showing what's connecting to the main SSID??? Definitely confused

 

[Mognar]

The downside of good wifi in her room is that she may hibernate in the room. If the door is left open, does that make any difference inside the room ?

She's going on 17 and I have full trust in her, so no issues with privacy and she prefers to be hanging out downstairs with me during the day. The only time this is an issue is when she's tired and heading to bed and may want to watch a video or listen to some music as she dozes off. And no difference with the door closed or not as it's not in LOS with either router.

 

[ColinTaylor]

So now, nothing is connected to the newly created 5g SSID on the 66U. When I look at the client list on the 88U, I can see the 66U and it says that two clients are connecting through this device. Everything else in the house is in close proximity to the 88U, so I would rather have everything other than my daughter's laptop connect to the 88U. Is there a way that I can view what these 2 devices are? I've gone through all of the menus on both devices, but haven't found a way to see what these 2 devices actually are.

Ignore the number of devices it says are connected. It's well known to usually being completely wrong.

And since I want all off the devices to connect to the 88U (except my daughter's laptop), how can I have the 66u connect to the 88U only to repeat and broadcast the newly named 5g SSID, but not have devices connect to the 66u via 2.4G? Is this where the WDS functionality comes into play and I would have to create a bridge rather than set the 66U to repeater mode? From my reading so far, it seems since WDS wasn't standardized and doesn't support WPA, I shouldn't use it.

Ignore WDS.

Going back to remind myself, when you first setup repeater mode it asks what SSID names you want to use for the repeated 2.4GHz and 5GHz bands. So name them both something different to your main Wi-Fi network. IIRC it will suggest something like ASUS_RPT and ASUS_RPT5G respectively. Your client devices will only connect to the SSIDs they have credentials for, so they won't attempt to connect the repeater's SSIDs unless you tell them to.

And while this may a bit off topic, something I was going to look into later and better for a new post, thought I would mention it in case you may have some insight. So I did not create any guest networks, but now I see in the Network tab of the 88U that there is a main network and guest network pro network, with half of my devices on one and half on the other... eventually I was planning on creating a "guest network" for guest access and and another for my security cameras to keep them segregated and limit them phoning home. But why is their a network (with the same SSID as my main) listed now and half of my devices are connected to it?

Sorry, I'm not familiar with the options in the new "Pro" firmware.