RT-AC66U_B1 AP Mode - WMC-Xbox 360 Wired Performance Issues

[Chris Prescott]

I have an RT-AC66U_B1 configured for AP mode on firmware 3.0.0.4.382_19333.

The issue I'm experiencing is Windows Media Center playback issues on an Xbox 360 Extender on a wired connection. When I run the network test on the Xbox 360 Gen2 Extender, it reports marginal to acceptable performance and the bar graph scales up and down irregularly. I didn't see this issue with a Linksys EA3500 that the RT-AC66U_B1 replaced.

I have already changed the Ethernet cable run from the Xbox 360 and see the same results.

My guess is it might be a flow control issue on the RT-AC66U_B1. Flow control is disabled on the Windows 8.1 WMC PC with Intel i218-V (driver version 22.4.16.0) and on my Dell PowerConnect 5324.

Does anyone know how to check the flow control status on an RT-AC66U_B1?

Simple diagram of how this is wired.

W8.1-WMC-PC <--> Dell Powerconnect 5324 <--> RT-AC66U_B1 AP mode <--> Xbox 360

 

[glugglug]

The ethernet port on the XBOX is only 100Mbps. Not having flow control on the PC will cause problems unless the PC is also restricted to 100Mbps.

Really, flow control should be enabled, why did you disable it?

 

[Chris Prescott]

This is why.

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-features/30212-when-flow-control-is-not-a-good-thing

There is a mix of 100Mb and gigabit clients on the RT-AC66U_B1.

The ethernet port on the XBOX is only 100Mbps. Not having flow control on the PC will cause problems unless the PC is also restricted to 100Mbps.

Really, flow control should be enabled, why did you disable it?

 

[bbunge]

Try the new firmware. There was a NAT issue fixed that may help you even in AP mode.

 

[Chris Prescott]

Thanks for the heads up on the new firmware. Applying that now.

Try the new firmware. There was a NAT issue fixed that may help you even in AP mode.

 

[glugglug]

This is why.

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/lanwan/lanwan-features/30212-when-flow-control-is-not-a-good-thing

There is a mix of 100Mb and gigabit clients on the RT-AC66U_B1.

TCP can function without the flow control as it has it's own mechanisms for figuring out packets were dropped. While the UI part of the WMC session is mostly a remote desktop session on TCP port 3390, the actual video/audio streaming is done through RTSP, which uses a mix of TCP and UDP. The UDP going from gigabit to 100M will function really badly without flow control.

 

[Chris Prescott]

Applied the firmware update and unfortunately that didn't help.

I re-enabled flow control on both the switch and Win8.1 WMC (also other Windows clients on the network) and re-ran the network test on the Xbox 360 and the bar graph stayed solid as expected on a wired connection. Also moving around in the WMC interface was more than before with the RT-AC66U_B1 in place.

Thank you glugglug for making me re-examine the flow control configuration.