RT-AC68U disappointing 5 GHZ performance

[2TallinVA]

Brand new RT-AC68U router doesn't have consistent signal strength and transfer speeds on the 5 GHZ band when connecting with an older HP dv5163cl laptop capable of only up to G mode (EDITED: 802.11 a/b/g via Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG). Approximately 25 ft. away, with only one wall separating them, the speeds keep bouncing between 36, 48 and 54 Mbps. Compared to a TP-Link Archer C9 configured similarly on the 5 GHZ band, the transfer speeds seemed to have held consistently at 54 Mbps as well as the relative signal strength of "excellent".

Firmware: 3.0.04.378-4585 (The firmware update feature says it's the latest, but the ASUS site appears to indicate otherwise.)
Channel: Auto (Forcing to Channel 36 only appeared to make matters slightly worse as far as signal strength goes.)
Bandwidth: 40 MHZ
Tx Power: 100%
Antenna Orientations: Parallel
Location: Residential Single-Family Home

Thoughts? Please and thanks.

 

[drabisan]

If your laptop is only capable of G, this means it's connecting to 2.5GHz, and not 5GHz.
Choose a different 2.4 channel. Even better, install Inssider and take a look at all 2.4 channels around you and pick the least utilized one.

 

[2TallinVA]

If your laptop is only capable of G, this means it's connecting to 2.5GHz, and not 5GHz.
Choose a different 2.4 channel. Even better, install Inssider and take a look at all 2.4 channels around you and pick the least utilized one.

Drabisan:

My apologies, I should clarify. When I indicated "up to G mode", I was actually trying to infer 802.11 a/b/g. The client adapter is based on the Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG. I have separate SSIDs for each band. As a result, I'm going back and edit my original post. Thank you.

 

[Puppa]

I've seen this, but my laptop's device driver has been upgraded for Windows 10 and no longer exhibits the issue. If memory serves, you need to drill down into the wireless settings of your laptop's adapter and force regulation mode, something like 802.11d or h. Suddenly it'll be much faster with more stable connection. The router settings used to expose 802.11h mode under the Professional tab, but they removed this a while back--that might be an additional puzzle piece that's missing if your laptop still doesn't "like" the router.

 

[joegreat]

Hi,

Firmware: 3.0.04.378-4585 (The firmware update feature says it's the latest, but the ASUS site appears to indicate otherwise.)

The "firmware update feature" on the router does not work for a long time! Do a manual update by downloading the latest firmware from Asus homepage or do yourself a favor and install the latest stable firmware from Merlin!
Do not forget to do a factory reset AFTER every firmware change, and reconfigure the router manually!

Thoughts? Please and thanks.

Disable the "Beamforming" features on the router's professional page of the wireless configuration - this feature only work well with compatible (new!) devices.

And: Update the notebook wlan drivers - if available from the vendor (HP or Intel) - or remove the old driver (remove and delete!) in the device manager and let Windows 10 install the latest one (via a cable connection of course).

With kind regards
Joe

 

[2TallinVA]

First, thank you to all who have taken the time to contribute thus far. After the latest efforts, I think it's now safe to conclude that the RT-AC68U does not perform as well as the TP-Link Archer C9 when it comes to performance in the legacy 802.11a mode, at least when running stock firmware.

I updated the firmware to the latest non-beta version. After which I performed a hard "factory" reset and configured it manually. Beam forming was disabled for all modes except 802.11ac. No improvement noticed. I then updated the client driver for the Intel® PRO/Wireless 3945ABG to the latest from Intel. Nice GUI with more features, but again no improvement noticed in the 5 GHZ 802.11a mode.

However, connectivity using an 802.11ac capable Samsung Galaxy S5 at the same distance of about 25ft. resulted in reported speeds up to 192Mbps on 2.4GHZ and up to 370Mbps on 5GHZ with top notch relative signal strength reported. I was very tempted to install Merlin as suggested by joegreat, but this is owned by a family relative at their home. As an aside, I did install Tomato on their previous Linksys WRT54GL to give it some extra life in its final year of use. Thanks.

 

[texashoser]

Why stick with a wireless chip that'll only get you 54 mb/s? See if the laptop can handle an upgraded 802.11(n) wireless radio. They are pretty darn cheap and you'll get speeds of up to around 400 mb/s or so.

 

[2TallinVA]

Why stick with a wireless chip that'll only get you 54 mb/s? See if the laptop can handle an upgraded 802.11(n) wireless radio. They are pretty darn cheap and you'll get speeds of up to around 400 mb/s or so.

Good point, Texashoser. I guess I failed to mention that the laptop is about 10 years old and is running XP. The owner doesn't want to invest anymore money in it. Not too long ago, they acquired a desktop with an Intel i7-4770 processor, 12 GB of RAM and a 500GB SSD. He now has his sights on either another laptop or a tablet. I guess even a retired OBGYN can be frugal.

BTW, speaking of speeds up to around 400Mbps, the Galaxy S5 only once achieved a reported 370Mbps on the 5GHZ band. The rest of the time, it was closer to 300Mbps. My son gets that here at our home on our N600 router with his Samsung Galaxy S5. Again, I'm wondering about the performance on the 5 GHZ band with this ac router running stock firmware. Perhaps that's why there appears to be so much enthusiasm expressed in these forums for the Merlin firmware.