What's new

RT-AX86S with 1Gbps FTTP throttles bandwidth

  • SNBForums Code of Conduct

    SNBForums is a community for everyone, no matter what their level of experience.

    Please be tolerant and patient of others, especially newcomers. We are all here to share and learn!

    The rules are simple: Be patient, be nice, be helpful or be gone!

AbbaTheHorse

New Around Here
Good morning

Having had 3 TP-Link routers die, I researched ASUS kit and settled on the RT-AX86S.

I have 1Gbps FTTP from BT and before my TP-Link router died, was getting the full allocation on my hard-wired Windows 10 PC.

However, since installing the RT-AX86S, my Windows PC gets nothing but erratic (and “slow”) internet speeds.

Testing with 4 different speed test sites, and also testing downloading large SQL backups from an Azure storage account, speeds fluctuate between 30Mbps to a maximum of around 650Mbps. And they fluctuate every second-or-so.

I’ve ensured QoS is switched off, I’ve tried a factory reset, I’ve tried Merlin and I’ve tried downgrading the firmware to the previous version, but this router just doesn’t want to provide my PC with a constant, full speed connection.

Switching the router back to the BT SmartHub and I’m back to full 1Gbps speed on the PC, so I can at least isolate this as being the RT-AX86S.

I need to move away from the BT SmartHub as it just doesn’t give me enough control or performance for my home network.

Has anyone experienced a similar issue? ASUS support came back with a standard “change the firmware/factory reset” advice, which of course hasn’t worked.

Thank you very much in advance for any help that might be available

M
 
As an experiment try daisy chaining the Asus behind the SmartHub. So that's FTTP -> SmartHub -> Asus -> PC. Do you still get the problem?
 
You could have a bad Ethernet cable. Have you tried all the LAN ports? Have you done a hard factory reset after changing firmware?
 
As an experiment try daisy chaining the Asus behind the SmartHub. So that's FTTP -> SmartHub -> Asus -> PC. Do you still get the problem?
Thank you, I’ve just tried that (keeping all other cables intact) and my Windows PC is now getting full speed!

Not sure what can explain that though?
 
OK that's interesting. Did you have to change any settings on the Asus? I'm thinking about the WAN Connection Type maybe, e.g. PPPoE to Automatic IP.
 
No, I didn’t change anything at all. I just unplugged my OpenReach box from the ASUS WLAN port, plugged that into the WLAN port on the BT SmartHub, and connected the two devices with a spare ethernet cable. I didn’t change any settings on either device.
 
Last edited:
The only thing I can think of that would be different then is the MAC address presented to the ONT. Seems unlikely that would create the symptoms you described by it's worth trying.

I'm not familiar with the SmartHub, but determine what its WAN facing MAC address is. Then enter that address in the Asus at WAN > Internet Connection > Special Requirement from ISP > MAC Address. Apply that change and then swap over the SmartHub with the Asus.
 
Also check whether the SmartHub is using PPPoE and/VLAN tagging. I've read mixed information regarding this for BT's FTTP.
 

Sign Up For SNBForums Daily Digest

Get an update of what's new every day delivered to your mailbox. Sign up here!
Top