RT n66u slow over lan

[lethalj50]

To give a little background, my router has worked flawlessly for almost a year now. I haven't messed with upgraded firmware(dont fix whats not broke) in a long time. Well anyways i had a seagate external HD plugged in and the HD started going woonky so i replaced it with a western digital external, then thats when some minor problems started. The router seemed to throttle down every so often. While talking the problem out with a coworker we thought maybe the firmware needed to be upgraded. So i went home and hit the upgrade firmware button and it went through the process easily and then when i went to reboot, it went into recovery mode. I was successful in returning back to the old firmware. I must say my wireless flies right now and i have it hooked up to a western digital live box and it has no problem streaming from the external it but for some reason when windows explorer explores the external HD from my desktop, it wont read it for anything(very slow opening the folder). Sometimes it will open a folder and sometimes it wont. then if it manages to open the folder it will not stream the file over the desktop. Now over the laptop, no problems. need help.

 

[4Leaf]

To give a little background, my router has worked flawlessly for almost a year now. I haven't messed with upgraded firmware(dont fix whats not broke) in a long time. Well anyways i had a seagate external HD plugged in and the HD started going woonky so i replaced it with a western digital external, then thats when some minor problems started. The router seemed to throttle down every so often. While talking the problem out with a coworker we thought maybe the firmware needed to be upgraded. So i went home and hit the upgrade firmware button and it went through the process easily and then when i went to reboot, it went into recovery mode. I was successful in returning back to the old firmware. I must say my wireless flies right now and i have it hooked up to a western digital live box and it has no problem streaming from the external it but for some reason when windows explorer explores the external HD from my desktop, it wont read it for anything(very slow opening the folder). Sometimes it will open a folder and sometimes it wont. then if it manages to open the folder it will not stream the file over the desktop. Now over the laptop, no problems. need help.

You could try clearing the nvram on your router. First, turn off your router and wait 30 seconds. Next, hold down the wps button while turning your router back on at the same time for a minimum of 10 seconds. I personally prefer to hold down the wps button for 30 seconds before letting go of it.

After you successfully achieve the first two steps above I mentioned let your router sit for a minute or two so it can simply regather it self. If you want, you can turn off your router after waiting a minute or two just for good measure. If you choose to do so, wait 30 seconds after you have turned your router off before turning it back on.

Now reconfigure all of the settings the way you prefer them and make sure to reboot your router afterwards when you get done.

I hope this will solve your problems!

 

[lethalj50]

I'm thinking of doing a version by version upgrade. It's crazy because any file I try to use won't stream to the desktop. For example I keep my music on that HD and when I click on a song the media player will not play it all.

 

[lethalj50]

and I would hate to reset the router after I just got it running again.

 

[4Leaf]

I'm thinking of doing a version by version upgrade. It's crazy because any file I try to use won't stream to the desktop. For example I keep my music on that HD and when I click on a song the media player will not play it all.

If you are installing different firmware builds without clearing the nvram then you wouldn't know if it actually worked or not. In order for a firmware install to be successful you have to clear the nvram to clean out the old settings. Each new upgraded firmware will have new features and bug fixes which will require both adding and the changing of the coding in the firmware. For example, if an upgraded firmware by Asus included a different sdk wireless driver you would have to clear your nvram or issues would be unavoidable.

You can erase your nvram as much as you like on your router and it will not hurt it. Also, you need to clear your nvram any time you change your firmware build on your router. If you haven't tried that after installing a new firmware build, then how would you eliminate what the issue is and what firmware build the issue is actually in. Being as you mentioned you upgraded a new firmware build and then downgraded back to your old build you were using before and then things stopped working the same as before, that is an obvious sign to clear your nvram before assuming something is actually wrong with the firmware or the router itself.

 

[lethalj50]

Ok a little update. I decided to use merlins latest build and to no avail I had the same issue. So I unplugged the cable from my desktop and plugged it into my laptop and success it wasn't my router. It lies with the desktop. Thinking that maybe my onboard adapter has gone bad I decided to use a wireles adapter I had lying around. Come to find out there are no windows 7 drivers for the adapter. So screw it, I went back to the wired and out of nowhere the lan speeds were back up where they should be. Well.....the other evening my laptop refused to connect wirelessly so I reset the router and boom back to the same ole lan problems being slow again. I restarted my computer to recreate the same results as before and that didn't work. Still stuck at slow lan speeds.
I need some help.

 

[lethalj50]

and right now it doesn't just affect the lan, it also affects the internet.

 

[4Leaf]

Use the 35_4-sdk5 merlin build firmware for the rt-n66u. I have been using it for quite a while now and I have never had any problems with it at all. My internet throughput remains optimal all the time, but the security isn't where it would be on the newer builds with the sdk6 driver like the firmware build you are currently using. Though, I have never had any type of security breach.

Just go to the rt-n66u folder and then to the sdk5 driver folder on merlin's page to download firmware builds.

It might not have all the latest updates; however, for me it is by the far the most reliable firmware build for the rt-n66u. If you had an rt-ac87u, then I would recommend to use the most recent updated merlin build.

The rt-n66u was originally intended to use the sdk5 wireless driver. That same driver is in the 35_4-sdk5 merlin build. So ultimately, it is a choice of throughput or security. You just have to decide which is more important to you.

 

[lethalj50]

What could be going on with my desktop if my laptop runs fine over the lan? But I will try that build. Thanks.

 

[john9527]

What could be going on with my desktop if my laptop runs fine over the lan? But I will try that build. Thanks.

Reading, I think your desktop is an Ethernet connect? If so, you may want to check the driver for power saving options (Green Ethernet, Energy Efficient Ethernet) and disable them. Sometimes these don't work and play well with others.

An other thing to check, is any Virus protection you may be using. Sometimes there are some very aggressive protection options that can slow things down.

Finally, the ever popular, have you tried a different cable.

 

[lethalj50]

Ok I checked for energy options and they were turned off. I disabled my anti virus program and no change. To make sure I unplugged my ethernet cable from my desktop and plugged it in my laptop. The ethernet in this configuration works fine. So it isn't the cable or router. I can't figure out is that I never had a problem with this wired connection until I changed firmware and now my desktop will not run a fast ethernet connection.