RT-N66U wifi speed plunge overnight...

[johng]

Hi everyone,

A new member here. I've this RT-N66U about a year, and it's been flawless. Wifi speed on 5Ghz was around 60Mb, 2.4Ghz 40Mb.

Until a few days ago. Then wifi plunged to 8Mb and 4Mb respectively. And that's in the same room as the router, only a couple of feet from it. Even worse elsewhere. All devices attached desperately slow, Netflix on the smart TV is unusable at anything over VHS quality. Time of day irrelevant.

Nothing had changed - no software settings/software, hardware, no new devices added (no changes to them), no changes in the building itself or location of the router - nothing. Speed coming into the router from outside exactly the same as it's been since the service started.

Same old, same old, so it's puzzling.

What I have tried so far is:

Rebooting about a dozen times - no change
Turning the radios off and on - no change
Firmware upgrade to the latest 2239 from a few versions ago - no change

The only thing I haven't tried is the hard reset button on the back. I wanted to exhaust everything else before doing that, as I've heard horror stories about this router being turned into a doorstop with a hard reset. But there doesn't seem like much more I can do.

Any ideas, anyone, before I push that little button? Thank you very much in advance for any advice. The majority of you appear extremely knowledgeable about these devices, so I very much appreciate your help...

 

[sinshiva]

unfortunately, what you dont want to do sounds like your best shot. it's known to resolve issues moving between firmwares, etc. also, try changing the wireless ssid or the wireless connection profiles on any windows machines

[edit/] what jlake suggested below is how i also do my return to factory defaults

 

[jlake]

Hi everyone,

A new member here. I've this RT-N66U about a year, and it's been flawless. Wifi speed on 5Ghz was around 60Mb, 2.4Ghz 40Mb.

Until a few days ago. Then wifi plunged to 8Mb and 4Mb respectively. And that's in the same room as the router, only a couple of feet from it. Even worse elsewhere. All devices attached desperately slow, Netflix on the smart TV is unusable at anything over VHS quality. Time of day irrelevant.

Nothing had changed - no software settings/software, hardware, no new devices added (no changes to them), no changes in the building itself or location of the router - nothing. Speed coming into the router from outside exactly the same as it's been since the service started.

Same old, same old, so it's puzzling.

What I have tried so far is:

Rebooting about a dozen times - no change
Turning the radios off and on - no change
Firmware upgrade to the latest 2239 from a few versions ago - no change

The only thing I haven't tried is the hard reset button on the back. I wanted to exhaust everything else before doing that, as I've heard horror stories about this router being turned into a doorstop with a hard reset. But there doesn't seem like much more I can do.

Any ideas, anyone, before I push that little button? Thank you very much in advance for any advice. The majority of you appear extremely knowledgeable about these devices, so I very much appreciate your help...

Why not just reset (restore factory defaults) from the GUI? And then wait 5 minutes, and power cycle it. Then reconfigure from scratch. Make sure you set 2.4 ghz to "20mhz" width. Then use inSSIDer to find the best 2.4 ghz channel. Use wpa2 personal wireless security.

FYI. Most beginners try to do a 30-30-30 reset and accidentally put it in recovery mode. And then they get confused because they don't know what recovery mode is. A 30-30-30 reset is not recommended and will only cause you problems.

You can also push the reset button for 7 seconds.

 

[n2ubp]

Hi everyone,

A new member here. I've this RT-N66U about a year, and it's been flawless. Wifi speed on 5Ghz was around 60Mb, 2.4Ghz 40Mb.

What happens if you turn it off for 30 minutes and let it completely cool down ?

 

[L&LD]

johng, while it does sound like hardware (at this point) has anything changed in your neighbors wifi environment?

This could affect your network as well.

The worst I've seen is when a business allows Shaw (ISP provider) to setup their 'free' WiFi - and effectively kills all the existing (home) routers around it. Shaw uses both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands when they do this and depending on the size of the business; they may end up putting in many AP's (each with a different channel, of course).

This may not be the problem, but see if inssider shows anything similar.

 

[johng]

What happens if you turn it off for 30 minutes and let it completely cool down ?

No change...I left it overnight.

 

[johng]

johng, while it does sound like hardware (at this point) has anything changed in your neighbors wifi environment?

This could affect your network as well.

The worst I've seen is when a business allows Shaw (ISP provider) to setup their 'free' WiFi - and effectively kills all the existing (home) routers around it. Shaw uses both 2.4 and 5 GHz bands when they do this and depending on the size of the business; they may end up putting in many AP's (each with a different channel, of course).

This may not be the problem, but see if inssider shows anything similar.

I usually keep track of neighbouring networks for the very reason you're suggesting, but I've been in and out of the country, and haven't been on it. having said that, using Inssider, it looks pretty much the same as it always has (although I can't be certain) and it's on the best channel for my circumstances.

 

[johng]

Why not just reset (restore factory defaults) from the GUI? And then wait 5 minutes, and power cycle it. Then reconfigure from scratch. Make sure you set 2.4 ghz to "20mhz" width. Then use inSSIDer to find the best 2.4 ghz channel. Use wpa2 personal wireless security.

FYI. Most beginners try to do a 30-30-30 reset and accidentally put it in recovery mode. And then they get confused because they don't know what recovery mode is. A 30-30-30 reset is not recommended and will only cause you problems.

You can also push the reset button for 7 seconds.

I can reset to factory from GUI? I thought I could only do that with The Button. Excuse my ignorance, but what is a triple 30?

Thanks, I'll try as you suggest.

 

[johng]

Thanks everyone for your prompt responses, they're much appreciated...

 

[L&LD]

To reset from GUI,

Administration (left hand side).
Restore/Save/Upload Settings (tab along top).

Factory Default button: Restore.


While the inssider information may look the same - it may be worthwhile to try all the channels one by one again as the 'how it used to be' settings may need to be changed to accommodate the possibly newer (low level/more hostile) environment.

 

[johng]

Ok, I see that now. I'll do all that, and hopefully, it remedies the problem...

 

[johng]

One final question:

When I go through the factory restore process, will I need to install the latest firmware again, or does it revert back to the firmware it was shipped with (somehow?). Just wondering...

 

[jim769]

A factory reset will not affect the firmware on the router. It will erase all your settings so you will have reconfigure the router again from scratch.

 

[L&LD]

No, it will restore the firmware currently installed to it's default values.

For a successful firmware upgrade with restore to defaults:
Before flashing a new firmware: I would unplug any USB drives or printers attached to the router (if any) and unplug the router's power plug. Leave off for a couple of minutes and unplug all LAN connections except the laptop or desktop you're configuring the router from.

Now, turn on the router and let it settle for at least 5 minutes after it boots up.

Now, upload the new firmware.

When the router has rebooted with the new firmware installed; let it settle for another 5 minutes.

Now, inside the web gui, reset the router to defaults.

When it is finished (it may have rebooted by itself - let it settle for a couple of minutes) - pull the power on the router again. Wait 2 minutes and turn it on.

Wait 5 to 10 minutes (let it settle 'always' after rebooting it) and now you can manually enter any custom settings you want.

 

[jim769]

Can't see what letting the router settle will do but what ever works for you. I just install the new firmware then clear nvram then do a factory reset with the small indented button on the back of the router reconfigure all my settings works every time.

 

[L&LD]

If (if...) the router was used for anything past default routing and wireless duties then the waiting may let it finish whatever it needs to do at bootup.

Then, when the cpu and ram is free - the firmware is updated without issues (hopefully).

 

[Duemarch]

Can't see what letting the router settle will do but what ever works for you. I just install the new firmware then clear nvram then do a factory reset with the small indented button on the back of the router reconfigure all my settings works every time.

Jim can you give exact process you use to clear nvram? are you pressing wps button and for how long? thank you

 

[RogerSC]

You can press the router reset button until the power light flashes, that's one way to reset to factory defaults. Another way is telnet into the router and use this command:

mtd-erase -d nvram

and then power-cycle the router.

Another way is to use the web admin GUI, and go to where you would save settings, and use the "restore to factory defaults" button.

In any of these cases, all you have to do is re-enter your settings, and your router will be in the state when you had just flashed the current firmware and set up your router. This lets you start from a known state, which helps narrow things down if the reset doesn't solve your problem.