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x2 AsusZenWiFi XD4 Plus - WiFi Speeds dropping after minutes of setting up

poolbeetse7en

Occasional Visitor
This issue has been driving me mad for the last few days. When setting up x2 XD4 plus nodes in a mesh or even AP, the initial speeds are excellent on both units at over 700Mb (I have 1Gb WAN), according to numerous speed tests. After an unspecified number of minutes, the speeds of both units drop significantly, and they struggle to get above 200Mb, even from a foot away. Both are using wired gigabit backhaul. I've tried both units as a mesh and separate access points, and the same issue occurs. I got so fed up with them that I ordered x2 Xiaomi Mesh AX3000 NE units to replace them with, but unfortunately the software on them is a mess, and for some odd reason, Guest network is disabled in AP mode, leaving only a single 2.4 and 5Ghz SSID which isn't enough for me, so they are no use for my purpose.

I went back to the XD4 unites again after boxing up the Xiaomi unites and once again, the exact same issue. Excellent initial speeds of 700Mb+, then both units just drop to <200Mb. Very frustrating! I realise this is probably plenty for most, but these units should definitely be capable of better speeds.

Setup:
Asus RT-AX56U with latest Merlin firmware - 3004.388.8_4
x2 ZenWiFi XD4 Plus with latest Asus firmware - 3.0.0.4.386_69095

Could this maybe be a firmware issue? Really appreciate any suggestions. Thank you!
 
Last edited:
It may just be a compatibility issue between the router and the two nodes. Ideally, you want all three devices from the same hardware (same model and version) and all running the same firmware. The latter may be the most important, but only experimenting will tell.

If you switch the two Zen units to AP mode and turn off the wifi on the router, then the above will be less important.

How much area are you trying to cover ? What you have should be good for more than most residences have square feet. You may be suffering from too much RF power, so set the two Zens and the router to minimum power and gradually raise after testing for coverage gaps. In fact, just start with the main router and generate a coverage power map. Then, add the Zen units where there is weak signal level and keep their power at just enough to have minimal overlap.
 
It may just be a compatibility issue between the router and the two nodes. Ideally, you want all three devices from the same hardware (same model and version) and all running the same firmware. The latter may be the most important, but only experimenting will tell.

If you switch the two Zen units to AP mode and turn off the wifi on the router, then the above will be less important.

How much area are you trying to cover ? What you have should be good for more than most residences have square feet. You may be suffering from too much RF power, so set the two Zens and the router to minimum power and gradually raise after testing for coverage gaps. In fact, just start with the main router and generate a coverage power map. Then, add the Zen units where there is weak signal level and keep their power at just enough to have minimal overlap.
Thank you for the reply! Sorry for the delay. I've been trying various different solutions to no avail.
Some good suggestions there, thanks! I've tried a few more things...

As you suggested, I tried a like for like setup, so I actually removed the XD4 units completely. I had a spare AX56U router which I used to use in my garage, so I connected that up using wired backhaul and added it to the mesh with my main AX56U router, both running the latest Merlin firmware. Speeds seem to be quite good initially at over 600Mb on both units, but I possibly didn't leave it long enough. I'll explain why...

After goodness knows how many different test methods and test locations, I think the issue might have something to do with enabling Guest networks. I read another post on this forum from a user with a very similar issue, but I'm still unable to find a fix.

I ran Speedtests on both XD4 units and swapped them around to see if there was a difference between them, but no. They act the same. I was getting speeds well over 700Mb when I first set them up in my mesh, but the speed drops to around 300Mb and below soon after, maybe 30 minutes or so. The exact same symptons occur on both XD4 units. This also seems to affect the speed on my main AX56U router.

I should probably just accept these speeds as they are more than fast enough for most wirless purposes (most of my main devices are hard wired) however, it bothers me that these units should be producing much higher speeds, and I could have bought much older mesh units that would perform similar or better.

I did try the Xiaomi AX3000 NE units again and I sort of worked around the DHCP/LAN issue, but they weren't romaing properly between my main AX56U router (taking 5+ minutes to obtain DHCP address from router). The software on these is also absolute and complete garbage, so they are back in the box ready to be returned.

A couple of mesh units popped up that I wouldn't mind trying as they are available at a bery good price. The Linksys Atlas Pro 6 AX5400 Dual-Band or the Linksys Velop MX4200 Tri-Band. Only question mark is that I'm not sure if Guest mode works in AP mode. I don't want to make that same mistake again :-)

Thanks!


 

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