XT8 wireless connection seems slow.

[Kornmod]

Hi

I recently got a gigabit fibre connection and decided to buy a couple of XT8 at the same time.
One of my main reasons for buying the XT8's was to be able to have wireless backhaul across my apartment, as my fibre connection enters my apartment at the opposite end of my old internet connection, and I wanted to use my old ethernet setup to connect my stereo, TV etc (as these are old with no or slow wi-fi). Another reason was to have wi-fi mesh as my old wi-fi setup couldn't reach all corners of the apartment, and I had big time drop outs when trying to use a repeater.

Now to my problem:
The internet connection speed seems slow, especially the wireless connections.

When doing speed tests I get the following results:
Directly wired to fibre box: 930 DL - 870 UL
Directly wired to router: 920 DL - 810 UL
Directly wired to node: 620 DL - 790 UL
Wireless connection: 120-350 both DL and UL

I have only my pc and my phone connected to the wi-fi when running these test and both is 802.11ax compatible. The PHY rate between router and note varies, but is usually around 3.8 gbps and the connections quality is great, so there should be enough bandwidth, and there seems no concernable difference in result when doing a speed test on my phone or on my pc. I also noticed when using WifiInfo it says my routers max bandwidth is 867 mbps, which also seems odd to me.

I had expected wired speed from node to match the wired speed from the router within 10%. The UL speed is within 3%, so can't see why the DL speed shouldn't be around the same range. And I had expected my ax compatible devices to have wireless connections speeds within 30% of the wired speed from the router.
I don't know enough about wi-fi in general to tell, if these numbers are to be expected with my setup, or if it's because I need to change somethings in the settings. I hope you guys will be able help and enlighten me.

The firmware is 3.0.0.4.388_22525

TIA

 

[Tech9]

I don't know enough about wi-fi in general

You have to get yourself familiar with what Wi-Fi settings do first. Everyone's Wi-Fi environment is different and there is no universal best settings. In an apartment in a larger city (Copenhagen), with many other networks around and no 149-161 channels available (Denmark) I wouldn't use 160MHz wide channels (5-2 radio, your backhaul) and I would stick to channels 36-48 for the main Wi-Fi (5-1 radio). Some DFS channels allow higher Tx power in EU, but you don't really need it with 2x XT8 units in an apartment. You have to find your best settings and this can't happen before you know the basics.

 

[Kornmod]

You have to get yourself familiar with what Wi-Fi settings do first. Everyone's Wi-Fi environment is different and there is no universal best settings. In an apartment in a larger city (Copenhagen), with many other networks around and no 149-161 channels available (Denmark) I wouldn't use 160MHz wide channels (5-2 radio, your backhaul) and I would stick to channels 36-48 for the main Wi-Fi (5-1 radio). Some DFS channels allow higher Tx power in EU, but you don't really need it with 2x XT8 units in an apartment. You have to find your best settings and this can't happen before you know the basics.

First of all then thanks for your reply.
Do you know of any good sites or blogs for general knowledge of wi-fi? Most of the sites I've found I feel you either needs to have done the first year of a degree in network building to be able to follow, or they are for someone who never seen a router before ( "don't place your router in a steel box" type of guides)

Why would you stick to channels 36-48 for the main wi-fi? I can imagine it has something to do interference, but why are those channels better than channels 52-64?
And why wouldn't you use 160 MHz for backhaul? If we have fewer channels here in Denmark than other countries, the remaining channels must of course be more crowded, and I can imagine this has something to do with your recommendation. As far as I've understood then one 160 MHz is basically eight 20 MHz that you're transmitting on at the same time, but how does it work if you have interference on just one of those 20 MHz channels? Will you still transmit on the remaining seven channels, or have you "lost" the entire 160 MHz channel?

 

[Tech9]

1) Asuswrt has built-in help tips
2) your product has User Manual
3) you can research each option in Google

What channels is your system currently using? There is no much of a choice. What I'm saying is - avoid DFS range when possible. In Europe with 3-band router you can do that with 5-1 radio (clients), but you have no choice for 5-2 radio (backhaul). 80MHz wide occupies 4x channels, 160MHz wide 8x channels - there is 2x chance for radar transmissions detection disrupting your Wi-Fi. 160MHz wide channel also lowers radio sensitivity with 3dBm.

 

[j4y-t]

First of all then thanks for your reply.
Do you know of any good sites or blogs for general knowledge of wi-fi? Most of the sites I've found I feel you either needs to have done the first year of a degree in network building to be able to follow, or they are for someone who never seen a router before ( "don't place your router in a steel box" type of guides)

Why would you stick to channels 36-48 for the main wi-fi? I can imagine it has something to do interference, but why are those channels better than channels 52-64?
And why wouldn't you use 160 MHz for backhaul? If we have fewer channels here in Denmark than other countries, the remaining channels must of course be more crowded, and I can imagine this has something to do with your recommendation. As far as I've understood then one 160 MHz is basically eight 20 MHz that you're transmitting on at the same time, but how does it work if you have interference on just one of those 20 MHz channels? Will you still transmit on the remaining seven channels, or have you "lost" the entire 160 MHz channel?

Understanding Wi-Fi 4/5/6/6E/7 (802.11 n/ac/ax/be)

The blog says "in the US", but most of the principles apply elsewhere too.

 

[Kornmod]

Understanding Wi-Fi 4/5/6/6E/7 (802.11 n/ac/ax/be)

The blog says "in the US", but most of the principles apply elsewhere too.

Thanks. Exactly what I was looking for

In the mean time I've also downloaded extreme networks Wi-Fi 6 for dummies. So far it looks pretty good
https://www.extremenetworks.com/resources/ebook/wi-fi-6-6e-for-dummies/