WiFi and routers

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panther427

New member
So short version. Bought a smart 4k tv and Xbox one for my bedroom.  Now WiFi really matters to me. Before I used it only to not use up my data on my cell phones.

So old router was giving up the ghost. And only supported 10/100.  Speed test has me at a very steady 125 Mbps wired directly from modem or any of the following routers I have tried except my old one
Asus ar68p
Asus ac87
Netgear R7300. A best buy version of the R7000

So the original ac87 I bought had a bad antenna it would make noise when you shook it. Tried the net gear but didn't like the interface after using the asus.
The thing that has me so confused is that with these first two router on the 5ghz band in the same room and more I was getting an almost identical speed to wired.

Now with my second ac87 and the ac68p I am only getting 90Mbps in the same areas.  Also there two routers have gave me trouble when adjusting settings. I have had to reboot the computer and router to get them to link up again.

First are these signs of a bad router. And why would there be a 35 Mbps difference between two identical routers???
Just seems like something is off to me

I'm really frustrated with all this. Been coming home to tinker it routers after work instead of enjoying my new tv
 
Ok, a little confused :)  The original AC87 gave you wired speeds, the replacement AC87 does not?  Do you have more than 1 wireless router in the same room?  Are the routers set to broadcast at 100% power?  What is the wifi spec'd at on your TV (a/b, g, n, etc. and at what speed)?  Any other wireless non-networking devices recently added to the room/area?

RTAC68P specs
RTAC87U specs
 
That is correct about the ac87 one was was giving wired speeds over the WiFi when tested using speedtest.net using my LG G4 cellphone. The replacement one is down 35Mbps to 90Mbps over 5Ghz band.  I am only running one wireless router at a time in the entire house. I have disabled the Comcast modems built in WiFi.

Most everything else has stayed constant. No other devices added or moved.  Not sure if the tv is on the N or AC specs. But I have always just tested with my phone before hooking up any other devices to the WiFi.

As far as I know my settings are the same between the two. Legacy and or b/g protection has been turned off so it should only be broadcasting N or AC signals. I have made sure my channels are good, and beam forming enabled. 
 
Have you tried updating the firmware?  I see from the reviews on Amazon that dropouts that happen in the 5GHz band are fixed that way.  The update must be done manually.
 
I did the basic firmware update on both that it suggests when you first power it up.  But not the manual update. Like download directly from Asus website then choose file and update.

This second unit has been buggy compared to the first. I had to reset to the factory settings half way through my set up and start over.

Ill try a firm ware update and even some 3rd party firmware. There is one called Merlin specifically based and made for the Asus products. But if that does not fix anything ill probably go exchange it.

These new routers are pretty awesome. Its currently in my basement. My bedroom is on the second story of the home. The edge of the room is straight up vertically from the router and on my phone I can still get that max speed what ever it is through a floor and a wall plus almost 20 feet. I'm impressed with these range and speed compared to the old routers. Just feel like this one is wrong. Not working 100% correctly
 
Yeah, it could be a bad antenna too (do you have a signal strength meter to check?)!  The 2.4 GHz band should easily reach that far, but the 5 GHz band, not sure.  The higher the band, the lower the distance, unless of course the gain is also turned up differentially.  These routers are getting faster all the time 4 sure!
 
Well I have been using some of the free apps that have a signal meter.

I am actually running my Xbox one and the tv on 5ghz. The Xbox usually does very well.  They are both 16 feet from the back wall where I can get max speed on my phone.  Once I decide on a router to keep ill be moving it around more to get a perfect placement.  Right now its in an easy spot to get to and make changes. And keeps my testing as close as possible

I'm so hung up on the issue of the speed differential between the same routers. Its seriously giving me a headache. From my understanding the more speed you have the more you keep as it drops off from distance and interference of walls and that sort of thing
 
Panther, I would suggest toggling your CCAST WG over to "bridge mode" so you're not double NATing. It will give your 3rd party router a public IP (only port 1 on the WG will be active at this point).


Sent via my Speak and Spell
 
That was a good idea slurppie. I had totally forgot to do that with the Netgear router and i was getting Doulbe NAT with that unless i set that router to AP mode.

Any thoughts as why i have had two routers give me 125 Mbps speed over wireless and the other 2 have only given me 92Mbps
 
Wifi is a biatch to troubleshoot. Try to rule out all the variables, make sure you are testing with the same client, same encryption and stand about 10' away for all testing. Too close can have a negative impact. Also, run tests from a few different angles. WIFI doesn't broadcast in a perfect omni directional pattern. Also, disable encryption and see if results change. WPA2 requires processing power and can impact results, especially if the router is under powered.


Sent via my Speak and Spell
 
It certainly sound like Slurpie knows a thing or two in this dept,found it intresting that i have a similiar setup as you,rectified my wifi connectivity issues by removing the cordless phones and microwaves as far away as possible to eliminate such inteference,also changed the chanel on my router remotely,it was just to darn crowded with neighbors using the same channel.  Z
 
For those running Windows or Android, there is a great tool by Metageek called "InSSIDer". It's very useful in seeing how congested the 2.4/5ghz spectrum is (depending on what radios your client has). 2.4 only utilizes 11 channels in the US so with everything being "wireless" these days, it's congested in a big way. The best channels to use are 1,6 and 11. These are non overlapping channels. Using a wifi tool like InSSIDer, look for other AP's that are sitting on channels other than 1,6 and 11. The goal is to get as far away from these as possible. For instance, if a neighbor is close by and using channel 4 for their AP, look to use 11 provided nothing is overlapping it. On the 5ghz radio, you shouldn't have much to worry about. If I recall, there are 26 channels in the US. Add in the fact that 5ghz cannot penetrate material like lower frequencies can (thus why 5ghz has inherit distance issues) and not many devices use 5ghz, congestion is not an issue.




Sent via my Speak and Spell
 
Yes in fact it is a Samsung tv.Its a 2014 model 55 inch curved 4k tv paid 850 for it from best buy.

So still have not found my lost speed. Tried one custom firmware and a few off the asus website. If anything the others all hurt the consistency of my connection. The original updated firmware was always giving me between 90 and 93. No drops or lag.  All others I was seeing speed drop throughout the test or slow speed pickup and not even getting to 90 most of the time. And the other firmware seems to have had a negative effect on wired speed. So I went back to my original firmware. 

Not that I was having a problem with range but turned the router 90 degrees and that did significantly enhancethe range.  To the very corners of my home.

Nox to find the lost speed or I will be exchange this unit. Got 30 days to return it.

Does anyone know if You can plug a usb WiFi dongle to the tv. I'm pretty sure Its on n band. But with the nature of a curved glass screen I think Its limiting itself to the full speed compared to my Xbox right below it

 
And how close are you to your neighbors, panther, distance-wise?  Wonder if they installed something recently ...  Did you try a new Ethernet Cat6 cable between the incoming modem (which one do you have, cable, fios, etc) and the router's WAN port?  Sometimes cables start to go bad without notification.  Shut down any other routers you have while you test.  Otherwise, I agree, the unit itself is likely suspect. 

I don't think you can use the TV's USB ports to establish Wifi connections, only for content from attached devices, but worth a try if the menu system offers that choice.
 
Well I am going to changing out my tv consol and I have new cat6 cables coming from Amazon and mono price to allow my final install to be clean so I can test more cables then.

However my wired speeds have stayed constant except when I was messing with the firmware.

I'm using Comcast cable internet via an arris tg862g/ct modem. Its an 8×4 I believe. I was at the 105 Mbps plan. But I got a letter in the mail we are supposed to be getting 150Mbps any day now. Comcast for us has always over delivered in there speeds. So far I have seen 125Mbps plus or minus when testing speed fired from modem or through the router. I only have 2 cables currently long enough to reach my computer and one is possibly damaged. It was in the home when we moved it. A section is wrapped in electrical tape. However it still gave me the same speed.  I have tried it with this current router go both bridged and non bridged mode. Ill try it with the router in AP mode and swap the antennas to different ports.

The other reason I have not moved the router out of my basement is it help block everyone else WiFi signals. As close as I can get to a controller environment. Well looks like I will buy some more routers to test.  I do not know if I'm chasing the holy grail or what.  On one hand I'm very pleased with a 90Mbps signal through 90 percent of my home. However on the other hand I have experienced two different routers giving me 125Mbps WiFi speed and after having it I'm kinda set on chasing it down again
 
In all honesty, 90Mbps is more than sufficient for just about everything. Your limited to what the host can provide in the end. If you can get this throughout the home then you've basically overcome the biggest battle. I might have missed it but I never saw any mention of your upload speed.
 
Upload is 10Mbps I think. Usually get 12Mbps.
I bought a ac68u off of Amazon for 150 today. If its giving me simular service as the 87 ill return it and save myself 70 dollars. Since most of the high end features of the 87 I will not use.  Just was chasing the speed.
Just like car parts
 
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