AC-86u wireless download speed is exactly half of the Ethernet speed

[Martin1982]

Wireless download speed is exactly half of the wired speed. Wired speed is 400/35 and wireless speed is 200/35. Running the latest firmware. PC only a few metres from the router. I have tried pretty much everything that I can thing of.....it has been on 'smart connect', manual channel settings, QoS enabled and disabled etc. With it being exactly half the download speed I am guessing that there is something that I have not set correctly? It is the same problem on my MacBook Pro (2017) and ny iMac (2015).

Have any of you knowledgable people out there experienced this and how did you manage to rectify it? Pulling my hair (what's left of it) out over this!! Many Thanks.

 

[ApexRon]

Can you provide an overview as to how you are measuring the WiFi speed on your PC, MacBook Pro, and iMac?

 

[Martin1982]

I am using Fast.com and speediest.net.....slightly different speeds, but always pretty much half of what I get if I connect with an ethernet CAT6 cable.

 

[ApexRon]

Fast.com and speediest.net

fast.com measures my speed as slower than other methods. speediest.net appears to be a bogus website.

When I measured using www.speedtest.net I received a more accurate representation of my ISP speed.

What 802.11 protocol are your devices connecting with? Are they connecting at 2.4 or 5?

 

[Martin1982]

It was speedtest.net.....my typo. All of my devices are fairly new so I guess they connect on the most recent protocol. Most seem to connect on 5Mhz. The distance between the router and any device is never more than about 20 metres so distance is not a factor.

 

[ApexRon]

On your iMac and your MacBook, move your pointer to the WiFi symbol and while holding down the option key, select it. Then capture that information and include both in your next update. Mine is attached.

 

[Martin1982]

Hi.....The first image is from the Macbook and the second from the iMac......

 

[ApexRon]

At this point, it looks like a ASUS router issue; hardware or firmware. Let's approach this from a no cost perspective; firmware. I don't know whether you are using ASUS firmware or Merlin but no matter download a fresh copy to have on hand. Perform a factory reset of the router and reconfigure from scratch with just the options you require. It's painful but necessary step. There have been ASUS issues regarding WiFi but not like yours, usually one of the channels just dies.

Should the firmware approach not resolve and the router is under warranty consider replacing.

@ColinTaylor Colin, can you thing of anything?

 

[Martin1982]

Hi....I have done a factory reset a couple of times over the past couple of days and everything still remains the same :-(

 

[ApexRon]

On my MacBook Pro I have Speedtest app installed. It's free, try it. I have 200/10 service. Here are my results just now. Durham, NC is local but GA location is 260+ miles away.

 

[ApexRon]

Another thought, but it's up to you, would be to install Merlin firmware if you currently have ASUS firmware or visa versa. I installed Merlin a while back for the ability to use Apple's TimeMachine function.

 

[ColinTaylor]

Hi.....The first image is from the Macbook and the second from the iMac......

We seem to be missing the images.

@ColinTaylor Colin, can you think of anything?

Sorry, I can't think of anything. Provided that he's connecting on 5GHz he should easily be able to exceed 200Mbps using a Macbook Pro (I can and I'm only using an RT-AC68U).

 

[ApexRon]

We seem to be missing the images.

He must have taken them down as I did. When I viewed the images there was no issue as they compared to my experience.

Sorry, I can't think of anything. Provided that he's connecting on 5GHz he should easily be able to exceed 200Mbps using a Macbook Pro (I can and I'm only using an RT-AC68U).

Yup, I concur. My choices are router firmware or hardware at this point.

 

[ColinTaylor]

He must have taken them down as I did. When I viewed the images there was no issue as they compared to my experience.

Were you able to confirm the link speed of the wireless connection to the router? I'd expect it to be something like 866Mbps or greater.

 

[ApexRon]

Were you able to confirm the link speed of the wireless connection to the router? I'd expect it to be something like 866Mbps or greater.

In his open he stated that he could get 400mbps on Ethernet with the PC.

 

[ColinTaylor]

In his open he stated that he could get 400mbps on Ethernet with the PC.

I was asking about the wireless link speed between his client and the router as it is a wireless issue that he is having.

 

[ApexRon]

I was asking about the wireless link speed between his client and the router as it is a wireless issue that he is having.

Sorry, both Mac devices reported 1+Gbps on transmit, an 802.11ac connection, and levels were comparable to mine. My ISP connection is 200mbps but tests at 234mbps.

 

[ApexRon]

@Martin1982 @ColinTaylor
Just found a great app (App Store) for my Mac: WiFiPerf
This test shows my ASUS transmitting at speeds ranging from 877mbps to 1,077mbps in both directions. I encourage you both to try it.

 

[FadgewackeR]

Folks, I'm having this exact issue... Manifested itself a few days back.

I'm on 384.11_2 Merlin on an 86U. Ethernet gets me 152mbps down. Wifi gets me 82mbps down tops. Up speeds are not affected per se @~ 30mbps. Connected data rate 867mbps

I've been through a full factory defaults reset and re engagement of all previous settings with speedtests at each step - nada.

I'm <2m away from the router, no obstructions. Laptop (Dell Latitude E7240) and iPhoneXR both on latest drivers / firmware.

Baffled... truly baffled.

 

[ColinTaylor]

@FadgewackeR If I were you I'd go back to a previous firmware version that you didn't have the problem with to determine whether it's a problem with the current firmware.