Asus RT-AX82U hasn't improved my wifi range or speed, what am I doing wrong?

[Tokugawa]

Hi guys.

*My mother died, I am badly coping, the internet and gaming are a real crutch for me. I bought this router with the hope of getting improved wifi.*
have just purchased a asus rt-ax82U.I am in UK and my current ISP router is Technicolour router dwa0120 from Shell. I plugged my asus rt-ax82U directly into into the ISP router, using the included Ethernet cable. I have not really been able to ascertain the range of my Technicolor router, so I cannot comment on the supposed range differential, but I thought that the ASUS router would have a higher/stronger range.

Yet it would appear this is not the case at all. I live in an apartment. I am a "L-shape" away from the router. I thought naively, that using 2.4 GHz and an upgraded router would be sufficient to help improve range and speed. So far, seen absolutely no to little improvement.

I am not a networking guru at all. My ISP router requires a modem (I think? It plugs into a phone socket on the wall) for it to connect to the internet. From there, I have connected my ASUS RT-AX82U to my ISP router, using an Ethernet cable. My ISP router and ASUS router, are both in the same room.

I have a wifi extender (its buggy, I can't resync it, only works with my ISP router). I am getting better broadband with that, and that cost £15 ($20-$25) versus the £200 Ive spent on the ASUS router.

By no means a scientific methodology of analysis, but I looked at my PS5, connected to the ASUS router network. 1-3 Mbs is the max I'll get for downloading. Wifi signal strength sits at 40% (one bar). Using my WIFI extender of my ISP network, Im getting roughly the same, with 100% signal.
My ISP router isnt detectable at all by my PS5, but it is by my laptop, which is odd given they are both together, in the same room, directly beside each other. its taking me roughly 1 hr for 1 GB of data.

I have heard wonder stories of people who have used the asus router, without mesh networking capability and have had consistent and strong traffic. I have not seen any increase of note in either range, or traffic. What am I doing wrong?

 

[leerees]

Have you considered paying someone to set everything up for you? You could post an add on your local Facebook group and offer a set amount of money. It doesnt have to be a lot and there will definitely be some local teenagers up for earning some extra cash. Put an ad like £50 for setting up my AX82 / making my WiFi fast.

If set up right, your AX82u could provide 1gbps over WiFi.

There's going to be a lot of learning required on your part if you are new to networking.

If you do fancy having a go yourself, start by learning about WiFi bands and channels (5ghz is much faster than 2.4ghz). Read up on the many threads in this forum. Try searching for your specific router to find threads relevant to you.

 

[Tokugawa]

Can I clarify something with you?

Realistically, (I am leaning towards this being a problem with me, and how ive set it up etc) is this a hardware fault (Im over-estimating its capabilities) or a poorly optimized/configured router? (Probably me! lol)

 

[ColinTaylor]

From what you've said so far this sounds like a physical issue with your environment rather than a router configuration issue. Sure, there will be some WiFi differences between one router and another, but in the UK/EU the differences are minor because all devices are limited to quite low power output (unlike the US).

Try experimenting with moving the router to a different locations (just temporarily) and seeing if you get significant change in the signal strength detected by your PS5. Bear in mind that WiFi doesn't like going through solid objects, so placing a WiFi router behind a TV for example is not ideal.

If you're only intending to use the Asus for WiFi then turn off the WiFi on the ISP router so that the signals don't interfere with each other.

 

[Tokugawa]

From what you've said so far this sounds like a physical issue with your environment rather than a router configuration issue. Sure, there will be some WiFi differences between one router and another, but in the UK/EU the differences are minor because all devices are limited to quite low power output (unlike the US).

Try experimenting with moving the router to a different locations (just temporarily) and seeing if you get significant change in the signal strength detected by your PS5. Bear in mind that WiFi doesn't like going through solid objects, so placing a WiFi router behind a TV for example is not ideal.

If you're only intending to use the Asus for WiFi then turn off the WiFi on the ISP router so that the signals don't interfere with each other.

Thats very very informative, thank you

Can I narrow down something you've said there? "There will be some WIfi differences between one router and another, the differences are minor". When you say wifi, what precisely do you mean? Speed, throughput, range etc? So is there not much benefit upgrading routers then from the generic/default ones given by ISPs? Not trying to argue with you, hope it doesn't sound like that, but why then if the differences are minor, do so many online resources say replace your ISP router? is this just marketing?

 

[ColinTaylor]

Can I narrow down something you've said there? "There will be some WIfi differences between one router and another, the differences are minor". When you say wifi, what precisely do you mean? Speed, throughput, range etc? So is there not much benefit upgrading routers then from the generic/default ones given by ISPs? Not trying to argue with you, hope it doesn't sound like that, but why then if the differences are minor, do so many online resources say replace your ISP router? is this just marketing?

As always, it depends. Historically a lot of ISP supplied routers were the cheapest they could do a deal with the OEM for. The ISP only cared that they were "good enough". They paid more attention to how pretty it was rather than outright performance. So many had small internal antennas which restricted their range and throughput. There's been a change of mindset recently from some ISPs, like BT and Virgin Media, where they see marketing value in having a better performing WiFi router. I've never heard of the DWA0120 and couldn't immediately find any information about how good or bad it is.

Aside from any potential WiFi improvements, a lot of ISP supplied router's have a limited feature set or are completely locked down. So people often suggest using your own router for things like parental controls, malware protection, QoS, WiFi mesh, file storage, etc.

 

[Crimliar]

While it's easy to put the DWA0120 into bridged/modem mode, you'd need to get your username and password from Shell (I have a feeling this is actually Vodafone). You could then run with just the WiFi on RT-AX82U, but thanks to the way Technicolor routers work, you'll probably find that it'll buffer badly, making some games unplayable! You'd do far better if you run the RT-AC82U as a wired access point and relocate it towards the middle of the apartment, with the WiFi on the DWA0120 turned off. The third alternative would locate the RT-AC82U towards the centre of the apartment and run it as a Wireless repeater (some gaming lag but still not as much as running technicolour routers in modem/bridged mode).

Hopefully as has already been suggested you can find some wiz to set it up for you. *I'd suggest trying the "Nextdoor" app, if you can avoid the nutters!

 

[sfx2000]

I have heard wonder stories of people who have used the asus router, without mesh networking capability and have had consistent and strong traffic. I have not seen any increase of note in either range, or traffic. What am I doing wrong?

You're probably not doing anything "wrong"...

The laws of physics are hard, so it's really about placing the AP relative to where the traffic is for WiFi.

How to get there is the real question - I've noticed in the UK, many of the ISP's place their endpoints in the worst possible location when trying to provide coverage to the rest of the residence.