[Asus RT-AX88U] Experiences & Discussion

[RMerlin]

Part of the problem is that not all clients will work properly on DFS channels. During my early tests, I remember one of my devices couldn't see the router while it was on a DFS channel.

 

[frichardson]

So this is odd. I set the "Control Channel" on the RT-AX88U, but after a while it decided to use a different channel. Any idea why it would do this? For example, I set the channel to 100 and that stuck but when I came back a day later the router was using channel 36 (42).

 

[L&LD]

So this is odd. I set the "Control Channel" on the RT-AX88U, but after a while it decided to use a different channel. Any idea why it would do this? For example, I set the channel to 100 and that stuck but when I came back a day later the router was using channel 36 (42).

Isn't that a DFS channel?

 

[frichardson]

Isn't that a DFS channel?

Yes, but I don't think that is the reason it switched out on me. I'll have to watch closely but I think it did this with a non-DFS channel as well. I'm connected to 104 now without any issues.

 

[Grisu]

Yes, but I don't think that is the reason it switched out on me. I'll have to watch closely but I think it did this with a non-DFS channel as well. I'm connected to 104 now without any issues.

I think thats the problem with DFS for most of us. Everything seen in this spectrum not recognized as WiFi (from other routers) is meant to be a radar signal and swapping channel.
Maybe harmonics from microwave, or anything else, a plane passing by using its weather radar or whatever, I dont know.
Once changing channel to non-DFS it will never go back to your prefered channel even if there is nothing anymore for hours.
Seen this on other vendor routers too.

Very bad specification and implementation making DFS mostly unusable!

 

[BatJoe]

Is the Asuswrt-Merlin 384.10 Beta 2 better than the official 3.0.0.4.384.5640 ?

 

[RMerlin]

Is the Asuswrt-Merlin 384.10 Beta 2 better than the official 3.0.0.4.384.5640 ?

beta 2 was still based on 384_5329. Beta 3 will be based on 384_5640.

 

[L&LD]

And I would believe that the Beta 2 is still superior to the official x.x.x.5640 too.

 

[BatJoe]

beta 2 was still based on 384_5329. Beta 3 will be based on 384_5640.

Thanks for the info. Do you know if ASUS has in development a new Wi-fi driver to help improve performance of the AX88?

 

[RMerlin]

Thanks for the info. Do you know if ASUS has in development a new Wi-fi driver to help improve performance of the AX88?

The wifi driver is developed by the manufacturer, Broadcom, not by Asus. Since that 802.11ax chip is still very recent, I'm fairly sure they are still working on improvements for it. Depends what you are expecting specifically tho when you say "improving performance", range/coverage is unlikely to change much, as the limitations are physical in nature, not software.

Personally I have no performance issue with my own RT-AX88U. Had one single case where my wifi suddenly rejected all my 5 GHz clients, issue was resolved by turning the 5 GHz band off then back on. Hasn't happened again since.

 

[BatJoe]

The wifi driver is developed by the manufacturer, Broadcom, not by Asus. Since that 802.11ax chip is still very recent, I'm fairly sure they are still working on improvements for it. Depends what you are expecting specifically tho when you say "improving performance", range/coverage is unlikely to change much, as the limitations are physical in nature, not software.

Personally I have no performance issue with my own RT-AX88U. Had one single case where my wifi suddenly rejected all my 5 GHz clients, issue was resolved by turning the 5 GHz band off then back on. Hasn't happened again since.

I have noticed an issue coming from the Ac3100 to the AX88. With the AC3100 I was able to wirelessly directplay 4k encoded streams via Plex with no issue, but having moved to the AX88 I am now having connection issues were playback is interrupted by Plex telling me the speed of the network is not fast enough. I am not sure why this is happening, so I assumed it might be due to something to do with the AX88 being still so new wheras the Ac3100 has had several firmwares since its release.

 

[RMerlin]

I have noticed an issue coming from the Ac3100 to the AX88. With the AC3100 I was able to wirelessly directplay 4k encoded streams via Plex with no issue, but having moved to the AX88 I am now having connection issues were playback is interrupted by Plex telling me the speed of the network is not fast enough. I am not sure why this is happening, so I assumed it might be due to something to do with the AX88 being still so new wheras the Ac3100 has had several firmwares since its release.

Could also be a configuration issue. Make sure you use the same channel you were previously using. Also, disable the following:

- HE frames
- MU-MIMO
- Airtime Fairness
- Implicit Beamforming (Explicit is fine)
- 160 MHz channels

These are the most common cause of compatibility issues.

 

[BatJoe]

Could also be a configuration issue. Make sure you use the same channel you were previously using. Also, disable the following:

- HE frames
- MU-MIMO
- Airtime Fairness
- Implicit Beamforming (Explicit is fine)
- 160 MHz channels

These are the most common cause of compatibility issues.

My channel and width are identical between the routers. I have disabled HE frames, Airtime Fairness, and 160Hz.
I guess I could try turning MU-MIMO and Implicit Beamforming off, but should these not help with performance? They were on with the Ac3100.

 

[RMerlin]

I guess I could try turning MU-MIMO and Implicit Beamforming off, but should these not help with performance?

MU-MIMO only works with clients specifically supporting it (very few are).

Implicit Beamforming is non-standard. Explicit (aka AC Beamforming) is the one officially supported by a standard, and less likely to cause issues. Both of these only marginally help with device that are at average range from your router anyway.

 

[L&LD]

My channel and width are identical between the routers. I have disabled HE frames, Airtime Fairness, and 160Hz.
I guess I could try turning MU-MIMO and Implicit Beamforming off, but should these not help with performance? They were on with the Ac3100.

I just turned MU-MIMO off on my RT-AC3100 (I already turn off Universal/Implicit Beamforming and the other settings RMerlin suggests) and on a 2.4GHz client (N2230 default driver settings), laptop plugged into AC power) I got 10Mbps faster download (to 95Mbps) and 25Mbps faster upload (to 88Mbps) from 2 walls and about 40' away from the router. Oh, and 1ms ping (down from 2ms ping time) on speedtest.net.

On an AC client (AC8260 with Throughput Booster disabled, in Device Properties), from the same location, the ping times stayed the same (2ms) but the download speeds increased by 18Mbps (to 266Mbps) and the uploads increased by a more modest 9Mbps (to 214Mbps).

This is my new 'default' install tweak, right after a full M&M Config, going forward.

 

[BatJoe]

I will try an adjustment of settings to see if it resolves the problem.

 

[BatJoe]

What is everyone using for 5ghz 40mhz or 80mhz?

 

[RMerlin]

What is everyone using for 5ghz 40mhz or 80mhz?

802.11ac requires 80 MHz.

 

[compaddict]

160 MHz for me.

 

[BatJoe]

Well, I noticed that for some reason igmp snooping was enabled. I disabled this and also turned off Implicit Beamforming. My 4k Plex content seems to be working fine now wirelessly.

I will keep MU-MIMO enabled for now as I do have devices that can benefit from it, such as the nVidia Shield TV.