Asus XT8 optimal Wi-Fi settings for stability, compatibility, and performance

[kaktus]

I've mentioned this in every post, i have wired backhaul.

I will try stock FW on the node and try to reposition it when i have time and the kids are not home.

Sorry, I missed that part..
Did you set backhaul priority from auto to Ethernet?

 

[DalleV]

Sorry, I missed that part..
Did you set backhaul priority from auto to Ethernet?

Yes I did.

So i flashed the node with latest fw from Asus and repositioned it to my daughters room (still wired backhaul), her room is also on the third floor but on the opposite side. So...to early to tell, but seems as I have stronger coverage of 2,4ghz on the other end of the house. Just cant pinpoint it but overall i had a more stable connection with orbis, but then again I had three of them.

So seems as if hmmm, my stationery devices keep connected to the 5ghz and thats all good. But with my cellphone it's another story. As I am walking around in the house, it just more often then not kicks me to the 2,4ghz, other then being really near a node or the router. Seems as the range of 5ghz drops of like real quick, and with the slightest obstruction. Have to shut of WiFi and turn on on my phone to keep a good connection.

Meaby the marketing for 2pack covering 3000squarefeet is house made of cardboard.

 

[Jbennett360]

Yes I did.

So i flashed the node with latest fw from Asus and repositioned it to my daughters room (still wired backhaul), her room is also on the third floor but on the opposite side. So...to early to tell, but seems as I have stronger coverage of 2,4ghz on the other end of the house. Just cant pinpoint it but overall i had a more stable connection with orbis, but then again I had three of them.

So seems as if hmmm, my stationery devices keep connected to the 5ghz and thats all good. But with my cellphone it's another story. As I am walking around in the house, it just more often then not kicks me to the 2,4ghz, other then being really near a node or the router. Seems as the range of 5ghz drops of like real quick, and with the slightest obstruction. Have to shut of WiFi and turn on on my phone to keep a good connection.

Meaby the marketing for 2pack covering 3000squarefeet is house made of cardboard.

Tried with another device? Could be the Mobile device that's 'Dumb' and not connecting to the better channel

 

[DalleV]

Me in the living room about 5m from the nearest node just floor above. My phone connects to 5ghz with a weak signal.

 

[DalleV]

And when i shut off WiFi on phone and reconnect i get this.

 

[Tech9]

Max PHY rate for 40MHz wide channel to 2-stream AX client is 574Mbps at signal level -52dBm or better. Narrowing the channel bandwidth is a good strategy for stability and extra range, but seems like your floors attenuate the signal with at least 20dB.

 

[DalleV]

So I'm considering a third node on the middle floor to try. Should I get another XT8, there kinda pricey. Or do any of you have any other suggestions? Only place in the house that I really need that wifi6@160mhz 2400mbit link is on the top floor for the quest3. I pay for 250/250 from my ISP and dont plan on upgrading that any time in the near future. Internet is expensive in Sweden and I dont really have the need for more anyway.

 

[DalleV]

Did some more testing. So when get in from outside my phone connects to whatever node/router and phy down is like about 17Mbps on the 5ghz and when i turn of the wifi on the phone and back on again I get 200-300Mbps on 5ghz in that same node standing in the same spot.

 

[Tech9]

I'm considering a third node

Don’t dig deeper in AiMesh. Time to call your friend perhaps.

 

[HouseMusicRules]

Hey guys,

Took your advice and put all 3 bands back to the defaults of AUTO. I did some messing around of the Professional settings page and I am not sure I put things back the way there originally were.

Hoping someone can send screen-prints from a factory reset XT8 of the following:
2.4GHz Professional complete settings
5GHz-1 Professional complete settings
5GHz-2 Professional complete settings

I'd like to doublecheck and make sure I put things back the way Asus suggested.

You guys are right. Default settings are the best way to ensure compatibility between all devices now and in the future.

Sorry for anyone's trouble and thank you for your help.

Kind regards,

 

[OzarkEdge]

Hey guys,

Took your advice and put all 3 bands back to the defaults of AUTO. I did some messing around of the Professional settings page and I am not sure I put things back the way there originally were.

Hoping someone can send screen-prints from a factory reset XT8 of the following:
2.4GHz Professional complete settings
5GHz-1 Professional complete settings
5GHz-2 Professional complete settings

I'd like to doublecheck and make sure I put things back the way Asus suggested.

You guys are right. Default settings are the best way to ensure compatibility between all devices now and in the future.

Sorry for anyone's trouble and thank you for your help.

Kind regards,

Given how ASUSWRT firmware can misbehave when the user twiddles with the settings too much, your best bet is to Hard Reset the firmware and re-configure from scratch. And keep a written record of your non-default settings... there are not very many for a basic configuration.

FW Reset FAQ

Reset button/webUI Restore/node removal clears settings in NVRAM; reboot restores fw defaults from CFE

Hard Reset via WPS button/webUI Restore+Initialize also clears data logged in /jffs partition

OE

 

[Tech9]

Given how ASUSWRT firmware can misbehave when the user twiddles with the settings too much…

This is a weird behaviour indeed, but I have seen it happening on different model Asus routers and up to the point they lock up in unusable state.

 

[Jbennett360]

Did some more testing. So when get in from outside my phone connects to whatever node/router and phy down is like about 17Mbps on the 5ghz and when i turn of the wifi on the phone and back on again I get 200-300Mbps on 5ghz in that same node standing in the same spot.

I had this on the flint 2

 

[DalleV]

So I did dig somewhat deeper into the aimesh hole. Got a second hand xt8. So now I have three of them, one on each floor with wired backhaul. They work well enough I guess, much better with three of them. All stationary devices I have binded to the appropriate node. There's only the weird roaming issues when I move around with my cellphone. Eventually, meaby it switches to the "right" node, but it's painfully slow. So often I just switch wifi off and on, then it corrects itself. It is annoying though. Or when it clings on for too long on the 5ghz band, taking forever to switch to 2,4ghz.

 

[Fred777]

TLDR Enabled Smart Connect: Off solved my specific issue

Hi, Newbie XT8 setup here running router and 3 APs over 5000sq ft (1 device per unit wired backhaul). I got a lot of great advice from this site. Signed up to add my recent experience which sounded like yours, except you listed: Enabled Smart Connect: Off
[Stock firmware and settings, other than universal beamforming: disable leftover from trying to solve WiFi issue]

I tested with laptop and phone with just the first router setup. I found that I had great single fiber bandwidth 5Ghz but when I moved the devices to the extents of the unit (and past what I'd expect to work). The BW dropped off a cliff 700 down to 50 or poorer (and prob horrible latency) as web unusable. Took me a while to notice that distance made the device switch to 2.4Ghz non-optimally (and not switch back). I understand it might be my devices... but if I have probs - tenants will too. My solution was to turn Enabled Smart Connect: Off and have separate 2.4G and 5G SSIDs. So far nobody has needed he 2.4G (only 1 unrelated problem). This made the worst case still fine for web browsing 150 down/50 up/30ms ping.
Run this happily for about a year.

[The unrelated problem has to do with my non-optimal cable position in one unit and a heavy zoom user who "would love to host zoom" from the deck. So I'm back to this site to learn about Mesh pitfalls... before I add it to their unit.]