AX88U Wireless - Professional tweak

[Thermaltake]

Hi, I was wondering if we can share our opinions and configurations in Professional section in Wireless to see if there is anything we can tweak for wifi to work more efficient.

here are my settings of General and Professional section, if you got some ideas what to tweak or something let me know

 

[Hawk]

Change security settings to WPA2 only for both bands.

 

[bbunge]

Use Dual Band SmartConnect
WPA2/ WPA3
2.4 GHZ at 20 MHz on channel 1, 6 or 11
5 GHZ at 160 MHz on channel 36 to 40
Disable Airtime fairness and Universal Beamforming for both bands
Use roaming assistant if you want.
If you have older clients that do not like WPA2/ WPA3, set up a guest wifi for them with just WPA2

One reason I use the same SSID for both bands is the clients can connect to the 2.4 GHZ while the 5 GHZ band is clearing for RADAR. Clients will switch when the 5 GHZ comes up.

 

[Thermaltake]

Why use SmartConnect it only makes troubles with certain devices as I test it these few years, I rather have separate networks. That just my case I'm talking about.
2.4 Ghz I already have one 20Mhz and channel 6
5 Ghz is at 160Mhz and channel 40.
Airtime fairness is disabled by default if I'm not mistaken. Why Universal Beamforming needs to be disabled what does it do ?

 

[Tech9]

Skip @bbunge advice for SmartConnect and 160MHz wide channel. I'm assuming you don't have many 160MHz capable devices and there is no need to go into DFS channels. Use separate SSIDs for better control over your network. Change the authentication method to WPA2-Personal + AES only. You may experiment with WPA2/WPA3, but revert to WPA2 if you have issues with clients. Disable TX Bursting - works for wireless G only. Disable all Universal Beamforming - it's a non-standard attempt to locate the client without client's response, most of the time doesn't work and may cause connection issues. Disable Roaming Assistant - you have one router only and some 5GHz devices may still stay connected at -80dBm levels, plus RA doesn't work well. The rest should be fine. Wire what's important, make Wi-Fi most compatible to your clients. I also disable all non-standard Turbo/Nitro QAM, none of my clients support that.

 

[bbunge]

Why use SmartConnect it only makes troubles with certain devices as I test it these few years, I rather have separate networks. That just my case I'm talking about.
2.4 Ghz I already have one 20Mhz and channel 6
5 Ghz is at 160Mhz and channel 40.
Airtime fairness is disabled by default if I'm not mistaken. Why Universal Beamforming needs to be disabled what does it do ?

I noticed that you have the 2.4 GHz set to Ch 6 @ 20 MHz and that is good. Your 5 GHz set to CH 40 @ 160 MHz is also good as you are using the UNII-1 channels and with 160 MHz that will give eight consecutive channels from 36 to 64. Channel 36 is where I decided to start.

Universal Beamforming - some devices have fewer problems connecting with this and Airtime Fairness disabled. I leave the rest of the WIFI settings at default.

In spite of what others say you should give the Dual Band SmartConnect a try. As I said in my prior post the one reason to do this is because you are using RADAR sensitive channels when you set to 160 MHz and the 5 GHz could get bounced off if it detects RADAR. With the same SSID's for 2.4 and 5 GHz the clients can switch to the 2.4 GHz and keep on working, although at a lower bandwidth, until the 5 GHz clears for RADAR.

WPA2/WPA3 - If you have WIFI 6 clients the will do better with these settings and most other (AC & N & G) clients will use WPA2. OK, there may be some other issues, as I have discovered. But for the most part it will work well for you.
Oh, if you use AX router with AC AiMesh nodes there is no advantage to WPA3 and you should use just WPA2. I have tested this and discovered that WIFI 6 clients that connect to the router with WPA3 can not connect to the nodes that have only WPA2. WPA3 requires the hardware be capable of WPA3 and older router hardware, WIFI 5 and lower, can not do WPA3. Hope this is not too confusing.

Bottom line - do what works for you but you did ask for recommendations.....

 

[Thermaltake]

Skip @bbunge advice for SmartConnect and 160MHz wide channel. I'm assuming you don't have many 160MHz capable devices and there is no need to go into DFS channels. Use separate SSIDs for better control over your network. Change the authentication method to WPA2-Personal + AES only. You may experiment with WPA2/WPA3, but revert to WPA2 if you have issues with clients. Disable TX Bursting - works for wireless G only. Disable all Universal Beamforming - it's a non-standard attempt to locate the client without client's response, most of the time doesn't work and may cause connection issues. Disable Roaming Assistant - you have one router only and some 5GHz devices may still stay connected at -80dBm levels, plus RA doesn't work well. The rest should be fine. Wire what's important, make Wi-Fi most compatible to your clients. I also disable all non-standard Turbo/Nitro QAM, none of my clients support that.

I have One Asus router, it is in Wireless Mode connected via WAN to my ISP router. I didn't put it in bridge cause I have IPTV and VoIP and that would make a lot of complications so it was easier to put it in Wireless Mode.

I put now both 2.4 and 5 in WPA2 + AES. Disabled TX Bursting on both networks, Universal Beamforming and Roaming Assistant.

I didn't disable Turbo/Nitro I have a lot of Wifi 6 devices at home so I leave that like it was.


Questions:

1. I have AP connected to my 2.4Ghz in my shed that is behind 3 brick walls, will this Roaming Assistant option if disabled impact on that AP or it has nothing to do with it ?

2. I work with computers/laptops on daily basis I get newer and older laptops on service with older wifi cards inside, should I maybe leave that option enabled instead ?

3. OFDMA/802.11ax MU-MIMO on 5Ghz is enabled, but on 2.4Ghz is disabled, is that ok or should It be enabled on 2.4Ghz also ?

 

[sanke1]

WPA2/WPA3 - If you have WIFI 6 clients the will do better with these settings and most other (AC & N & G) clients will use WPA2. OK, there may be some other issues, as I have discovered. But for the most part it will work well for you.
Oh, if you use AX router with AC AiMesh nodes there is no advantage to WPA3 and you should use just WPA2. I have tested this and discovered that WIFI 6 clients that connect to the router with WPA3 can not connect to the nodes that have only WPA2. WPA3 requires the hardware be capable of WPA3 and older router hardware, WIFI 5 and lower, can not do WPA3. Hope this is not too confusing.

I have 2 RT-AX88Us. One as node. Even though both support WPA3, it is disabled and WPA2 is used as a fallback the moment you add the 2nd RT-AX88U as a node in AiMesh 2.

 

[Tech9]

I didn't disable Turbo/Nitro I have a lot of Wifi 6 devices at home so I leave that like it was.

It's a non-standard Broadcom thing, not Wi-Fi 6 related. Very few clients with Broadcom Wi-Fi support it.

1. I have AP connected to my 2.4Ghz in my shed that is behind 3 brick walls, will this Roaming Assistant option if disabled impact on that AP or it has nothing to do with it ?

AP connected wirelessly to 2.4GHz must be a repeater. If the signal to the shed is low, keep RA Disabled to ensure it stays connected.

3. OFDMA/802.11ax MU-MIMO on 5Ghz is enabled, but on 2.4Ghz is disabled, is that ok or should It be enabled on 2.4Ghz also ?

Experiment with this, AX related. AX can use 2.4GHz as well, but it's hard to see real world benefits from OFDMA/MU-MIMO. SNB has articles about both technologies, tested with professional equipment. See the results.

 

[Tech9]

2. I work with computers/laptops on daily basis I get newer and older laptops on service with older wifi cards inside, should I maybe leave that option enabled instead ?

Roaming Assistant should disconnect clients below preset signal level to encourage roaming. Since you have one router only, better let the clients stay connected at any possible/usable signal level. RA did not work in my AiMesh tests with AC86U routers. Better keep it Disabled in your case.

 

[Thermaltake]

Roaming Assistant should disconnect clients below preset signal level to encourage roaming. Since you have one router only, better let the clients stay connected at any possible/usable signal level. RA did not work in my AiMesh tests with AC86U routers. Better keep it Disabled in your case.

Forgot to mention in text I was referring to TX Bursting.

 

[Tech9]

TX Bursting applies to G communications only and years ago not every G client was compatible. I'm sure your repeater uses N. Some of Asus professional settings have nothing to do with specific frequency bands or standards. I only have a few AC Asus routers for testing and I don't know what Explicit Beamforming and MU-MIMO means on 2.4GHz band. AC routers are up to N on 2.4GHz and here is no single client supporting that.

 

[Thermaltake]

TX Bursting applies to G communications only and years ago not every G client was compatible. I'm sure your repeater uses N. Some of Asus professional settings have nothing to do with specific frequency bands or standards. I only have a few AC Asus routers for testing and I don't know what Explicit Beamforming and MU-MIMO means on 2.4GHz band. AC routers are up to N on 2.4GHz and here is no single client supporting that.

AP is NanoStation M2. It have BGN.

And where is that Turbo/Nitro ? Is that MCS 11 ?

 

[Tech9]

AP is NanoStation M2. It have BGN.

I see now why you call it an AP, it's a good outdoor extender. It will connect using wireless N to your main router.

And where is that Turbo/Nitro ? Is that MCS 11 ?

Yes. The Modulation Scheme in Professional. I would leave only the standard N/AC/AX values as per specifications.

 

[Tech9]

5 Ghz is at 160Mhz and channel 40.

I would turn that 160MHz off. No need to use DFS channels for few devices with 160MHz support. AX 80MHz gives you plenty Wi-Fi speed.

 

[Thermaltake]

I would turn that 160MHz off. No need to use DFS channels for few devices with 160MHz support. AX 80MHz gives you plenty Wi-Fi speed.

Well I woundn't because I have 1Gbps internet and it won't give me full speed on certain device where I need it to be as much as possible if put it on 80Mhz. ISP offer me 10Gbps so soon I'll get that speed cause I work with networks and computers.

 

[Thermaltake]

I see now why you call it an AP, it's a good outdoor extender. It will connect using wireless N to your main router.



Yes. The Modulation Scheme in Professional. I would leave only the standard N/AC/AX values as per specifications.

If you configure it can be extender, access point or station. I configure mine as station as I need it for that. It's connected with AC on my main router.

I don't have that values, I have MCS 7, 9 and 11.

 

[Tech9]

ISP offer me 10Gbps so soon I'll get that speed cause I work with networks and computers.

Okay, you perhaps know better what you're doing. If you're getting 10Gb soon better start planning a new totally different network.

 

[Thermaltake]

Okay, you perhaps know better what you're doing. If you're getting 10Gb soon better start planning a new totally different network.

I work with networks also among other things.

 

[johndoe85]

Use Dual Band SmartConnect
WPA2/ WPA3
2.4 GHZ at 20 MHz on channel 1, 6 or 11
5 GHZ at 160 MHz on channel 36 to 40
Disable Airtime fairness and Universal Beamforming for both bands
Use roaming assistant if you want.
If you have older clients that do not like WPA2/ WPA3, set up a guest wifi for them with just WPA2

One reason I use the same SSID for both bands is the clients can connect to the 2.4 GHZ while the 5 GHZ band is clearing for RADAR. Clients will switch when the 5 GHZ comes up.

"Disable Airtime fairness and Universal Beamforming for both bands"
Does this apply to the old wifi-5 standard too? I'm still on the RT-AC66U B1.