Brand new RT-AC86U Issues

[ArchDevil]

I just bought a brand new Asus RT-AC86U router, Set it up and the issue is that I'm getting very slow wifi speeds, like really really bad. I'm getting like 50mb and drops to 5mb sometimes even less then 2mb.. and my phone is next to the router.
On 5G in my living room I'm getting max 60mb on my Mi Box S Android TV when my R7000P was giving me 200mb easily and around 130-150mbs on 2.4GHz on my phone.
Also the connection with cable direct to my laptop is not stable at all.
For now it just seems the R7000P perform much much better than the pricier RT-AC86U and supposed to be "better".
I've upgraded to the last Asus firmware, factory reset 5 times, changed channels and it still very weak signal and speeds, also with direct cable connection.
I'm frustrated as i planned to use the RT-AC86U in my new apartment as my main router and I shipped it internationally so i pretty much can't even return it back...
I don't know.. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?
I'd love to get some help and suggestions..
Thanks ahead

 

[lorkadiscovery]

I just bought a brand new Asus RT-AC86U router, Set it up and the issue is that I'm getting very slow wifi speeds, like really really bad. I'm getting like 50mb and drops to 5mb sometimes even less then 2mb.. and my phone is next to the router.
On 5G in my living room I'm getting max 60mb on my Mi Box S Android TV when my R7000P was giving me 200mb easily and around 130-150mbs on 2.4GHz on my phone.
Also the connection with cable direct to my laptop is not stable at all.
For now it just seems the R7000P perform much much better than the pricier RT-AC86U and supposed to be "better".
I've upgraded to the last Asus firmware, factory reset 5 times, changed channels and it still very weak signal and speeds, also with direct cable connection.
I'm frustrated as i planned to use the RT-AC86U in my new apartment as my main router and I shipped it internationally so i pretty much can't even return it back...
I don't know.. Maybe I'm doing something wrong?
I'd love to get some help and suggestions..
Thanks ahead

Can you please post the settings you are using.

Are you using seperate SSIDs or Smart Connect?
Do you have a screen of each wifi bands settings.
Can you post the Professional settings for wireless also please.

 

[ArchDevil]

Can you please post the settings you are using.

Are you using seperate SSIDs or Smart Connect?
Do you have a screen of each wifi bands settings.
Can you post the Professional settings for wireless also please.

Yes i am using Separate SSIDs, Smart Connect is disabled.
Also tried to flash to the lastest Merlin firmware and the behavior is the same. I get 50mb of download speed on 2.4Ghz and it drops to 0-5mb after 1 second. Also still same behavior on 5Ghz in my living room as i mentioned before. So i flashed back to the lastest AsusWRT Firmware. Also forgot to mention that my connection speed is 500/10.
Here are the settings I'm using for the Wifi and also here's the Professional Settings:

2.4Ghz

5Ghz

2.4Ghz Professional Settings

5Ghz Professional Settings

I don't really know what's the issue and what's happening, but at the moment my old R7000P performing better and more stable then the RT-AC86U which is weird..
Also the RT-AC86U manufacture year on the box is 2020 so it has to be the latest batch..

 

[bitsbytes]

On 2.4 set the bandwidth to 20, disable airtime fairness and universal beamforming. On 5Ghz set the bandwidth to 80, set the mode to N/AC, disable airtime fairness and universal beamforming.

 

[Cobra Kai]

If that doesn’t work, I would try the following:
I would roll back firmware 4 spots. If that’s Merlin or Stock - I use Merlin. For example: roll back to .15. I roll back and apply the firmware 2 times per each step up. (I set the firmware, flash it back to factory and than do it again). I sit at the firmware level for 48 hours before moving forward. I want to make sure it’s working like advertised before proceeding. Right now, I am sitting at top of the mountain for a month or more with no issues.

this is the only way which works for me and I don’t have the same issues with my AC-86u. Yup, sounds like a pain in the azz, but it works. No more ghost power offs, no more sudden wireless drops etc. Is it worth it? For me, yes. Now, all I do is check the App to see who is online and using it versus praying it’s up and working.

If you load other things on it via AMTM, you will want to do that per each firmware visit. I found certain things work perfectly and others don’t.
This is important starting at .16.

I don’t have saved configs, I do it from scratch each time. I got 3 zoomers who expect WiFi to be available Monday to Friday without any issues.

Yes, the settings are important and proper channels. I had those and something would still break loose.

YMMV. Good luck.

 

[HWDan]

" Also the connection with cable direct to my laptop is not stable at all. "

Are you saying that when your laptop is connected via ethernet, you are experiencing the same bad performance?

Did you try swapping cables between your router and modem? Maybe post up what ISP and modem you are using, someone with the same combination might have some further insight if something on the modem side needs configuring (like it's a bridged modem/router combo or something)

 

[bbunge]

OK one more factory reset using the WPS button.
Do not use a period in the SSID. Letters only
Use Dual Band SmartConnect
Set 2.4 GHZ to channel 1, 6 or 11 at 20 MHZ
Set 5 GHZ to non DFS channel at 80 MHZ
Turn off WPS
Do not change any professional settings!
Your router will be happy!

 

[ArchDevil]

" Also the connection with cable direct to my laptop is not stable at all. "

Are you saying that when your laptop is connected via ethernet, you are experiencing the same bad performance?

Did you try swapping cables between your router and modem? Maybe post up what ISP and modem you are using, someone with the same combination might have some further insight if something on the modem side needs configuring (like it's a bridged modem/router combo or something)

Just checked and the laptop connection with cable is fine now. Just the wifi is pretty weak now as i mention. I will try all the above suggestions tomorrow when I'll be home and hopefully it will be fixed.
I also have a friend that have the same ISP plan and ISP's router/modem that is running in bridge mode with an Archer C7. For further investigation i will go and set up the RT-AC86U at his house if i wouldn't manage to fix the issues, and see if the behavior is the same. The ISP's Router/Modem combo is bad as far as i know that's why its in bridge mode. I also plan swapping it with SB6183 Modem for 500/10. I might also need a new cables as i plan to move to 1Gig Fiber plan in the future, and it might be my old Ugreen CAT7 Cables are giving me some issues as i experience.
Will update after I'll do all the recommendations above.
Thanks for the responses guys!

 

[MarkyPancake]

We're on a 200/20 service with an AC86U router and AC68U AiMesh node and it's not uncommon to see a 200 Mbps download speed when actually downloading content on the Xbox One on the 5 GHz network. These are my suggestions:

• 2.4 GHz band set to N only Wireless Mode (assuming no legacy G devices), 20 MHz Bandwidth and the Control Channel as either 1, 6, or 11 (I'm using Channel 1).
  
  
• 5 GHz set to N/AC mixed, 80 MHz and try the lower channels, like 36 or 40. Even when these overlap with other networks, they perform better than higher uncluttered channels in my environment, so you may find the same for you (I'm using Channel 36).
  
  
• For both bands, the only professional settings I have enabled are AMPDU RTS and Enable WMM, then Modulation Scheme set to match the capabilities of the band without TurboQAM, so MCS 7 (802.11n) on 2.4 GHz and MCS 9 (802.11ac) on 5 GHz.

 

[ArchDevil]

*UPDATE*

Alright guys, I think everything is working correctly now thanks to your help!
I played with the settings as you suggested and at the beginning the behavior was the same.. So after i played with the settings, I just left it sit for 10 minutes and performed an speed test on my devices again and Wioola! Mi Box S in the living room receiving 200Mbps, Nvidia Shield in my room didn't want to connect first as it kept saying the signal is weak so it refuses to connect, but i managed to fix that with enabling something in the settings on the nvidia shield itself and it receiving 400Mbps+.
my phone in my living room receiving 400Mbps+ Easily now 5G and around 100Mbps+ on 2.4Ghz.
I've also ordered some new Cable Matters CAT6 Cables for future 1Gig Fiber and to replace my Chinese CAT7 Cables.
Thanks a lot guys, You saved me! So glad i found this forum
This is my current settings:

2.4GHz

5GHz

Professional 2.4GHz

Professional 5GHz

 

[MarkyPancake]

Not sure how discernible the effect is, but I use Short Preamble on my 2.4 GHz network.

 

[ArchDevil]

Not sure how discernible the effect is, but I use Short Preamble on my 2.4 GHz network.

I don't know if it affect anything or not.
i mainly leave 2.4GHz on since I use it on my mobile devices because they not really need high speed connection, and Mi Box S, Nvidia Shield and Laptop use 5GHz since they need as fast connection as possible.
There or there, Everything is working fine at the moment so i prefer to leave it as it is for now hehe

 

[irunvms]

Well, I had my router replaced because of strange behaviour. Out of the box I did only run the setup wizard and let the thing do its job. After about 5–7 days running perfectly the wifi performance dropped to zero almost in an instant. I tried fiddling with the settings to no avail. I did a factory reset and things became normal again — until again wifi stopped working after a few days. Rebooting did not help.

All my ethernet devices had no issues, so I started debugging. It appeared that I was able to communicate within the wifi network, i.e. from one device to another, and to/from the ethernet devices, but not from wifi to dsl. So local LAN worked but not a single bit passed through from wifi to dsl while from ethernet to dsl worked just fine. The routing table showed no peculiarities.

I did update the firmware, first to the most recent official one and then to asus-merlin. Neither one did help. The only logical explanation that I could come up with was that while operating and filling up the memory (buffers?) it did hit a broken memory bank from which it was not able to recover and hence, failed.

I got the router replaced two days ago, so it's yet to see if this one works…

 

[ArchDevil]

Well, I had my router replaced because of strange behaviour. Out of the box I did only run the setup wizard and let the thing do its job. After about 5–7 days running perfectly the wifi performance dropped to zero almost in an instant. I tried fiddling with the settings to no avail. I did a factory reset and things became normal again — until again wifi stopped working after a few days. Rebooting did not help.

All my ethernet devices had no issues, so I started debugging. It appeared that I was able to communicate within the wifi network, i.e. from one device to another, and to/from the ethernet devices, but not from wifi to dsl. So local LAN worked but not a single bit passed through from wifi to dsl while from ethernet to dsl worked just fine. The routing table showed no peculiarities.

I did update the firmware, first to the most recent official one and then to asus-merlin. Neither one did help. The only logical explanation that I could come up with was that while operating and filling up the memory (buffers?) it did hit a broken memory bank from which it was not able to recover and hence, failed.

I got the router replaced two days ago, so it's yet to see if this one works…

I see.
At the moment everything since to be fine over here with my unit. Also i plan to flash Merlin firmware in the following days.
I hope it won't fail in the near future because it will be a pain in the a** to replace one locally since i shipped it internationally so fingers crossed i won't run into issues again.
I'm also looking to getting a second hand RT-AC68U for AiMesh with AC86U As main router, As I'm planning to move to a new place at the end of the year and hopefully to an area that have Fiber.
Will keep and eye on my unit. Hope your replacement won't have the issue you had before

 

[irunvms]

Right. Exactly one week with a new modem/router and exactly the same symptoms: while ethernet connected devices work like a charm, all wifi devices fail. Reboot doesn't help. Changing settings doesn't help. Only a factory reset saves the day but, based on previous experience, only for few minutes. I guess a 5 kg hammer is the only fix and find some other device.

 

[ArchDevil]

Right. Exactly one week with a new modem/router and exactly the same symptoms: while ethernet connected devices work like a charm, all wifi devices fail. Reboot doesn't help. Changing settings doesn't help. Only a factory reset saves the day but, based on previous experience, only for few minutes. I guess a 5 kg hammer is the only fix and find some other device.

Hmm... that's weird...
if the replacement device is acting the same, i don't know what can be the issue..

 

[cooloutac]

Hmm... that's weird...
if the replacement device is acting the same, i don't know what can be the issue..

a design flaw, which his config and environment exposes.

I've had headaches with this router for 3 weeks now, and now i'm getting the dreaded 2.4 ghz drops. Can't tell you how many times I factory reset this thing. Just when i stopped getting errors and crashes with ai protection on, just when I thought oh great its working as it should, now the one thing I feared when purchasing it starts happening. Its a sick joke on me. a router reboot fixed it but no way i'm keeping this thing. Its getting boxed up tomorrow morning. so depressing.