Coming over to "AC" from RT-N66. Looking for suggestions

[razorseal]

Hard of hearing here, having a little trouble keeping up.

View attachment 5677​

Couldn't quite hear what you changed but I'm guessing you are now happy with 5Ghz (and, with your new AC router, whatever you choose, the consensus seems to be, that far corner should get slightly better?)

While 2.4Ghz improved it still seems a bit uh disappointing downstairs? I think the focus should be on why 2.4 performance is so poor through the extender (which is direct connect to the router). Being direct connected that extender is almost like having a router downstairs. You really should have gotten near service (90/12) speeds through that.

Whatever you turned off upstairs seems to have helped both bands? (Better performance through closed doors seems counter intuitive : -) What else, what else is downstairs that could be affecting 2.4? Xfinity? Oh, you've the spare extender in the garage. Guess you could swap extenders on the off-chance there's something wrong with extender?

Edit: Replayed your video. You did shutdown Xfinity? (Sorry, having trouble hearing.)

Yeah I turned off xfinity. That seemed to be the culprit actually.

Yes, I can't explain why that powerline ethernet extender is so darn poor on wifi. when you plug into it, it's excellent. My only other idea is if I put my old netgear WNDR3700 router downstairs and use a powerline ethernet adapter to feed it internet. With that setup, I think I will have acceptable 'n' performance...

but I'm not really sure how to effectively bridge it. Do I name the SSID same? do I call it HHC_D (for downstairs?) and make sure all downstair devices connect directly to it? hmmm

 

[TexasFlood]

Yeah I turned off xfinity. That seemed to be the culprit actually.

Yes, I can't explain why that powerline ethernet extender is so darn poor on wifi. when you plug into it, it's excellent. My only other idea is if I put my old netgear WNDR3700 router downstairs and use a powerline ethernet adapter to feed it internet. With that setup, I think I will have acceptable 'n' performance...

but I'm not really sure how to effectively bridge it. Do I name the SSID same? do I call it HHC_D (for downstairs?) and make sure all downstair devices connect directly to it? hmmm

I read the Amazon reviews of the powerline device. The reviews were overall positive but quite a number of scathing shots at the wireless piece. Really nothing but positive for the Ethernet adapter itself. Many seemed happy just to get wireless access in dead spots but a lot of complaints about performance and it periodically going offline. Like I said, I'd see how the upstairs router performance does with the extender unplugged. Then try the Netgear WNDR3700 if not good enough. That should make a good access point. I'd try setting it up as an access point on the same LAN subnet as your primary router on the same channel and SSID, with the idea that clients should ask out the strongest signal. Like in a hotel. If you experience any issues you can always change those up if need be.

 

[bbsc]

use a powerline ethernet adapter to feed it internet.

Isn't there any way to feed it with ethernet?

I'd try setting it up as an access point on the same LAN subnet as your primary router on the same channel and SSID

No, no. The channels must be different, the rest is correct. Netgear should have a possibility to switch it to AP-mode from settings page.

 

[TexasFlood]

Isn't there any way to feed it with ethernet?


No, no. The channels must be different, the rest is correct. Netgear should have a possibility to switch it to AP-mode from settings page.

I guess you're right, to minimize interference. I was just remembering what I did way back when. But now that I think about it, I did it that way because mine was a completely wireless extender so I had to do it that way. So, right, in this situation, different channels. Thanks for catching that.

 

[Klueless]

Yeah I turned off xfinity. That seemed to be the culprit actually.

Alright, way to go! And Texas comes up just short of a home run hit disabling xfinity. (I would have never guessed that given they were already on different channels.) Now we just need a 2.4 base hit to bring the runner in.

Yes, I can't explain why that powerline ethernet extender is so darn poor on wifi. when you plug into it, it's excellent.

• Funny that your extender manual. It says do not plug into a power strip yet it says for wireless mount your extender up high. Guess it can't hurt to try.
• Kinda curious, under wireless setup mode =
  • If it's set to b/g/n try setting it to N only (on the off chance something else is pulling it down to b/g.) Yeh, I know, it's a stretch.
• You still have the spare extender in the garage.
• Never heard closure on the baby monitor thing. Did you shut it off while you were testing? Is it stand alone or is it actually a wireless network device?

Best of luck.

 

[TexasFlood]

Alright, way to go! And Texas comes up just short of a home run hit disabling xfinity. (I would have never guessed that given they were already on different channels.) Now we just need a 2.4 base hit to bring the runner in.

I had relatively recent experience with the xfinity interference issue so it was high on my list of suspects.

Having that Netgear N600 (WNDR3700) 802.11N router available should provide the needed 2.4 base hit.

Never heard closure on the baby monitor thing. Did you shut it off while you were testing? Is it stand alone or is it actually a wireless network device?

I wondered about that as well. Seemed implied that it wasn't an issue but not sure.

Might want to play with an app that I plan to look at - heatmapper. It is a free tool for creating a visual "heat" map of wireless coverage of your environment. Positioning your router & antenna can have a huge impact on reception in weak areas. I've tried to follow the best advice in the past but in the end it's testing / trial & error that tells me what is best. So any tools that help with that are worth looking IMHO.

Product page:
http://www.ekahau.com/wifidesign/ekahau-heatmapper

Reviews & how-tos:
http://mobile.wi-fiplanet.com/reviews/article.php/3822241/Review-Ekahau-HeatMapper.htm
http://www.howtogeek.com/165614/how...nalysis-better-coverage-and-geek-cred-galore/
http://lifehacker.com/5293823/heatmapper-helps-you-create-a-detailed-signal-strength-map

 

[ngerasimatos]

I honestly think you N66U is a good router and would wait a bit for AC to mature a bit more, especially with MIMO stuff. We have a good year or longer before anything comes to market that's production stable and can take advantage of the increased bandwidth. I only say that as a person who has always upgraded to the latest and greatest routers soon after release only to be burned by hardware, software and firmware failures. You know the saying, if it aint broke.....

 

[TexasFlood]

I honestly think you N66U is a good router and would wait a bit for AC to mature a bit more, especially with MIMO stuff. We have a good year or longer before anything comes to market that's production stable and can take advantage of the increased bandwidth. I only say that as a person who has always upgraded to the latest and greatest routers soon after release only to be burned by hardware, software and firmware failures. You know the saying, if it aint broke.....

Agreed The advantages of newer AC routers are: Bonding more and more of the limited supply of 5GHz channels together for greater throughout/speed and improved technology for improved 5GHz range. Of course you'd need upgraded client hardware to take advantage of that. I've seen some statements that this improved range also improves the 2.4GHz but haven't looked into it enough to be sure. AC is technically purely a 5GHz standard. So what you're getting another 2.4 GHz N router with the AC 5GHz improvements bolted on top. Apparently some vendors have proprietary N extensions bonding more N channels as well. But it's not per the standard so locks you into their proprietary client hardware if you want to take advantage of that capability. Bottom line to me is that market is constantly adding features for less cost. So if you don't need it today you'll get more for the money by purchasing later when you actually need it.

 

[Klueless]

Hi Razor,

Haven't seen a recent status report?

I'm thinking;

• 2.4Ghz:
  • Did you ever test 2.4Ghz with the baby monitor shut off?
  • As per your user manual try elevating your extender.
  • If mode is set to b/g/n try setting it to N only.
  • Swap your extender with the spare from the garage.
• Now that I know your Netgear is dual-band:
  • Connect it to your extender (turning wireless off of the extender of course) and set it up as a wired AP.
    • Use different channels than what's on your router.
    • Use different SSIDs for testing. (When everything is running / tests perfect feel free to gangbang the SSIDs it you like.)
  • With any luck you've now great 2.4 and 5Ghz service downstairs?

Now you are free to think about what you really need from an AC Router:

• Range? Hopefully your extender and/or AP are now giving you that.
• Network Congestion? Are you feeling pain anywhere?
  • Wireless Devices Only?
    • Study the traffic monitor on your existing Asus. Are there any signs of congestion on the 2.4GHz or 5Ghz views? Ethernet (which is where the traffic from your AP would show)?
  • Wireless and Ethernet Devices?
    • Look at your traffic monitor. Any signs of congestion on the Internet view?
    • Consider QoS

The answers should help guide you towards what (if any) upgrade you need.

 

[TexasFlood]

Hi Razor,

Haven't seen a recent status report?

I'm thinking;
...

Guessing it's working well enough for him so didn't need any more help?

 

[razorseal]

Hey guys,

Sorry for the very delayed response here. All seemed fine until recently when it started giving me problems like it did when I first put this up.

I think I need to get another N66 and just put it downstairs and use it as a AP. I'm not sure what else to do at this point.