Having Problem With RT-AC68U

[djtech2k]

I am having some issues with my router and am looking for some help. I may have more than one issue, but here is what I am seeing:

The most immediate problem is that suddenly my wifi download speeds have dropped. I used to typically get around 150mb download when connecting to my wifi from my wireless devices. I just checked today and I am getting 30mb. My internet is 1000mb service and directly wired clients get 300mb, so it must be a wifi issue. Just to test, I turned off the 2.4Ghz radio and tested again. My speeds shot up instantly. I then turned the 2.4ghz back on and they went right back down. So I am trying to nail down the issue. At a normal given time, I might have 8-12 wireless devices connected, according to the router. I do not know what radio frequency they use. Again, this is pretty sudden because it wasn't like this before.

I am running version 376.47. Yes, I know its old but I am really not excited to upgrade. I had another thread about upgrading and it sounds like a ton of work and risk of losing config. I have jffs and custom settings/scripts on this one and I really cannot afford to lose my current config, so I have stayed on this version.

Just some more background...

I do have 2 other routers in my house running their own wifi network for signal strength purposes. They are setup as AP's and are hard-wired to a main 1GB switch, which is then connected to my main Asus router. I do not think these are an issue, but figured I would mention it just in case. Almost nothing connects to those AP's. I have my channel settings in my 68U all set to auto. If the setting has an auto, I am using it.

Any help is appreciated.

 

[ApexRon]

My internet is 1000mb service and directly wired clients get 300mb, so it must be a wifi issue.

Actually I believe this is an issue. With 1Gbps service you should be getting no less than 900Mbps on wired.

 

[djtech2k]

Actually I believe this is an issue. With 1Gbps service you should be getting no less than 900Mbps on wired.

I agree that I should be getting more and I have the provider coming on Friday. I just think that there is an issue with wifi because I was getting 150mb+ not even 2 weeks ago, but now it struggles to hit 30mb. Plus, when I disable the 2.4Hz radio, it jumps back up to 100+.

I thought maybe it was too many clients or something, but I see only 9 clients right now, and like 5 of those are alexa echo's, and some of the others are things like iphones/android phones.

 

[ApexRon]

As per Amazon: "To stream music and other content through Alexa, your Internet connection needs to be at least 512 Kbps" So if you have 5 Alexa Echo, that's 2.560 Mbps.

Here is something else from Amazon: "Many Wi-Fi devices only connect to the 2.4 GHz channel. If multiple devices use this channel on your network, your network speed may be slower. If you have a dual-band router, you can connect your Echo devices to the less congested 5 GHz channel for better range and less interference."

I would power off all Alexa and see if that instantly improves things. If it does, then confirm that all Alexa is on 5 GHz.

 

[CaptainSTX]

With multiple APs and a router you need to ditch the Auto settings for WiFi channels. The router and APs should all be on seperate channels. For the 2.4 Ghz that is 1,6 or 11. For the 5 Ghz pick whatever channels work.

 

[djtech2k]

With multiple APs and a router you need to ditch the Auto settings for WiFi channels. The router and APs should all be on seperate channels. For the 2.4 Ghz that is 1,6 or 11. For the 5 Ghz pick whatever channels work.

Is that the control channel? All my other routers do not show me different settings for 2.4ghz vs 5ghz like my 68U does. I have gone to the other routers and set them to different channels, but again it doesn't give me the option for frequency.

 

[Hawk]

Is that the control channel? All my other routers do not show me different settings for 2.4ghz vs 5ghz like my 68U does. I have gone to the other routers and set them to different channels, but again it doesn't give me the option for frequency.

Yes, it is called control channel. 2.4 ghz would have 1 to 11 or up to 13 depending where you live. On 5 ghz you should be able to see 36, 40,44,48.... 149,153,157,161,165.

 

[djtech2k]

Is there a way I can look at the router and figure out which devices are connected to 2.4 vs 5? How about finding which devices are using b/g/n?

Also, is there a way to see which devices are using more bandwidth?

 

[Hawk]

Is there a way I can look at the router and figure out which devices are connected to 2.4 vs 5? How about finding which devices are using b/g/n?

Also, is there a way to see which devices are using more bandwidth?

Once you log in to router , go under system log and choose wireless log section. This will tell you which device is currently connected to you router and on what band. 2.4 GHz gone be on top and 5 will be on bottom.

Regarding B/G/N I believe all of you devices support Wireless N protocol. You can check this by setting your router only to broadcast in wireless N mode and see if still all devices connect. To do so go under wireless section and set it only N for 2.4 Ghz

 

[djtech2k]

Thanks for that last reply. I will try it. Here is a test that I just conducted:

Changed all routers to different channel. I only changed the 2.4 channel on my 68U. I disconnected all Alexa devices, phones, tablets, and Ring doorbell. This only left my laptop connected to wireless, according to the connections page on the 68U.

I did a speedtest.net scan after each change. The highest speed I got was like 60mb and that was in the middle of the changes, not the end.

I will try your last suggestion, but how could this be happening now? I mean I was getting 150mb ballpark for a long time and now it struggles to get 30-60.

I have been troubleshooting my internet connection and my LAN speed for months now. Wireless was always the consistent good spot. Now wireless is terrible.

 

[Hawk]

Thanks for that last reply. I will try it. Here is a test that I just conducted:

Changed all routers to different channel. I only changed the 2.4 channel on my 68U. I disconnected all Alexa devices, phones, tablets, and Ring doorbell. This only left my laptop connected to wireless, according to the connections page on the 68U.

I did a speedtest.net scan after each change. The highest speed I got was like 60mb and that was in the middle of the changes, not the end.

I will try your last suggestion, but how could this be happening now? I mean I was getting 150mb ballpark for a long time and now it struggles to get 30-60.

I have been troubleshooting my internet connection and my LAN speed for months now. Wireless was always the consistent good spot. Now wireless is terrible.

There could be numerous causes for wifi performance degradation, most common culprit is neighbor wifi, especially inconsiderate ones. I will disable 2.4 ghz and see if you can connect to 5ghz and do a speed test. Hopefully you will get better speed with 5 ghz.

Another test I will suggest is to take out asus router out of equation and do test with isp provided modem, especially for lan to isolate where lan problems.

 

[djtech2k]

There could be numerous causes for wifi performance degradation, most common culprit is neighbor wifi, especially inconsiderate ones. I will disable 2.4 ghz and see if you can connect to 5ghz and do a speed test. Hopefully you will get better speed with 5 ghz.

Another test I will suggest is to take out asus router out of equation and do test with isp provided modem, especially for lan to isolate where lan problems.

Thanks. Just before I read this message, I changed the SSID of my 5Ghz network so that I could specifically connect to it. Now my laptop is connected to it and got about 160mb again. As I watch the log, I do see some devices go from 2.4 to 5, and vice versa. 5Ghz is MUCH faster and it is set to auto everything. I do see that he 5Ghz signal is lower than the 2.4Ghz one. I definitely see lower signal, but its MUCH faster.

I suppose it could have been this way for a while, but would have no idea. I wonder why the 2,4ghz is so slow? I have not tried limiting the b/g/n/ac stuff yet. I'm a little afraid to because I have all sorts of devices that may connect at some points. The thing I keep coming back to though is that when I had all wireless devices offline, except my laptop on 2.4ghz, it was still only like 30mb. Just seems odd that it is that slow and this is the first time I have noticed it.

 

[Hawk]

Thanks. Just before I read this message, I changed the SSID of my 5Ghz network so that I could specifically connect to it. Now my laptop is connected to it and got about 160mb again. As I watch the log, I do see some devices go from 2.4 to 5, and vice versa. 5Ghz is MUCH faster and it is set to auto everything. I do see that he 5Ghz signal is lower than the 2.4Ghz one. I definitely see lower signal, but its MUCH faster.

I suppose it could have been this way for a while, but would have no idea. I wonder why the 2,4ghz is so slow? I have not tried limiting the b/g/n/ac stuff yet. I'm a little afraid to because I have all sorts of devices that may connect at some points. The thing I keep coming back to though is that when I had all wireless devices offline, except my laptop on 2.4ghz, it was still only like 30mb. Just seems odd that it is that slow and this is the first time I have noticed it.

I am glad 5 Ghz is giving better speed, regards 2.4 ghz it is much more congested and crowded than 5 ghz band, as such throughput drops for devices connecting to 2.4ghz. Devices like other wifi, bluetooth, microwave, baby monitor, garage opener and many more are all competing on 2.4 ghz band. Most likely what happened when speed dropped from 150 is your devices switched from 5 ghz to 2.4. I have experienced this as well and perfectly normal to see sudden speed drop.

 

[djtech2k]

Something is just wonky. I just started doing some testing on my ethernet ports throughout my house to test the speed. When I went back to 5Ghz wifi, its barely hitting 50mb now. I realize it can fluctuate, but geez this is ridiculous. On a wired connection into the router, I am getting just below 300mb now.

 

[ApexRon]

Something is just wonky. I just started doing some testing on my ethernet ports throughout my house to test the speed. When I went back to 5Ghz wifi, its barely hitting 50mb now. I realize it can fluctuate, but geez this is ridiculous. On a wired connection into the router, I am getting just below 300mb now.

On the bottom right hand corner of the "Network Map" panel, what is the status of the WAN port?

 

[djtech2k]

On the bottom right hand corner of the "Network Map" panel, what is the status of the WAN port?

It was connected. I rebooted the router and no real change. I then rebooted the modem, and then the router. Now my speed on 5ghz is over 100. Strange stuff....

I would like to get wifi more well-tuned so it was better on 2.4ghz and more consistent on 5ghz, but I think I need the Comcast guy to get here to resolve the speed issues on the line. 1000GB service should certainly do more than 300mb max on a wired connection.

 

[ApexRon]

Comcast, eh. I have Spectrum.

If your setup is like mine, you can login to your modem using http://192.168.100.1

The userid/password is admin/admin.

I have a Netgear CM600. If you have the same go to the Advanced tab, then the Administrative tab, and finally the Event Log tab. If your modem is other, then you have to hunt and peck to find.

Cable modems can drift in terms of synchronization but a power cycle should force it to re-sync. A bad physical connection could be the problem too. Look for the following screen as well:

Note that my SNR is around 40.0 dB.

 

[djtech2k]

My modem is a Technicolor. I found similar logs and mine around 40-42 SNR.

 

[ApexRon]

My modem is a Technicolor. I found similar logs and mine around 40-42 SNR.

And if there was corresponding correctable/uncorrects they were at or close to zero? Right?

So if your wired connections are still low unplug the wan cable from router and plug into a PC. Now check speed.

If speed is still low then Comcast or Ethernet cable issue. If speed is higher then ASUS is at fault; too busy doing something or just broke.

You must resolve wan speed concerns prior to looking at WiFi.

 

[dlandiss]

1000GB service should certainly do more

Probably would, if it existed. 1000GB per second is about 8000 Gb per second, and the highest I have seen is 1 Gb/s.