How to improve WiFi Range of AC86U router

[Thefriendlycatman]

I have a Asus AC86U router connected in our living and the WiFi is super fast in that room but the range drops the speed in every other room.

Before I start looking at mesh systems etc. Is there anything I can do to boost the signal? I pretty much just plugged it in and did a basic set up when it arrived.

 

[Dr.No.pt]

Besides using 2.4ghz band, not much.

range drops the speed in every other room

That's standard. We're expecting different ?

Wi-fi is all about proper placement. That's it. But no miracles.

 

[OzarkEdge]

I have a Asus AC86U router connected in our living and the WiFi is super fast in that room but the range drops the speed in every other room.

Before I start looking at mesh systems etc. Is there anything I can do to boost the signal? I pretty much just plugged it in and did a basic set up when it arrived.

Given a healthy router, the WiFi range is generally fixed, and pretty good on an AC86U. A few things you can try:

o Tighten and face the antennas \ | /.

o Locate the router high, central, and in the clear (not buried behind a media cabinet on the floor in the basement). Move it to broadcast around a serious obstacle like electronic interference or thick masonry/fireplace.

o Use fixed, least congested, non-DFS channels. Try different channels to eek out the most effective signal for your physical layout and radio interference conditions:
- set 2.4 WLAN to SSID-24, n, 20 MHz, ch 1,6,11 (or 1,5,9,13), WPA2-AES*

- set 5.0 WLAN to SSID-50, n/ac, 20/40/80 MHz, ch 36-48 52-144 (DFS) 149-161 165, WPA2-AES*

o Disable USB 3.0 Mode if using 2.4 clients at distance.

o Use a WiFi Analyzer app to 'see' all WiFi around you and your WiFi signal strength around your space.

o Inspect your wireless client connection status to confirm it is connecting at good and expected link rate speed for its protocol and antenna capability. You'll see best performance with a 5.0 GHz AC connection... 866 Mbps max link rate speed with two antennas.

o Speed test with a capable PC for most reliable numbers.

If you did not reset the router firmware before configuring it from scratch, consider doing that first for a clean start.

You can add a second Asus router to create an Asus AiMesh system.

OE

 

[noah way]

Beyond router placement and antenna direction, high-gain antennas work.

 

[CaptainSTX]

The only thing high-gain antennas work for on a router is to take some money out of your pocket. The antennas installed on your router were specifically engineered to maximize the RF gain.

 

[noah way]

The only thing high-gain antennas work for on a router is to take some money out of your pocket. The antennas installed on your router were specifically engineered to maximize the RF gain.

With standard antennas my 150' apart routers barely connected and frequently dropped. With 9 dbi aftermarket antennas on both routers (a whopping $15 for 3) the network runs at 2.4 gHz in repeater mode. I ran this setup reliably for years until nearby development (multiple McMansions) on overlapping channels caused a ton of interference.

I've added a pair of Alfa Dual Band Directional antennas - one on each router at a wallet-destroying $24 for the pair - and now have a very stable mesh currently running at 351 Mbps / 64 dBm. For some reason it's slow today, probably interference from built-up snow and ice on the roof outside where the node sits. Normal is mid-50's dBm and > 400 Mbps.

Router antennas are designed (like all manufactured products) for price performance (a.k.a. the manufacturer's ROI).

 

[dlandiss]

Beyond router placement and antenna direction, high-gain antennas work.

I concur. The higher-gain antennas are not provided by the OEM simply because they are larger (unattractive) and not needed in most cases. They DO work and have the advantage of increasing the range of both transmission and reception (AKA "reciprocity theorem") and thus are a better solution than increasing the router's transmitter power alone.

My brick garage is some distance from my brick house, and with stock OEM antennas the signal in the garage was barely usable. With higher-gain, but still omnidirectional, antennas similar to these on the router I now get about 25 Mbps bandwidth in the garage.

 

[cooloutac]

The wifi signal goes in a donut shape mostly out the sides and front of the tops of antennaes from where they angle down. think of this when angling them to beam towards your devices. This makes a huge difference for me. Mine is in the basement so I don't really have any of them standing straight up. Other then that use Ozark's suggestions which should also help. My antennaes are like ozark's but i have a ax58u with two in the middle. facing front down at different angles. the ones on the sides I have facing down an out a little lower. I like the ax58u because you can literally do any angle you want in between the clicks, unlike the ac68u which are very loose so you can only hold a couple different positions. The ac86u does have further 5ghz range though for sure. But the 2.4ghz on the ax58u I find slightly better, you would think it should be the opposite.


As far as buying high gain antennaes, who knows what your getting. I wouldn't bother because if there is something wrong with the router they probably won't make a difference. The ac86u range is phenomenal. But if you decide to try them make sure to do good research on them and buy somewhere with easy returns.

 

[noah way]

Regarding antennas: unsolicited plug for https://www.data-alliance.net/

Everything I've purchased there works great.

 

[lucrabbit]

Hijacking the thread for a related question: I know the wifi signal travels in a donut shape. Why do we need to put three antennas (I have a AC86U) in the shape of \ | / for a single floor house then? wouldn't | | | be more efficient? I have the option to put the AC86U either at the ceiling height or desk height - which option should I use and what antenna position should I opt in? I do have some signal stability issues at ~30ft away from the router (@5G, through a wall with a big refrig in the middle), hence the question.

I have played different positions a bit but really can't tell much significant difference, so purely for discussion purpose or see if there is anything I could have missed (5G at 20/40/80 auto but it mostly stays at channel 149).

Thanks!

 

[L&LD]

You don't 'need' it any way but (all three) up.

Ceiling height and desk height are both not ideal.

3' free space, all around the router is ideal, with the router at least 10' from ground level (true, outside 'ground', not just the floor of the room it's in).

Control Channel Setup 2021

Wi-Fi Setup 25/2.5 d/u Report


What are your ISP speeds? Using Auto for the control channel is never a promising idea.

Best Practice Update/Setup Router/AiMesh Node(s) 2021

 

[lucrabbit]

L&LD. Thanks for the prompt response and now you left me hanging

Unfortunately I don't have the luxury to give 3' free space all around my AC86U, there is a drywall right next to the router but hopefully that doesn't block too much signal (and this drywall is not the one with the refrig which is ~12ft away).

I have a 1G dl speed from ISP so I may need a bit wider channel bandwidth. I live in a single family house (~2,000 sqft) so interference doesn't seem to be a big issue especially at 5G. It's good know that it takes up to 24 hours to see the change. I will give it a shot to move my 5G to a lower band after I do a scan of the spectrum.

Also just learned that I have been reseting my router the wrong way for years LOL (pressing the reset button for 10s). Thanks! I am currently on merlin 384.14.

Any other tips you would recommend?

 

[L&LD]

@lucrabbit, it is interesting to note that while the 'ideals' may not be attainable, mere inches towards those ideals may have a significant impact on network performance too.

There is a lot of information in the links I've provided, be sure to read and re-read them and take your own notes too and ask for clarifications, if necessary.

Instead of thinking you need wider channel width, try to see what effect control channels and 20MHz, 40MHz, and 80MHz (strictly) can have on your Wi-Fi environment.

Be sure you are testing with a laptop that is power by AC or at least in Performance mode in a few key (well used) areas of your home. Don't tune/test for the highest speeds, necessarily. Rather, use the higher ISP speeds you have, to give you a noticeably more fluid online experience.

Test all the options you have for router placement, orientation, and antennae 'tuning'. Then, continue fine-tuning with the control channel and channel bandwidth settings. Finally, revisit the location/orientation for the router with the dialed-in control channel and bandwidth settings that are most suitable to your environment.

Yes, this is an iterative process that only needs noticeable results to succeed.

Using an 'app' or 'analyzer' will not only sidetrack that goal, but it will also make this process much more cumbersome and drawn out while not getting any better results than by simple observation of the network as noted above. And if the 'app' is the only thing that is relied on, it could make things worse too. Because no app can show or take into account any non-Wi-Fi interference in your environment, and most can't show network utilization for the channels you're considering either, thus making them the equivalent of a roll-of-the-die when following any of their pre-programmed guesses for your network setup.