Longtime ASUS user looking for relief from RT-AXE7800

[HashMaster9K]

Hi there, SNB users—

I currently have an ASUS router, and after years of running on the platform and with my most recent router (RT-AXE7800) having a host of issues, I feel like it's time to reach out for help and fix my home network. I'll give you my network's history, then setup, then the issues that have cropped up with the recent router. Hopefully someone will be able to assist and make some good suggestions.

So, to start, here's the history of the network. These are the routers that I've had, and why I've gotten rid of them:

• ASUS RT-AC68W — Good workhorse router, and was pretty good when I bought it a decade ago. I ended up getting a hybrid modem/router to replace this to prevent having to pay a premium for a modem from Xfinity. It was still running at a middling level of mediocrity in my parents' house now a decade later.
• ASUS CM-32 — What I thought was a good router/modem combo, but seemingly gave me no end of trouble. It had issues with remembering its firmware settings and would wipe out its port forwarding with no notice, necessitating reprovisioning it all the time. Also, for as much as it touted that it worked well with Xfinity, they wouldn't allow me to get the highest speeds possible because (I'm guessing) Xfinity would throttle it since it wasn't owned by them. It also prevented me from getting a deal on the data cap that Xfinity tries to extort out of us (because we all know that data is a non-renewable resource... ::eye roll:: ). Eventually, a major crash while I was out of town caused me to want to drop it and get very frustrated with ASUS' products.
• TP-Link AX6000 — As a middle finger to ASUS, I ordered this during the pandemic as I started to WFH and needed something that was robust and would function properly. I also was making more money, so to dodge the data cap extortion, I rented Xfinity's XB7-T Gateway and set it into bridge mode. The TP-Link router was almost as bad as the last ASUS in terms of issues: wouldn't allow me to login to the cloud dashboard and I had to constantly reset the login credentials; when I would get to login, the router would occasionally not show up; it'd reboot on its own, for seemingly no reason; the mesh network with a repeater in less than 600 sq ft didn't function right, if at all; It would lose its memory on it's Port Forwarding settings... and I didn't know what to do as this was an expensive router, but would never get the speeds advertised and managing it was a headache.
• ASUS RT-AXE7800 — The most recent router that I bought last February. It has a nasty penchant for simply halting connection for a reason that I can't determine, which throws everything on the network offline. You can tell how "great" it is by the screams coming from my condo when my wife and I need to rush to manually reboot the router when we're in the middle of a video call meeting for our jobs. I can't determine why it does this, as it's not at any specific interval or for a recognizable apparent reason. I've made sure the firmware is up-to-date and have reset it twice now. But it persists in seemingly crashing, and then not logging the reason why. This disappointing as hell router is less than a year old.

That's the history of my network's routing management devices.

Currently, so everyone can understand my current network map, the basic setup is this:

• Hard-line LAN network: Xfinity XB7-T Gateway (Bridge Mode) > CAT8 > RT-AXE7800 > CAT8 > TP-Link 8 Port Gigabyte Switch
• Mesh Network: RT-AXE7800 > Wi-Fi (2.4GHz, 5GHz, 6GHz) > RP-AX56 (range extender) > Bedroom Devices (TV; AppleTV)

How I use my network: I run a Plex Server, so my out-of-town family members (5 people) can have access to my Mac media center remotely; my wife and I occasionally game on our PS5's (though rarely together, as they are in different rooms); we both have iPad's/iPhones; and, we both Work From Home. In total, we have about 27 devices on the network running on both wired and wireless connections.

The Xfinity plan's speed registers that it should be 1200 up, 350 down. The Xfinity Modem is in Bridge Mode, and the RT-AXE7800 (being a Tri-band router) is pushing out 3 different Wi-Fi networks, however we mainly use the 5GHz network, sometimes the 2.4GHz if a device automatically chooses. I've used a third-party Wi-Fi utility to make sure there isn't any channel interference (we live in a condo complex, and I don't want others' routers interfering), everything that can be on a hard-line LAN connection pretty much is. None of it seems to help— it all seems like it's truckin' along fine, and then suddenly the bandwidth will dip, and my security camera base station online indicator will go red, then inevitably the meeting will halt, or the TV show will start spinning its wheel.

The layout of our condo is basically 3 rooms over 660 Sq Ft: The long family room/kitchen hybrid room, the bathroom, and (down a long hallway past the kitchen and bathroom) the bedroom. The RT-AXE78000 stays in the family room, connected to the modem via the CAT8 LAN cable, and then breaks out with the TP-Link hub at the TV/Server setup to connect everything by a hard-line. The Bedroom has an RP-AX56 range extender setup on the ASUS mesh network, and has a hard-line connection to the Apple TV in the bedroom, but is wireless for everything else. I do not have any cable pulled through the walls, or any ports that I can plug into to ferry the network all over the apartment, so a hard-line to the bedroom unfortunately is a non-starter. The Wi-Fi signal isn't as strong as it should be in the bedroom, being less than 300 ft away from the main router, and 5 ft away from the range extender. I'm not too pleased with the crawling network speeds in there, but I understand that's a byproduct of using a range extender.

Conclusion
I've done some research on this for a couple of months and the closest that I could find as a reasoning for this occurring (or at least an argument against keeping this current ASUS router) is that its internal processor either has an issue/wasn't very good/was outdated at manufacture, and that buying the RT-AXE7800 was essentially purchasing outdated/underperforming hardware comparatively to other units released around the same time— this comment came from another SNB Forums thread complaining about the RT-AXE7800.

So seeing as this will be my 5th router in a decade if I purchase something else, I'd like something that'd last a little bit longer and is easy to manage with robust firmware and good hardware. Someone in another thread here suggested that the better purchase would have been a GT-AX6000, but I also have been seeing some people frustrated with that model as well.

At this point, I'm willing to switch to another brand, but I'm also willing to stick with ASUS if it still is the best hardware to utilize for my home network.

Please let me know if you have additional questions, or need additional information to help troubleshoot or to make new hardware suggestions.

Thank you in advance!

 

[degrub]

"
The layout of our condo is basically 3 rooms over 660 Sq Ft: The long family room/kitchen hybrid room, the bathroom, and (down a long hallway past the kitchen and bathroom) the bedroom. The RT-AXE78000 stays in the family room, connected to the modem via the CAT8 LAN cable, and then breaks out with the TP-Link hub at the TV/Server setup to connect everything by a hard-line. The Bedroom has an RP-AX56 range extender setup on the ASUS mesh network, and has a hard-line connection to the Apple TV in the bedroom, but is wireless for everything else. I do not have any cable pulled through the walls, or any ports that I can plug into to ferry the network all over the apartment, so a hard-line to the bedroom unfortunately is a non-starter. The Wi-Fi signal isn't as strong as it should be in the bedroom, being less than 300 ft away from the main router, and 5 ft away from the range extender. I'm not too pleased with the crawling network speeds in there, but I understand that's a byproduct of using a range extender.
"
Something doesn't make sense with your described condo plot plan. Is the total area 660 sqr ft ? Can you provide a sketch with rough dimensions and locations of network infrastructure, please ?
What is the wall construction ? reinforced concrete ? 2x4 wood with gypsum board ?

What are the channel widths for wireless ? particularly the 2.4 GHz band , but also the 5 GHz ?

Try replacing your "cat8" cables with known good cat6 cables. No real advantage for this use case and may be an issue if not actually up to spec.

 

[HashMaster9K]

Something doesn't make sense with your described condo plot plan. Is the total area 660 sqr ft ? Can you provide a sketch with rough dimensions and locations of network infrastructure, please ?
What is the wall construction ? reinforced concrete ? 2x4 wood with gypsum board ?

What are the channel widths for wireless ? particularly the 2.4 GHz band , but also the 5 GHz ?

Try replacing your "cat8" cables with known good cat6 cables. No real advantage for this use case and may be an issue if not actually up to spec.

Sure, here's a rough layout of how the condo is setup with all the networking equipment:

As you can see, it's not a huge area, and there are some things that may interfere with wireless signals, namely:

• Long hallway that is surrounded by walls to get to bedroom
• Washer and Dryer in alcove in front of where RP-AX56 is
• RT-AXE7800 is not in the most central location for the entire condo

Considering the wall's construction, I think it's just sheet rock/drywall (it was built in 1970), so I don't believe any concrete is involved.

The channel widths are as follows:

• 2.4GHz Network (20/40 MHz)
• 5GHz (20/40/80/160 MHz, Enable 160 MHz is checked)
• 6GHz (20/40/80/160 MHz)

( I think this is what you were asking for, please let me know if this is the incorrect information)

With regard to the LAN cabling, I got the CAT8 from Monoprice (as that's where I usually get inexpensive but quality cables for my IT work), but I can get a different cable from a different distributor if you have a recommendation. The current main CAT8 cables are 20' cables (the patch cables from the TP-Link Hub to the TV/Server are only 10' CAT8), so length may also be a factor on those CAT8 cables if the quality isn't there.

Hopefully that helps clarify things, but I'm mainly concerned with the RT-AXE7800 doing its random restarts (less than I am frustrated about any truncated speeds in the bedroom from the repeater), so that's the main thing I'm looking to replace/upgrade/fix. But I think it's a good first step to replace the LAN cabling to ensure a good connection, if that has anything to do with it.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions, I'll do my best to answer.

Thanks!

 

[Tech Junky]

@HashMaster9K

for 660sq ft you shouldn't need a repeater at all unless it's for a hardwire connection for those devices due to lack of wifi.

I'm running a single AP - NWA210AX that covers ~1300sq ft corner to corner and hits 1.7gbps on the internal network.

First thing I would do is unbridge the modem and test w/o the Asus -- this proves the connection from Comcast is providing the paid for speeds. If you hit the 1200/35 speeds then you move to the cable to the Asus and defaulting the router of any changes you have made.

If the RT passes the test then turn off the RP and try w/o conflicting RF between the RT/RP and see if you maintain the speeds to the BR.

Another handy thing is a WIFI analyzer app for your phone to see what's around you to allow you to specify which channels to configure on the devices instead of allowing them to scan and change all of the time. 6ghz should mostly be free and clear though but, if you're devices don't support it then that's another issue to deal with.

 

[degrub]

You likely have too much wireless power for that small of a space.

Have you experimented with locating the AXE7800 on the shelf next to the modem ?
TVs are common sources of interference. At least move to the wall area, away from the TV at least 3 ft. (Left hand wall in line with the bedroom doorway). You may get a better results from that location.

i assume there are upper cabinets above the counter area. Try to locate the AX-56 at the same height as the gap between the upper cabinet and the counter heights. If the backsplash in that gap is metal or MDF board, there may be a lot of attenuation anyway. The other place to try locating it is where there is a direct line of sight through the doorway - maybe the dresser area. Or if there is a large gap above the upper cabinets or just a sheetrock fur down, try hanging the AX-56 from the ceiling on the bedroom wall.

A couple other things to try -
Keep the 2.4GHz band on 20/40. Reduce the 5 and 6 GHz bands to 80/40 on both devices
Turn off MIMO and autochannel select on both AXE and AX devices
Reduce Tx power to 25 % on all bands on both devices. Increase until you get sync with the AX56.

The washer/dryer motors are a white noise burst source. Does the video meeting over internet die when one of them cycles on/off of the motor or heater ?

Last, try replacing the cat8 with cat 6 cables - belden is a reputable supplier if you can find cat5e or cat6.

 

[HashMaster9K]

@HashMaster9K

for 660sq ft you shouldn't need a repeater at all unless it's for a hardwire connection for those devices due to lack of wifi.

I'm running a single AP - NWA210AX that covers ~1300sq ft corner to corner and hits 1.7gbps on the internal network.

First thing I would do is unbridge the modem and test w/o the Asus -- this proves the connection from Comcast is providing the paid for speeds. If you hit the 1200/35 speeds then you move to the cable to the Asus and defaulting the router of any changes you have made.

If the RT passes the test then turn off the RP and try w/o conflicting RF between the RT/RP and see if you maintain the speeds to the BR.

Another handy thing is a WIFI analyzer app for your phone to see what's around you to allow you to specify which channels to configure on the devices instead of allowing them to scan and change all of the time. 6ghz should mostly be free and clear though but, if you're devices don't support it then that's another issue to deal with.

Yeah, I use a Wi-Fi Analyzer to set my channels manually, so I know it's not a channel conflict that's causing the issue. I know that the modem is providing the speeds it is supposed to (speed tests mete that out), but I don't know if the cabling is causing the weird connectivity loss, so I think I'll replace these CAT8 cables. I'll run the segment testing, but I'm going to guess that the reason why the RT-AXE7800's signal is so weak in the bedroom is due to the router placement and the amount of objects (walls, cabinets, home appliances) that may be interfering with the signal to that area. Ideally I'd like a more central location for the router, however I'd need to get some longer cables to move the router to the other side of the TV/Server setup to put it more centrally.

My main concern is that I'm just constantly seeing that the RT-AXE7800 may have issues with its hardware that may be contributing to this weird connectivity loss. So I want to be sure that I haven't handicapped myself getting a junk router when these issues could be solved with one that is robust and has good firmware.

 

[degrub]

Is the AXE router plugged into a UPS ?
Power droops could be an issue. Any flicker of lights ?
You could also look at putting the AX56 over the doorway on a bracket or something if that helps. But, your really shouldn't need the extender anyway.
Too much wifi power can be just as bad as not enough. Some materials reflect the RF waves causing "noise" issues.

and , yes, you could have a lemon router if others are reporting prevalent similar issues.

IF there is an isolated coax run from the router or modem area, you could use a pair of moca 2 modems to extend the ethernet directly to the bedroom.

 

[Tech9]

weird connectivity loss

Any DFS range used on 5GHz band?

 

[Tech Junky]

handicapped myself getting a junk router

If you want to do it the quick and cheap way.

Disable the WIFI on the CC modem and put it in router mode and grab an AP for under $150 and call it a day. You're already renting the modem for $15-20/mo and might as well make use of it.

Like I said before I'm using a single AP for double the space and hitting higher speeds. No need to waste time and $$$ on this. Sure it could be a cable or it could be a lemon.

 

[HashMaster9K]

You likely have too much wireless power for that small of a space.

Have you experimented with locating the AXE7800 on the shelf next to the modem ?
TVs are common sources of interference. At least move to the wall area, away from the TV at least 3 ft. (Left hand wall in line with the bedroom doorway). You may get a better results from that location.

i assume there are upper cabinets above the counter area. Try to locate the AX-56 at the same height as the gap between the upper cabinet and the counter heights. If the backsplash in that gap is metal or MDF board, there may be a lot of attenuation anyway. The other place to try locating it is where there is a direct line of sight through the doorway - maybe the dresser area. Or if there is a large gap above the upper cabinets or just a sheetrock fur down, try hanging the AX-56 from the ceiling on the bedroom wall.

A couple other things to try -
Keep the 2.4GHz band on 20/40. Reduce the 5 and 6 GHz bands to 80/40 on both devices
Turn off MIMO and autochannel select on both AXE and AX devices
Reduce Tx power to 25 % on all bands on both devices. Increase until you get sync with the AX56.

The washer/dryer motors are a white noise burst source. Does the video meeting over internet die when one of them cycles on/off of the motor or heater ?

Last, try replacing the cat8 with cat 6 cables - belden is a reputable supplier if you can find cat5e or cat6.

Interesting. Didn't think about too much power for the space...

I'll see about getting that new cabling and then migrate the RT-AXE7800 to the other side of the TV/Server Setup, that'll put it in a more centralized location. I'll need to clear off a shelf, but I'll just move the stuff there over to the current location and see if the signal improves. Likewise, I can also move the RP-AX56 to the other wall so it might have a clear line of sight through the doorway, as I don't think I'd be able to hang it higher on the current wall it's on. The repeater doesn't seem to be overtly affected by the W/D unit, but that could also account for slower speeds if the laundry is going (haven't seen that, specifically, yet). The repeater— in its current location—says it has a strong connection (as per the ASUS app), but I have seen the connection crawl a bit, even when it says it's at "Great" signal strength.

Anyway, once that's done, I'll see about lowering the bands down to 80/40, and modifying those other settings. In the meantime, I just gotta find a place that sells Belden patch cables that won't bankrupt me at $1000 for a huge spool.

Thanks!

 

[HashMaster9K]

Any DFS range used on 5GHz band?

I have the feature turned off on the settings in the router:

 

[degrub]

Before you go buying cable, play with the locations, RF power levels, and channel width. Tech Junky has a good suggestion to try as well. You should be able to put your AXE7800 in AP mode to try it out at no cost.

and unplug the extender first.

 

[HashMaster9K]

Is the AXE router plugged into a UPS ?
Power droops could be an issue. Any flicker of lights ?
You could also look at putting the AX56 over the doorway on a bracket or something if that helps. But, your really shouldn't need the extender anyway.
Too much wifi power can be just as bad as not enough. Some materials reflect the RF waves causing "noise" issues.

and , yes, you could have a lemon router if others are reporting prevalent similar issues.

IF there is an isolated coax run from the router or modem area, you could use a pair of moca 2 modems to extend the ethernet directly to the bedroom.

• Yes, the RT-AXE7800 is plugged into a UPS battery— it's an 1800W Anker SOLIX C1000 Battery/UPS.
• We've had power flickers in the condo before (our power fluctuates on rare occasion a bit during inclement weather, hot or cold), but nothing regular that would take the thing offline.
• The "too much power" thing is making more sense— the repeater was purchased when I had the ASUS CM-32, and it just got grandfathered into the network. If it's useless, then I can always take it out of the equation.
• I'm not sure about the isolated coax, I think there may be a coax outlet in the bedroom, but I'm gonna guess since I don't know where it is, it's probably behind some furniture, so I need to suss that out too.

 

[HashMaster9K]

Before you go buying cable, play with the locations, RF power levels, and channel width. Tech Junky has a good suggestion to try as well. You should be able to put your AXE7800 in AP mode to try it out at no cost.

and unplug the extender first.

Yeah, those are the next steps. I think I might need a longer cable for the RT-AXE7800 in order to move it to the other side of the TV, but I'll try the AP mode first.

More Testing! Yay!

Thanks for the assistance, folks. I'll update the post once I run those tests this evening after work.

 

[degrub]

You should be able to use your existing cable since it will be closer to the modem. Since this is all about wifi issues, i think, just disconnect from other lan devices to sus out the wifi issue and placement.

If your meeting disruptions are for hardwired lan devices, then look more at the ASUS AXE and try tech junky's suggestion.

 

[Tech9]

I have the feature turned off on the settings in the router

Lock the control channels. The router changing channels on Auto will break connections, some clients may not reconnect after. Lock channel bandwidth to 80MHz on 5GHz and to 20MHz on 2.4GHz. The use of Wi-Fi Analyzer App is wrong. It doesn't show available bandwidth per channel, the most important information. The channel no one else uses is often not the best one, may be the worst one.

 

[Analog-1]

Using wifi analyzer is useless. Router and Access points will change channels at will. What you might think is a good channel could change in a matter of minutes.