Need advice on Very Slow Wireless G & N Speed on ASUS RT-AX89X Routers

[fbagnato]

When you select Mesh node in your MAP above, have you looked at the management tab to get any information about the link status?
Also on the AIMesh page there are two tabs “Topology” which shows the layout you have and “optimization”
The latter is a mechanism that is supposed to optimize the AIMESH topology to give the best performance, if you have not run this “Optimization” process it might help.

on the wireless phone, i have a cordless phone which has no impact on my network as it is operating between 1921 and 1948 MHz

Hello again oldguy,

I have looked at the iMesh panel and it says the Connection Quality is:

Tia's Bedroom = Great, Connection Quality = OK, Living Room = Great

The Management tab has about 8 more settings that can be configured, not information about the Node, but the Network tab has a lot of information in the categories of Backhaul Information and Fronthaul Information. None of it makes sense to me unfortunately.

Regarding the Optimization, I had already run this option. It made no obvious difference.

Regarding the Cordless Phones doing a search found that "the phones operate on the 1.8GHz wireless network friendly DECT frequency" so you were right, unplugging them was unnecessary.

Interesting though that in response to sfx2000's suggestions I saw very satisfactory throughput on my partner's laptop, especially when Channel Bandwidth on both 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz bands were set to 20Mhz.

This sort of performance would previously happen on the initial configuration or a Windows Network Reset, which then deteriorated within hours. My laptop, which is directly beside my partner's laptop had poor performance, at the same time as my partner getting good performance.

I then did another Windows Network Reset on my laptop and upon reconnecting got good results, but as I said this then deteriorates pretty quickly to virtually unusable performance.

I have now set the 2.4Ghz band to a bandwidth of 20 Mhz and left the 5.0 Ghz band to 20/40/80/160 Mhz as my "newer than Wireless N" devices are working properly and whether I imagined it or not I found streaming on the TV when the 5.0 Ghz band was set to 20 Mhz produced a poorer (not as clear) picture (lower throughput?).

Going to leave the 2.4 Ghz band at 20 Mhz bandwidth until I notice the deterioration happening on my or my partner's laptop.

Will report the results.

Regards,

fbagnato

 

[fbagnato]

Looking at an AIMESH node management TAB, I see that there is an option for auto wireless backhaul selection.

do you see any sign of this type switching in the log?

the other interesting feature in the Adaptive QoS screen, is a TAB for internet speed, which allows the primary router attached to the modem to run an Ookla speednet Test that will allow you to verify that you are getting the speed that you pay for.

Hmm. Don't see the option for auto wireless backhaul selection.

This is what shows on a node for AiMesh Management:

Ran the Ookla speednet Test and I got 55.66Mbps Download and 19.62Mbps Upload which correlates with our 50/20 internet plan so no problems there.

Regards,

fbagnato

 

[oldguy]

It is a long time since i had a windows laptop ad even longer since I had one with with 802.11N Wifi, so I did a quick search and found some articles that might help.

5 Ways To Fix Slow 802.11n Speed - SmallNetBuilder

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=12386

www.smallnetbuilder.com

[SOLVED] - Why is my WiFi suddenly working poorly on my computer?

My WiFi is usually very fast on my computer, usually 80-100 Mbps. Occasionally it will drop heavily or cut out altogether, but that's to be expected and usually I'll just reset my router and it'll be fine. A few days ago the speed dipped again, but the usual solutions aren't working. I have...

forums.tomshardware.com

You may experience connectivity issues or performance issues when you connect a mobile PC that is running Windows to a wireless access point - Microsoft Support

Describes an issue that occurs if the wireless access point does not support 802.11 power save mode. To work around this issue, modify the Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1 power saving settings for the wireless network adapter.

support.microsoft.com

Redirecting

I would however make sure that you have the very latest version of the drivers, and Bios as that always seemed to fix problems with my Dell/Lenovo/HP laptops in the past and as noted in one of the windows links disable the power save mode.

there was also an article that also suggested 20Mhz was the best setting for 802.11

Hope this give you some options that might give you some relief from performance drop

 

[fbagnato]

It is a long time since i had a windows laptop ad even longer since I had one with with 802.11N Wifi, so I did a quick search and found some articles that might help.

5 Ways To Fix Slow 802.11n Speed - SmallNetBuilder

http://forums.smallnetbuilder.com/showthread.php?t=12386

www.smallnetbuilder.com

[SOLVED] - Why is my WiFi suddenly working poorly on my computer?

My WiFi is usually very fast on my computer, usually 80-100 Mbps. Occasionally it will drop heavily or cut out altogether, but that's to be expected and usually I'll just reset my router and it'll be fine. A few days ago the speed dipped again, but the usual solutions aren't working. I have...

forums.tomshardware.com

You may experience connectivity issues or performance issues when you connect a mobile PC that is running Windows to a wireless access point - Microsoft Support

Describes an issue that occurs if the wireless access point does not support 802.11 power save mode. To work around this issue, modify the Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, or Windows 8.1 power saving settings for the wireless network adapter.

support.microsoft.com

Redirecting

I would however make sure that you have the very latest version of the drivers, and Bios as that always seemed to fix problems with my Dell/Lenovo/HP laptops in the past and as noted in one of the windows links disable the power save mode.

there was also an article that also suggested 20Mhz was the best setting for 802.11

Hope this give you some options that might give you some relief from performance drop

Hi oldguy,

An update on my laptop which was performing very badly before the change of the 2.4Ghz band to a bandwidth of 20 Mhz as per sfx2000's suggestion followed by a network reset.

I have not had either my laptop or my partner's laptop allow to connect to the 5Ghz bandwidth anymore. Both are performing better. Neither laptop has had the speed deteriorate after hours of resetting and working well.

Internet Speedtests at the moment: My Laptop = 23Mbps, Partner's Laptop = 23Mbps.

Not great, but might be a temporary condition. In general much better than the 5Mbps I was getting previously.

Interesting though is what is to follow in this post.

Re https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/basics/wireless-basics/30664-5-ways-to-fix-slow-80211n-speed

I had already performed all the steps in this link. The latest, being the change of the 2.4Ghz band to a bandwidth of 20 Mhz as per sfx2000's suggestion.

The only other thing I did as per the recommendations on this link was to download a LAN Speed Test application, of which I downloaded and installed Tarosoft Throughput Test.

I ran that program and on my laptop which Windows is said connected at 144Mbps and got the following averages:

TCP Up: 70Mbps, TCP Down: 50.81, UDP Up: 70.77Mbps, UPD Down: 64.21Mbps.

I don't know if these figures are good for my "stated" connection of 144Mbps but they are much higher the Internet Speed Test figures. Would appreciate someone's opinions on whether these are good figures.

Re: https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...ddenly-working-poorly-on-my-computer.3736084/

What I take away from the discussion is again the recommendation of the bandwidth being changed to 20 Mhz only which I have now done.

Re: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us...ss-point-e9d8416f-34e9-6926-839e-0f5c728aa6c2

This topic is about Power Saving when running on batteries. Even though this hasn't applied in all my previous test results provided as both mine and my partner's laptops have been plugged into mains power, I will need to remember this when I connect the older RT-AC68U as a test router as I will need to bring both laptops upstairs to the room with the primary router which the laptops will be running on battery power.

> I would however make sure that you have the very latest version of the drivers, and Bios as that always seemed to fix problems with my Dell/Lenovo/HP laptops in the past and as noted in one of the windows links disable the power save mode.

I am very strict about running the latest drivers and BIOS's on my computers and since the problems I encountered did another refresh search for later drivers and BIOS's so all that is up to date.

> there was also an article that also suggested 20Mhz was the best setting for 802.11.

This change has definitely helped. A huge change from the 5Mbps average Internet Speedtest results I was facing.

> Hope this give you some options that might give you some relief from performance drop

Definitely, and I really appreciate your input and help oldguy

I am still planning to connect an older RT-AC68U as a test router, just to make sure that the RT-AX89X routers are performing as they should, otherwise looking at returning them and changing the 2 I bought for the recommendation I found on the ASUS GT-AX6000.

I spent a small fortune on these 2 RT-AX89X routers and cannot justify keeping them if they are not performing properly because of bad design or poor firmware (and they have been out long enough for the firmware to have stabilised).

For anyone else reading this topic I also need to mention that early in the piece when I tested earlier firmwares with the routers I found version 3.0.0.4.386_45130 performed better but I don't know if that was a coincidence or not. Strangely even though I believe auto firmware update was off, the router's automatically updated themselves to the latest firmware release. I didn't take much notice of the auto-update setting so maybe under that version it was defaulted to auto-update?

Regards,

fbagnato

 

[fbagnato]

Hello all,

A couple of updates on the problems.

Yesterday both my laptop and my partner's laptop went back to very poor throughput on their Wifi connections.

I did a network reset on my laptop and once restarted both my and my partner's laptop returned to acceptable Wifi throughput.

As planned earlier I managed to configure an older RT-AC68U as a test router and placed it side-by-side to the primary RT-AX89X router.

I then positioned my 2nd laptop (which is a Windows 10 Wireless G device) a bit of distance away from the routers but in the same room as the primary RT-AX89X router and older RT-AC68U test router.

I then did a network reset on the 2nd test laptop.

I then connected the Wifi to the primary RT-AX89X router and did several Speedtests. The best result was 1.1Mbps with the remaining 3 speed tests recording in kbps. Very poor speeds and virtually unusable.

Following that I then immediately connected the Wifi to the older RT-AC68U test router and did several Speedtests. The speedtests resulted in around 15Mbps speeds. Much faster than the primary RT-AX89X router.

I can only conclude from these tests that the RT-AX89X model router does indeed have issues with older Wireless G and Wireless N Wifi devices. Remembering that I have already exchanged the RT-AX89X primary router so it isn't a defective router that is causing the problem.

I spent a lot of money buying 2 of the RT-AX89X routers because their specs were the best and I believed I was buying the best of the best and in the end have poor routers.

I am open to any suggestions as I am at a loss as to what to do now.

Regards,

fbagnato

 

[oldguy]

@fbagnato I am sad to hear that your RT AX89X’s are not working for you, I guess I am lucky that apart from resets every month mine are working as expected

I hope that you are able to return them

if the RT AC68U gives you a decent performance level in your testing, is reverting back to the 4 RT AC68U a viable solution for you?

 

[fbagnato]

Hi oldguy,

At the moment the wifi speeds on our 2 main laptops are good, reading between 42 & 47Mbps so I am at a loss as to what to do; return them or keep them and hope that future firmware releases fix these problems. Murphy's Law hey? When I am ready to discuss a return or swap they start working!

I was looking at exchanging them for the same priced gaming routers GT-AX6000 which aren't as good on paper but I read good reports about them and they are not Qualcomm based (which I read some negative reports about)..

On paper the RT-AX89X seem to be the best routers but in practice for me they are not reflecting the specs.

It's a shame that Merlin doesn't support them as at least there would be an alternative for the firmware and for fixes to bugs and performance.

Re: the RT-AC68U routers they no longer reach the distance to the furthestmost node so they no longer work in this environment. They worked for about 5 years. For testing in the same room they are fine but for production they do not.

I guess I will wait and see what happens.

I can't work out what the pattern is where at the moment they are working.

Regards,

fbagnato

 

[majika]

Hi @fbagnato, I think I read when I first picked up my AX89X for Full retail price not far after their launch.. AX89X are build on a different platform than other Asus routers; as in not broadcom and more qualcom IMMSMR..

There is a full explanation someplace floating around on this forum as to why RMerlin's firmware will never be on RT-AX89X's

As for your specific Wireless issues All I can say is I have a lot of devices: Wired, Wireless mixed legacy up to .ax and 6e and finally have everything singling along at high speeds using the full spread of spectrum upto wifi6 and have a pair of XT8's for my mesh. All I can say is try and persist and find the settings which you can get to reach maximum performance for what its worth RT-AX89X is rock-solid. It can get a bit warm with 10BaseT/10G SFP+ working full tilt and the fan has a minor "buzzzzz" but that about it.


~The Only real thing missing is for RMerlin to recode/re-tool/redeploy the entire development stack and ./init a new devel branch to start work on AsusWRT "Exotic" products =) jk..
Good Luck I hope you get your setup running good!

 

[drinkingbird]

Hi @fbagnato, I think I read when I first picked up my AX89X for Full retail price not far after their launch.. AX89X are build on a different platform than other Asus routers; as in not broadcom and more qualcom IMMSMR..

There is a full explanation someplace floating around on this forum as to why RMerlin's firmware will never be on RT-AX89X's

As for your specific Wireless issues All I can say is I have a lot of devices: Wired, Wireless mixed legacy up to .ax and 6e and finally have everything singling along at high speeds using the full spread of spectrum upto wifi6 and have a pair of XT8's for my mesh. All I can say is try and persist and find the settings which you can get to reach maximum performance for what its worth RT-AX89X is rock-solid. It can get a bit warm with 10BaseT/10G SFP+ working full tilt and the fan has a minor "buzzzzz" but that about it.


~The Only real thing missing is for RMerlin to recode/re-tool/redeploy the entire development stack and ./init a new devel branch to start work on AsusWRT "Exotic" products =) jk..
Good Luck I hope you get your setup running good!

You're replying to a post from over a year ago.