Recently upgraded to 400 Mbps download but my 87u is only reaching 300 Mbps

[win465]

Recently got 400 Mbps from Spectrum but my 87u is only able to pull 300 Mbps on 5 Ghz band. I tried with multiple devices on 5 Ghz right next to the router and all of them with the same result. Can the 87u handle these speeds? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Tech9]

Update the router to the latest available Asuswrt firmware, if not done yet. Set your 5GHz to ch36 @80MHz and check the link speeds in GUI - must show 866Mbps close to the router to common 2-stream AC clients. You should be able to reach full 400Mbps throughput, unless your Wi-Fi environment is very busy. If you test with a phone/tablet or laptop, make sure your device is not in power-save mode.

 

[Zastoff]

Recently got 400 Mbps from Spectrum but my 87u is only able to pull 300 Mbps on 5 Ghz band. I tried with multiple devices on 5 Ghz right next to the router and all of them with the same result. Can the 87u handle these speeds? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

You have to enable hardware acceleration (then it should almost be able to get close to 1gigabit)
It is under LAN/Switch control if I remember correctly.

 

[Tech9]

then it should almost be able to get close to 1gigabit

On Wi-Fi?

Checking if NAT acceleration is enabled is a good advice. Also any old upload/download QoS settings.

 

[win465]

You have to enable hardware acceleration (then it should almost be able to get close to 1gigabit)
It is under LAN/Switch control if I remember correctly.

Which one is it?

 

[Tech9]

NAT acceleration is enabled. Don't change anything on this page. Check your QoS settings.

 

[win465]

Update the router to the latest available Asuswrt firmware, if not done yet. Set your 5GHz to ch36 @80MHz and check the link speeds in GUI - must show 866Mbps close to the router to common 2-stream AC clients. You should be able to reach full 400Mbps throughput, unless your Wi-Fi environment is very busy. If you test with a phone/tablet or laptop, make sure your device is not in power-save mode.

Thank you for the tips! I think changing it to channel 36 is what helped me out.

 

[win465]

@Tech9 For some reason after changing the channel I was getting 400 Mbps comfortably but now it's back to 300 Mbps. Any ideas why this is happening?

Edit: actually after I change it to any channel I get 400 Mbps comfortably but then reverts back to 300 Mbps.

 

[Tech9]

I can't answer this question without knowing what your Wi-Fi settings are, what have changed in your Wi-Fi environment, now many active clients do you have on your network, what your test client is capable of and how far from the router you test the throughput. I would replace this router with something more modern and supported. RT-AC87U is EOL and Quantenna radio is quirky. A new RT-AX68U AC Wave 2 + AX router will be a nice upgrade for you. It will improve both speed and range. Look for local holiday deals around. This router is currently CAD150 in Canada, or about USD117.

 

[win465]

I can't answer this question without knowing what your Wi-Fi settings are, what have changed in your Wi-Fi environment, now many active clients do you have on your network, what your test client is capable of and how far from the router you test the throughput. I would replace this router with something more modern and supported. RT-AC87U is EOL and Quantenna radio is quirky. A new RT-AX68U AC Wave 2 + AX router will be a nice upgrade for you. It will improve both speed and range. Look for local holiday deals around. This router is currently CAD150 in Canada, or about USD117.

Channel 157 seems to be holding the correct speed for now. I'm waiting for Wi-Fi 6e to come out before I upgrade the 87u.

 

[Tech9]

I'm waiting for Wi-Fi 6e to come out

It is out already, but how many of your clients have 6GHz support? Also, expect shorter range compared to Wi-Fi 5/6. For couple of hundred dollars you can improve your network significantly in next few days. Waiting means chasing Wi-Fi channels with your AC87U for few years. Your choice.

 

[VANT]

IMO will not notice any difference after switching to a new router, since it now has full performance. My friend has 87U and 1gbit / s. Several dozen clients and everything works as it should.