RT-AC1900P and RT-AX86U Pro - issues with video calls

[discogodfather]

I work from home and have daily video calls using Microsoft Teams. I had been using an RT-AC1900P and started experiencing issues around July 1. My colleagues' camera feeds would sometimes freeze for 5 second intervals and my colleagues would report that I froze as well. Additionally, the audio would sometimes cut out for 8 seconds. These occurrences would happen multiple times over the course of a single video call. Performance is worse when my family is home using Netflix, YouTube, etc, but even when they aren't home I will occasionally experience these problems.

I replaced the RT-AC1900P with a RT-AX86U Pro and still had the same issues. I then connected an ethernet cable from my laptop to the RT-AX86U Pro and still had the same problem. However, when I connected the ethernet cable from my laptop to my cable modem the calls were fine.

It's strange that two different routers are producing the same issue, so I'm wondering if it related to a firmware update. And I don't want to buy a third router to fix this. Any idea what could be happening here? Are there any settings I can mess with to alleviate this?

 

[eibgrad]

Have you tried using the QoS features of your ASUS router in order to given your laptop and/or that service higher priority? Because it sure sounds from your description that is the issue.

 

[discogodfather]

On Friday afternoon I turned on Adaptive QOS and prioritized Work From Home. But I still have the same issues. Prior to that I would occasionally limit the upload/download speeds of other devices on our network (TVs, iPads, etc), but that didn't help either.

 

[eibgrad]

What you might want to try is using ssh to access the router and run the top command to monitor the resources being used by the router at any given time. You *might* notice a trend, perhaps some other process(es) that is consuming excessive resources at the same time. By default, the output orders the processes from highest CPU usage to least.

At least that's where I would start my own investigation if faced w/ the same problem.

 

[discogodfather]

I should also mention that I've run speed tests through Google and Okta while I'm on an MS Teams call and I'm getting download speeds of 100 Mbps and upload speeds of 25 Mbps.

Regarding SSH, is there a free tool I can use to understand the results? I tried using the Windows command line SSH and using the "top" command but couldn't make any sense of what I was seeing.

 

[Tech9]

Don't use Automatic for Bandwidth. With 100/25 ISP line test with something like 90/20.

 

[discogodfather]

So I bought a third router, a TP Link, as I wanted to try a non-Asus router. Still the same problem. But strangely, no issues when I connect via an ethernet cable into the cable modem.

 

[Tech9]

But strangely, no issues when I connect via an ethernet cable

Do you have the same issue when connected via Ethernet to your routers? Perhaps you have Wi-Fi related issue. All routers set the same way? The device you use with updated wireless drivers and everything?

 

[discogodfather]

I tried connecting an Ethernet cable to my second router and had the same issue. The third router is a completely different brand, model, etc. I didn’t do any kind of setup with it. Just started using it straight out of the box. Same issue.

 

[bennor]

I tried connecting an Ethernet cable to my second router and had the same issue. The third router is a completely different brand, model, etc. I didn’t do any kind of setup with it. Just started using it straight out of the box. Same issue.

How did you have the Asus router(s) configured? What firmware were you using? If using Asus-Merlin firmware, did you have any addon scripts installed? Were you running any sort of VPN at the the time?

Did you change anything on your computer or router around the time the video issue started? Install any new software to the computer?
Do you have any third party antivirus, security, firewall software installed on the computer? Have you tried temporarily disabling those third party programs?
If you are running Microsoft Teams through a web browser, did you have any browser addons/extensions installed? Have you tried disabling those browser addons/extensions?
Are you using anything like Pi-Hole or the like to filter DNS to sinkhole adds and bad websites?
Have you tried changing your router's DNS servers to some other public DNS server?
What is the ISP/broadband provider's modem/model? Is it a gateway or router and not a modem? If so maybe it's not properly configured.
What is the broadband speed?

 

[Tech9]

Some of the in formation is provided. The QoS screenshot is from stock Asuswrt. The ISP line is around 100/25.

 

[shibbyshagy]

I have the same issue with Asus ET9 Zen Mesh. There are no logs in the router for the device having the problem and I've been in constant emails with Asus support for over 3 weeks. They have no clue. As one user noted trying a different brand router just to check if its wifi issue. I a have a Linksys MR9000 and have 0 time outs with Google meeting and XBOX live which also needs a constant stream.
I highly don't recommend Asus if you need a constant stream. even using ethernet wired connection I have the same problem. Only good thing is their wifi reach to 3rd floor and their app is better than Linksys.