RT-AC66U Media Bridge Stability

[Boogieman]

Media Bridge is not stable with Merlin 380.70. Use Merlin 380.66 instead. My Media Bridge is up for weeks with no restart.

Thanks Val D
I am going to try that version at once. If it works this is godsend info.
Is that 380.66_ 0,2,4 or 6 on merlins page below?
https://sourceforge.net/projects/asuswrt-merlin/files/RT-AC66U/Release/


Just rebooted the bridge again lol, getting used to have movie breaks lol

 

[Val D.]

Is that 380.66_ 0,2,4 or 6 on merlins page below?

I'm using 380.66_0 version. Came to this one by trial and error.
Make sure it is loaded properly, reset the router, set the Media Bridge and test.

My wife's computer is wired to the Media Bridge, you know...
I'm still alive, so it must be working. Seriously, I've seen >2 months up-time on that router.

 

[Boogieman]

I'm using 380.66_0 version. Came to this one by trial and error.
Make sure it is loaded properly, reset the router, set the Media Bridge and test.

My wife's computer is wired to the Media Bridge, you know...
I'm still alive, so it must be working. Seriously, I've seen >2 months up-time on that router.

I'll be damned, the media bridge is still up, have been using it a couple of days now without issues.
FANTASTIC recommendation - HUUUGE THANKS IT WORKS

I was changing firmware on my router AC-2900 as a first step before but that did not help at all (had a 66u there before too but returned it since media bridge was broken even then. Actually got worse when getting the ac2900 so i was about to give up completely, but now i can drop that problem as the problem seems to only have been the media bridge

Thanks again
Boogie

 

[Val D.]

IT WORKS

In general I believe the problem has something to do with HW acceleration Enabled. In Media Bridge mode there is no access to HW acceleration settings and it can't be disabled. Workaround solution is to start in Router Mode, disable HW acceleration and then switch to Media Bridge. HW acceleration stays Disabled, if the router was not reset. This way Media Bridge is more stable. But Asuswrt-Merlin 380.66 holds the link well as it is, so no need to do the steps above. ASUS stock firmware base used for 380.66 also works well, as far as I remember. Someone fixed something by accident.

 

[Boogieman]

In general I believe the problem has something to do with HW acceleration Enabled. In Media Bridge mode there is no access to HW acceleration settings and it can't be disabled. Workaround solution is to start in Router Mode, disable HW acceleration and then switch to Media Bridge. HW acceleration stays Disabled, if the router was not reset. This way Media Bridge is more stable. But Asuswrt-Merlin 380.66 holds the link well as it is, so no need to do the steps above. ASUS stock firmware base used for 380.66 also works well, as far as I remember. Someone fixed something by accident.

Overall the 66u works a lot better with no reboots needed, BUT I am experiencing ocassional drops in wifi wifi performance. Easily seen when streaming movies where i get sudden "short breaks" of maybe 0.5s or judder (not gpu related) and then it catches up again for some 30minutes before next break.
But i guess this is as good as it gets fw wise or did you try any later versions? Maybe the next subrevision?

Oh so you say hw accel is disabled by default in this version? I need to check speedtest to make sure i i still do 100/100mbit wirelesss. Hw accel makes an insane diff on WiFi speeds so could be resson to judder especially on 4k.
Though i remember copying files to nas via wifi and that was far beyond 100mbit~ 10MB/s (more like 40MB/s = about 400mbit).
Though gonna double check so its not my memory that remembers an old fw version

 

[Val D.]

I am experiencing ocassional drops in wifi wifi performance

What WiFi performance? Media Bridge allows wired clients only. Wireless link to wired clients.

Oh so you say hw accel is disabled by default in this version?

It is Enabled by default, but according to my experience Media Bridge runs more stable with HW acceleration Disabled.

 

[Boogieman]

What WiFi performance? Media Bridge allows wired clients only. Wireless link to wired clients.

Yes clients connect to the bridge by wire, but communication between router and media bridge is wireless and there is the speed limiting link, which you can meassure by ie doing a transfer from
- wired nas on router
- via wireless link
- to pc wired to media bridge.

It is Enabled by default, but according to my experience Media Bridge runs more stable with HW acceleration Disabled.

Ok, might try going to router mode and switching off hw accel and then back to bridge then. Meassure throughput if its enough after.

 

[Val D.]

there is the speed limiting link

Then find what is limiting the link speed - distance, noise level, channel availability.
My Media Bridge holds steady 1300Mbps link every time I take a look at WebUI, once a week.

 

[Boogieman]

Then find what is limiting the link speed - distance, noise level, channel availability.
My Media Bridge holds steady 1300Mbps link every time I take a look at WebUI, once a week.

1300MBps link is NOT the same thing as 1300Mbps transfer speed.
If that was the case it would be faster than gigabit wired connection, which it is not, not even under best cicumstances with a 66u.
As a comparison my max Phy rate is 1733Mbps, but without a solid RSSI it is not worth more than a penny in the pond

Though in my case its no doubt the wireless link as i live in an apartment complex and if i set one channel one day, it will overlap someone elses next day even in 5GHz spectrum. Have tested different channels and locked at the one that seems least used over time.
also tried auto, different channel widths and making sure adjacent channels are in the right part of the spectrum, to make sure its not bumping down to 40 or 20 width at the wrong place in the spectrum)

Hardware accel allows me to reach higher speeds (basically doubling it) and im fine with the speed of 40Mbyte/s over my distance with one thick concrete wall and 2 plaster walls.

 

[Val D.]

1300MBps link is NOT the same thing as 1300Mbps transfer speed.

Did you see someone talking about 1300Mbps transfer rates?

i set one channel one day, it will overlap someone elses

I don't know where do you live, but here in North America we have only 2 x 80MHz wide 5GHz channels. UNII-1 usually provides better throughput and less interference from other wireless devices (cordless phones, for example). With 1300Mbps link rate I can see up to 70-80MB/sec file transfers or about 600Mbps. This is all RT-AC66U can do anyway. If you have 40MB/sec in your environment and you believe it is very crowded, than nothing else you can do via WiFi. Think about power line adapters, some work really well on short distances.

 

[Jerom7]

I'm using 380.66_0 version. Came to this one by trial and error.
Make sure it is loaded properly, reset the router, set the Media Bridge and test.

My wife's computer is wired to the Media Bridge, you know...
I'm still alive, so it must be working. Seriously, I've seen >2 months up-time on that router.

Fantastic² !!
It worked for me too, Merlin 380.66_ 0 for Asus RT-N66U makes a great Media Bridge!!
(Was not operationnal on 374.43_2 LTS fork.)

Cheers!