RT-AC68U paired with PCE-AC68

[theleran]

So I have the RT-AC68U, and on my desktop, I have the PCE-AC68. For some reason, I cannot connect to the router with the AC protocol. When I check the network info, it says 802.11n. I also recently had to wipe and re-install windows 8.1, and now my speed is down from 800-1000 Mbps to a constant 450 Mbps according to connection properties. How do I connect using the faster AC protocol, and why am I now stuck at 450 Mbps?

SSID: DEFAULT
Protocol: 802.11n
Security type: WPA2-Personal
IPv4 address: 192.168.1.100
IPv4 DNS Servers: 192.168.0.1
Manufacturer: ASUS
Description: ASUS PCE-AC68 802.11ac Network Adapter
Driver version: 6.30.223.228

 

[Buck115]

I have the same combination and it works fine. However, If your router has been updated to ASUS 376_1663 Firmware or Merlin's 376_44 Firmware, then you have to make sure that 5GHz Wireless Mode is set to Auto, not N&AC, otherwise it will limit the connection and you won't connect at 80MHz and it will probably be 40MHz/450Mbps.

 

[whitey019]

+1 What Buck said.

 

[theleran]

I have the same combination and it works fine. However, If your router has been updated to ASUS 376_1663 Firmware or Merlin's 376_44 Firmware, then you have to make sure that 5GHz Wireless Mode is set to Auto, not N&AC, otherwise it will limit the connection and you won't connect at 80MHz and it will probably be 40MHz/450Mbps.

I have changed it to Auto, it was on the N+AC. Now I'm showing the connection speed at a sustained 877.5 Mbps to 1.0 Gbps, on the 5GHz / 80Mhz. However, it still says I'm connected using the 802.11n protocol, and I cant get speed above the 1.0 Gbps.

 

[whitey019]

I have changed it to Auto, it was on the N+AC. Now I'm showing the connection speed at a sustained 877.5 Mbps to 1.0 Gbps, on the 5GHz / 80Mhz. However, it still says I'm connected using the 802.11n protocol, and I cant get speed above the 1.0 Gbps.

If you are seeing those connection speeds, you are not connecting via 802.11N, because it is not capable of rates that high. What is reporting the protocol 802.11N? What is you actual transfer speed?

 

[Asmodian]

Right, 802.11N maxes out at 450 Mbps for 3 spacial streams.

Three stream 802.11AC theoretically could hit 1300 Mbps but 1053 Mbps is closer to reality (the slowest QAM 256, 3/4 QAM 256 with a 800 ns guard interval, instead of the fastest mode possible; 5/6 QAM 256 with a 400 ns guard interval). Of course I have no idea what encoding each stream is really using but I consider anything above 975 Mbps an almost perfect 802.11AC three stream connection. One would need a very quite electromagnetic environment to do better.

 

[theleran]

If you are seeing those connection speeds, you are not connecting via 802.11N, because it is not capable of rates that high. What is reporting the protocol 802.11N? What is you actual transfer speed?

Windows (8.1) is reporting the 802.11n protocol connection type, via Network Settings. My actual transfer speeds on the network average around 18-23 MBps.

 

[whitey019]

If that is 18-23 mega-bytes/sec it sounds like you you are indeed connecting at 802.11N, two stream more than likely. Did you install the ASUS drivers for the PCE-AC68? If not, the default Windows drivers will treat it as a 'N' device.

 

[theleran]

If that is 18-23 mega-bytes/sec it sounds like you you are indeed connecting at 802.11N, two stream more than likely. Did you install the ASUS drivers for the PCE-AC68? If not, the default Windows drivers will treat it as a 'N' device.

Yes, I have the latest drivers from Asus website. I also noticed that the Asus software/utility doesn't show me a speed? I have uninstalled and re installed the Asus driver package as well, no change.