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RT-AC87U - Frustrations...

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Hi Sean,

The processor looks about right. So I did a quick test on my router and went from the second floor (where the router is) all the way to the basement and I get some of the ping test values. The thing I did notice is that the delay only takes place when I went from one floor and moved around in general.

If I were to hazard a guess, your spikes in delays may be attributed with how Beam Forming works. It does takes a wee amount of time to find the device as you move around. That time is not humanly perceivable but it does takes its toll when you do a ping test and in some cases it might drop a packet or two which did happen to me as I was doing a marathon around my place.

As for the internet speed test (since I live in Canada) the values I get are acceptable considering that the test servers are half way across the world from me. Can you try speedtest.net to see if you can get similar and or better results from servers that are closer to your physical location?

Other than that for actual speed and reliability test I would try file transfers or even download a file (say the Microsoft .Net framework offline installer) to see if you have comparable performance to your old router.

Let me know how that works Sean, good luck bud.
Hi Again
I forgot to ask what were your ping timings on your stroll?
I am going to install the firmware DaveMishSr mentioned when i get home from work this arvo and see how that goes....

When i gave up last night the 5ghz net was working flawlessly, but 2.4 was cactus!
 
Hi Again
I forgot to ask what were your ping timings on your stroll?
I am going to install the firmware DaveMishSr mentioned when i get home from work this arvo and see how that goes....

When i gave up last night the 5ghz net was working flawlessly, but 2.4 was cactus!

Hi Sean,

Some of my ping times reached upwards of 1000 ms (so 1 second) on the 2.4 GHz and on the 5 GHz it was about the same thing. I got lots of exercise doing both frequencies ;). But meh I needed to burn some of that fat of mine :). One thing though is that I did this test with a Mac Book Pro that has an AC adapter. I want make that as a point because my laptop has beam forming as well. I believe that the wireless adapter has a 2 x 2 antennae setup (I am not 100% sure). I would have tested on an 802.11n device but CoD Advanced Warfare was calling me ;). However, if you need me to do another marathon in my house I should be good too.
 
Save yourself the aggravation and do yourself a favor a get rid of the 87U/R. I had that router myself and I learned the hard way before I finally had enough and returned it for a refund.

I picked up the new 68P and performance and stability has been night and day compared to the 87R.

Considering, this will be my last Asus router I purchase. Too many recent issues with garbage firmware releases and other deceiving tactics for me to trust this company again.
 
Hi Sean,

Some of my ping times reached upwards of 1000 ms (so 1 second) on the 2.4 GHz and on the 5 GHz it was about the same thing. I got lots of exercise doing both frequencies ;). But meh I needed to burn some of that fat of mine :). One thing though is that I did this test with a Mac Book Pro that has an AC adapter. I want make that as a point because my laptop has beam forming as well. I believe that the wireless adapter has a 2 x 2 antennae setup (I am not 100% sure). I would have tested on an 802.11n device but CoD Advanced Warfare was calling me ;). However, if you need me to do another marathon in my house I should be good too.

hey no problems...
Now wait for it...
The router has been on since last night - 21 hours of uptime running Merlin 346.47...
So i just walk in the door from work - turn on the lappy and it connects to the 2.4ghz net and ping times are stable at 3ms with very occasional spikes to 20 or 30.... 5ghz has the same and my speeds are now around the 80000 - 98000 kbps right where it should be - I wonder what gives? I haven't done anything - its like the modem needs ages to reboot and set its self up.... Or there is some interference somewhere.. Its really strange.

A question for people - does it take a long time for the router to "stabalize" its wireless connections - or have i got faulty hardware
 
hey no problems...
Now wait for it...
The router has been on since last night - 21 hours of uptime running Merlin 346.47...
So i just walk in the door from work - turn on the lappy and it connects to the 2.4ghz net and ping times are stable at 3ms with very occasional spikes to 20 or 30.... 5ghz has the same and my speeds are now around the 80000 - 98000 kbps right where it should be - I wonder what gives? I haven't done anything - its like the modem needs ages to reboot and set its self up.... Or there is some interference somewhere.. Its really strange.

A question for people - does it take a long time for the router to "stabalize" its wireless connections - or have i got faulty hardware

After my initial OMG why is my 5.0 GHz network was going up and down like a dead yo-yo (it was up and then went down and stayed down until I resetted), my router has been solid for 2 months and going. Because all the settings are in "auto" I believe it takes its time for the router to tune out of the different interfering signals that might be taking place at your place. Anything from 2.4/5.0 GHz Cordless phones, Microwave Oven, a radioactive fly (kidding) etc. can affect your stability and your router tunes to the channels that are less noisy.

That said, sometimes I really think that wireless network as my dad once said it is part science and part FM (Fraking Magic). Glad to know that it is working for you Sean.
 
Hi guys, I bought today this new RT-AC87U, it's my first router ASUS, but I can't find how to set a WEP password for WiFi.. (I need it to use the WDS)... I know that should be a "Shared key" option into the "Authentication method" section, but I have only Open system, WPA and WPA2.. How it's possibile?

idr0EpOyp


Thanks
 
I upgraded the firmware to my RT-AC87U and noticed that 2.4Ghz will not longer authenticate. I have a different SSID but same passphrase as my 5Ghz radio. 5GHz works fine, 2.4Ghz works fine with open, but if I use any passphrase I've tried it will not connect.

I've also noticed that the yellow firmware upgrade icon is one, but it will not connect to Asus to upgrade. I have 3.0.0.4.378_4376. Is there really something newer? I don't see anything via their support site.

Thanks!
 
Thanks. I did that yesterday actually, but I wonder if their link was bad.

I download and installed twice, once remotely over VPN and the next time on-site. I ended up running the same firmware upon reboot, 3.0.0.4.378_4376.

I just now downloaded the last two firmwares, I downgraded to 3.0.0.4.378.3885 and then I upgraded to 3.0.0.4.378.4608 and now my Chromecast and Nest will connect to 2.4Ghz and the firmware upgrade icon works as well. I also noticed that 3.0.0.4.378_4376 is not event listed or available for download. I wonder if I downloaded and installed a bad release.
 
Firmware 4376 was indeed replaced by 4608 as it contained several issues. Remember to, if you have not done so, to reset the router and start from scratch (manual input of settings). This will ensure the new firmware is loaded, for example, by the new defaults, if any.
 
How imperative is that? It sounds horrible. All my PAT rules and IPv6 settings? Not to mention I could see all my IP addresses change if the DHCP server doesn't allow requested IPs. Errr....

Firmware 4376 was indeed replaced by 4608 as it contained several issues. Remember to, if you have not done so, to reset the router and start from scratch (manual input of settings). This will ensure the new firmware is loaded, for example, by the new defaults, if any.
 
How imperative is that? It sounds horrible. All my PAT rules and IPv6 settings? Not to mention I could see all my IP addresses change if the DHCP server doesn't allow requested IPs. Errr....
Given the amount of fixes that 378.4608 contains I rather STRONGLY concur with fax in recommending a factory reset with a manual reconfiguration afterwards. If that is too daunting for you (and it actually isn't that bad if you spread it out over a couple of days) then use the nvram save & restore utility that has its own thread in the Asus-Merlin forum. It is great and John's instructions are bullet-proof!
 
Problem with all of these routers is not a software problem when you get WAN speeds exceeding 150 to 300mbps. Most routers have a single CPU and that is definitely not enough… And even the dual core CPUs found in the RT 68 U you is still not enough

With a 350 Mb connection, the 68 unit is capable of actually routing and network address translating 350 Mb worth of data using one single connection – which also means one file – or one data Stream. That has CPU number one at 100% and CPU number two at 50 to 60%....now streamto unlimited bandwidth, and the 68 unit caps out at 25 MB per second which is 150 Mb per second – this is because both CPUs are maxed out at 100% and are also burning themselves up and are running at nearly 80 C – this is in a room that is kept at a constant 66° year round – which is my home office with three PCs… That 66°F… That kind of strain and he will cause the 68 unit to need a reboot several times per day… So well that unit can handle one connection at 350 Mb, the Instant you start establishing other connections, and downloading data, the more load is put on the CPUs… You could have 20 to 30 connections that are barely uploading or downloading data or periodically doing it that will not affect your overall band with to you to see if you limitations… But if you were to try to have 20 connection is down below 20 files , One file each from various websites that support your Internet speed… The 68 unit would be capable only about 50 to 75 Mb worth of data

So their whole advertisement about their routers being able to tackle 30,000 connections is a bunch of BS… They can definitely handle 30,000 connections providing your Internet speed doesn't exceed 35 Mb

The 87u is unique router in all of the routers ASUS makes for residential and small business use. It is the only router that has four CPU cores. Actually two separate 2 core CPUs. The main double core CPU is clocked at 1 GHz and does everything that is not Wi-Fi... It also has another double core CPU that runs at 500 MHz that does everything Wi-Fi… So if you have a hard drive hooked into the unit as a media server, these processors handle everything from streaming data from the hard drive through Wi-Fi, and if you were going from Wi-Fi to lan or vice then all four cores would be involved, and the dedicated CPU to Wi-Fi would be taking a massive load off the main units CPU... If this unit did not have this special processing said, it would not be able to handle much more WAN data vs the 68 unit as you would simply have a next-generation dual CPU going to hundred megahertz faster... What that would have given somebody is probably 2 to 3 connection is downloading all out and achieving a total combined download of 350 Mb… But add any more serious downloading connections and you would probably drop down to 100 Mb total due to cup overload. But because of the 87 design, you can get away with about 10 to 20 hard-core downloading connections and we still on for 350 to 400 Mb… Maybe even 500

Even newer more expensive routers from asus this unique combination. 87 you still cost about US$268… Yet they make routers for residential and small businesses that go all the way up to $500 in cost… That's because they are concentrating on making these for f 87 UCO costs about US$268… Yet they make routers for residential and small businesses that go all the way up to $500 in cost… That's because they are concentrating on making these super fast wifi 4x4 or soon 5x5 AC connections... Because technically 802.11 AC can use a 160 MHz wide channel… That would take up all standard 5 GHz channels except 165… And in the USA you can only access channel 165 if the 5 GHz band is set to 20 megahertz wide ...that's sort of a little secret most people don't now… It's very hard to overcrowd the 5 GHz band but it is very possible In a highly populated urban area with lots of apartments crammed together...so if you grow desperate, you can use the hidden channel 165 at 20 MHz wide...Unfortunately using 802.11 and this is a maximum throughput of hundred megabits... However if you are using 802.11 AC with multiple MIMO..You can probably squeeze 200 to 300 Mb out of this minor little secret channel


Anyway… I know of no residential or small business router that is actually, truly capable of handling a one gigabit connection… If you actually attempted to DL One gigabit per second worth of total data from five or six different connections on the same or multiple devices… And try to achieve a total combined download of one gigabits for everything – it's not possible… It's not even possible with One connection ... Is possible if you were using IP six because that eliminates nar routing, that takes a massive weight off the CPU load ... My advice is if your ISP supports IP six – turn it on… Time Warner cable now fully supports IP six in most areas… Before I swapped out my 68 with my 87 because my 87 was just being used as an access point… I was to squeeze more data from my Internet connection by turning off firewalls and D DOS protection and anything else that could possibly use the CPU… And then I enabled IPv6… So if I did a heavy download from an IP six site, normally under IP4 that would take up one point 5 of the double CPU system ... And then I initiated a sec it download using IP four, the 68 unit suddenly can only pull 150 Mb total because of CPU overload… But I ran a test and disabled IP for on my PC… And then Had steam DL a game. And it does support IP six… And lo and behold I got 45 MB per second ...that was not possible under ip4… And technically, I probably could have initiated a Nother steam download on another computer, and each would've gotten about 22 to 23 MB per second - 300 Mb per second..I Pay for 300 Mb connection, but Twc gives customers a bit extra – especially business.

So if you can't afford another router, and you're even stuck with the 66 unit...at unit will perform even worse because it only has one cpu. 1 core. That unit is completely incapable of handling any connection over 100 Mb… Enabling IPv6 may help those of you who have this router… But it will only help if the site that you are accessing supports IPv6 also ....keep in mind your Internet provider must fully support.. Example Time Warner cable's IP six DNS servers will allow IPv6 queries, but they don't return a true IPv6 address. What they return is an IP6 address in an Ip4 format. May look like an IP six address… And tactically it is but it's the way to show an IP for address and IP six… This does create problems because you will not always be able to access true IP six websites in some cases. So if you have Twc , recommend you run your own IP six DNS server, or use a public full blown IP six DNS server

As far as setting up ip6... This can vary greatly from ISP the ISP… With many of them using conversion techniques and other things that are not native… These routers do support that but they are much more difficult to configure… If you're lucky your provider supports native IPv6 support like Time Warner cable. They support both stateless and steak they support both stateless and stateful and they have DCHP-PD - meaning they take care of assigning you – actually all of your devices and IP six address… Now you can choose state full or stateless and let the ISP you do everything... You can do what I do is choose the mode where the DHCP server just gives you the main IPv6 prefix, and allows you to choose the very last number for your IP pool… Trust me you'll have a lot – it's well over 10,000 IP addresses ... IPv6 has so many combinations that and Isp it easily afford to do that ... Anyway that gives you a little bit more control… But these routers will not let you manually and you're a Mac address and set at IP six address like you can in ip4. However there is a little bit of a drawback because all your devices are getting public addresses and you're not behind a network address translation meaning anybody on the Internet can see all your devices because when they advertise themselves they advertise out into the public because they couldn't do that before… So enabling an IP 6 fire well on the router helps but if you're trying to save CPU resources than this is a bad idea… Instead and Abel the routers DHCP IPv6 server .... That causes something very interesting to happen… Each device ends up with two IPv6 addresses and this is all part of the IP six rules and regulations… Each device actually if they support IP six months support three IPv6 address is: temporary IPv6 address, a link local IP six Address, and the regular full blown IPv6 address… When you enable all your routers IP 6 dchp server , it will assign a private network of IP addresses to all of your devices… Depending on the device and operating system this private address will either go into the link local spot – which is the most common, or it could go into the temporary spot… Either way this presents any of your computer and device announcements from going out in the Internet because the computers and devices have their own routing tables and they will use local and temporary IPv6 addresses for local transmission of data, and use the real IPv6 address within Internet is accessed… another reason to do this is because your router is no longer the gateway anymore under IP six… The gateway is with your ISP… So once ISP is fully used a lot of things go away. But you can firewall each of your computers for safety… And for the most part It's very hard for somebody to hack your cell phone unless you have a jailbroken and didn't change the password
 
The key to this router is making sure all of the hardware acceleration is turned on. Unfortunately for hardware acceleration you only had disabled or auto. If you are in auto mode you need to make sure that both CTF and accelerated flow are running. CTF will almost always work, but that really doesn't help matters...AF REMOVES ALL WAN TO WIRED load OFF THE CPUS

If accelerated flow is not enabled, you will never be able to get more than 100 to 150 Mb with more than one connection. This router also has two sets of CPUs… One for mainstream stuff including routing from wan to wired pretty much everything else. Accelerated flow will reduce the CPU use to zero no matter how much data is being routed

Ever unlike other routers by this company this model has a dual core 500 MHz CPU that handles just the wireless antennas… And this is where the problem is usually arise. The problem is these dual core CPU's can not handle high-speed routing of wireless to wired or wireless to Internet data at high speeds

Once full hardware acceleration is enabled, it will take the load off both of the CPU sets order to do this many of the routers features must be turned off for fall acceleration to be enabled… So for this thing to work you cannot have the following ever enabled:

No Qos OF ANY KIND
No data monitoring or analysis active whatsoever as well as logging data monitoring or analysis
no manul port forwarding (universal plug and play it safe to enable)
SPANNING TREE PROTOCOL OFF
If any of the above are turned on, accelerated flow will disappear

Also part of the problem with the 5 GHz antenna is that the professional settings is missing over three quarters of the settings that appear under the 2 GHz professional settings… I'm not sure why they do this but I'm guessing they just leave these hidden settings at default..

There are two other settings that can make a massive difference under the professional settings DTIM & beacon interval

The defaults of 100 and 3, Will actually cause massive problems with cell phones and tablets and even some laptops. Setting this 50&3 or 75&2 basically you want to keep the total number from going under 125 to 150… Any lower and the devices will use a lot of power to communicate over Wi-Fi. Basically when these numbers total 300 or more, devices tend to temporarily send their Wi-Fi into Power saving mode, and by lowering these numbers by half, you basically disable the power saving Wi-Fi mode on your portable devices. And believe me even if you're transferring huge files, if those numbers are at 300 total or higher, power saving still can kick in, and you have bad performance issues... FYI you don't add the numbers you multiply them

Once I started keeping them around 150, most of my issues went away…still have some Wi-Fi problems with this router… Usually works fine for 24 hours and then the Wi-Fi goes to hell… The rest of the router keeps working fine but the Wi-Fi dies. So I set up another access point in my house. And the 87U is now a dedicated router, and I use a 68u dedicated Wi-Fi access point in AP mode… That has completely solved all of my issues and now I get 300 Mb to all of my Wi-Fi clients from my 300 Mb Internet connection… And now with both hardware types enabled, I can have multiple devices accessing the Internet and still get a total bandwidth of 300Mb

Their main problem with this is they tried to add a second set of CPUs to offload the work load from the main CPUs that handle the Wi-Fi on other models… The problem is the CPUs are just too slow to handle many connections and high speeds of data – which is ironic doing this is an 802.11AC router which should be able to handle a gigabit speeds on wifi. This was a great idea but those CPUs are too slow to route multiple clients using high speeds worth of data

Keep In mind that this is the *****only***** ASUS router for a home OR small business that can handle an Internet connection of 100 Mb OR faster. So it's still a good by if your connection is a 150 to 1 Gb connection… But by only for the routing purposes and disable the Wi-Fi… And then get a 68U unit as a dedicated access point
 
Not exactly.

1) The RT-AC68U is able to achieve near gigabit speed when NAT acceleration is enabled. Quite a few Asian users with ISPs delivering 1Gbps are able to break 900 Mbps. The key is to ensure that NAT acceleration is enabled. The RT-AC87U is definitely not the only router from Asus that can handle near gigabit performance (and its architecture doesn't bring anything particular to help - it has the exact same CPU as the RT-AC3200, with the same routing performance).

2) The RT-AC87U CPU architecture isn't like that. There's one dual core CPU, the BCM4709 which handles the Asuswrt firmware with all of its features, routing, and the 2.4 GHz radio. The second CPU, an ARC 700, is single core, and is only used to run the minimalist Quantenna firmware, which handles the 5 Ghz wifi, and nothing else. It brings no performance improvement to the router (it doesn't even touch the traffic routing), and is a pretty low performance CPU in itself.
 
The RT-AC87U CPU architecture isn't like that. There's one dual core CPU, the BCM4709 which handles the Asuswrt firmware with all of its features, routing, and the 2.4 GHz radio. The second CPU, an ARC 700, is single core, and is only used to run the minimalist Quantenna firmware, which handles the 5 Ghz wifi, and nothing else. It brings no performance improvement to the router (it doesn't even touch the traffic routing), and is a pretty low performance CPU in itself.

IIRC - I've always viewed the RT-AC87U as two AP's in one box...

The Broadcom side of the house, it's half of a 68U, with the 4709 and a 4360 running 2.4GHz, and managing the WAN and some of the LAN ports, along with all routing/firewall/apps/etc... and then the QTN QSR managing the 5GHz and one of the LAN ports over RPC... The ARC700 is an odd-duck microprocessor core, but one can't compare clock speeds - I'm sure QTN had their reasons for selecting that core...
 

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