RT-AX58U suddenly forcing my WAN to 100 Mbps

[sneak]

Original setup where I got full 1 Gbps:
RT-AX58U router (merlin firmware) -> modem
router -> X570 Taichi Intel 1Gbit ethernet port


I purchased this NIC: TRENDnet TEG-25GECTX and this switch: SODOLA Unmanaged 6-portr POE Switch, 4x 2.5G Base-T & 2x 10G SFP+ and while I am now able to take advantage of the 2.5 gig ports on my NAS, my internet speed dropped from 950/100 to 94/95. In addition to these two items, I purchased all brand-new cat6 cables with specific lengths to neaten things up.

Here's a screenshot of what I'm seeing in the router settings (note I have the NAS turned off and this is after I tried switching the WAN to port 3):

When I point at the "1G" yellow port it says "100 Mbps" and when I click the yellow "i", here's what it shows me:

Here are the things I've tried to resolve this:
- I tried switching to old cables I was already using which worked fine. I tried replacing the one from the router to the switch, then I tried the router to the modem. I also tried replacing the cable directly to my PC from either the switch or router.
- I tried WiFi speed tests on my laptop and phone, where I normally get something lijke 500-800 and sometimes even my full 950 down and it's capped at 100.
- I connected the router to my laptop via ethernet and it's capped at 100.
- I connected my computer directly to my modem (and power cycled so I can get an IP) and I got 1020 down and 100 up (reminder: my internet is sold as 1000/100, but my CODA56 and new NIC support 2.5GbE).
- I tried forcing 2.5 Gbps, 1.0 Gbps, and using auto on both the NIC configuration in Windows as well as the router.
- I tried disabling all forms of green/energy saving things in Windows both by setting to "Not Available" and also trying out "Disabled".
- I tried messing with Jumbo frames.
- I tried messing with the MTU.
- I tried SSHing into router and using the ethctl commands to switch the "ethernet@wirespeed" setting to both "enable" and "disable".
- I tried SSHing into router and using the ethctl command to switch specifically to 2500FD (returned error -1).
- I tried SSHing into router and using the ethctl command to switch specifically to 1000FD. When I check ifconfig it still says 100. It doesn't ever really set.
- I tried SSHing into router and turning off eee.
- I tried SSHing into router and turning off all power saving options.
- I tried SSHing into router and using the ethctl command to switch specifically to auto. It sticks at 100.
- I tried SSHing into router and using the "ethtool" command with the "autoneg" setting. It sticks at 100 regardless.
- I tried switching WAN port to LAN 3 in an attempt to rule out a faulty WAN port.
- I power cycled the modem and router.
- I uninstalled the driver that I installed when I first put the NIC into the PC and tried. Same issue.
- I also reinstalled the driver and had the same issue.
- I connected an ethernet cable back to my on-board ethernet port and then to the router and still am capped at 100 Mbps (since it seems to be capping the WAN).
- I disconnected the switch from the router and reboot the router. Still stuck at 100 Mbps.

Based off all of this information, it is clear to me that the issue is the router because my connection directly to the modem is fine. I just don't know what else to do. Is my router just faulty? I bought it renewed in July 2023 and used it from September 2023 until now.

 

[Squall Leonhart]

try disabling energy efficient ethernet in pwr config (merlin/ssh required)

 

[sneak]

try disabling energy efficient ethernet in pwr config (merlin/ssh required)

I tried this too, but I forgot to mention it when I created my list. I've updated my OP now.

 

[bbunge]

You may find as I have that the Asus 2.5 GB port can be a problem. Just use the 1 GB wan port and quit beating yourself up.

 

[degrub]

ASUS does not list a 2.5 Gbit port on that router according to their spec page. Only Gigabit.

RT-AX58U - Tech Specs｜WiFi Routers｜ASUS USA

Detailed specification of RT-AX58U Tech Specs，Network Standard :IEEE 802.11a|IEEE 802.11b|IEEE 802.11g|WiFi 4 (802.11n)|WiFi 5 (802.11ac)|WiFi 6 (802.11ax)|IPv4|IPv6、Network Standard :IEEE 802.11a|IEEE 802.11b|IEEE 802.11g|WiFi 4 (802.11n)|WiFi 5 (802.11ac)|WiFi 6 (802.11ax)|IPv4|IPv6、Network...

www.asus.com

Either way, something was damaged by the change. It is not negotiating the link rate correctly. It can still be a cable not sitting in the port correctly. You may have found out why it was "renewed".

With just your PC, plug a known good cable into each of the LAN ports one at a time and into the WAN port. What do the link rate lites on the port indicate - 1 Gbit / 1000Mbit or 100 Mbit ?

Were you using the POE ports on the switch to connect to the router or the SFP port of the switch ?

 

[sneak]

You may find as I have that the Asus 2.5 GB port can be a problem. Just use the 1 GB wan port and quit beating yourself up.

There is no 2.5G WAN port on this router. It's 1G.

ASUS does not list a 2.5 Gbit port on that router according to their spec page. Only Gigabit.

RT-AX58U - Tech Specs｜WiFi Routers｜ASUS USA

Detailed specification of RT-AX58U Tech Specs，Network Standard :IEEE 802.11a|IEEE 802.11b|IEEE 802.11g|WiFi 4 (802.11n)|WiFi 5 (802.11ac)|WiFi 6 (802.11ax)|IPv4|IPv6、Network Standard :IEEE 802.11a|IEEE 802.11b|IEEE 802.11g|WiFi 4 (802.11n)|WiFi 5 (802.11ac)|WiFi 6 (802.11ax)|IPv4|IPv6、Network...

www.asus.com

Either way, something was damaged by the change. It is not negotiating the link rate correctly. It can still be a cable not sitting in the port correctly. You may have found out why it was "renewed".

With just your PC, plug a known good cable into each of the LAN ports one at a time and into the WAN port. What do the link rate lites on the port indicate - 1 Gbit / 1000Mbit or 100 Mbit ?

Were you using the POE ports on the switch to connect to the router or the SFP port of the switch ?

It seems odd that it would just stop working during all of these changes, but still not work when I switch back to old cables and remove the switch from the chain entirely. Since it seems like the router is acting up on a firmware level it's hard to believe that this issue is due to it being a "renewed" product. Except, maybe it's a hardware failure that is causing the firmware to behave this way. I did notice that some of these Star-Tech ethernet cables are very difficult to remove from the ports. Other cables in the same ports are fine. However, they go in just fine and this issue occured prior to having to remove them.

I can check the link rate lights in a bit because I have a time-sensitive task I need to do first, but is the purpose of this to determine if the auto-negotiation at the port is matching with what the router is saying? Because it seems like the fact the router shows 100 Mbps for WAN, even if I switch the WAN port to a LAN port in the router settings, on known working cables, that this test may not be fruitful. What am I missing about this test?

I am using the POE ports on the switch to connect to the router. I don't have any SFP connectors and didn't see a reason to buy any.


Also, I'd think it is safe to say that buying a new router would an expensive, foreceful way to rid myself of this issue? Is there any possibility that somehow I'm wrong about the router being the issue? It seems like with the tests I've done it can only be the router. The main reason is because I used the cables I was using before and completely eliminated the switch from the equation, as well as using my on-board ethernet port. I restored everything to how it was prior, and still the router capped my modem to 100 Mbps.

I bought an ASUS RT-BE86U BE6800.

 

[sneak]

Well the new router should get here tommorrow. However, I was sitting around in my office and researching this further, as I've finally got more free time on my hands and it's really bothering me that this coincidentally happened when I was switching to new cables, added a NIC, and added a switch.

I decided to pull one of the cables from the pile of old cables and try AGAIN to connect it between the router and modem. As I'd mentioned in the OP, I already tried this. I don't remember which cable I tried that night.

But now I tried this other cable, and the port is back.

So one of the several Star-Tech cables I ordered was faulty in terms of speed. Speaking of cables, almost all of these get stuck in the ports really bad. I was reading reviews on monoprice ones and they also get stuck. I haven't checked many others, because it's my intent to color code these (yes, I'm aware of label makers).

Now it's a matter of deciding if I want to return the Rt-BE86U or just keep it.


Keeping it PROS:
- I expect my WiFi speeds to be faster, even though my devices go up to only WiFi 6E support and don't support MLO.
- As far as I know, I can use the RT-AX58U in a mesh setup (the coverage may just be better and I may not even need this -- but at the same time why not do a little overkill ?)
- I'll gain 70 Mbps download speed, since the 1 Gbps ports are currently limiting my over-provisioned connection to 950 Mbps, and when connecting directly to my modem with my new NIC I get 1020 Mbps.
- I won't need to use my switch anymore. I could either save it, or return it for a full refund of $66 + tax.


Keeping it CONS:
- It costed $300 + tax.

 

[degrub]

The only thing you may get is slight increase in local speeds (LAN) that is only visible if you can saturate the links. Anything over the internet will be limited by server response ( 100 Mbit/s ?) and internet traffic. So while it may feel snappier, not much changes except cash at ASUS. ;-)

 

[sneak]

The only thing you may get is slight increase in local speeds (LAN) that is only visible if you can saturate the links. Anything over the internet will be limited by server response ( 100 Mbit/s ?) and internet traffic. So while it may feel snappier, not much changes except cash at ASUS. ;-)

The changes are listed above in the PROs.

100 Mbps was a limit imposed on me by a faulty cable.

My internet is sold as 1000/100 but is overprovisioned, and when connecting directly to my modem with a 2.5GbE NIC I experienced 1020 down. I normally get 950 down over 1 GbE. That's a 70 Mbps increase. I obviously saturate it, or I wouldn't care about it or pay for such speeds. If I'm on this forum and discussing the things I discuss, it should be reasonable to presume that I'm understanding the purpose of such speeds and am making use of them.

As far as LAN, considering I have my NAS connected to a 2.5 GbE switch and my PC is also using one, I'm already able to achieve more than about the 115 MB/s I was limited to on 1 GbE ports. The difference now would be that I wouldn't need to use the switch because the router will support the higher port speed.

 

[degrub]

so you want to pay an extra $ 234 to get the same internet experience. Ok, your money.

 

[sneak]

so you want to pay an extra $ 234 to get the same internet experience. Ok, your money.

The information I just explained to you was already explained prior to your post. I explained those things to you again, and you still aren't comprehending. It may be beneficial to your failure to comprehend if you were to read through the thread.