RT-AX88U slow download

[chrisallennc]

I recently switched from ATT Fiber to Google Fiber. After cutting everything over I figured I'd take a baseline test and noticed that my RT-AX88U download speeds were significantly slower than they should be. Running the speed test directly on the router I got ~650 down and ~950 up. The results were the same with both Merlin 388.8_4 and 388_24221-gbedae75 from ASUS directly, with hard resets in between. I then took my RT-AX92U that's normally my mesh node on GNUton Merlin 388.8_4 and it got ~950 down and ~900 up testing directly on it. Pretty close that what I'd expect. I took the GFiber GR6EXX0C, ran a test directly on it and got 1200 down and 1130 up. All 3 were directly connecting to the ONT/Fiber Jack while being tested. Before my ATT got disconnected I ran a test there, the RT-AX88U again did ~650 down and ~950 up, connected into the ATT BGW-210 which was setup for Passthrough since you can't go straight into their ONT. Running the test on the BGW-210 directly it did ~950 down and up.

Any thoughts on what could be going on? I ran all of the tests following a full reset with minimal setup, just defaults through the wizard. Same ethernet cables used in each test. Laptop connected directly to the device being tested to access the UI. Perhaps something wrong with the WAN port itself? The RT-AX88U was purchased in April 2020 and has been in use since then but sits a well ventilated, low traffic area.

 

[Tech9]

Run speed tests with wired client only. Built in Asuswrt speed test is not reliable.

 

[jay2020]

Run speed tests with wired client only. Built in Asuswrt speed test is not reliable.

how can you say the built in wrt speed is not reliable, i ran back to back test, and my test speeds on my ax86u and ISP are consistent with what i should be getting

 

[John Fitzgerald]

Run speed tests with wired client only. Built in Asuswrt speed test is not reliable.

Here comes the drama...

 

[jay2020]

I recently switched from ATT Fiber to Google Fiber. After cutting everything over I figured I'd take a baseline test and noticed that my RT-AX88U download speeds were significantly slower than they should be. Running the speed test directly on the router I got ~650 down and ~950 up. The results were the same with both Merlin 388.8_4 and 388_24221-gbedae75 from ASUS directly, with hard resets in between. I then took my RT-AX92U that's normally my mesh node on GNUton Merlin 388.8_4 and it got ~950 down and ~900 up testing directly on it. Pretty close that what I'd expect. I took the GFiber GR6EXX0C, ran a test directly on it and got 1200 down and 1130 up. All 3 were directly connecting to the ONT/Fiber Jack while being tested. Before my ATT got disconnected I ran a test there, the RT-AX88U again did ~650 down and ~950 up, connected into the ATT BGW-210 which was setup for Passthrough since you can't go straight into their ONT. Running the test on the BGW-210 directly it did ~950 down and up.

Any thoughts on what could be going on? I ran all of the tests following a full reset with minimal setup, just defaults through the wizard. Same ethernet cables used in each test. Laptop connected directly to the device being tested to access the UI. Perhaps something wrong with the WAN port itself? The RT-AX88U was purchased in April 2020 and has been in use since then but sits a well ventilated, low traffic area.

if you did all of that testing then you already know the culprit. is your router running hot? my ax86u runs hot, so i have a fan on it and drop my temps to 50c mostly. i would do a hard reset and try again if same results then maybe you got a bad router

 

[Tech9]

Here comes the drama...

It's about time for the next speed test troubleshooting thread. A play in team External.

 

[bennor]

how can you say the built in wrt speed is not reliable, i ran back to back test, and my test speeds on my ax86u and ISP are consistent with what i should be getting

Just because the router GUI speed test works for you, on your RT-AX86U doesn't mean it works correctly for others, like the OP and their RT-AX88U router, to show the correct broadband speed. Some routers, like the RT-AC68U, were notorious for showing incorrect speeds when using the GUI's speed test. It was partly or entirely due to the speed test using a single core when performing the speed test.

Do a forum search and you'll see quite a few past discussions on the firmware's speed test not always showing the correct speed. It is generally recommended to use a PC directly connected by Ethernet Gigabit or better to the router and run a browser based speed test on sites like Speedtest.net rather than using the router GUI speed test.

 

[jay2020]

Just because the router GUI speed test works for you, on your RT-AX86U doesn't mean it works correctly for others, like the OP and their RT-AX88U router, to show the correct broadband speed. Some routers, like the RT-AC68U, were notorious for showing incorrect speeds when using the GUI's speed test. It was partly or entirely due to the speed test using a single core when performing the speed test.

Do a forum search and you'll see quite a few past discussions on the firmware's speed test not always showing the correct speed. It is generally recommended to use a PC directly connected by Ethernet Gigabit or better to the router and run a browser based speed test on sites like Speedtest.net rather than using the router GUI speeI done

 

[jay2020]

Just because the router GUI speed test works for you, on your RT-AX86U doesn't mean it works correctly for others, like the OP and their RT-AX88U router, to show the correct broadband speed. Some routers, like the RT-AC68U, were notorious for showing incorrect speeds when using the GUI's speed test. It was partly or entirely due to the speed test using a single core when performing the speed test.

Do a forum search and you'll see quite a few past discussions on the firmware's speed test not always showing the correct speed. It is generally recommended to use a PC directly connected by Ethernet Gigabit or better to the router and run a browser based speed test on sites like Speedtest.net rather than using the router GUI speed test.

I done both and always test hard wired then i compare that to speeds off the router and then wireless connection

 

[bennor]

I done both and always test hard wired then i compare that to speeds off the router and then wireless connection

Always good to double check that the results are consistent between different methods (router or local PC) and testing sites. There are some router settings that have been known to potentially cause issues with performing speed tests, among them AiProtection, QoS, and certain third party scripts if using Asus-Merlin.

 

[Tech9]

my ax86u runs hot, so i have a fan on it

Perhaps time for another router temperatures thread? I can play in different teams for this one.