[Sort of SOLVED] Slow Wifi Upload for XT8 on Verizon Fios

[Piel]

Hello everyone,

I thought I'd share my latest experiment which appears to have solved my biggest issues with my XT8 system. I originally started with a 4 unit XT8 mesh system on Verizon Fios with a 400/400 plan. Wired speeds were 500/500 (not a typo) but on wireless I could never get above 200 Mbps upload. After tweaking everything I could learn from this site, I put an ASUS AX3000 (with Merlin firmware) in front of them all and set the XT8s in AP mode. That got me to about 500/250....but it was infuriating, given that I was now paying for gigabit speed up and down.

So...I bought a Nighthawk router to replace the AX3000 (accidentally got an AC router as opposed to AX) and I just got 701/673 over WiFi. Upload speeds actually peaked around 700 Mbps (edit: just retested and got 702/680 and peaked at 730 UL), so I think these are perfectly acceptable speeds. For those inquiring, I was testing at the XT8 APs and not at the Nighthawk router.

I just ordered a Nighthawk AX router with a better processor and will share my results once I have it set up.

From my experience, ASUS routers simply are NOT compatible with Verizon Fios. You need to put another brand in front of them if you want to preserve your investment (I spent about $800 on the four XT8s). I've added here a screenshot of my speedtest results as well as the settings I have for the XT8s in AP mode.

I hope this helps anyone else frustrated with ASUS and Fios.

 

[Piel]

Just tested from about 25-30 feet away from the nearest AP that is in a closet and I got 602/501. I'm done banging my head with this system ;-)

 

[Tech9]

This is not a solution. You lose all Asuswrt features. What about a cheap $60 wired router (ER-X, ER605, hEX) between the ISP and XT8? If it solves the problem too, you can still use your XT8 as router. Why do you need to buy an expensive Netgear AIO router and use XT8 as AP's only?

 

[Grayson73]

This is not a solution. You lose all Asuswrt features. What about a cheap $60 wired router (ER-X, ER605, hEX) between the ISP and XT8? If it solves the problem too, you can still use your XT8 as router. Why do you need to buy an expensive Netgear AIO router and use XT8 as AP's only?

I'd like to know if this would solve the issue as well. Someone want to try it?

$60 - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08QTXNWZ1/?tag=snbforums-20

Or maybe anything with gigabit LAN ports, like this TP-Link router for $40? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07KGH7R5X/?tag=snbforums-20

 

[bokolobs]

Did the same thing as OP, albeit with an appliance running Untangle. XT8 is just terrible as a router and the firmware problems are so frustrating. And the more you use those "features" the more terrible the XT8 gets. Ever since I relegated my XT8 nodes to AP duty, I've never had a problem with my network, wired or wifi. I deeply regret buying the XT8. I should have gotten a pair of TP-link APs and a POE switch instead.

 

[Piel]

This is not a solution. You lose all Asuswrt features. What about a cheap $60 wired router (ER-X, ER605, hEX) between the ISP and XT8? If it solves the problem too, you can still use your XT8 as router. Why do you need to buy an expensive Netgear AIO router and use XT8 as AP's only?

A very common problem for Verizon Fios users is that ASUS routers do not provide the most utterly basic functionality in terms of delivering speeds remotely approaching what you are paying for from your ISP or from your router manufacturer...But, you know this.

Why on earth would I care about all sorts of bells and whistles that provide me absolutely no value or help in doing the most fundamental thing a router is supposed to do, which is send and receive data as quickly as possible?

So, with all due respect....this is a solution for MY problem.

 

[Tech9]

So, with all due respect....this is a solution for MY problem.

Well... you first paid high price for 2x XT8 systems (used as AP's only) and then another high price for a Netgear AIO router (used as wired router, perhaps). The decision is yours, of course. What I'm saying is $60 wired router to solve the up/down speed issue with this specific ISP and XT8 behind it in router mode. This way you can use available XT8 features, at least. The solution is basically the same, but cheaper, more compact and with better end result. As I understand, the issue is present when Asus router is connected directly to this ISP.

 

[Piel]

FWIW, I paid about $80 USD for a piece of hardware that solved the literally scores of hours I have spent trying to get my XT8s to do what they were supposed to do in the first place. The XT8 features are of no use to me if the U/D speeds are garbage.

My recommendation to anyone who has Verizon Fios is to stay away from ASUS. It just does not work.

 

[Piel]

Did the same thing as OP, albeit with an appliance running Untangle. XT8 is just terrible as a router and the firmware problems are so frustrating. And the more you use those "features" the more terrible the XT8 gets. Ever since I relegated my XT8 nodes to AP duty, I've never had a problem with my network, wired or wifi. I deeply regret buying the XT8. I should have gotten a pair of TP-link APs and a POE switch instead.

I am 100% with you in having wasted so much money on the XT8s - I'm never buying ASUS again.

 

[silvernblack81]

So has anyone tried running one of these cheap routers yet? I tried an unmanaged switch before and it did nothing

 

[silvernblack81]

This is not a solution. You lose all Asuswrt features. What about a cheap $60 wired router (ER-X, ER605, hEX) between the ISP and XT8? If it solves the problem too, you can still use your XT8 as router. Why do you need to buy an expensive Netgear AIO router and use XT8 as AP's only?

can you explain this? I tried a switch between the Ont and the ASUS router and it didn’t work.
You’re suggesting using a wired router instead, between the Ont and the ASUS zenwifi router? How would I do this and still be able to use the zenwifi in router mode?

 

[silvernblack81]

Any update on this?

 

[Grayson73]

I'm on the latest firmware and WiFi upload speed is still slow

 

[silvernblack81]

I'm on the latest firmware and WiFi upload speed is still slow

yeah I’m actually still on old firmware that was suggested. But I’m not quite sure how to do what’s suggested, using a regular router in between the Ont and the ASUS without putting the ASUS in bridge mode. So I can still use the router mode on the ASUS but have that regular router in between, to hopefully regain the speeds.

 

[Fathamster]

New to this thread, but having all the same issues. Including the upload speed cutting out at about 200. So, tried a bunch of things. Including purchasing two new ASUS routers (AX88U and AX86U). Each of those, when connected directly to the ONT (without the XT8 hooked up), gave me max upload speeds of like 250. So, it is definitely an ASUS issue with, not just an XT8 issue.

Next, I hooked up an old Netgear R6400. That was giving me wireless connections speeds of 500-700 upload and download. Good. So, I turned the radios off on the Netgear and then started to add in the the XT8 units (I have 4 of them) one at a time in AP mode. With only 1 AP connected, I was getting full upload and download speeds. Again, good. But, as soon as I started adding multiple XT8 AP's to the mix, performance went back to sub 200 downloads. Doesn't matter if I have 2, 3, or 4 APs, or whether the backhaul is ethernet or via dedicated backhaul, the performance is back to where I started. Infuriating.

 

[outruller]

Folks, I might've found a solution - try using a secondary WAN port.
It definitely helped me
Here's the Reddit thread with instructions.
Cheers!

 

[silvernblack81]

Folks, I might've found a solution - try using a secondary WAN port.
It definitely helped me
Here's the Reddit thread with instructions.
Cheers!

the zenwifi only has one wan port. Is there a way to do this still?

 

[Grayson73]

Yes, you can use lan port 1. See this thread. https://www.snbforums.com/threads/w...i-xt8-w-verizon-fios.74739/page-3#post-772109

 

[Grayson73]

The latest firmware seems to have fixed the issue. I went back to the default setup and get 512/483 via WiFi on my 500/500plan. No workaround needed.