Strange WiFi slowdown?

[DaveMishSr]

So last night after dinner my AC66U's WiFi connections all slow to a crawl. I was playing with the wireless settings in the afternoon but had returned them all to their previous settings and WiFi speeds were fine for the rest of the afternoon. However, after sitting down to eat some dinner our WiFi was so slow as to be unusable. Three laptops all could not access the Internet and the connection to our Intranet was as slow as possible without being unusable. I didn't bother running any tests so I do not know what the actual connection speeds were.

Barely able to connect to the router wirelessly I went to the desktop with a Ethernet connection to it and that allowed me to access the router's GUI. The first thing I tried was a simple reboot with no change, WiFi was still painfully slow. Next I try to "restore" my settings from a configuration file I keep saved just for this purpose and then reboot the router via telnet. Problem solved!

I do not have any idea what happened. The router is running 270.26b since it was released without previous incident. Today the router seems fine. I am concerned as I have my N66U listed on eBay as the AC66U I got from NewEgg as an open box special had run flawlessly for 2.5 months. This is the first disruption in WiFi service since installing this router in early January.

Has anyone else noticed something like this? If so I would appreciate hearing about it. Also, what log file should i have checked before rebooting? I do not save log files so I know I cannot go back and check now but I would like to know where I should look for info you guys may need to troubleshoot if it happens again. Thanks.

 

[lotii]

I have the same thing happening to me at the moment. I'm on my second AC66u. It worked find for about 48 hours on pretty default settings. I was watching netflix about 8 hours ago and everything was fine, now I can barely get to this website and 192.168.1.1.

 

[richemont86]

I think I may be experiencing the same issue. It seems to affect me on both 2.4 ghz and 5ghz randomly, and lasts about 5 minutes or so. I can't even get 192.168.1.1 to load quickly, if at all. I've been on the latest three firmware (now on .354) from ASUS. I haven't been able to solve the issue yet. Anyone have any luck?

 

[richemont86]

I don't know if this helps, but here's my router log during the time it happened earlier today(my time wasn't set to the right location at that point):

Apr 6 07:27:33 rc_service: ntp 594:notify_rc restart_upnp
Apr 6 07:32:10 rc_service: httpd 503:notify_rc restart_wireless
Apr 6 07:32:13 RT-AC66R: swmode: router repeater ap psta
Apr 6 07:32:15 kernel: eth1: Broadcom BCM4331 802.11 Wireless Controller 6.30.102.9 (r366174)
Apr 6 07:32:16 kernel: eth2: Broadcom BCM4360 802.11 Wireless Controller 6.30.102.9 (r366174)
Apr 6 07:32:16 kernel: wlc_phy_cal_init_acphy: NOT Implemented
Apr 6 07:32:33 kernel: eth2: received packet with own address as source address
Apr 6 07:34:28 rc_service: httpd 503:notify_rc restart_wireless
Apr 6 07:34:31 RT-AC66R: swmode: router repeater ap psta
Apr 6 07:34:33 kernel: eth1: Broadcom BCM4331 802.11 Wireless Controller 6.30.102.9 (r366174)
Apr 6 07:34:33 kernel: eth2: Broadcom BCM4360 802.11 Wireless Controller 6.30.102.9 (r366174)
Apr 6 07:34:34 kernel: wlc_phy_cal_init_acphy: NOT Implemented
Apr 6 07:34:55 kernel: eth2: received packet with own address as source address
Apr 6 07:35:18 rc_service: httpd 503:notify_rc restart_wireless
Apr 6 07:35:21 RT-AC66R: swmode: router repeater ap psta
Apr 6 07:35:24 kernel: eth1: Broadcom BCM4331 802.11 Wireless Controller 6.30.102.9 (r366174)
Apr 6 07:35:24 kernel: eth2: Broadcom BCM4360 802.11 Wireless Controller 6.30.102.9 (r366174)
Apr 6 07:35:24 kernel: wlc_phy_cal_init_acphy: NOT Implemented
Apr 6 07:35:36 kernel: eth2: received packet with own address as source address

EDIT: Just experienced it again. However, the log in the router doesn't show anything similar to the above. Perhaps the above data was not related to the issue and was at the wrong time (although was the last thing my router did when it happened). Not sure the router is logging anything that would help solve this.

 

[Pericynthion]

I had something similar over the weekend - for no apparent reason the whole thing grinds to a halt and can't even get to the admin page. 9 times out of 10, disconnecting and reconnecting the wireless client fixes it for a while, but always seems to return. Also I noticed that the connection indicator on my IOS devices was way lower than I expected (<10 ft away through a single wall and I was dropping to <50% of what I was getting at its best).

This is probably very user specific, but I changed the 5Ghz and 2Ghz radions to both be 'n-only' and it seems to have stabilized (luckily the only 'g' device I have is the PS3 and I can run a cable to that) - so not sure if some of the wireless clients were dropping back to b/g speeds and pulling the rest down.

 

[richemont86]

It's still happening to me as well, even after I switched to Merlin's 354.27. I've stopped using 5ghz altogether because that's where it seems to happen so often, but 2.4Ghz is more stable for me. I'm surprised there aren't more people speaking up about here.

 

[mikeg]

I have had problems with the 5 GHz too. I am on Merlins .27 Beta 1 now because of the new Broadcom drivers. Tested Asus f/w .354 first and after 5 days the router rebooted itself and after a couple of spontanous reboots I updated to Merlins as mentioned before. I have not noticed any strange connection drops for time being.

It's still happening to me as well, even after I switched to Merlin's 354.27. I've stopped using 5ghz altogether because that's where it seems to happen so often, but 2.4Ghz is more stable for me. I'm surprised there aren't more people speaking up about here.

 

[rljames]

Has this issue been reported to ASUS?

What other RT-AC66 features/services (QoS, AiCloud, VPN, etc) do each of you have activated?
Just wondering if there is a common thread and what router options I should avoid...

(Typically, does ASUS issue firmware updates on a schedule or as needed?)

 

[Pericynthion]

Just to add to this scenario - I think its also losing range/power too.
I have always read (and during the install) was very impressed with the overall range of the router - I was getting 5Ghz at around 75% at the far end of the house (via 2 external walls).

The router has been up and running for about 5 days with out touching it, and its gradually got worse and worse - to the point where the AppleTV in question can't even see the 5Ghz network anymore. This happened a few weeks ago and rebooting it restored its glory. I bought an EA-N66 for some flexibility, and that can't see it either - even half the distance awat.

At the moment I'm on Merlins 270.26 build (after some grief with the beta), but I'm going to risk it again and do a full NVRAM blitz and start again tomorrow (sigh)

 

[njweb]

I am using Asus' latest beta 354.
My A66U's 5 GHz signal is somewhat erratic and weaker than expected (at least at medium range).
This was using an Asus USB-AC53 adapter.

I don't have my N66U anymore to compare it to.

My RT-N66U with 354 beta (that I just sold) had better signal strength on both bands than my AC66U in all three rooms.

 

[mikeg]

I have Merlins f/w .354 Beta1 installed on my AC66U and it looks stable regarding the signal strength after 7 days. The Asus .354 f/w was stable for about 5 days before the router rebooted itself.
I have an Asus N66U with TomatoUSB Shiibby running beside the AC66U and can compare the signals on the 5 GHz band. Sometimes the AC6U has stronger signal strength on the 5 GHz band , sometimes the N66U.
Time will telll if the AC66U is stable on the 5 GHz band.
Update : got a signal degradation of about 20 dBm according to inSSider on the 5 GHz on both the AC66U and the N66U on my laptop whixh has a an Asus USB-N53 ...

I am using Asus' latest beta 354.
My A66U's 5 GHz signal is somewhat erratic and weaker than expected (at least at medium range).
This was using an Asus USB-AC53 adapter.

I don't have my N66U anymore to compare it to.

My RT-N66U with 354 beta (that I just sold) had better signal strength on both bands than my AC66U in all three rooms.

 

[Pericynthion]

Well I'm up and running on a 'clean' install of the merlin 354 beta - conversely from other posts, my 5Ghz seems to be rock-solid and with improved range, but the 2.4Ghz is horribly erratic.

Even sitting 3ft from the router its almost unusable - I guess the difference we're all seeing is client driven , most of my stuff is all Apple hardware which means I'm stuck in the 20Mhz arena. Hopefully the next beta / wireless driver updates will being some relief..