USB-AC53 First impressions and tests (to come)

[njweb]

I received my USB-AC53 and got it installed.

Without positioning it (just have it plugged directly into the USB port for now (will experiment with the two alternate mounting / connection options).



2.4 GHz with RT-N66U
-42 dbm signal strength

144 MBps reported link rate

LAN Speed Test Throughput 43.13 Mbps writing, 71.534 Mbps reading

Speedtest.net 57.57 Mbps down (my plan is for 50 down).
I usually get 59 Mbps so from the PC connected to the router). I am seeing 8.51 Mbps up (plan is 8 Mbps and wired connection gives me 8.51 at best)
Keep in mind this is without even trying to position the adapter optimally....


5 GHz (not 802.11ac since I am using it with my RT-N66U to get baselines measurements first.

Signal strength -54 dbm

300 Mbps link rate

LAN Speed Test throughput = 52.98 Mbps writing, 73.16 Mbps reading

Speedtest.net 57.95 Mbps down (no fluctuation during test which is important to determine stability)
8.42 Mbps up

Will do more testing (in two other locations) as well as positioning it differently.
Then, time permitting, I will test it with my AC66U for see how 802.11ac throughput and signal strength looks.

This is with a Roku 3 on the same two channels as my 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz USB-AC53 connections to the router.

 

[mgunner76]

I got it connected. I'm reported a link of 585 Mbps, signal of -39 on a different level of my house than the router, so that's all good. 5.GHz, N only, channel bandwidth set to 80 and control channel at 36. The 5GHz band is wide open in my area

As a heads up, the monitor clip is designed for thin laptop covers. It didn't fit so well over my Dell XPS 17. I had to bend the plastic clip outwards and without much effort, I'm sure I'll knock it off. It's a matter of time before this clip breaks. Quite disappointed in it. Might have to resort to double sided Velcro.

I don't know how to run all the tests you guys all do, but one thing I can definitely say is that it did not help my wireless file transfers from my laptop to a connected USB HDD to the RTAC66. It might actually be worse. I had the basic intel 1000 2.4ghz N card that was transferring one single large file at 3-5 MBps. With this new adapter, I'm down to 1-2MBps. Did several attempts and tried rebooting, and switched from FW 354 to Merlin's most recent. No change. I know I'm bottlenecked with USB on each end, but this doesn't feel right. It can't be right.

In the end, I probably didn't need to purchase this. I was just being to lazy to go to another room, and connect the drive direct to my laptop for transfers.

*edit* did another pc reboot and the transfer rate is now 7.5-10. So I don't know. Still not this wonderous AC promise I kept hearing about, and the results didn't change much when next to the router.

It's worth nothing that the adapter software program reports a signal strength of -21 as opposed to inSSIDer's -39, for some reason.

 

[got_milk]

*edit* did another pc reboot and the transfer rate is now 7.5-10. So I don't know. Still not this wonderous AC promise I kept hearing about, and the results didn't change much when next to the router.

Are you sure it's Mbps and not MB/s? If it's Mbps you have a pretty big issue with your network.

If you're looking for any sort of fast file transfers over the network, you should be turning to a different machine (such as wired desktop, NAS, even another wireless laptop would be better) - the transfer rate from a USB device connected to the router is severely limited by the hardware capabilities of the router itself. 7.5-10MB/s is definitely a decent speed to transfer from USB devices.

 

[mgunner76]

I'm sorry, you're right it's MB/s. I'll edit my post. I think I'll start investigating a NAS system and do it the right way. The adapater still is impressive for what it does, and my 5GHz range did increase about 15-20% from my built in N card. My transfer rate is still double what it was before now that I somehow got it working.

 

[njweb]

edited due to a revalidation of findings being needed

 

[njweb]

GREAT NEWS for potential buyers:
EDITED April 5 to update this particular post (see original post below dotted line).
Mine has been running several days since I last disconnected it (intentionally) and speed is maxing out in my bedroom 59.xx MBps (same as my wired connection on a '50 Mbps down' internet plan).
(This is the room, next to the router room, where I mostly use the laptop to which the USB-AC53 is hooked up).



Original Post (the issue described below the dotted line is no longer occurring):
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Getting HUGE slowdowns (disconnecting and reconnecting fixes it for a while) and also 2 disconnects so far in 4 days or so of ownership.
My old adapter which has issues hitting full speed under Windows 8 never disconnected.

My wireless bandwidth, using 2.4 GHz, is 58.82 (50 Mbps plan and getting a little over 59 Mbps wired).
That is the good news.

The bad news is that the speed (on 2.4 GHz at least) slows down to 11 Mbps after being connected for a while (always the same value as if there is a barrier it hits when this 'issue' occurs), instead of the usual 58 Mbps or so.
I have to disconnect the adapter connection for it to work again.
I have not used 5 GHz enough yet to tell whether it has issues too.

It seemed, at first, to be a browser or speedtest server issue, but this morning I cleared my browser cache and cookies and full speed came back after intentionally force disconnecting the adapter's connection and reconnecting, even though it was the same speedtest server.

If anyone else has this adapter, please post your experiences.

I hope this just needs a driver fix.
I am not completely ruling out other causes, but it seems the adapter may have an issue.

I could also go back to my N66U temporarily to see if it is an AC66U router issue under firmware 354, but I suspect it would have been reported already if it were...

Any ideas???

Getting frustrated since my wireless connection has been rock solid for years with no disconnects (was using an N66U and Rosewill RNX-N2X adapter) and I would expect the latest adapter to work as well, especially given the youtube video Asus posted.
The Rosewill has issues hitting full bandwidth (nowadays) though, although my notebook Atheros adapter works great and hits full bandwidth or very close to it.

After reconnecting the USB-AC53 it gives stellar perfomance again (58.82 Mbps, which is almost same speed as my wired connection 59 Mbps on a 50 Mbps down plan) for a while before it starts to cap out at less than 1/5 of my downstream bandwidth.

 

[mgunner76]

I haven't experienced a single disconnect or slowdown since I got it on Wednesday. I'm on Asus 354 FW, with an AC connection on 5GHz

 

[njweb]

I haven't experienced a single disconnect or slowdown since I got it on Wednesday. I'm on Asus 354 FW, with an AC connection on 5GHz

Thanks for the feedback.
I experienced the issues on 2.4 GHz.

No speed reduction issues tonight (after being away from home 36 hours).
I'll keep an eye on things.

 

[njweb]

Good news - The issue seems to have gone away.
I am going to assume there was something amiss with one or more of the speedtest servers for a few days or some other strange issue that may not have been the adapter or its driver.

 

[njweb]

GREAT NEWS for potential buyers:

Quick update now that it has been running since at least Tuesday or so (last time I intentionally disconnected it), perhaps even longer, and the download speed is holding steady, maxing out at about the same speed as my wired (ethernet connection).

Speed is stable (tested on multiple consecutive days).
Consistently getting between 58 and 59.xx Mbps down on speedtest.net on my USB-AC53 on 2.4 GHz connected to the AC66U.Will check 5 GHz performance again tonightm, as well as updating my results in the N66U to AC66U comparison thread.

 

[jscoleman]

I received my USB-AC53 and got it installed.

Without positioning it (just have it plugged directly into the USB port for now (will experiment with the two alternate mounting / connection options).



2.4 GHz with RT-N66U
-42 dbm signal strength

144 MBps reported link rate

LAN Speed Test Throughput 43.13 Mbps writing, 71.534 Mbps reading

Speedtest.net 57.57 Mbps down (my plan is for 50 down).
I usually get 59 Mbps so from the PC connected to the router). I am seeing 8.51 Mbps up (plan is 8 Mbps and wired connection gives me 8.51 at best)
Keep in mind this is without even trying to position the adapter optimally....


5 GHz (not 802.11ac since I am using it with my RT-N66U to get baselines measurements first.

Signal strength -54 dbm

300 Mbps link rate

LAN Speed Test throughput = 52.98 Mbps writing, 73.16 Mbps reading

Speedtest.net 57.95 Mbps down (no fluctuation during test which is important to determine stability)
8.42 Mbps up

Will do more testing (in two other locations) as well as positioning it differently.
Then, time permitting, I will test it with my AC66U for see how 802.11ac throughput and signal strength looks.

This is with a Roku 3 on the same two channels as my 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz USB-AC53 connections to the router.

USB 2.0 gets up to 480Mbps correct? Isn't the adapter still limited to the transfer speeds of the USB port?

 

[mikeg]

I am stickingg to my Asus USB-N53:s till the price has gone down on this device.

GREAT NEWS for potential buyers:

Quick update now that it has been running since at least Tuesday or so (last time I intentionally disconnected it), perhaps even longer, and the download speed is holding steady, maxing out at about the same speed as my wired (ethernet connection).

Speed is stable (tested on multiple consecutive days).
Consistently getting between 58 and 59.xx Mbps down on speedtest.net on my USB-AC53 on 2.4 GHz connected to the AC66U.Will check 5 GHz performance again tonightm, as well as updating my results in the N66U to AC66U comparison thread.

 

[mgunner76]

USB 2.0 gets up to 480Mbps correct? Isn't the adapter still limited to the transfer speeds of the USB port?

Yes, it will be limited by the limitations of 2.0. However, due to the drop of speed as you distance yourself from the router, the USB 2.0 maximum rate may not be factored in.