Wi-Fi Signal Strength RT-AC86U v RT-AX88U

[DarkKnight75]

One of the many reasons i wont upgrade to an AX router nor do i have any AX devices....I plan on using my AC86u for foreseeable future and upgrade to AZ in 5 yrs..lol

 

[Ninko]

I'm not sure what's the best thing to do here then.
Do I just wait it out and hope firmware updates will improve the poor 2.4GHz performance or do I send it back and get something else, if so, which?

 

[L&LD]

@Ninko I wouldn't make a decision on potential future events. Find a better router for your use now, and then send what you have back.

 

[Frankflash]

they cant admit their is a problem so it's just been sweepted under the carpet

 

[Kingp1n]

I replaced my AC86U with AX88U and I haven't noticed any issues. All my 2.4 devices connect without issues as well as those on 5ghz. Again, once I setup I'm not gng back checking on how low/high the signal is compared to my AC86U. I had no disconnects/signal drops and all devices are working as intended. Good luck to those with issues!

 

[Frankflash]

my tablet some times does not connect on 2.4

 

[Kingp1n]

my tablet some times does not connect on 2.4

Initially, had an old laptop that would not connect to my AX88U. I had to update the drivers on it. Also, my 2nd gen Firestick would not see 5ghz signal so I had to change the control channel to 36. I believe channel 48 plus others work as well but I haven't tested.

 

[Frankflash]

my isp even had way better signal strength than the 88ax has

 

[New2This]

my isp even had way better signal strength than the 88ax has

What hardware version do you have?
Im running the AX88U ( 2 of them) without any issues

 

[Frankflash]

A1.0 mine can be good some days link speed some times can be rubbish write down to 6mbs i am on fiber

 

[L&LD]

@Frankflash, why haven't you returned it if the ISP supplied router had better signal strength?

 

[Frankflash]

firmware in it is crap broadcom you have done it again

 

[RMerlin]

my isp even had way better signal strength than the 88ax has

I have an RT-AX88U at one end of the apartment, and at the complete opposite end (going through 4 walls), I have no problem connecting to 5 GHz with my tablet (and I can see a stronger signal than I did with my last few routers, which were an RT-AC88U and an RT-AC87U - can't remember how they compared to the previous RT-AC68U). The Roomba is also at the complete opposite end of the apartment (going through four walls at a diagonal angle), and zero problem staying connected to the 2.4 GHz band. I've seen it report multiple days of connection time on the Wireless Log, which means it never ever disconnects (which is quite surprising considering the microwave oven is actually fairly close to the Roomba).

 

[Kees17760]

@L&LD
All I can tell you is I've been testing this for weeks now, different channels, different settings, different positions, none of it made any difference. As opposed to my old RT-AC87U, which was great out of the box!

+1 (opposed to my Zyxel VMG 8324)

 

[sturmstar]

One of the many reasons i wont upgrade to an AX router nor do i have any AX devices....I plan on using my AC86u for foreseeable future and upgrade to AZ in 5 yrs..lol

Copying from my NAS to my Notebook with 80MB/s IS a huge upgrade to my AC Router ... i wouldn't want to wait another 5 years for that

 

[Kees17760]

I don't install routers for a living. I buy consumer oriented equipment and put it where I have power and connectivity. My past routers have all run the things I've asked them to run. You contend that is not enough, that I need to spend hours tweaking this and that to get juuust the right settings. Perhaps replace the devices I want to use with the router if needed.

I think not, I'd get a different router personally.

Ans that's just what i will do.

The AX88U doesn't do what i expect from it, which is to be at least as "performative" as the router it will be replacing and presumably be even better in terms of performance.

That is simply not the case in my case, in fact it proves to be a setback.

 

[sturmstar]

I have an RT-AX88U at one end of the apartment, and at the complete opposite end (going through 4 walls), I have no problem connecting to 5 GHz with my tablet (and I can see a stronger signal than I did with my last few routers, which were an RT-AC88U and an RT-AC87U - can't remember how they compared to the previous RT-AC68U). The Roomba is also at the complete opposite end of the apartment (going through four walls at a diagonal angle), and zero problem staying connected to the 2.4 GHz band. I've seen it report multiple days of connection time on the Wireless Log, which means it never ever disconnects (which is quite surprising considering the microwave oven is actually fairly close to the Roomba).

It seems not the walls are the problem - maybe its simply the distance over air. I don't know how big is your appartment.

I tested the following routers (last year until 2 months ago) and access points (always same spot) to replace my AC-68U

* AC-86U
* AC-88U
* Ubiquity AC-LR AP (LongRange!)
* Synology RT-2600AC
* Ubiquity UDM
* TP-Link EAP225 AP

Not a single one of them was able to surpass (but that would be no problem) but also to cover my whole appartement like the AC-68U did/do.

So yes - I did testing - I also played with various settings, channels and bandwidths - but none of them made much a difference. Everytime I plugged back my AC68U - was dissapointed and moved on.

My solution right now is to use the AX88U as main router and 5ghz AX band (for my AX devices) - and side by side the AC68U as AP for ALL the other devices on 2,4 and 5ghz.

 

[L&LD]

@sturmstar if you haven't used a new SSID when testing new routers, that may one reason why the old one seems so much better.

Are your 'AX88U and the 'AC68U really side by side? What channels are they broadcasting on? I am assuming they are on different SSID's, correct?

 

[sturmstar]

@sturmstar if you haven't used a new SSID when testing new routers, that may one reason why the old one seems so much better.

Are your 'AX88U and the 'AC68U really side by side? What channels are they broadcasting on? I am assuming they are on different SSID's, correct?

Yes - they are really side by side on a top shelf almost 2m over the floor (old building)

the SSIDs are all different - like in the picture I posted before.

LILAdex_4 - AC68U 2,4GHz on channel 6 (20mhz)
LILAdex_5 - AC68U 5GHz on channel 100 (20/40/80mhz)
LILAdex_6 - AX88U 5GHz on channel 48 (160mhz)
LILAdex_Guest - AX88U 2,4GHz on channel 1 (20mhz)

During my tests I also used (had to use) many kinds of different "test"-ssids ... didn't make a difference

 

[cplay]

A1.0 mine can be good some days link speed some times can be rubbish write down to 6mbs i am on fiber

When devices going into power saving mode/standby in the system log it shows them as 6/866 for example.

Confused me at first!