*WORSE* 5ghz throughput via new RT-AX57 than previous RT-AC66U B1, all else (seemingly) equal?

[ThouArtGarfunkel]

So basically ala the title, I just upgraded from an AC66U B1 to an AX57 as main router, to use both in an AImesh framework (AC66U as node) in hopes of achieving better penetration into a far upstairs corner of the house with which the AC66U (situated downstairs somewhat oppositely) previously struggled to provide adequate coverage. The AC66U provided a rock solid 1.3Gbps connection via 5Ghz band (fixed channel 157) to my main rig that literally never faltered over a few years. Fast forward and the AX57, positioned/oriented/distanced in precisely the same way from the PC as the AC66U (with even the antennas oriented in the same way to the extent possible, though I've tried adjusting that as well to no avail), and with the same 5ghz wi-fi settings across the board (save for a couple additional features not applicable to the AC66U), has been locked at 866.7mbps, despite all essentially being the same minus the actual router unit. I tried briefly experimenting with different control channels (starting from the 157hz lock I had such good results with under the AC66U) as well as disabling the wi-fi 6/802.11ax mode entirely, thinking perhaps some compatibility issue was at play, but so far no dice and nothing has induced a change from the 866.7 connection. Funnily enough, for the first few minutes the PC first connected to the AX57 the connection did in fact fluctuate in quick succession between 1.3/1.1Gbps, only to then drop to 866 and remain there since. Any ideas? This is growing fairly annoying tbh. Does anyone by chance have experience w these two models in similar succession? The main draw here was the (presumed) superior coverage for the previous weak zone via AImesh under the logical assumption the primary connection to my main rig, from where I host Plex, do all my downloading etc etc would be equal at worst and maybe even superior as a nice bonus, but so far it's the opposite, and frankly I haven't even moved on to AImesh optimization as I've been stuck on this quandary in the interim.

I guess I could attempt role reversal and deploy the AX57 as node and retain 66U as master, though that's obviously counter to both logical intuition and the seeming universal advice to use latest and greatest as main hub and older/lesser as node. Could it be, push come to shove, that the 57, despite being the ostensibly superior unit in every way, is somehow equipped with cheaper/less effective antennas? Because if so that really sucks, needless to say, and it's always disconcerting to see something expected to take you two (maybe 1.5) steps forward knock you one back instead. Latest firmware on both units. Driver issues with PC's USB wi-fi adaptor? (Though with it also being Asus, and the perfect behavior with the AC66U, that seemed unlikely). Shrug?

 

[OzarkEdge]

So basically ala the title, I just upgraded from an AC66U B1 to an AX57 as main router, to use both in conjunction in an AImesh framework (AC66U as node) in hopes of achieving better penetration into a far upstairs corner of the house with which the AC66U (situated downstairs somewhat oppositely) previously struggled to provide adequate coverage. The AC66U provided a rock solid 1.3Gbps connection via 5Ghz band (fixed channel 157) to my main PC rig that literally never faltered over a few years. Fast forward and the AX57, positioned/oriented/distanced in precisely the same way from the PC as the AC66U (with even the antennas oriented in the same way to the extent possible, though I've tried adjusting that as well to no avail), and with the same 5ghz wi-fi settings across the board (save for a couple additional features not applicable to the AC66U), has been locked at 866.7mbps, despite all essentially being the same minus the actual router unit. I tried briefly experimenting with different control channels (starting from the 157hz lock I had such good results with under the AC66U) as well as disabling the wi-fi 6/802.11ax mode entirely, thinking perhaps some compatibility issue was at play, but so far no dice and nothing has induced a change from the 866.7 connection. Funnily enough, for the first few minutes the PC first connected to the AX57 the connection did in fact fluctuate in quick succession between 1.3/1.1Gbps, only to then drop to 866 and remain there since. Any ideas? This is growing fairly annoying tbh. Does anyone by chance have experience w these two models in similar upgrade succession? The main draw here was the (presumed) superior coverage for the previous weak zone via AImesh under the logical assumption the primary connection to my main rig, from where I host Plex, do all my downloading etc etc would be equal at worst and maybe even superior as a nice bonus, but so far it's the opposite, and frankly I haven't even moved on to AImesh optimization as I've been stuck on this quandary in the interim the last day or two. I guess I could attempt reversing the roles and deploying the AX57 as node and retaining 66U as master, though that's obviously counterintuitive to both logical intuition and the seeming universal advice to use the latest and greatest as main hub and older/lesser as node. Could it be, push come to shove, that the 57, despite being the ostensibly superior unit in literally every way, is somehow equipped with cheaper/less effective antennas? Because if so that really sucks, needless to say, and it's always disconcerting to see something expected to take you two (maybe 1.5) steps forward knock you one back instead. Latest firmware on both units. Driver issues with PC's USB wi-fi adaptor? (Though with it also being Asus, and the perfect behavior with the AC66U, that seemed unlikely). Shrug?

The AX57U has 2 antennas per band, 2 streams max or 866Mbps for an AC connection. You got what you paid for.

OE

 

[ThouArtGarfunkel]

RT-AX57 = AX3000. Which is several generations newer, pricier, and with better specs across the board than the AC66U B1. So I somehow "got what I paid for" in the sense you imply by purchasing a more expensive and all around superior on paper successor to the AC66U? Fascinating.

 

[Tech9]

and with better specs

What the specs say about AC, up to what link rates?

 

[ThouArtGarfunkel]

802.11ac 5Ghz: up to 1.7 Gbps
802.11ax 2.4Ghz: up to 574 Mbps
802.11ax 5Ghz: up to 2.4 Gbps

Though only the first would really apply since my USB adaptor doesn't do AX and I believe only my phone does. Although I should clarify the AX3000 isn't significantly pricer than the ACB66U at all, less than I would have expected, and the latter is actually still available to my surprise. The specs certainly aren't night/day better factoring out the AX support, but it is kind of befuddling the 5Ghz AC support wouldn't be *at least* as good, on paper at least. Maybe it is something off with one or more of the additional wireless advanced settings available over the B66U . Mm maybe I should just consider exchanging for a second B66U? On Amazon the 66U is literally less than $10 price difference atm. Another small advantage is the addition of 160mhz 5ghz channel on the AX3000.

 

[Tech9]

802.11ac 5Ghz: up to 1.7 Gbps

Marketing numbers using non-standard modulation or supported by few clients only 160MHz wide channel on AC. In reality up to 866Mbps to common AC client.

 

[ThouArtGarfunkel]

Marketing numbers using non-standard modulation. In reality up to 866Mbps.

Ahh. So getting extra sneaky with specs IG. All I know is the 5ghz connection in the way I outlined above was superior with the several years older At66U, so it's highly weird. So I guess maybe with the implementation of the AX ability in this model came a slight reduction in AC 5ghz performance, via corner cutting etc? In a kind of backward way IG I could sort of understand that, with the AX being the main draw. I guess I'll keep fiddling around/decide if I should exchange. Thank you for at least touching on the why/how instead of just condescendingly dismissing me as an oblivious cheapskate bumpkin with no attempt to touch on why a more expensive + state of the art model in the same family would yield *inferior* 5ghz AC, which would confuse most anyone, but I digress.

 

[ThouArtGarfunkel]

Something else that occurred to me, you'd think whatever voodoo they sweeten the specs with would have gone back for years, so that the claim over *actual* performance would still be about the same proportionally with the AC66U. Looking just now the 66 claimed up to 1.3gbps 5ghz AC, basically what I got, to the AX3000's 1.7. So you'd expect the AX to maybe be artificially inflated but not worse. So it appears the 66U spec was more or less honest w the AX employing some kind of bs phantom doubling of the 866mpbs to arrive at the 1.7gbps spec? Anyway...

Edit: Didn't see your edited reply. Making a bit more sense to me now. Also, looking carefully over 66U specs does mention "3x3" in the AC spec where the AX does not, so yeah, IG the AX is just flat out a bit inferior at least for 5Ghz AC. God I fracking hate routers... JK

 

[Tech9]

Keep the new RT-AX57 router. It's an entry-level model, but newer and supported. Over 10-years old technology RT-AC66U B1 is End-Of-Life model now. What you can get from RT-AX57 is about 500Mbps to AC client and about 800Mbps to AX client, depending on distance and Wi-Fi environment. If you want something better with potentially longer support and new Asuswrt 5.0 firmware features - RT-AX86U Pro is the cheapest model.

 

[ThouArtGarfunkel]

Keep the new RT-AX57 router. It's an entry-level model, but newer and supported. Over 10-years old technology RT-AC66U B1 is End-Of-Life model now. What you can get from RT-AX57 is about 500Mbps to AC client and about 800Mbps to AX client, depending on distance and Wi-Fi environment. If you want something better with potentially longer support and new Asuswrt 5.0 firmware features - RT-AX86U Pro is the cheapest model.

Yeah, I'm definitely not going to pick up a now obsolete second AC66U atp, I came to my senses shortly after writing that, lol. Also pertinent to mention my current lower mid tier ISP plan doesn't capitalize on the full 1.3gps 5ghz link rate anyhow, I was more just (maybe irrationally) bothered with the inability to secure that link rate initially. My max DL speed is basically 500Mbps (60MB/s). I did a lot of testing yesterday afternoon and real world DL speed (via JDownloader etc) seems the same, so as you say even the reduced 866 link rate seems able to accommodate my *current* available speed, though if I upgraded plan in the near future without moving to at least an AX adaptor it would be an issue. So for the time being I think I will just hold on to the AX3000, or maybe pony up for something more premium. I'll def look into the AX86U Pro, thanks for the suggestion

 

[Tech9]

though if I upgraded plan in the near future without moving to at least an AX adaptor it would be an issue.

It won’t be an issue. You don’t need to chase the ISP speed and you don’t need to pay extra for speed test numbers.

 

[bbunge]

So, you have discovered just how good the AC66U b1 is. I still have one gathering dust on a basement shelf for that just in case moment.
I believe the AX86U Pro is on sale again for about $200.

 

[Tech9]

@ThouArtGarfunkel just has a rare 3x3 AC client and it allows faster link speeds to 3x3 AC-class routers. This is where the confusion is coming from and a bit misleading advertisement on Asus side for RT-AX57. Very few clients support 160MHz AC, there was one single Intel adapter and few mobile clients.