Do I need a new router?
July 27, 2020 7:07 AM Subscribe
The wi-fi in our home has been driving us crazy. We pay for a 150Mbps connection, but often get only 5-10 Mbps downstream. The upstream seems to be fine. When I plug directly into the cable modem (e.g. via ethernet), I get the promised speed.
Does this mean I need a new router?
I've been trying to diagnose a slow Internet connection that has become all the more troublesome working from home. I discovered that if I plug directly into the modem, I get the expected speed. But on wi-fi, things decline drastically.
I have tried doing a factory reboot of the router, but it didn't help. Switching between 2.4 and 5G doesn't seem to make a big difference, either. I also have a wifi extender which seems to have made some slight difference, but not a significant one.
The wi-fi router is not that old--maybe a few years. It's an Asus A86U.
Will I need to get a new router? Will a new router help, or is this a sign that it's more to do with the house/layout? We can't realistically move the router to any other location; besides, it is centrally located to begin with. Do I need to set up a mesh system?
I've been trying to diagnose a slow Internet connection that has become all the more troublesome working from home. I discovered that if I plug directly into the modem, I get the expected speed. But on wi-fi, things decline drastically.
I have tried doing a factory reboot of the router, but it didn't help. Switching between 2.4 and 5G doesn't seem to make a big difference, either. I also have a wifi extender which seems to have made some slight difference, but not a significant one.
The wi-fi router is not that old--maybe a few years. It's an Asus A86U.
Will I need to get a new router? Will a new router help, or is this a sign that it's more to do with the house/layout? We can't realistically move the router to any other location; besides, it is centrally located to begin with. Do I need to set up a mesh system?
If you have a laptop, try a speed test with the laptop very close to the router. If you get good speeds, then you can blame your house and you will need to look at other solutions.
If it’s still slow, then you need a new router. I’d recommend splurging on something small/home-office grade — I have a Ubiquiti EdgeRouterX and a UniFi Pro AC access point, which I paid about $200 for after replacing a failing router for the nth time. It’s a bit more complex to set up but it’s been going 5 years without a problem, which is better than the parade of linksys and d-link and whatever else I had before.
posted by Alterscape at 7:16 AM on July 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
If it’s still slow, then you need a new router. I’d recommend splurging on something small/home-office grade — I have a Ubiquiti EdgeRouterX and a UniFi Pro AC access point, which I paid about $200 for after replacing a failing router for the nth time. It’s a bit more complex to set up but it’s been going 5 years without a problem, which is better than the parade of linksys and d-link and whatever else I had before.
posted by Alterscape at 7:16 AM on July 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
First thing to do is find out what the signal strength from the router looks like in various parts of your home. If you have an Android phone or tablet this is very easy: install farproc Wifi Analyzer on it and walk around with it, looking at the channel usage graph.
If your local wifi environment is crowded, or if your own router's SSID shows up on a channel that's clearly overlapping with others, try using the router's admin web page to choose a fixed channel in a less crowded spot.
Once you've got the channel thing sorted, flip to the page that shows current signal strength for your own router's SSID and walk around with that. You should get a pretty good idea whether the slow speeds you're getting correlate to areas with poor signal strength.
posted by flabdablet at 7:19 AM on July 27, 2020 [3 favorites]
If your local wifi environment is crowded, or if your own router's SSID shows up on a channel that's clearly overlapping with others, try using the router's admin web page to choose a fixed channel in a less crowded spot.
Once you've got the channel thing sorted, flip to the page that shows current signal strength for your own router's SSID and walk around with that. You should get a pretty good idea whether the slow speeds you're getting correlate to areas with poor signal strength.
posted by flabdablet at 7:19 AM on July 27, 2020 [3 favorites]
You've been able to get good speeds plugged into the cable modem. How are the speeds plugged into the router?
Mesh system is probably the best way to go, but depending on how the house is laid out a power line network setup with like 2 more access points would probably be better than a wifi repeater.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:19 AM on July 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
Mesh system is probably the best way to go, but depending on how the house is laid out a power line network setup with like 2 more access points would probably be better than a wifi repeater.
posted by Huffy Puffy at 7:19 AM on July 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
What cable/dsl modem are you using? if it's rented, call your provider and see if there is an upgrade available.
If you bought it, maybe worth trying out a new one, and return it if no benefit.
I just upgraded my cable modem for a 200Mbps service and saw speed increase dramatically, from 30Mbps to 225Mbps
posted by askmehow at 7:20 AM on July 27, 2020
If you bought it, maybe worth trying out a new one, and return it if no benefit.
I just upgraded my cable modem for a 200Mbps service and saw speed increase dramatically, from 30Mbps to 225Mbps
posted by askmehow at 7:20 AM on July 27, 2020
I asked this recently. I got a crazy new router. We've had no problems since. WOOHOO!
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 7:23 AM on July 27, 2020
posted by Mrs. Rattery at 7:23 AM on July 27, 2020
Response by poster: Update / answers to comments:
If I sit next to the router the speed is better, but still well below what it should be--around 30 Mbps.
If I plug into the router with an ethernet cable the speed is up where I think it should be.
posted by synecdoche at 7:26 AM on July 27, 2020
If I sit next to the router the speed is better, but still well below what it should be--around 30 Mbps.
If I plug into the router with an ethernet cable the speed is up where I think it should be.
posted by synecdoche at 7:26 AM on July 27, 2020
Then you’re definitely not getting expected performance out of the WiFi. Points to a problem on your AP/router or your laptop. I’d definitely recommend trying to replace the WiFi with a mesh system as a next step.
posted by doomsey at 7:27 AM on July 27, 2020
posted by doomsey at 7:27 AM on July 27, 2020
Response by poster: Thanks doomsey--same issue on multiple laptops, so looks like I am in the market for a mesh system.
posted by synecdoche at 7:31 AM on July 27, 2020
posted by synecdoche at 7:31 AM on July 27, 2020
If your computers (and other devices) are old enough, they could be the limiting factor, since they'd only be able to communicate over older flavors of wifi that don't have as much bandwidth as newer protocols.
posted by adamrice at 7:48 AM on July 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by adamrice at 7:48 AM on July 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
I don't know that you need to buy new hardware. It's good you narrowed the problem down to your WiFi access point. What I don't understand is why the RT-AC86U isn't working for you when you're sitting in the same room. It really should be able to do 50-100MBps+ even if you're in a busy apartment building.
If it were me I'd try reseating antennas, maybe reorienting them. (You want at least 2 at right angles.) Also fiddle around the config making sure there's nothing weird about the WiFi. Finally I'd also try forcing a 5GHz connection (by disabling 2.4 entirely) and seeing if there's still a problem.
To adamrice's question: are the laptops relatively new? Do they have 802.11ac?
posted by Nelson at 7:50 AM on July 27, 2020
If it were me I'd try reseating antennas, maybe reorienting them. (You want at least 2 at right angles.) Also fiddle around the config making sure there's nothing weird about the WiFi. Finally I'd also try forcing a 5GHz connection (by disabling 2.4 entirely) and seeing if there's still a problem.
To adamrice's question: are the laptops relatively new? Do they have 802.11ac?
posted by Nelson at 7:50 AM on July 27, 2020
You stated that if you plug directly into the modem you get the advertised speeds. What if you plug directly into the router? If you are still getting slow speeds then issue would be the router. Are you running the lastest firmware on the router?
I upgraded my internet from 10Mbs to 500Mbs and found I got the full speed from the modem but not my router. Discovered that the third part firmware I installed was not take full advantage of the router hardware. Installed the manufactures firmware and speeds were what was advertised. I still do not get full speed from WiFi but I accept that as the nature of WiFi.
posted by tman99 at 7:57 AM on July 27, 2020
I upgraded my internet from 10Mbs to 500Mbs and found I got the full speed from the modem but not my router. Discovered that the third part firmware I installed was not take full advantage of the router hardware. Installed the manufactures firmware and speeds were what was advertised. I still do not get full speed from WiFi but I accept that as the nature of WiFi.
posted by tman99 at 7:57 AM on July 27, 2020
Response by poster: The laptops are a couple of years old but do support 802.11ac.
The antennas on this particular router are internal, so I don't think I can adjust them myself, unfortunately.
tman99, I do get the advertised speed when plugged directly into the router. The firmware is up to date.
posted by synecdoche at 8:09 AM on July 27, 2020
The antennas on this particular router are internal, so I don't think I can adjust them myself, unfortunately.
tman99, I do get the advertised speed when plugged directly into the router. The firmware is up to date.
posted by synecdoche at 8:09 AM on July 27, 2020
Wait, what router / access point do you have? There is no "ASUS A86U" that I can find. There is an ASUS RT-AC86U which I assume is what you have. It definitely has 3 external antennas. If your router has little coax jacks for antennas and nothing plugged in, why, that's probably your WiFi problem.
posted by Nelson at 8:32 AM on July 27, 2020
posted by Nelson at 8:32 AM on July 27, 2020
I have that same router, just one model down from that, and it performs fine. Before throwing anything in the trash, I agree with tman99 - make sure your firmware is up to date.
posted by scolbath at 8:49 AM on July 27, 2020
posted by scolbath at 8:49 AM on July 27, 2020
Response by poster: Sorry, I mis-recorded the model. It's the RT-N56U.
posted by synecdoche at 8:57 AM on July 27, 2020
posted by synecdoche at 8:57 AM on July 27, 2020
Oh yeah, that's pretty old. In particular it only does 802.11n, not 802.11ac. The Wirecutter recommendation now is an Archer A20 at $190. The budget recommendation is an Archer A7 at $60. I'd pay more for the A20 but if money's tight the A7 should still be an improvement.
Either of these replaces your existing RT-N56U. You can do more complicated things with separate access points, mesh networking, etc.
posted by Nelson at 9:22 AM on July 27, 2020
Either of these replaces your existing RT-N56U. You can do more complicated things with separate access points, mesh networking, etc.
posted by Nelson at 9:22 AM on July 27, 2020
I asked this a couple of months ago. Unless your house is huge or really weirdly configured, you probably don't need to go with a mesh wifi system.
I ended up going with a different version of the Archer A20 Nelson linked to (the 8 LAN ports was a useful add-in), along with a new cable modem (you probably don't need to make THAT change). The WiFi signal across the house, even on the 5Ghz channels, is strong enough to keep speeds near 150Mbs through multiple walls.
posted by hanov3r at 10:33 AM on July 27, 2020
I ended up going with a different version of the Archer A20 Nelson linked to (the 8 LAN ports was a useful add-in), along with a new cable modem (you probably don't need to make THAT change). The WiFi signal across the house, even on the 5Ghz channels, is strong enough to keep speeds near 150Mbs through multiple walls.
posted by hanov3r at 10:33 AM on July 27, 2020
around 30 Mbps
Do you have other devices connected to the router? I would stop thinking of that as a speed and more as bandwidth. The available bandwidth can go down as more devices are connected. You see that as "speed" but 30Mbps is more than adequate to do most things. The rule of thumb is an HD stream only requires 5Mbps.
Also, the only even close to reliable "speed tests" are those which are not web-based. SpeedTest.net has a downloadable version that will give you much more accurate results.
Others have suggested some of these but:
1. have any portable devices (laptops, phones) forget the 5Ghz frequency. That should be reserved for devices in the same room as the router.
2. Check the channels for interference.
posted by Hey, Zeus! at 11:51 AM on July 27, 2020
Do you have other devices connected to the router? I would stop thinking of that as a speed and more as bandwidth. The available bandwidth can go down as more devices are connected. You see that as "speed" but 30Mbps is more than adequate to do most things. The rule of thumb is an HD stream only requires 5Mbps.
Also, the only even close to reliable "speed tests" are those which are not web-based. SpeedTest.net has a downloadable version that will give you much more accurate results.
Others have suggested some of these but:
1. have any portable devices (laptops, phones) forget the 5Ghz frequency. That should be reserved for devices in the same room as the router.
2. Check the channels for interference.
posted by Hey, Zeus! at 11:51 AM on July 27, 2020
Although it’s older I’d still expect a platform like the Asus RT-N56U to be able to get ~100 mbit/s in the near field, so that it’s not is indicative of a problem.
In any event in a big house, with the 2.4GHz band slammed by WFH and Zoom everything, a mesh system really is the way to go.
posted by doomsey at 12:56 PM on July 27, 2020
In any event in a big house, with the 2.4GHz band slammed by WFH and Zoom everything, a mesh system really is the way to go.
posted by doomsey at 12:56 PM on July 27, 2020
You see that as “speed” but 30Mbps is more than adequate to do most things.
If I may teach a bit...
While this is true on its face what is actually going on is more complicated. Basically, if you are near-field on a clear channel (so, 5GHz not 2.4GHz - 2.4GHz is basically never clear) you should be able to acquire the channel close to continuously and have error rates low enough that the RF-layer retries pick up the missing packets. The end result is you can utilize a significant fraction of the highest available raw bit rate - maybe up to about half - on a single stream. When you do the speed test this comes up as being able to successfully pass 100+ mbit/s.
If the speed test gets significantly less than that, one of the following things is happening:
- The AP is unable to acquire a clear channel in a timely fashion and is spending a lot of time waiting on channel access. In this case the packet gets delayed until other users of the channel clear, adding significant latency.
- A transmission error occurs, forcing a MAC layer retry. In this case, the retry happens at the MAC level with no transport-level losses.
- The access times out, forcing a transport-level retry. This is the case your computer sees. This impacts link rates significantly because at this point the computers at both end start “backing off” their utilization of the channel.
It should be apparent that repeated errors, forcing retries, will cause problems transferring the data across the link, even if there is no bandwidth limitations. These errors manifest as increased latency, which is a lot more visible in operation - pictures don’t show up for a long time, and connections fail. Realtime data is also generally not retried, so you get muddy audio or dropouts in streaming. So even if there’s 30mbit/s available, the repeated connection errors are messing with the user experience in other ways.
As a result, simply saying “oh, there’s 30 mbit/s available” isn’t the whole story and a situation where you can’t hit close to the expected value even at close range is likely to indicate a more serious problem.
posted by doomsey at 1:42 PM on July 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
If I may teach a bit...
While this is true on its face what is actually going on is more complicated. Basically, if you are near-field on a clear channel (so, 5GHz not 2.4GHz - 2.4GHz is basically never clear) you should be able to acquire the channel close to continuously and have error rates low enough that the RF-layer retries pick up the missing packets. The end result is you can utilize a significant fraction of the highest available raw bit rate - maybe up to about half - on a single stream. When you do the speed test this comes up as being able to successfully pass 100+ mbit/s.
If the speed test gets significantly less than that, one of the following things is happening:
- The AP is unable to acquire a clear channel in a timely fashion and is spending a lot of time waiting on channel access. In this case the packet gets delayed until other users of the channel clear, adding significant latency.
- A transmission error occurs, forcing a MAC layer retry. In this case, the retry happens at the MAC level with no transport-level losses.
- The access times out, forcing a transport-level retry. This is the case your computer sees. This impacts link rates significantly because at this point the computers at both end start “backing off” their utilization of the channel.
It should be apparent that repeated errors, forcing retries, will cause problems transferring the data across the link, even if there is no bandwidth limitations. These errors manifest as increased latency, which is a lot more visible in operation - pictures don’t show up for a long time, and connections fail. Realtime data is also generally not retried, so you get muddy audio or dropouts in streaming. So even if there’s 30mbit/s available, the repeated connection errors are messing with the user experience in other ways.
As a result, simply saying “oh, there’s 30 mbit/s available” isn’t the whole story and a situation where you can’t hit close to the expected value even at close range is likely to indicate a more serious problem.
posted by doomsey at 1:42 PM on July 27, 2020 [2 favorites]
Response by poster: Thanks everyone. I replaced the router and things seem much, much better.
posted by synecdoche at 7:03 PM on July 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by synecdoche at 7:03 PM on July 27, 2020 [1 favorite]
This thread is closed to new comments.
If so, the problem isn’t your router, it’s COVID. 5GHz doesn’t extend through walls so much, and I’ve noticed that WFH has dramatically overcommited the narrow 2.4GHz band, which does extend through walls.
Most likely you need a dense mesh so that you can get the data across rooms in 5GHz.
The eero system, while somewhat pricey, works reasonably well.
posted by doomsey at 7:14 AM on July 27, 2020