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New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16.22)
I recently upgraded to the Orbi AX / Wifi 6 RBK753S (from the AC3000 RBK53). I never had any real issues with my RBK53, but since my ISP plan speed just went up again, I wanted to maximize throughput...
Something to try out, Disable AX mode on the RBR. Just the 5Ghz radio or both. Up to you.
Also set CTS values to 2347. Then retest the killer adapter.
Then maybe re-enabled AX both and re-test for consistency.
Are you connect at the RBR or RBS when wirelessly speed testing?
Does this happen on more than one wireless device?
What channels are you using?
Any wifi neighbors near by?
Would be good to test a older version of FW to see.
FURRYe38 wrote:Are you connect at the RBR or RBS when wirelessly speed testing?
Does this happen on more than one wireless device?
What channels are you using?
Any wifi neighbors near by?
Would be good to test a older version of FW to see.
Using RBR for wifi tests.
Similar results with a Note 9 on 5 GHz 802.11ac
Both devices (laptop and phone) located only 1 - 2 feet from RBR.
Wired speed was instantly 480 Mbps with same laptop. I did not do anything else, except connect to the Orbi's ethernet port... (did NOT even need to reboot laptop or renew I lease etc.). So it is not my ISP or cable modem etc.
Disabling Orbi's WMM made things even worse (perhaps a good thing, since that was only to check if that was the cause; I do not want WMM disabled permanently anyway).
Next step is to try 3.2.16.x
Problem is the issue tends to happen after a while, so I may think 3.2.16.x helped and only find out a few hours later or even half a day later that speeds are down again...
For example, after the factory reset last night, I got 5 consecutive tests with high speeds (as noted last night) and was hopeful it was better.
Before the reset (per Speedtest results history), I could only get 1 - 2 (max) good tests in a row before speeds dropped again on 3rd test and beyond.
But this morning back to the drawing board - the lower speeds I noted in my posts above. :(
Best testing for wifi would be 6-10 feet from the RBR.
FURRYe38 wrote:Best testing for wifi would be 6-10 feet from the RBR.
Very true (overloading was a potential concern), but this laptop (17" desktop replacement) is fixed (connected to 2 24" monitors etc.) and a pain to move. Also since it worked fine (in same exact location) for 5 consecutive tests right after the factory reset, something else appears to be at play and distance will not help.
That being said, I will take my smaller and much lighter laptop (with an Intel 'AX201' Wifi 6 / AX adapter) and test that in this same room in a minute and report back with results...
Interesting:
Tested with the other laptop (with Intel AX201 wifi adapter built in) and got 392 Mbps with laptop located on my lap and a 24" LED monitor in between laptop and RBR, monitor 'blocking' RBR if you will.
Then I moved within the same room with laptop, this time to the opposite side of monitor RBR and got 476 Mbps.
Then I moved back to first spot and got 469Mbps.
I suspect that for the first test, this laptop was still connecting to the satellite since I had only just moved it to the room where the RBR...
But my cell phone (Note 9) got only 272 Mbps in SAME location as the AX laptop!
Can anyone here with a Note 9 (or similar AC [not AX] phone) tell me what wifi speeds they get with the Orbi AX?
The good news is I can either connect the main (desktop replacement laptop) directly to the RBR ethernet port (which I was planning to likely do anyway, after confirming RBK753S stability and speeds over wireless to decide whether I was keeping the AX Orbi) or , worst case, try it with an Intel AX internal adapter.
Per my understanding the M.2 version of the AX200/201 should fit my laptop.
Or there is a USB AX wifi adapter coiming out this quarter.
So for now, I will not bother going back to 3.2.16.x yet...
Let me try the Linksys WUSB6400M again too and also play around with the Killer adapter etc.
Looks like the site may have had issues where posts between 10 AM or so and now were dropped even though they were 'posted' without any errors or some posts got deleted by mistake. In any case, to give a quick update:
- Router - My Orbi RBK753S (AX4200) continues to be stable now with respect to speed and connectivity (no drops) of devices connected to wifi (with RTS / CTS at 2347, downgraded to fw 3.2.17 [instead of latest], IPV6 enabled and [automatically] set to DHCP).
- USB wifi adapter - My Netgear A7000 adapter has been very steady - CONSISTENTLY getting speeds around 470 - 480 Mbps. By contrast, another manufacturer's wifi adapter is acting up again this morning with low speeds (even on 5 GHz) and also at timews only connects to 2.4 GHz); last night the competitor's adapter was working well, but this morning back to its inconsistent behavior. So I will stick with the A7000.
- USB extension cable - I purchased a USB 3.0 Super Speed 'up to 5 Gbps' USB extension cable (Sabrent) to avoid using the A7000's magnetic cradle given the big warning sticker on the Netgear cradle. Unfortunately I have to return this USB cable since speeds were MUCH lower (sometime under 100 Mbps even) when I connected my A7000 to it. Instead I may remove the magnets and maybe even the metal shims so I can use the cradle without worrying. Someone else did this successfully.
One thing I noticed with USB 3.0 wifi adapters is that they don't seem to like USB 3.0 extension cables. I found this out a while ago when I about a D-Link DWA-192 (Thermal Detonator) WiFi adapter that supported USB 3.0. Worked great but the cable that came with the adapter was only 1-2ft in length and I wanted to connect it to my PC and place in out from the PC at more of a distance. So I bought a USB 3.0 extension cable. Soon after connecting the cable I saw all sorts of problems. The adapter would disconnect or speeds would be all over the place. I talked to the Mfr and they said that the signal going across the USB cable on 3.0 can degrade over longer lengths of cable as the signal would need to be boosted some. Soon as I took out the extension cable, the adapter worked perfectly. Seems like USB 3.0 signals are effected over longer lengths of cable with these wifi adapters. I noticed that if I used the same extension cable with my external USB 3.0 HDD dock, that worked fine. I presume the USB HDD dock or external drive units provide better signal and power across the cable length vs wifi adapter seem to differ. Something to keep in mind about USB 3.0 wifi adapters.