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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.
FURRYe38 wrote: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.
Thanks. Yesterday I did temporarily disable AX mode on both bands, but it did not help with speeds, but trying to recall if I tested both laptops since it was after work hours (perhaps a good thing that disabling it did not help since I have a built-in AX adapter on my second laptop).
Let me test again later today.
I have not experimented with changing the CTS values yet though (I had been wondering about that). Let me try that too.
They are currently at 64 (default).
Appreciate the suggestions!
Well I got the Netgear A7000 AC1900 this evening (the Asus one arrives tomorrow). It is huge .
Far location (other laptop in the room all the way across the main floor, i.e. far from the RBR):
The good news, after moving it around, the A7000 wifi adapater greatly improved wifi speeds on the laptop which is located all the way on other end of the main floor; this is no doubt thanks to its antenna. In fact after moving it half a foot closer to the router (keep in mind router is in another room all the way on the other end of the floor, yet less than half a foot made a really big difference), it got around 450 Mbps!
That is far better than the 360-370 or at most 400 I was getting with the Intel AX201 Wifi 6 built-in adapter in this further location than the location below.
Room where RBR is located (main laptop):
The bad news is, just like all the other adapters, the A7000 AC1900 also did NOT get optimal speeds (e.g. only 335 Mbps vs close to 480 Mbps when all is working fine) and the Orbi did not allow it to maintain speeds on the main laptop (same room as RBR).
So the adapters are not the issue...
As soon as I rebooted the Orbi, once again magically download speeds are instantly at the top of the range again (e.g. 475.5 Mbps) and also consistent (for a while).
So something in the Orbi router appears to be causing it to lose ability to maintain a consistent wifi speed over a period of time.
The issue can be reproduced (tested with devices and signals that support speeds well over 400 Mbps) with ALL 3 802.11ac wifi adapters (listed below) I tested in the room where the Orbi RBR is located!
Killer AC1535
Linksys WUSB6400M (AC1200)
Netgear A7000 (AC1900)
I have great signals and power levels well within spec at the cable modem level (D3.1 modem) - my trusty Motorola MB8600 which was a great companion device to my prior AC3000 Orbi (RBK53).
PS: The downside of the Netgear A7000 wifi adapter is the HUGE warning sticker about the included cradle containing a very strong magnet and not to put the cradle near hard drives (huh????) nor credit cards. I mean this is a wifi adapter, yet I can't keep it near a hard drive...
Really odd and poorly thought out design frankly - there are other ways to create weight for use in PC settings without using magnets that can't be near hard drives etc...
As suggested, I set both of the CTS/RTS Thresholds from 64 (default) to 2347 just now on my RBK753S.
That appears to have caused the speedtest speeds to hit the upper range (much) earlier in the Speedtest's timeframe, whereas before it took longer to hit the higher speeds.
Let me keep that at 2347 for now. I know 500 is suggested by some to avoid potential contention / issues.
Found posts of people who had issues / disconnects with it at 64, so I am not sure why Netgear went so low (at least they could have set it at 500 or so).
Does anyone know what the default CTS/RTS values were / are with the older RBK53?
2347
Laptop 2:
Laptop 2 tldr (short recap) - 460 Mbps consistent speeds with new Netgear A7000 and no issues.
Laptop 2 long version of status:
I just tested speed again with my new Netgear A7000 to get exact speeds on the laptop in the room on opposite side of house from the RBR:
This thing is very impressive for something that was last updated in 2017!
In my laptop located on the other side of the house, at a good distance from the room where the RBR is:
Netgear A7000 (AC1900) - 460 Mbps (out of 480 Mbps provisioned)
Intel Wifi 6 AX201 adapter - 360 Mbps.
That is 100 Mbps higher for the A7000, thanks to its antenna no doubt. AX is not always better, especially at further distances where an AC device (such as the A7000) can outperform the AX adapter thanks to the antenna on the external (USB) adapter.
I even plugged the A7000 adapter directly into my USB port and got that 460 Mbps result. So the great news is that I will not need to use the cradle which comes with the strong magnet with the Netgear warning on it to keep it away from hard drives, credit cards etc.. I will keep the cradle locked away somewhere away from sensitive electronics; keeping it just in case I ever sell the adapter down the road.
So that laptop (opposite side of house) is all set and optimized thanks to the A7000 (will also test with the Asus USB-AC68 which is arriving tomorrow).
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Laptop 1: tldr - changed RTS/CTS to 2347 and downgraded firmware to 3.2.17.x; speeds are great now, but the same happened yesterday and by the second speed test around noon today, speeds had dropped from 480 Mbps to 330/350 Mbps, so only time will tell...
Laptop 1 - long detailed update:
My main laptop (the one with inconsistent speeds starting after anywhere from a little while to half a day after the last setting change / last router reboot):
To try to resolve this, as I mentioned, I set the RTS/CTS to 2347 (from 64).
I also, as a test, downgraded from 3.2.18.1 to 3.2.17.x for now...
Now: Still getting 473 Mbps with the A7000 adapater as of right now in the main laptop next to the RBR.
But, based on my experience the past few days, the true test is seeing whether speeds remain consistent 12 hours later....
To illustrate: Recap of the issues this morning - The first speed test of the day today (around noon), the speed was great (this was even after over 13 hours of not changing / touching anything since last night); however my excitement quickly turned to disappointment when - a minute later - speeds were worse again (dropped by 130 - 150 Mbps - from 480 to 330 e.g.).
I hope the RTS/CTS changes and / or firmware downgrade might help resolve the issues for once and for all.
Will see how Laptop 1 fares the rest of the weekend on 3.2.17.x with RTS/CTS set to 2347 and then (likely) compare it to 3.2.18.1 again later in the weekend, since I would ideally like the latest security updates.
Potentially promising update today...
Setup:
Still on firmware 3.2.17.12 and RTS/CTS at 2347 since last night.
I am using the new Netgear A7000 AC1900 wireless adapter. The Asus AC68 adapter arrived today, so will try that too, but given how well the A7000 is doing so far with the latest driver which is 4 years old aned that speeds (see below) are almost maxing out to what my ISP is provisioning (480 Mbps), I can't expect the Asus to add any value, so if the Asus performs as well as the Netgear A7000, then it will come down to which one I prefer for non-performance reasons.
Results today:
Two speedtest runs today on the computer in the room with the RBR (the one that I have been experiencing speed issues up to today).
The tests today were 3 hours 17 mins apart - first one yielded 479.38 Mbps and second one 477.87 Mbps.
So the results (despite being 3 hours apart) are promising in terms of speed consistency and lack of speed degradation so far, as well as *very* close to the maxium 480 Mbps (provisioned speed that I get via ethernet).
But, based on prior experience, I will wait at least another day to see if speeds continue to hold up...
Next steps:
Then tomorrow, I can try fw 3.2.18.x again, but leaving RTS/CTS set to 2347 and see if speeds remain stable. That way I can (potentially) rule out firmware as the culprit of the inconsistent and much lower speeds on Thursday and Friday.
I will also try the Asus AC68 so I can decide which adapter(s) to keep. Once the AX adapter comes out, I will try that and may just sell the others...