Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
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Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

FURRYe38
Guru

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

Best testing for wifi would be 6-10 feet from the RBR. 

Message 26 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16


@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...

 

Message 27 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

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.

Message 28 of 52
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

I would also turn OFF RBS as well while you test. Ensure your test devices are not migrating to the RBS then giving inaccurate results. 

Message 29 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16


@FURRYe38 wrote:

I would also turn OFF RBS as well while you test. Ensure your test devices are not migrating to the RBS then giving inaccurate results. 


Checked and they are all 3 connected to RBR (details at bottom of this post).

 

The fact that the Killer AC1535 in the above laptop connected wirelessly to RBR got great 5 speed tests in a row last night, right after Orbi factory reset, shows that it is more than capable of working well.

 

This makes me wonder if the Orbi is too optimized for AX and, in any case, perhaps still needs work on its AC wifi implementation when it comes to sustaining speeds, since all 3 non-AX devices below are NOT getting the wireless speeds they should be even at optimal distances (several feet from router for Note 9 e.g.) and great link rates:

 

  • Killer AC1535 built-in (main laptop) - connected wirelessly to RBR, poor speed results all day today, this is despite 866 Mbps link rates for both receive and transmit.
  • Linksys WUSB6400M (USB main laptop) - not connected today; tested last night with poor results.
  • Galaxy Note 9 (not sure which adapter it uses, but it is 802.11ac and has link rates showing 780 Mbps - connected wirelessly to RBR; disappointing speeds.

(edited to correct several typos)

Message 30 of 52
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

Let us know what you see with older FW version then. 

 

I presume you don't have Armor or Traffic Meter enabled? 

Message 31 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16


@FURRYe38 wrote:

Let us know what you see with older FW version then. 

 

I presume you don't have Armor or Traffic Meter enabled? 


Given the latest results (with AX adpaters e.g.), I am not sure I am planning to even bother to try the old firmware again since the only real changes were security and non-performance enhancement, but I may try anyway...

 

I disabled Armor as suggested.

I do not have Traffice Meter enabled.

 

Aside from disabling Armor, everything is pretty much default.

(I tried IPv6 for a few days last week and then disabled it when I was having stability issues - since the system has been stable (aide from these wifi speed inconsistencies) in the past week since I disabled it, I decided to leave IPv6 disabled).

Message 32 of 52
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

If you had Armor enabled then disabled it. I'd run thru a factory reset, be sure to not enabled Armor after the wizard completes. Been known to even though you disable it, still stuff running in the background after it's disabled. 

Message 33 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16


@FURRYe38 wrote:

If you had Armor enabled then disabled it. I'd run thru a factory reset, be sure to not enabled Armor after the wizard completes. Been known to even though you disable it, still stuff running in the background after it's disabled. 


Thanks. I already did the factory reset last night as noted in my posts. Armor was disabled over a week ago.

Message 34 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

Okay, quick final update for today:

 

  • I re-renabled IPv6 using the 'Auto' detection, but this time it selected 'DHCP', as opposed to '6to4 tunnel' last time. The latter is being deprecated, so I am glad it picked DHCP this time
  • I also found buried on Killer's web page, the 2020 AC1535 drivers by Qualcomm, as opposed to 2018 Microsoft ones.

I am getting 474.60 Mbps wifi speed again on Speedtest out of 480 Mbps provisioned (Xfinity overpovisions by 20% over my "400 Mbps" plan) on the laptop in same room as the Orbi RBR (router unit). Edit: Got 463.5 Mbps on 2nd run 15 mins later (it was 474 for a while then dropped to 463.5 in last few seconds of the test. Then one last test now and got 479.35 Mbps.

 

These results are excellent, but I am not going to claim victory prematurely since last night I had very similar excellent wifi results after the Orbi factory reset (for 5 consecutive tests before I stopped for the day); but this morning wifi speeds were much lower again as I noted in my earlier posts today...

 

"Only" getting 370 Mbps wifi speed on my other (Intel AX200 adapter) laptop in a room on the other side of the same floor; given the link rate is much higher than that (upper 600 Mbps range), I was hoping to at least get a bit over 400 Mbps... That is the laptop that consistenly got 475 Mbps in same room as router this morning, even while the Killer had issues getting good speed (at the time).

 

Going to monitor things tomorrow; first test of the day tomorrow should be telling in terms of whether speed degradation will happen or not.

(I also experimented with disabling "20 / 40 coexistence" and turning off AX features in the Orbi; the latter was a long shot in case rthat feature has issues; however the former made things worse even though Netgear's tip page says disabling coexistence can help get full speeds):

"By default, 20/40 MHz Coexistence is enabled on your NETGEAR router to avoid interference between wireless networks. You can disable this feature to help your devices connect at the maximum supported wireless speed."

 

 

For testing / backup purposes, I also ordered two USB AC1900 wifi adapters to compare speeds (can return the one that performs the worst, or even both depending on whether they help wifi performance at the further location, especially since I plan to potentially use ethernet once I am done testing wifi speeds and stability and am comfortable keeping my RBK753S):.

 

The Netgear adapter arrives tomorrow; the Asus does not arrive till Sunday (unless I drive an hour to pick it up Saturday):

"ASUS USB-AC68 AC1900 Dual-band USB 3.0 WiFi Adapter, Cradle included"

"NETGEAR - Nighthawk AC1900 Dual-Band WiFi USB 3.0 Adapter - Black". Actual model # is A7000-10000S.

I though the Dlink Wifi 6 / AX USB adapter (first USB AX adapter announced at CES in Jan) was supposed to be available as soon as this quarter potentially, but not seeing anything concrete regarding an ETA.

 

Enough fun for one day. Hopefully the 2020 driver helps keep wifi speeds stable now and, while I tend to doubt it, maybe even the IPv6 re-enabling helps as well...

 

Good night all!

 

Message 35 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

Quick update (was out for an appointment this AM):

Well my excitement today was short lived - I was excited when I ran my first speed test of the day (using the 'buried' 2020 Killer AC1535 drivers) and the speed was 476.42 Mbps (while a call was coming in on VOIP).

But the second, third and fourth tests were much lower (337 - 352 Mbps), sigh.

I thought the 2020 Killer drivers might have done the trick after the first test of the day was still at almost at my provisioned 480 Mbps speed.

Guess not. 😞

 

The other puzzling thing - maybe a one-time glitch, but the adapter / wifi disconnected completely twice in a row in the first 60 seconds or so of turning my laptop on; this was when I was trying to connect to a VMware session.

After that it has been fine (been on 30 minutes now with no issues).

I'll keep an eye on it. Could be IPv6 related I guess (I re-enabled IPv6 last night as noted earlier)...

 

As mentioned, I have 2 AC1900 wifi adapters coming (one today and one Sunday). Will use those to see if wifi speeds improve and are consistent.
If those adapters do not help, I believe my laptop slot is compatible with the back ordered Intel M.2 Wifi 6 AX200 card; so I can try that. If so, hopefully the 2 laptop antenna leads will stay attached to the new card; that is something some people complain about.
 
The frustrating saga continues!!!
Message 36 of 52
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

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. 

Message 37 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16


@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!

 

Message 38 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

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...

 

 

Message 39 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

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? 

 

 

Message 40 of 52
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

2347

Message 41 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

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).

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

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.

 

Message 42 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

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...

Message 43 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

Well, for my last test of the day, the Netgear A7000 wifi adapter is still getting great speeds (latest test just now was 469Mbps (out of the 480 Mbps provisioned by my ISP).

So maybe we're finally there! 🙂

 

Glad I got this adapter, so I hopefully do not have to spend more time figuring out what the issues were.

 

Tomorrow, Monday or Tuesday I will try upgrading the firmware to 3.2.18.1 again and see if speeds continue to be grerat and consistent. If so, I will assume it might be  due to changing both bands' RTS/CTS values to 2347). If things worsen, I will downgrade to 3.2.17.x again and wait for a newr firmware...

 

PS: I tried the Asus USB-AC68 wifi and it works great on my 2nd laptop with speeds almost the same as the Negear A7000. But on my main laptop, the Asus only got 1/2 speed (250 Mbps).

Also the Asus connected to 2.4 GHz initially on both laptops despite the 5 GHz signal being strong enough.

I will give the Asus another shot tomorrow since I just got it; but I will most likely be sticking with the Netgear A7000 (albeit without its magnetic base, to be safe), assuming the Asus does not work any better tomorrow and assuming the Netgear A7000 continues to perform so well (fast and consistent wifi speeds).

 

Message 44 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

So far speeds are still holding up for the Netgear A7000, so I am not inclined to change anything yet (i.e. keep RTS/CTS at 2347 and keep firmware at 3.2.17.x and stay 1 behind the latest)... In a few days, I can always upgrade the firmware and see if the inconsistency returns.

 

Well, this is odd / surprising:

Today I decided to give the Asus USB-AC68 AC1900 wifi adapter another shot and this time it worked as well as the Netgear A7000 AC1900 wifi adapter... Speeds were almost identical between the 2 adapters, except for the very first run. I then closed the antennae and got the same high speeds as the A7000. I then removed the shrink wrap sticker from the base and opened the antennae and speeds remained consistently high.(473 - 477 Mbps). I even got over 480 Mpps in the distant location with the Asus.

 

So now I need to decide if I want to keep one Asus and one Netgear adapter... I wish I could check heat between the two.

Will have to try to run some 'stress' tests (extended downloading e.g.) with each and compare.

 

I had ordered a 2nd Netgear adapter, which I could simply return in a few days if the Asus keeps performing so well and I decide I want one of each - one Asus, one Negear; I may also decide to go with two of the same adapter (two Asus or two Netgear).

I want one for my other (second) laptop and one for my primary laptop / as a backup.

Message 45 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16



Asus USB-AC68 wifi adapter - Well, the Asus USB-AC68 wifi adapter was fine last night for a bunch of downloads I used to test its sustained speeds and it was getting about 470 Mbps throughout the download which was great and encouraging.

However, this morning the Asus adapter is acting up again with much lower speeds again (all over the map, some under 100 Mbps even) before and after trying the Netgear in between. Also, despite following instructions, the drivers installed by the manufacturer's setup utility are never the ones specified (version number is different). I even tried manually reinstalling them etc.

It also connected to 2.4 Ghz again...

I also tried without the included cradle and speeds were equally poor.

 

Netgear A7000 wifi adapter - I plugged the Netgear A7000 wifi adapter in right after that and it got 463, 468 and 467 Mbps on the first 3 Speedtest runs.

It is just much more consistent and always connects to 5 GHz (in the same location).

Even the worst runs today with the Netgear were still  448 Mbps with the worst server and 460 Mbps with best server.

I got 473.5 Mbps just as I was going to submit this post, so it has been EXTREMELY consistent and stable, just the way I like it...

 

-------------------------------------------------------

Side note: -

USB extension cable - The one odd thing is that the following Sabrent highly-rated USB 3.0 Super Speed cable (which claims to support up to 5 Gbps) was not able to keep up with my adapter at all, giving me much lower speeds with both adapters (e.g. some under 100 Mbps and on the best run still only 350 and that one good run was short lived before it got much worse on successive runs; Speedtest also hung briefly in the middle of the test, so I am returning the cable.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017XUSKVK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I had bought the cable to avoid using the Netgear's "strong" magnetic mount cradle with my A7000, which comes with a warning not to use the cradle near computers, hard drives, credit cards etc since the magnet can cause data loss... Craziest idea ever, but at least the adapter itself works well. I will explore removing the magnets from the base of the cradle, and perhaps also  remove the metal shims, as one reviewer successfully did and add some paper / cardboard instead to compensate for the weight loss.

 

 

tldrI will likely be keeping the Orbi RBK753S since it seems stable now with my current config changes made Friday evening, most notably setting RTS/CTS to 2347, as suggested, and also re-enabling IPv6 which now switched IPV6 type / mode to 'DHCP' [from '6to4 tunnel' when I initially had it enabled before disabling it temporarily)

For some computers, based on my tests, I will use the Netgear A7000 AC1900 USB wifi adapter to maximize speeds (till the World's first AX Wifi 6 USB adapter comes out later this year).

 

I will be returning keeping the Netgear A7000 adapter and returning the Asus USB-A68 wifi adapter. My experience matches some semi formal reviews on the net (not user reviews, but site reviews). I gave it a chance anyway since some users had the opposite experience and preferred the Asus USB-AC68 over the Netgear A7000...

Hope my adapter ests help others here, but as they say "YMMV" (Your Mileage May Vary) and you might get the opposite results since every computer is unique in terms of settings, user software installed, external devices attached / internal components added / upgraded and drivers installed etc...

 

 

 

Message 46 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

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.
Message 47 of 52
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

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. 

Message 48 of 52
njweb
Luminary

Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16


@FURRYe38 wrote:

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. 


Thanks for sharing your experiences! Your theory makes sense. How long was the extension cable 3 feet or 6 feet (if you remember)?

 

The cord in the wifi adapter's included USB cradle must be designed differently than 'standard' USB 3.0 Super Speed cables (the ones I got were 3 feet long); the included cradle (2 feet long) works fine with the wifi adapter. Or that 2 foot length is the maximum before thing start to get a lot worse...

 

Maybe I will keep these 2 extension cords for other devices, instead of returning them. Actually I bought 4 extension cords - the other 2 are the type that have a built in small base that allow the adapter to stand upright... I did not get those yet.

A bunch of people say the ones (which are coming tomorrow) work great with their wifi adapters, but nobody mentioned the mbps they were getting and a number of those reviews are from 2015, so let's see...

 

PS: I see that my other post from this morning is back now... 🙂

 

Message 49 of 52
FURRYe38
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Re: New RBK753S - Stability / wifi connection reliability issues every other day so far? (fw V3.2.16

I believe it was a 10 footer. I still have it. 

 

Ya seems that stock in box cables work and designed for the adapter. Anything else seems to cause problems. I didn't try any other extension cables as I relented and figured that stock cable would only be needed. Would be interesting to know if something does work. 

 

Ya I noticed that your one post came in a bit ago. after you had posted the one before it. Odd forum behavior. 

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