+longgonebn Subscriber² Posted April 5, 2014 Subscriber² Share Posted April 5, 2014 So I have been having all kinds of issues with my internet and network, so starting to think it's my ASUS RTAC66U router. (random speed drops, complete connection drop, streaming hicups and more) (I am pretty sure it's not the ISP, as when these things happen, and I swtich routers, or go directly to the modem, it starts working again) My ISP provides a 45/4Mbps connection. On the ASUS (when its working properly) can indeed do 45Mbps on WiFi. So I have setup (fresh reset, updated firmware (tomato)) the WRT54GL and it's maxing out at 20Mbps over WiFi. It's rated for 54Mbps, and I know you never really get that, but shouldn't I be able to get 45Mbps? I have gone through the settings, turned on Burst Mode, and changed a few other things. I just want to confirm it's actually working properly, so the test to see if I have the issues that I am having with the ASUS don't happen on the WRT54GL. Then I know it's the router. And just to confirm, the wired connection on both are doing 45Mbps just fine. Also, assuming after my tests, it's most likely the RT-AC66U router, do you think I should get it replaced (or buy a new one, I don't know if I have a warranty) because it's probably just a dud, or is there a better router out there right now (in terms of modern, new ones)? When I bought it, I was pretty sure after doing research that it was the best one available, or in the top 3. Now I worry that maybe it's not that good, but hoping it's just a dud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FiB3R Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 Try this http://www.polarcloud.com/tomato Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+longgonebn Subscriber² Posted April 5, 2014 Author Subscriber² Share Posted April 5, 2014 Yea thanks...how about reading, I am already on Tomato. Crisp 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nyolc8 Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 I have a tplink router which says max speed on wifi is 54mbps and I only get ~12-13mbps max. (avarage is 8-9) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member Posted April 5, 2014 Member Share Posted April 5, 2014 It's perfectly normal. 802.11g uses the same channel for both tx and rx so you get half the effective bandwidth in practice for downstream. Remember it is half-duplex and can't tx and rx at the same time, so you are switching between them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BudMan MVC Posted April 5, 2014 MVC Share Posted April 5, 2014 The number given by the makers of wireless routers/card be it B, G, N, AC has always been RAW total as marketing ploy. When they report AC1900 for example they are talking about both the 2.4 and the 5 TOTAL -- there is no way 1 client can see this bandwidth, and then as snaphat mentions its always /2 of that not even counting the overhead or that fact that its shared between all wireless clients on the network, etc. Seeing 20 over G is actually pretty good.. Max would be about 23, very common to see as little as 15 or 18 in a normal setup. These would be real world numbers, doing a file copy sort of test, etc. So yeah if your seeing 20 down with your G router -- thats pretty good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+longgonebn Subscriber² Posted April 5, 2014 Author Subscriber² Share Posted April 5, 2014 Thanks guys. That makes me feel better. I was pretty sure that was the case, but wanted to double check. It's hard to go from 45 to 20 lol Though, it should only be a few weeks of testing, and desktop performance doesn't take much of a hit, if any. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chconline Veteran Posted April 5, 2014 Veteran Share Posted April 5, 2014 Yeah anything you see rated on the box is the max theoretical rating. It's given that it has absolutely no shadowing loss, path loss, and attenuation through different materials from a RF perspective. From a network protocol perspective, it doesn't account for overhead either. All this really adds up :P (EE specializing in communications/signals here.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+longgonebn Subscriber² Posted April 5, 2014 Author Subscriber² Share Posted April 5, 2014 Yea, I already knew that, just was making sure. So thanks. Now, as I said in my original post, if my issues are the router (RT-AC66U) then you guys think I should get another one of those, or switch to something else? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+BudMan MVC Posted April 5, 2014 MVC Share Posted April 5, 2014 You have tomato on the 54GL, but did you try 3rd party on your 66U - dd-wrt is supported on this I know. I would try that before purchase of anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+longgonebn Subscriber² Posted April 5, 2014 Author Subscriber² Share Posted April 5, 2014 Yea, using Merlin which is the highest rated and supported firmware for that model. You have tomato on the 54GL, but did you try 3rd party on your 66U - dd-wrt is supported on this I know. I would try that before purchase of anything else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ambroos Posted April 5, 2014 Share Posted April 5, 2014 WRT-54G(L) does indeed max out at around 21Mbps, no matter what settings you use. On the plus side, they're indestructable and provide rock solid connections. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
snaphat (Myles Landwehr) Member Posted April 5, 2014 Member Share Posted April 5, 2014 Yea, using Merlin which is the highest rated and supported firmware for that model. Just to to be sure I'm understanding the OP correctly, you switched to the linksys because your RT-AC66U was misbehaving, correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+longgonebn Subscriber² Posted April 5, 2014 Author Subscriber² Share Posted April 5, 2014 Yes, but switched for testing, not to actually switch. Just to to be sure I'm understanding the OP correctly, you switched to the linksys because your RT-AC66U was misbehaving, correct? snaphat (Myles Landwehr) 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+longgonebn Subscriber² Posted April 8, 2014 Author Subscriber² Share Posted April 8, 2014 Are you referring to the WRT54GL? As this thread would state, it's for testing my newer router. Or are you referring to the RT-AC66U, you think I should (assuming its the router) get a different model, instead of replacing it? I think you should replace your router....go with better option... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
10thmandown Posted April 9, 2014 Share Posted April 9, 2014 You can squeeze extra performance by overclocking the 54GL from 200 MHz to 250 MHz. I have it with this speed for a number of years and it's fine. The speeds on cable increased from 4 mb/sec to 5 mb/sec so I assume a similar improvement can be found on wireless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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