Hey,
I am having trouble configuring properly my new router wifi(apparently) - currently the wifi(both 5ghz and 2.4ghz) range is way smaller than my old Linkysys wrt54gl(the wifi of the wrt54gl was usable 10m away from my porch 2 floors down - diagonally looking).
Both WiFi channels barely reach my porch, both of them barely usable - if usable at all.
The router is located 30cm beneath the ceiling on a wooden shelf, all antennas straight up - marked as a red on the attached image.
Wifi signals marked on the image -> blue = 5ghz, pink 2.4ghz (i did some iperf test, didnt save the results.. i can repeat them if it would help debug my issues)
I tried to fiddle around with the configs(width, channel,...), so far this was the best i could do on my own.
final notes:
the old router was running openwrt, and had probably more than 20dbm tx power
my neighbors aren't close, their wifis are visible in some corners of the house with around -95dbm
currently only one possible problem goes trough my mind - the walls that are thicker on the attached image, "main carrier walls", made out of bricks as far as i know..
This is a different device (also incapable of N speed)...the true test is if the WRT1900ACS works at the same distance as the WRT54GL on stock firmware?
Not sure why the performance seems to be worse than the WRT54GL
On the antennas, I would not have them all standing straight up so that they get "more different" signals and some of the advanced features of modern 802.11 potentially can be more effective. \ | / is one "not too ugly" setup. You might also try one vertical, one horizontal "to the south" and one horizontal "to the east" (right angles between all). Still, while a good thing to explore, that's probably not the cause of your problems.
Take a look at you location. I was very surprised to find that the seemingly good spot for one of my Archer C7s, up high on the top of a bookshelf, its base ~45 cm from the ceiling, wood-frame construction was actually the source of the throughput problem I was just chasing down on 2.4 GHz with one device in my network!
Edit: Also check if it's on a metal shelf or metal chassis of another box -- current units many times use "patch" or other internal antennas for 2.4 GHz. The WRT54 series used the "rubber duckies" as another difference to "current" units.
Up high:
Not only slow, but "stutters" pretty severely.
Same router just on my desk:
Edit: 30 Mbps is my upstream limit
Legacy rates can slow down the whole network. Unless you've got some really ancient hardware, you might want to set
option require_mode 'g'
on your 2.4 GHz radio and
option require_mode 'n' # iPhone 5 can't support 802.11ac
on your 5 GHz radio (as the comment in my config indicates, the iPhone 5, unfortunately, doesn't support 802.11ac).
set legacy_rates to 0, added encryption and max allowed tx power(20) to the config
The only option that i managed channel 140 to work was with a width of 20mhz, and the speed was 1/3 of the channel 36 with 80hz..
Channel 100 worked with 80hz, and the speed seemed to be better
It appears that you're in France (or at least your OpenWrt router thinks you are). Looking at the permitted channels for 5 GHz, some of the "prime" ones that US users are used to configuring aren't available. DFS ("radar detection") may be pushing your radio off the configured channel, as it is legally required to do in most jurisdictions. You should be able to see what channel the radio is using in the output of iwinfo.
There has been some evidence that certain OEM firmware does not comply with the current DFS requirements and allows operation on "occupied" DFS-restricted channels. While I'd be surprised if this is the case with a router that claims "802.11ac" from a well-respected manufacturer, it's an outside possibility.
Have you tried relocating the router to, for example, your dining table (assuming it isn't metal) or "in the clear" in one of your bedrooms?
Not yet, will do that on the weekend. Now i managed to get the 5ghz working if i choose channel 136, width 80mhz.. after the radar detection goes trough, the router picks channel 100 - the speed of 5ghz improved
edit: now it jumped from channel 100 to 52
edit2: now it jumped to 36.. even though the selected channel is 136
Yep, looks like you've got radar limiting what you can use. That is "typical" behavior as it leaves a channel as soon as it detects radar.
Looking at the graphic illustration of channel numbers at http://www.revolutionwifi.net/revolutionwifi/2013/03/80211ac-channel-planning.html, the channel numbers you reported, and the posted output of iw phy, it looks like your 80-MHz configuration choices are probably 36, 52, 100, 116. Since I see 144 as "disabled", I don't think you can use 132, as it would span up through 144, as I understand it. Regrettably, it appears that the "high-power" (27 dBm) channels are all "in use" by radar, so it's pushing you down to 36, where the power limit is 20 dBm.
If device is a shelby v2, you are SOL as the locale data is embedded in the eeprom. There is some hope to be had given the banter in issue#280, and if you roll your own there is a patch that may offer some respite.
If possible, shouldn't channels under 72 should be avoided on the 5GHz network, as channels >13 - <72 are normally utilized for N on the 2.4GHz network (or do I have an incorrect understanding)?
Unless this includes inside a faraday cage it seems unlikely it will help. Radars put out pulses of power in the range of megawatts (peak envelope power) and have hundreds of kilometer ranges, the difference between one end of your house and the other is negligible on the scale of hundreds of kilometers.
Best thing is going to be choose a channel that doesn't require DFS.
I wouldn't try to move the router around to get less radar interference.. i was "debugging" if there are issues in the surroundings of the router(walls, shelf,...)
Gotcha, I'm not sure why this thread popped up as recommended just now, didn't notice the dates, seems like by now you'd probably got things figured out.
The solution for me was to set it to a channel that didn't overlap "always", so most of the time its fine.. sometimes it resets automatically to a "lower" channel and stays there...
Yep, looks like you've got radar limiting what you can use. That is "typical" behavior as it leaves a channel as soon as it detects radar.
. On the wrt54gl you could youst over-ride the country and thats it 