Asus N56U Wireless Network Problems

Martynt74

Martynt74

Martynt74

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20 Feb 2004
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Hondon de las Nieves, Spain
I know there are piles of wireless network thread around here but they all seem to be slightly different to the point that it warrants creating a new thread.

We currently live in a mid terraced house and get 60mb internet from Virgin. About 6 months ago after many problems with our home network and after searching online it seemed the best option was to buy a separate router and use the Virgin Superhub in modem only mode.

Off I went and bought an Asus N56U router. Set it all up and it was fantastic.

My stepson who games online a lot stopped complaining of connection/speed issues
Our boxee box stopped stopping and buffering every 10 minutes
Transferring files to my server seemed to jump from about 4mb/s to 6mb/s

All seemed great. Up until about 2 weeks ago when we started having problems again. The Network would show in Windows as having full signal yet sometimes it either wouldn’t connect or would show as being connected yet not actually let you do anything networky. Along with random disconnections.

I updated to the latest firmware for the router (3.0.0.4.260) but that seemed to cause even more problems. It would be great for 30 minutes after rebooting the router but then it would disconnect and not let us do anything. So I went and downloaded the Padavan firmware which everyone seemed to rave about. I really like the UI of the firmware when connected to the router now but it seems the same problems are recurring – Regular disconnections, slow speeds even when showing full strength connections.

I’ve always been a fan of inSSIDer and this showing around -40dba connection strength and shows not much other traffic causing interference. Running Speedtest (I understand this is internet only and not network based) I seem to be able to vary from a ping of 5 and download speeds of 60mb right down to a ping of 130 and download speeds of 18.

I think that a big part of the problem is due to the number of devices connected to the network. Heres a list of everything, although obviously not always connected at the same time

1 x Home Server (wired connection)
1 x Gaming PC
3 x laptops
4 x iphones
2 x tablets (Ipad and Asus Transformer)
3 x squeezebox music players
2 x Video media players (Boxee Box and Apple TV with XBMC)


Is there anything I can do to improve my home network?

Current plans are either

1.Buy a pack of homeplugs, one for my sons pc, one for the boxee box and one for near the router. Am I right in thinking that should remove most of the traffic from the wireless network and help other devices? Also if i connect 2 devices through them do i need 2 at the router end?

2.Buy a new router and then use my 56U elsewhere in the house as an access point to help boost the signal (whilst it's only a terrace house the walls are very thick brick) although.
 
MilanoChris said:
Slow speed to the net or internal LAN?
Click to expand...

Seems to be a combination (which could just be due to the internal lan)

My average transfer rates to the server now seem to be down to around 2mb/s even if its just one large file.

We're also having a lot more buffering issues streaming files from the home server to various devices.


The squeezebox in my bedroom has a light on the front which is off by default, however this morning (around 3am) it lost its network connection and started flashing blue, i can't think of any logical reason for a device to just lose network connection. Unless the router was doing some automatic updates?
 
I'll do that. Is this generally the best one? Would it be best to install it on my server which is on 24/7?

http://www.thinkbroadband.com/tbbmeter.html


Any suggestions about the random disconnections from the network and the internal LAN problems, i wouldn't have thought this would be affected by the ISP
 
Last edited:
This is interesting, I have been getting exactly the same issues recently. The data over the wireless drops out even though the wireless is still connected. It's almost definitely the wireless data through put and not wired and or the wan connection as each time my wife complains about the Internet going down I am usually on my PC which is wired and a quick speedtest always shows I still have my full100 mb. I was wondering if it was either the hardware as the router does run quite warm or if its something that has crept in in the more recent firm wares. I keep meaning to check the ater as I still have all the previous ones stored. (Although i don't fancy loosing my easy to setup VPN I the most recent firmware)
 
Generally it struggles to even connect to the router admin page. By the time it allows me to connect its usually pretty low as normal.
 
Hmm havent noticed this with mines, and we have excess of 20 devices connected according to the front page.

I am actually tempted to go to the AC66U just for the increase range
 
Hi I wanted to bump this up as this has been happening so often with me and my family recently. The wireless shows as connected but without internet connectivity. Which is not the case as I use my PC all day which is wired and have no problems. A reset of the adapter on the devices having problems solves it. But really it's not the devices fault. Tablets, mobiles etc, anything over wireless suffers from it.

I'm using the latest custom firmware but I'm wondering if maybe it's a faulty unit? Anyone care to share some light on if they got their problems solved?
 
Have to say to everyone on this thread I bought the Asus RT-N65U for my tablet and thought this would solve any blackspots. My main network is hard wired with two switches one upstairs and one down. I am surprised people having the same problems as me. The kitchen connection is great but the living room the signal is great but no internet connectivity. Never seen anything like that before and yes I have played with the rotational direction of the unit. Love the unit but ther eason I bought it - the tablet is lacking I only live in a 3 bedroomed semi ~ not a castle !!! LOL
 
Tobes said:
Hi I wanted to bump this up as this has been happening so often with me and my family recently. The wireless shows as connected but without internet connectivity. Which is not the case as I use my PC all day which is wired and have no problems. A reset of the adapter on the devices having problems solves it. But really it's not the devices fault. Tablets, mobiles etc, anything over wireless suffers from it.

I'm using the latest custom firmware but I'm wondering if maybe it's a faulty unit? Anyone care to share some light on if they got their problems solved?
Click to expand...

Hmm, I have the same problem with the latest padavan fw on my 56u. Will revert back to stock fw and see if that removes the issue.

Dont really need the custom fw and only really tried it out of curiosity..... :)
 
Marvt74 the OP went the other way and was having problems with stock firmware so let me know if this fixes it. Changing the Wifi channel doesn't help if anyone asks.

But yeah would love to know if it's a hardware problem. It was working fine for nearly a year now it's just doing this all of a sudden and my family keep moaning. Rightly so though but hey this is why I made my Dad route CAT5 cable over the house. Just sucks for tablets and mobiles.
 
Just a point of interest if I connect my tablet in the kitchen and take it to the living room the connection authenticates and connects to the internet. If I start the tablet in the living room - nothing. Tries to authenticate but nothing. I tried the 13 channels 1-2-13 had limited effect but alas no connectivity. If this continues I will return to TP-Link my original network equipment I used a signal extender on that one. Can I utilise that extender with the Asus wireless router {TL-WA830RE <extender}
 
I feel embarrassed by this noob solution but might help someone. Switched my wireless security cam off and" hay presto" everything works a treat !! Also the unit base is on an angle - my set up is upstairs -(pointed slightly skyward) Put some packing underneath it so it was perfectly vertical. Hope these tips helps
 
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