[Maylyn's Review] ASUS RT-AC3200 Router

[renfred89]

Ok, i got too intoxicated at funan just now, got it at challenger at $409. i have some points to redeem thats why. 50cents cheaper than infocom@level 4. hahas..

 

[trichard]

Ok, i got too intoxicated at funan just now, got it at challenger at $409. i have some points to redeem thats why. 50cents cheaper than infocom@level 4. hahas..

终于.....

Time to enjoy the stable and start to jio more 87U over liao.....

 

[renfred89]

终于.....

Time to enjoy the stable and start to jio more 87U over liao.....

but hor, the built-in smart connect settings for 4980 seems a little wobbly leh. i am now manually assigning my devices instead of using the smart connect..

And i actually bug JK for help. LOL. #difficultcustomertoplease

 

[trichard]

but hor, the built-in smart connect settings for 4980 seems a little wobbly leh. i am now manually assigning my devices instead of using the smart connect..

And i actually bug JK for help. LOL. #difficultcustomertoplease

Use this -

Apply and Reboot .

Read here also http://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-rt-ac3200-smart-connect-rules-fine-tuning.22823/

Plus this - http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...us-rt-ac3200-smart-connect-the-missing-manual

I can bet ASUS@SG not even till that depth yet .

 

[renfred89]

Use this -

Apply and Reboot .

Read here also http://www.snbforums.com/threads/asus-rt-ac3200-smart-connect-rules-fine-tuning.22823/

Plus this - http://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wire...us-rt-ac3200-smart-connect-the-missing-manual

I can bet ASUS@SG not even till that depth yet .

will try your settings and see how it goes..

thanks sir!
=====================================================
Update:

I have read up on what the smart connect rules are, and i find it extremely confusing. But now, I seem to gain enlightenment.

Trichard, your settings seem a little weird leh.

Let me explain by using my macbook pro w/ retina display as an example.

Equipment: Macbook pro with retina display (3x3 spatial streams, supporting dual band and wireless-ac)

If using your settings, my macbook pro will not use 2.4Ghz even when both 5Ghz bands are unreachable.

Thats because, the triggering was set to utilising 100% bandwidth. By nature, my macbook supports up to 216mbps max on 2.4Ghz. That means, it will be triggered and now proceeding to selection policy. and assuringly my macbook pro is near the router, it is confirm greater than -58dBi, therefore the selection policy will proceed to qualifying procedures.

Now, since you have set the PHY rate to be greater than 110mbps, which my macbook obviously will exceed, the router proceeds to qualifying procedures which then choose either 5Ghz-1 or -2 bands. Now, since the bandwidth utilisation is set to 100%, the router can only choose the both 5Ghz bands.

The problem comes in when my macbook cannot detect the 5Ghz bands due to distance, the router will not assign me a band because smart connect rules were set as above.

i assume if i need to get wireless, i need to turn off my smart connect in order to force the router to assign me 2.4Ghz.

In order to circumvent this, the selection policy must set the PHY rate greater than 216mbps so that the router will recognise my macbook satisfying this criteria. Thus, will not proceed to qualifying procedures.

Can someone verify if my understanding is correct?

*not saying trichard's settings are wrong, but just not applicable to me if my understanding is correct*

 

[trichard]

will try your settings and see how it goes..

thanks sir!
=====================================================
Update:

I have read up on what the smart connect rules are, and i find it extremely confusing. But now, I seem to gain enlightenment.

Trichard, your settings seem a little weird leh.

Let me explain by using my macbook pro w/ retina display as an example.

Equipment: Macbook pro with retina display (3x3 spatial streams, supporting dual band and wireless-ac)

If using your settings, my macbook pro will not use 2.4Ghz even when both 5Ghz bands are unreachable.

Thats because, the triggering was set to utilising 100% bandwidth. By nature, my macbook supports up to 216mbps max on 2.4Ghz. That means, it will be triggered and now proceeding to selection policy. and assuringly my macbook pro is near the router, it is confirm greater than -58dBi, therefore the selection policy will proceed to qualifying procedures.

Now, since you have set the PHY rate to be greater than 110mbps, which my macbook obviously will exceed, the router proceeds to qualifying procedures which then choose either 5Ghz-1 or -2 bands. Now, since the bandwidth utilisation is set to 100%, the router can only choose the both 5Ghz bands.

The problem comes in when my macbook cannot detect the 5Ghz bands due to distance, the router will not assign me a band because smart connect rules were set as above.

i assume if i need to get wireless, i need to turn off my smart connect in order to force the router to assign me 2.4Ghz.

In order to circumvent this, the selection policy must set the PHY rate greater than 216mbps so that the router will recognise my macbook satisfying this criteria. Thus, will not proceed to qualifying procedures.

Can someone verify if my understanding is correct?

*not saying trichard's settings are wrong, but just not applicable to me if my understanding is correct*

Good .... Please tune the setting according to what you want all your devices from here....

As I said before.... SC setting is not right or wrong.... it is suitable or not suitable for your house environment.

I have also mentioned before that

1) I do not want any 5Ghz capable devices to drop to 2.4Ghz .. which I do not have an issue of 5Ghz not reachable for my home and so far .... 5Ghz devices always get 5Ghz BW connection.... and hence you can see that even if 5Ghz not reachable ....2.4Ghz is not a choice .....(this is done purposely)

2) 5Ghz have 2 Band. The previous 2 setting I have tried always make 5Ghz devices drop to the 2nd Band and not much like to connect to 1st Band. The latest setting seem like both band was able to evenally distributed the devices.

And lastly .... to be honest the hidden manual I also don't understand much .............. so I cannot comment .....

 

[renfred89]

Good .... Please tune the setting according to what you want all your devices from here....

As I said before.... SC setting is not right or wrong.... it is suitable or not suitable for your house environment.

I have also mentioned before that

1) I do not want any 5Ghz capable devices to drop to 2.4Ghz .. which I do not have an issue of 5Ghz not reachable for my home and so far .... 5Ghz devices always get 5Ghz BW connection.... and hence you can see that even if 5Ghz not reachable ....2.4Ghz is not a choice .....(this is done purposely)

2) 5Ghz have 2 Band. The previous 2 setting I have tried always make 5Ghz devices drop to the 2nd Band and not much like to connect to 1st Band. The latest setting seem like both band was able to evenally distributed the devices.

And lastly .... to be honest the hidden manual I also don't understand much .............. so I cannot comment .....

I see i see. my latest setting, i took 1 hr to finish setting it.

I tune it in a way that i disabled bandwidth utilisation for all bands, and regard both 5Ghz bands as 1 set of band. The only difference is that 5Ghz-2 can drop to 5Ghz-1 and 2.4Ghz, but not the other way.

Since most of my devices are rather new and are all AC enabled, i configure it a way to force the router to use 5Ghz on AC rather than keeping it on N.

 

[trichard]

I see i see. my latest setting, i took 1 hr to finish setting it.

Since most of my devices are rather new and are all AC enabled, i configure it a way to force the router to use 5Ghz on AC rather than keeping it on N.

I believe you cannot do that to get 5Ghz only AC in Devices... you will face issue if devices drop back to 4G and connect back Wifi again... and repeat .....

Happy Tuning and Good night..... ..

 

[Apparatus]

I see i see. my latest setting, i took 1 hr to finish setting it.

I tune it in a way that i disabled bandwidth utilisation for all bands, and regard both 5Ghz bands as 1 set of band. The only difference is that 5Ghz-2 can drop to 5Ghz-1 and 2.4Ghz, but not the other way.

Since most of my devices are rather new and are all AC enabled, i configure it a way to force the router to use 5Ghz on AC rather than keeping it on N.

I may be wrong. Devices in your house will drop to different bands depending on how far and how many walls are there in-between even for a small house like a 4-room HDB flat. Try setting a device to 5GHz-1 and then walk around to test it and you'll see this happening. If this happens then SC is doing its job. If you intentionally set it to a specific band (s) then you're no longer using SC but manual setting, right?

 

[renfred89]

I may be wrong. Devices in your house will drop to different bands depending on how far and how many walls are there in-between even for a small house like a 4-room HDB flat. Try setting a device to 5GHz-1 and then walk around to test it and you'll see this happening. If this happens then SC is doing its job. If you intentionally set it to a specific band (s) then you're no longer using SC but manual setting, right?

Oh no.. Actually I tune it in a way that takes into consideration of the rssi. Meaning if it gets too far, it will drop to 2.4Ghz. But if it's within range of 5Ghz,it will choose either 5-1 or -2.

 

[Apparatus]

Re

Oh no.. Actually I tune it in a way that takes into consideration of the rssi. Meaning if it gets too far, it will drop to 2.4Ghz. But if it's within range of 5Ghz,it will choose either 5-1 or -2.

I thought by default it's like that?

 

[renfred89]

I thought by default it's like that?

Of cos not. Smart connect rules have independent variables.

Anyway, I'm not using the default values.

 

[trichard]

Of cos not. Smart connect rules have independent variables.

Anyway, I'm not using the default values.

How is the AC3200 ?.............

 

[renfred89]

How is the AC3200 ?.............

Seriously, this ac3200 is way way way better than ac87u performance. They r galaxies apart. My devices run on 5Ghz bands, no disconnection at all on my note 4.

The best part is, I feel it's worthy for money. Ac87u is just.... 浪费钱。

But ac3200 is not super duper perfect now, cos switching bands using smart connect will have some hiccups, but I can accept this as I think it deserves a chance to be fixed.

 

[trichard]

Seriously, this ac3200 is way way way better than ac87u performance. They r galaxies apart. My devices run on 5Ghz bands, no disconnection at all on my note 4.

The best part is, I feel it's worthy for money. Ac87u is just.... 浪费钱。

But ac3200 is not super duper perfect now, cos switching bands using smart connect will have some hiccups, but I can accept this as I think it deserves a chance to be fixed.

I also waiting to see how this SC can solve various situation .... using signal strength .

For example , if you stay a 2 storey flat .... you might be using the phone while walking around from level1 to level2 ... in a fast pace....

Signal will change between router and the phone.... and it keep changing ....

How to make sure that it always switch to the best band transparent to the phone?... the lag time between the devices ?...

 

[renfred89]

I also waiting to see how this SC can solve various situation .... using signal strength .

For example , if you stay a 2 storey flat .... you might be using the phone while walking around from level1 to level2 ... in a fast pace....

Signal will change between router and the phone.... and it keep changing ....

How to make sure that it always switch to the best band transparent to the phone?... the lag time between the devices ?...

That's the point I am trying to say previously. The switch between bands is always a disconnection first. As ac3200 don't support WiFi roaming, I don't think it will change between bands seamlessly.

Some more, the bounce window is also something very tricky. You can't set too low or too high..

 

[trichard]

That's the point I am trying to say previously. The switch between bands is always a disconnection first. As ac3200 don't support WiFi roaming, I don't think it will change between bands seamlessly.

Some more, the bounce window is also something very tricky. You can't set too low or too high..

Best situation now for this AC

1) single ssid for 3 band
2) 2.4 GHz device stay in band 2.4
3) 5ghz device stay in band 2/3 and don't allow to drop to 2.4ghz
4) 5ghz device equally distributed between 2/3 band

2+ 3 - load balancing achieve.

Anything to add ?

 

[renfred89]

Best situation now for this AC

1) single ssid for 3 band
2) 2.4 GHz device stay in band 2.4
3) 5ghz device stay in band 2/3 and don't allow to drop to 2.4ghz
4) 5ghz device equally distributed between 2/3 band

2+ 3 - load balancing achieve.

Anything to add ?

I didn't enable load balancing. Cos I think load balancing is linked to bandwidth utilisation..

 

[trichard]

I didn't enable load balancing. Cos I think load balancing is linked to bandwidth utilisation..

What I mean is that if 5Ghz devices distributed between 5G-1 and -2 , it is like load sharing liao.

You on 1G Plan ?

By the way 5G-1 signal is much weaker than -2 signal.

 

[renfred89]

What I mean is that if 5Ghz devices distributed between 5G-1 and -2 , it is like load sharing liao.

You on 1G Plan ?

By the way 5G-1 signal is much weaker than -2 signal.

Lower band 5Ghz-1 should be stronger but slower. I don't think it is weaker leh..