Internet Speed down from 200/100 to 10/20 using ASUS Router

[Mutt Daeng]

On 21/6/2018 I changed my 3BB HG8045H router to bridge mode and added an ASUS RT-AC86U router to handle all the routing etc. All was good until last night when my internet speeds (on my desktop which has an Ethernet connection)  dropped from 200/100 to around 10/20. My phone (WiFi connection) has the same issue. I contacted 3BB and today the engineers visited my home and replaced the optical connector which connects the fibre to the HG8045H ONT. All seemed OK until about 10 minutes after they left when the speed reverted to 10/20 once more. After I reset the ASUS router, the speeds are 200/100 once more but after 10 minutes they are back to 10/20 again. I have made some changes to the ASUS router settings during the week, so I restored the original working config but the problem still exists. The router has the latest firmware. My next course of action is to put the 3BB router back into router mode and see if the problem persists. I suspect that it will not. I have read quite a few posts on the www from others who have similar issues. Any suggestions?

[manarak]

did you check if your ethernet works at gigabit speed?

 

what about the cable between the 3BB router and Asus router? is it ok for gigabit?

 

does the Asus overheat?

[Mutt Daeng]

7 hours ago, manarak said:

did you check if your ethernet works at gigabit speed?

 

what about the cable between the 3BB router and Asus router? is it ok for gigabit?

 

does the Asus overheat?

Ethernet shows as gigabit. The cable supplied with the ASUS router is cat 5E which is OK for gigabit. The ASUS doesn't get hot (or even warm)

[manarak]

ok.

I would suggest you flash current firmware on your router

here is a video describing how to do it:

 

if that doesn't help, you should RMA the Asus router

[Mutt Daeng]

OK Thanks @manarak.

Currently I have the latest firmware on the ASUS router. I will use the recovery tool to try some of the earlier versions. I have also downloaded the latest asuswrt-merlin firmware as another option. First of all I am going to revert to using my Huawei HG8045H in router mode to confirm the problem is definitely with the ASUS router. I'll be trying that tomorrow or Sunday.

[manarak]

2 hours ago, Mutt Daeng said:

OK Thanks @manarak.

Currently I have the latest firmware on the ASUS router. I will use the recovery tool to try some of the earlier versions. I have also downloaded the latest asuswrt-merlin firmware as another option. First of all I am going to revert to using my Huawei HG8045H in router mode to confirm the problem is definitely with the ASUS router. I'll be trying that tomorrow or Sunday.

I had some weird problems with ASUS routers who allegedly had the latest firmware.

 

Re-flashing the router with the seemingly same firmware fixed my problems.

 

I wonder if this is related to the Russian router hack "VPNfilter".

 

the ASUS recovery tool can be elusive on their website, just try different router models for the support downloads, the tool is identical for all.

Edited June 29, 2018 by manarak

[Mutt Daeng]

I flashed the router with the latest firmware after I first connected the ASUS to my network, so no problems there. After reading your previous post I have already located and downloaded the recovery tool, so I'm ready to go. Thanks again

[Pib]

 

Quote

I have read quite a few posts on the www from others who have similar issues.

I have an Asus 86U hooked to my AIS provided router set to bridged mode....I have a 200/50 plan....get full speed.  Been running the 86U around 6 months now...never a problem like you are having.  Running the latest firmware from Asus...also never had the problem you are having on earlier firmware versions.   Maybe those tweaks you made to the Asus during the week is the problem.

 

 

[Mutt Daeng]

Thanks for your comments @Pib,

I did restore the settings to before I made any changes but still have the same problem.

The strange thing is that after I installed the new ASUS router everything was great wrt download/upload speeds for about a week then the problem occurred.

Edited June 29, 2018 by Mutt Daeng

[Pib]

My AIS-provided router is a Hauwei HG8245H...probably pretty similar to your 3BB-provided  HG8045H router.    Then the HG8245H feeds my Asus 86U.   Haven't had any problems....knock on wood (my head).

 

My HG8245 was set to bridge mode by AIS "remotely" as the "AIS specific firmware" on the HG8245H does not allow the customer to switch between bridge and router modes as AIS locks-down/greys-out many firmware settings.  But many settings are not  locked down that most customers need to change peridically....just major things can't be changed like switching to bridge mode.   With the 3BB-provided routers obviously customers can change the between router and bridge mode themselves as you did that....less or no settings locked down.

 

Maybe when changing the 3BB router to bridge mode it's  more complicated than changing one setting such as the router to bridge mode switch....that is, various settings need to be tweaked to make it operate properly.  I guess what I'm saying is maybe it's not an Asus 86U issue at all....it's an issue with your 3BB router settings when in bridge mode.

 

Don't know if this will help but below is my Asus 86U "WAN" settings which the Asus "automatically figured out/used when I hooked it up to the AIS router set to bridge mode.  But I did have to enter my AIS User ID and password; other than those two entries I let the Asus automatically configure the WAN settings to make the connection to the bridged AIS router.  Two snaphots below of my 86U WAN settings.

 

Top Half of WAN Settings Page

 

Bottom Half of WAN Settings Page

 

 

 

[Pib]

Yeap, my Asus 86U connected to the AIS router set to bridge mode moves along OK.

I have a 200/50 plan...below test done this Saturday morning to a 3BB server via
Wifi connection with my laptop.

[Pib]

The more I think about this and reading your posts regarding how things worked fine for a week or so, the downshift in speed from 200/10 to 10/20 (especially that downshift in speed to specifically 10/20 if its a stable 10/20 speed) indicates to me a lot of transmission errors are occurring for whatever reason and the speed is being slowed down trying to minimize the number of errors.  And that downshift is probably occurring from the 3BB server end. 

[Pib]

Some more tests to show the Asus 86U connected to the AIS router set to bridge mode....just to show it has no problem operating with another bridged router...assuming both are properly setup and the fiber line doesn't have a problem making a person thing it's a router issue.   It really could be a fiber line problem....too many errors....a "borderline" situation which the Asus 86U is picking up on where the 3BB router in router mode was not picking up on.  Wish I could offer more recommendations but I can't....not smart enough.

 

International tests to Singapore on this Saturday morning.  Also got a 209Mb result but didn't grab a snapshot of it.

 

 

And my fastest testmy.net speed to Singapore was 219Mb on 28 Jan 18 with the Asus 86U connected to the AIS router in bridge mode.

 

 

 

[johng]

Whats the CPU usage like while doing those 200Mbps downloads ?...on my 50Mbps line the ASUS CPU hardly goes above 14%

[Pib]

53 minutes ago, johng said:

Whats the CPU usage like while doing those 200Mbps downloads ?...on my 50Mbps line the ASUS CPU hardly goes above 14%

Ditto....around the same...seems to vary between 10 to 20% on CPU Core 1 when repeating the speedtests...pulling 200Mb download speeds.

 

While CPU Core 1 is registering that 10 to 20%, CPU Core 2 is laying back at 0 to 1%...waiting for some work to do.  No shortage of CPU power on the Asus 86U for interneting/networking.

Edited June 30, 2018 by Pib

[SpeedFreakz]

It might be the Ethernet card issue, i had the same problem and i couldn't fix it, my card is intel, i simply disabled wired connection on my pc, got a wireless stick and connected itto the network wirelesly. No problems after that,

[muratremix]

Disable QoS if you have it.

Try restore to factory settings and try again.

 

QoS could limit your download speed if not set properly.

[Mutt Daeng]

@Pib: Replies to your posts.

My WAN parameters are:

 

 

Configuring Bridge Mode on the Huawei:

I found a manual for my 3BB router on the 3BB website explaining how to set bridge mode and made my changes based on that and video posted by @mtls2005 in another thread.

 

Fibre Signal Quality / Transmission errors: 3BB came to my house and checked the line quality and they seemed happy. The did change the optical connector connecting the fibre to the Huawei router, but whether it actually was faulty or whether it was done to make it look like they had dome something to fix the issue, I don't know.

 

[Mutt Daeng]

16 hours ago, SpeedFreakz said:

It might be the Ethernet card issue, i had the same problem and i couldn't fix it, my card is intel, i simply disabled wired connection on my pc, got a wireless stick and connected itto the network wirelesly. No problems after that,

The problem still occurs when connected via a wireless connection

[Mutt Daeng]

14 hours ago, muratremix said:

Disable QoS if you have it.

Try restore to factory settings and try again.

 

QoS could limit your download speed if not set properly.

I already had that disabled, but thanks for the suggestion.

[Mutt Daeng]

After reading @Pib's posts, I went back to check the bridge mode settings on the Hauwei device and noticed that I had selected all of the the ethernet ports in the Binding Options. Since only LAN4 port is connected to the wan port of the ASUS router, I unticked the other 3, as shown below.

Then I rebooted the Hauwei router and then the ASUS router. THE PROBLEM IS GONE!!!

The problem normally occurs 5-10 minutes after the ASUS starts up. It has been running for 54 minutes and all speed tests are as they should be.

 

 

Thanks to everyone (especially @pib) who contributed on this thread and enabled a speedy resolution of this frustrating issue.

Edited July 1, 2018 by Mutt Daeng
Omission