Anyone else having issues with 5Ghz? Weak signal compared to old Netgear and Asus and iOS can't hold onto to network at all.

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Level 1

14 points

Anyone else having issues with 5Ghz? Weak signal compared to old Netgear and Asus and iOS can't hold onto to network at all.

Got a brand new 3TB Time Capsule.

I set up 5Ghz with WPA2. If I leave Auto channel, some devices like Roku and even an Airport Express can't see the SSID and won't reconnect. If I set it to a low channel, devices can see it but iOS can't hold on to the connection. It's two wifi bars out of three in most of the apartment and intermittently drops and connects again.

You guys think I got a defective unit or is this thing's 5Ghz just weak in general?

iMac, OS X Yosemite (10.10.4)

Posted on Oct 10, 2015 8:49 PM

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Answer 1

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LaPastenague

Level 9

67,202 points

Oct 11, 2015 7:13 PM in response to Superrrguy

It isn't super strong but it should be better than that..

Apple seem determined to use channels that are also used by radar..

When you set it up try using a different country from the list that is given..

A few screenshots of the setup and your location might help.

iOS 9 has lots of wireless issues it seems.

http://www.iphonehacks.com/2015/09/fix-ios-9-wifi-problems.html

If you were unfortunate enough to upgrade to iOS 9 at the same time as you installed TC you might not realise the problems may be iOS.

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Answer 2

Superrrguy Author

Level 1

14 points

Oct 11, 2015 12:52 PM in response to LaPastenague

Thank you for replying so quickly.

I would just return the thing if it didn't have Wireless Wake for MacBooks and also if I had't caught it on sale. I picked up the 3TB from Best Buy for $289. Do you know if Wake on Wireless LAN works with other routers?

As for the Time Capsule, I ran a Wifi scan of the area and I manually chose the channels that no one else was using. Choosing a different country does not enable any additional channels. Just for testing, I had the Time Capsule and an Asus RT-AC3200 on at the same time. You can see the 5Ghz strength of the Time Capsule on channel 40. It's 23 points lower than the Asus 5Ghz and that there is no interference from other networks. As I mentioned, setting the Time Capsule 5Ghz channel to Auto causes devices to not see it.

I have had freeze ups with an iPad since the iOS 9 update when connecting to a 5Ghz network but with the Time Capsule I have 8.4 devices that cannot connect either as well as 2 Roku 3's, 2 Panasonic TV's and even an AirPort Express. Some being within 6 feet of the Time Capsule.

Here are the settings screenshots. Thanks again for your help.

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Answer 3

Oct 11, 2015 7:13 PM in response to Superrrguy

The Asus AC3200 will walk all over the TC. When you said old Netgear and Asus .. I am thinking.. WNDR3700 and N16 not the current AC3200..

If you are measuring both the asus and the TC from the same location.. then something is seriously amiss with the TC.

I presume when you are testing the TC you have the Asus turned off since it covers so much of the 5ghz with its dual 5ghz wifi setup.

Beam forming does have an impact and if it is not working properly.. that can cause some interesting stuff.

Let me show you first what I get on my laptop at 1M from TC

And here is what I get on the Asus. RT-AC66U

So that is 10db improvement.. which is about what I would expect.. And not necessarily that significant.. due to the way beam forming works and using low and high channels..

You will hate me but can you please save your current configuration.. (use the export in the top menu of airport utility)..

Reset the TC to factory. And then do a minimal setup.. do not change the IP range.. keep it on default.. use nice short names like you have but different ones. Then test again with express and asus off.

Leave the wireless on auto and see if you can get connected. If not well it might be worth taking it to apple for testing / replacement.

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Answer 4

Superrrguy Author

Level 1

14 points

Oct 11, 2015 4:05 PM in response to LaPastenague

I'm ready to try anything to keep this thing and I appreciate your help. Reseting is no big deal. I've memorized my setup trying to get the Netgear working with DD-WRT and then back to stock firmware and then setting up the new Asus.

The old equipment was a Netgear WNDR4500 which I planned on replacing with the Asus 87u but found the AC3200 for the same price on Amazon. Then I saw the 3TB Time Capsule discounted. Like I mentioned, the huge sale I caught at Best Buy. Amazon had the same price last week. The 3TB was $279, (not $289) and it's now back to regular price. I really like the Wake on Wireless which I don't see how to get working with non-Apple routers. Any ideas on that?

My strength is about the same at one meter. A MB TX is usually 300Mps while an iMac is usually at 450Mps.

TC to MB @ 1M = -51dBm Asus to MB @ 1M = -48dBm

TC to iMac @ 1M = -47 dBm Asus to iMac @ 1M = -37 dBm

TC to MB @ 5M = -56 dBm Asus to MB @ 5M = -48dBm

TC to MB @ 15M through one wall = -71 dBm Asus to MB @ 15M through one wall = -59 dBm

Before I reset the AirPort, what do you think about the -71 dBm on the MB and some of these other speeds?

iMac 10.11 1M 450Mbs @ -35 dBm

iPad A2 9.0 5M 702 Mbs @ -46 dBm

iPhone 6 8.4 1M 433 Mbs @ -45 dBm

iPhone 6 8.4 15M 433 Mbs @ -60 dBm

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Answer 5

Oct 11, 2015 5:14 PM in response to Superrrguy

The iphone and ipad speeds look about right.

iPhone is single stream AC so will never exceed 433

The ipad I am not sure but is probably 2 stream.. so will be 866Mbps.. so 702Mbps at 5M is ok.

The -71dbm on the MB.. looks like fairly typical issues with 5ghz at range.. The problem is the beam forming seems to not be working or not working very well..

If I test my MBP at range.. I can connect to 2.4ghz from the TC but not the 5ghz.

I can connect to both 2.4ghz and 5ghz on the Asus but the 2.4ghz is actually faster at that point..

This is second floor with router on first floor.. and a lot of stuff in between. There is no doubt the antennas work better on the asus.. using external antennas just works better..

Not sure what else I can tell you.. I think you are expecting too much of the TC .. at least for range.. it is soundly beaten by most other AC routers out there.

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Answer 6

Superrrguy Author

Level 1

14 points

Oct 11, 2015 5:26 PM in response to LaPastenague

Speeds seem good, even when the connection shows two of three wifi bars. I really don't need all the advanced features of the Asus. I use a Synology for VPN and remote access. I like the access to sleeping wifi Macs with the TC but worried a bit about the 5Ghz networks disappearing at higher channels.

Any thoughts why some devices do not see the 5Ghz TC network when a higher channel is auto set including the Airport Express?

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Answer 7

Oct 11, 2015 7:02 PM in response to Superrrguy

Here is my speed at 1M from the TC running at 149

If you do a comparison to my previous post which was on 36 it is clearly worse.. so the connection speed at 149 even with power boost is not sufficiently compensated for the loss..

Now the long distance.. I grabbed the value before it disconnected.

The difference between signal and noise is just too small.

I really still think you are better running the 5ghz on the 36-48 channels.. the lower the better..

YMMV.. these things are still part of the wireless voodoo mystery bag.

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Answer 8

Superrrguy Author

Level 1

14 points

Oct 11, 2015 7:12 PM in response to LaPastenague

Cool. Then I'll keep the channels set manually set to 8 and 40 which don't seem to have any competition from the neighbors and keep some devices on 2.4Ghz when necessary since they're only getting 144 Mbs on 5 Ghz anyway.

Thanks again for all your help! It's been much appreciated.

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