Inconsistent/Slow Wi-Fi Speeds on EA8500

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msoengineer
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Joined: 21 Jan 2017
Posts: 1782
Location: Illinois Moderator

PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2020 20:20    Post subject: Re: Same issues on my EA8500 Reply with quote
darkwolphe wrote:
Hello everyone,

I'm new to dd-wr0 and to the forum. I saw this post because I have the exact same issues happening on my EA8500. My Wifi (5GHz) slows down to ~5 Mbps after 3-5 days. I have to restart the router. But after the 3-5 days it goes back to ~5 Mbps again.

I noticed it happening after I switched to BS. I've tried multiple builds. I'm currently on DD-WRT v3.0-r44432 std. I used to have Kong and did not notice this issue, but I could not pass 120 Mbps on my Wifi using Kong builds.

I hope I provided enough information to help troubleshoot or fix the issue in future builds.

Any help is appreciated.


Did you implement my best qca wifi suggestions?
If not, start there.

MRJCD will need to chime in with his status or BLKT with his...they have never mentioned this issue on their routers, but they upgrade nearly nightly...so that long term wifi bug never seems to creep up for them. BLKT liked this build last...not sure if he still does or doesn't: https://forum.dd-wrt.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?p=1216138#1216138


I run a daily reboot on my two off-site EA8500's to assure everything runs smooth...

_________________
FORUM RULES

TIPS/TRICKS: Best QCA Wifi Settings | Latency tricks | QoS Port priority | NEVER USE MU-MIMO |
Why to NOT use MU-MIMO | Max Wifi Pwr by Country | Linux Wifi Pwr | AC MCS & AX MCS | QCA 5Ghz chnls to use | WIFI Freq WIKI | TFTP R7800 | Don't buy AX | IPERF3 How-To

[R9000]52396 nightly (Main Router)
[EA8500]43192 & 45493 (2xOffsite)
[R7800] resting
[WDR3600]BS 44715 (Offsite)
[A7v5]BS 43038 (Offsite+spare napping)
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tatsuya46
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Joined: 03 Jan 2010
Posts: 7568
Location: YWG, Canada

PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2020 21:50    Post subject: Re: Same issues on my EA8500 Reply with quote
msoengineer wrote:
I run a daily reboot on my two off-site EA8500's to assure everything runs smooth...


by choice or have to? if the latter then something is really broken there..

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darkwolphe
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 05 Oct 2020
Posts: 5

PostPosted: Mon Oct 05, 2020 22:03    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks for your response.

I just implemented the best qca wifi suggestions. I'm going to leave it running and see what happens. If the problem persists, I will try BLKT's recommended build and take it from there.

I can also schedule the router to restart every night. However, I would like for this to be the last resort.
blkt
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 20 Jan 2019
Posts: 5660

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 1:34    Post subject: Reply with quote
Build r44483 includes a new ath10k QCA99X0 wifi firmware binary 10.4-3.15-00015, so please test it.

So far, it's very much a winner and dmesg is clean too. Only time will tell, so get that uptime started.

I ran through various tests: speed, latency, stability, packet loss and distance through floors and walls.

New Build - 10/02/2020 - r44483
msoengineer
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 21 Jan 2017
Posts: 1782
Location: Illinois Moderator

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 16:17    Post subject: Re: Same issues on my EA8500 Reply with quote
tatsuya46 wrote:
msoengineer wrote:
I run a daily reboot on my two off-site EA8500's to assure everything runs smooth...


by choice or have to? if the latter then something is really broken there..


I mis-spoke, one EA8500 never has a cron restart while another does. The ISP, where no daily reboot happens, has issues with the router rebooting and not, also, the modem, and won't re-issue a dhcp IP to the router... So I gave up on a daily reboot there.

The reboot is by choice from long ago (2010 era) when most routers needed to be kicked in the butt to get them inline with a reboot. But the one EA8500 on 43192 has been up 30 days now without missing a beat (Or harassing call from my mother-in-law complaining). So you can call 43192 a very stable build. I haven't updated it because (if it ain't broke, don't fix it attitude) my M-I-L hates when I "update" her stuff to the point of family strife... so I let it be. I haven't updated the other one for the same stability reasons, but that one does get a daily reboot for old habit sake.


_________________
FORUM RULES

TIPS/TRICKS: Best QCA Wifi Settings | Latency tricks | QoS Port priority | NEVER USE MU-MIMO |
Why to NOT use MU-MIMO | Max Wifi Pwr by Country | Linux Wifi Pwr | AC MCS & AX MCS | QCA 5Ghz chnls to use | WIFI Freq WIKI | TFTP R7800 | Don't buy AX | IPERF3 How-To

[R9000]52396 nightly (Main Router)
[EA8500]43192 & 45493 (2xOffsite)
[R7800] resting
[WDR3600]BS 44715 (Offsite)
[A7v5]BS 43038 (Offsite+spare napping)
blkt
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 20 Jan 2019
Posts: 5660

PostPosted: Tue Oct 06, 2020 23:08    Post subject: Reply with quote
I could leave it up for 30 days if I didn't mind ~5 Mbps download on one or both radios after things go south.

Just sayin' (keep the in-laws happy lol). Maybe you can save the day once someone notices there is a problem.

(those errors though)

The reason for an uptime test on r44251 was a new ath10k firmware binary and other driver changes BS made.

It seems BS is heavy into WiFi driver & binary development these days, so r44483 or later deserves testing too.
darkwolphe
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 05 Oct 2020
Posts: 5

PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 17:57    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hello everyone,

Reporting back. Implemented Msoengineer's best qca wifi suggestions but the problem was still there. On the 5th day the WiFi went back to ~5Mbps.

I am now going to test the new build BLKT is suggesting, r44483. Hopefully, it solves the problem this time.
mrjcd
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 31 Jan 2015
Posts: 6268
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 18:01    Post subject: Reply with quote
darkwolphe wrote:

I am now going to test the new build BLKT is suggesting, r44483. Hopefully, it solves the problem this time.

r44538 is better Cool
darkwolphe
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 05 Oct 2020
Posts: 5

PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 18:14    Post subject: Reply with quote
mrjcd wrote:
darkwolphe wrote:

I am now going to test the new build BLKT is suggesting, r44483. Hopefully, it solves the problem this time.

r44538 is better Cool


Thanks. I'll give it a try.
darkwolphe
DD-WRT Novice


Joined: 05 Oct 2020
Posts: 5

PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 20:44    Post subject: Reply with quote
mrjcd,

I tested r44538 but my WiFi speed was <100 Mbps. What speeds are you getting on this build?
mrjcd
DD-WRT Guru


Joined: 31 Jan 2015
Posts: 6268
Location: Texas

PostPosted: Tue Oct 13, 2020 20:47    Post subject: Reply with quote
darkwolphe wrote:
mrjcd,

I tested r44538 but my WiFi speed was <100 Mbps. What speeds are you getting on this build?

Rolling Eyes Works fine for me
AND
5GHz range seems be back good like old days Wink
Rocketboy235
DD-WRT User


Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 109
Location: United States

PostPosted: Fri Jan 01, 2021 17:52    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hello and happy new year everyone!

Sorry for the long delay on this.
Was pretty busy so I didn't have much time to spend on troubleshooting. I ended up doing a daily reboot which helps a lot but not something I want to continue doing...

I'm looking into doing a reboot every 3 days as a compromise but long term goal is to be able to achieve rock solid stability without the need of reboots.

Actually, it seems that it may not be 100% necessary to even do a full reboot but rather, it may be acceptable o just do a WiFi reboot and that seems to resolve most WiFi speed issues. Thoughts?

Also, recently, I was able to hear a hissing noise coming from the router when I recently unplugged it (decided to get myself a UPS and set that up - unrelated).

I wonder if that hissing noise is coming from a failing capacitor and that could be contributing to why I'm experiencing this issue. Strange that a reboot would fix the issue if it is a hardware issue.

I will try to do a more formal iPerf3 speed test between my computer and local home server.

For now, I did a test where the EA8500 uptime was 9 days and WLAN speeds for Windows transfer were acceptable but the Internet Speedtest was back to ~5 Mbps.

What's interesting is that when the internet is slow, sometimes it's just the 2.4 Ghz or the 5 Ghz exclusively. In this case, my 5 GHz Wifi was 6 Mbps for download and my 2.4 GHz Wifi was 60 Mbps.

I will say that I don't remember having this issue back when I was on Kong build but that was more than 2 years ago. Currently on DD-WRT BS build 43420 but I may upgrade to the next recommended build per mrjcd's website.

Edit: correction to what I said earlier, I'm actually using slightly newer build than stated in my original post.


Last edited by Rocketboy235 on Sat Jan 02, 2021 7:45; edited 2 times in total
msoengineer
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Joined: 21 Jan 2017
Posts: 1782
Location: Illinois Moderator

PostPosted: Fri Jan 01, 2021 18:00    Post subject: Reply with quote
I would upgrade to 44715 and perform a full factory reset before making the switch and again afterwards to kill any nvram gremlins.

44715 is the last build (on some routers it will show up as 44719) that has the original Atheros firmware/drivers. anything past 44722 has newer tweaked drivers by Candela Tech. I would say wait for the next public build after 45219 where BS has ironed out a lof of the recent tweaks he's been making. Anything in between 44722 and 45219 should be avoided for the time being because BS was making a bunch of code efficiency changes that would yield goofiness.

I would save a backup of 44715 settings once you're done because when you move to >=45220 the nvram settings will change and you can't revert without doing a factory reset. So no point in having to re-do everything if you have a b/u.

_________________
FORUM RULES

TIPS/TRICKS: Best QCA Wifi Settings | Latency tricks | QoS Port priority | NEVER USE MU-MIMO |
Why to NOT use MU-MIMO | Max Wifi Pwr by Country | Linux Wifi Pwr | AC MCS & AX MCS | QCA 5Ghz chnls to use | WIFI Freq WIKI | TFTP R7800 | Don't buy AX | IPERF3 How-To

[R9000]52396 nightly (Main Router)
[EA8500]43192 & 45493 (2xOffsite)
[R7800] resting
[WDR3600]BS 44715 (Offsite)
[A7v5]BS 43038 (Offsite+spare napping)
Rocketboy235
DD-WRT User


Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 109
Location: United States

PostPosted: Sat Jan 02, 2021 7:47    Post subject: Reply with quote
Thanks, I'll give that a try and report back.

I'll do some iperf3 tests as well on day 0/1 as baseline and day 3/5/7 or something to see if its reliable.
Rocketboy235
DD-WRT User


Joined: 14 Oct 2016
Posts: 109
Location: United States

PostPosted: Sat Mar 13, 2021 6:48    Post subject: Reply with quote
Hello,

Sorry for the long hiatus again but I'm back with some preliminary results.

I just recently installed r44715 (being displayed as r44719) but I am still experiencing the same issue.

Background Info:
My max download speed is 120 Mbit/s.
My max upload speed is 6 Mbit/s.

I guess one thing I should say though that I didn't describe earlier is that right now after about 2 days, only 1 device seems to be having that slow WiFi issue but the other devices seem to be unaffected so far. So this 1 device (my desktop with wifi usb dongle) would sometimes start off quick (almost reaching close to 100 mbit/s for download using the Ookla speed test and then steadily drop in speed to as low as 10 mbit/s and then going backup slowly (reaching to 40 mbit/s for example) until the download speed test ends. The upload speed test portion works fine however.

When I did the same speed test on my other devices, they seem to run fine and perfectly. Not sure if this means that maybe the one Wifi USB dongle (AC1200 dual antenna) my desktop is using has issues with the router. It worked fine for the first 2 days though.

One thing I should have mentioned as well is that sometimes if I switch from 5 GHz to 2.4 GHz network on my desktop with the usb dongle, I can achieve the full internet speeds again at least for another day. When I switch back, it doesn't seem to resolve my original issue though. So it's very strange. Is there any way to dig into seeing the logs on how the WiFi drivers are behaving? Not sure if there is more info available than just the syslog.

Earlier today, I did a network file transfer test between my desktop (usb wifi dongle) and my home server (connected via ethernet to the router) and I was getting 45-50 Mb/s (up to 400 mbit/s) speeds. Now, I am getting around 7-10 Mb/s.

I will report back with iPerf results but I think with the preliminary results, you kind of know where this is heading towards already. I may need to also look at your QCA recommended wifi settings as I noticed you changed a few values not long ago.

UPDATE [3/15/2021]: Looks like it was more of a hiccup for my 5 GHz network as I am getting full speeds again for that device. All my other devices are still getting full speeds for the 5 GHz network. However, about 3 days in, the 2.4 GHz speed has dropped drastically down to around 3-5 Mbps. If I run a speed test on both devices at the same time while using the 2.4 GHz network, they both get around 3-5 Mbps. This tells me that the router has no issue trying to transmit more than 5 Mbps as it does not fully saturate my bandwidth (120 Mbps download) but it seems that its somehow limiting each device to 5 Mbps.

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