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I have cable internet, 60meg. I have just bought a Asus rt-ac56r wireless router. I also have a Linksys wrt320N. I tried to get the Linksys to be a repeater by downloading and installing dd-wrt but could never seem to get it to work right. I have purchased a long ethernet cable and have run it from my Asus router to the Linsys and set up the Linsys to use in my bedroom. I can only seem to get 30meg on my iPad and PC that are using wireless on either router. What is the best setup for this equipment? Should i get a Ethernet splitter and connect both straight to the modem or is the way i have it ok? Want to get as much speed as possible.

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  • Is your internet speed 60Mb/s measured or is that what is advertised by the provider?
    – user394804
    Jul 3, 2015 at 3:22
  • Advertised and measured 60Mb/s PLUS!!!!
    – mikeloveta
    Jul 3, 2015 at 3:31

2 Answers 2

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If you're set on having two WAP's in your house then there are a few things to consider.

  1. Network congestion:

    • Position your access points away from obstructions and other electronic devices.

    • Ensure there are no other wifi signals on your channel. Otherwise, you could be experiencing a high amount of collisions. When a collision occurs the devices must retransmit the packet which is very costly on network throughput. Use a wifi analysis tool like the free version of Acrylic to find other wifi signals in your area.

    • Try to use the 5GHz band if your devices support it. In my area anyhow there are far fewer 5GHz devices than there are 2.4GHz.
    • If you're not competing with other signals increase the channel width to 40MHz. This will increase the bandwidth.
  2. Power

    • Adjust your antenna's power to suit the environment. DD-WRT specifically has a lot of adjustment capabilities for your antennas. You may find that increasing the TX power will give you better results. Be careful not to push it too far though, you'll need to consider heat dissipation. Also, often reducing the power can increase your speeds, have a play around with it.
  3. Configuration

    • You will want to setup one of your WAP's in Bridge mode. This basically joins one WAP to the other alleviating the need for your devices to jump between the different wifi networks. It can also reduce the cost of control type transmissions like authentication.
    • You can prefer to have two separate networks if you like but keep in mind all the extra overhead of having two default gateways both performing routing functions that could be done by just one of them.

If I was you I would do some testing to see exactly what's happening. Wireshark is a great tool to analyse your network. You'll be able to see if there are excessive retransmissions and it may give you a better idea of what the problem is. GLHF

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I'd suggest linking the Asus Router to the Cable Modem with that long Ethernet cable you have and place it in your room, leaving the Linksys out altogether.

Then, the best speed you'll be able to get to any of your devices would be through Ethernet, plugged into the Asus.

Speed and throughput over WIFI would be dependant on too many factors, but in any case, it won't beat the Ethernet cable.

Edit to reflect comment from OP:

You can't connect both Routers to the Modem with an "Ethernet Splitter", it doesn't work like that. You can use a switch, which depends on the lay out of your premises, may make it easier. Or you can simply connect the Linksys to the Asus, configure it to be an AP, place it near to any devices that can use cable, to take advantage of the Ethernet ports. Perhaps use a different SSID to that of the Aus's, and manually connect to the nearest AP as you move around with your mobile devices.

This should achieve your goal for best possible speed, out of what you already have.

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  • I know it wont beat the ethernet cable but I need the extra wireless for all devices so i would like to use both wireless routers.
    – mikeloveta
    Jul 3, 2015 at 3:30
  • But by adding a switch to the modem and connecting the Linksys router to it, you will be using more than one IP address (especially if it's configured as an AP), which will be in violation of the OP's TOS. Most home subscriptions are only eligible for one IP address (either public or private) from the ISP's IP address pool.
    – Larssend
    Jul 3, 2015 at 5:16

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