GT-BE98 Pro wireless instability

[disenter]

Hi! 

I've been using Asus routers for many years, and most recently parted with my RT-AX89X which has been pretty solid for some time, for this new GT-BE98 Pro.  For a $1500 AUD router, I am less than impressed with the wifi issues I am currently experiencing. Whilst I can download OK, I am experiencing at times significant delays in using my smart devices that are connected to this router.  I have a number of TAPO devices (smart plugs, lights etc) which I run with voice commands via Amazon devices, and many times they are now taking 10-15 seconds to respond, if they respond at all. 

I have tried setting 2.4ghz, 5ghz and 6ghz seperately, and linking them, and doesn't seem to make a difference.  I had initially set them all up as 2.4ghz since that is what they support, and only use the 5ghz channel for things that can. With our phones etc using either the 5 or 6ghz channels.  But try as I might, I get very inconsistent latency on any connected device. Even my phone, if i ping it, which is sitting on the 6ghz channel, basically on its own, and I'm pinging it, from a ethernet connected PC.  There should be no reason for this level of inconsistency of ping times. Ranging from 2-3ms, to 20-30ms, and sometimes 200+ms ... it makes no sense. Even if i change my phone between 2.4ghz, 5ghz, and 6ghz channels, the inconsistency of latency remains, and as I said, there is NOTHING on the 6ghz channel other than my phone, and I don't think anyone around me is using these bands from what I can see.

I am running the 'latest' Merlin build, which I believe is based on the latest Asus firmware. 

Ethernet connected devices are working just fine. 

What could be wrong here? is the unit just faulty? 

[disenter]

I have tried to share as much detail as I can. 

Ping tests conducted from my ethernet connected PC, and just change my phone between each channel. Have tried multiple channels for each band, all seem to respond the same. The same behavior / latency is found for all wifi connected devices. 

What am i doing wrong? Happy to try different settings. 

Basic settings2.4Ghz pro settings5Ghz pro settings6Ghz pro settingsIphone 15 pro max - 2.4ghz wifi ping testIphone 15 pro max - 5Ghz wifi ping testIphone 15 Pro max - 6ghz wifi ping test

[jzchen]

I started reading through your Professional (tab) settings.  You have 6 GHz-1 WiFi 7 Enabled.  The iPhone 15 Pro Max is 6E.  This is a no no upfront as WiFi 7 has a bug and enforces AES + GCMP 256.  Also, you're gonna want to make the SSID (and password) of 5 GHz and 6 GHz the same.  WiFi Agile MultiBand and Roaming Assistant are probably okay on 2.4 and 5 GHz.  Also Preferred Scanning Channels (PSC) in the General - 6 GHz checked:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102285

EDIT-  Apple appears to have removed the Preferred Scanning Channel setting, (last updated September 3 and I haven't read it since prior, and advises to enable WMM:

https://support.apple.com/en-us/102766

[disenter]

Why would I want the ssids to be the same?  I don’t want my devices freely choosing which they would prefer to connect to. 
You’ll vote that aside from the 6ghz band, wifi 7 is disabled, and really this is only enabled for my PC which does have wifi 7, though my phone can connect to this channel also, but I’d assume only as a 6e client. 
encryption should really only effect throughput, not consistency. To be clear, I’m not having connection issues. Nothing is dropping out. It is just so inconsistent latency wise that a voice command given to turn a plug on, is sometimes taking 10+ seconds to work, even though Alexa has already responded immediately.  So, I began checking over my network, and found this horrible seesawing of all wifi devices latency, which would seem to be the cause, and has led me here. 
I would think that even if what you say about iPhone 15 is correct, it doesn’t explain what is happening with all of my devices that are only connected to 2.4ghz channel, but I will take it under advisement and thankyou for it. 

[Saltgrass]

I would also tell you this, when I initially got my 98 Pro, I was trying to use an AXE16000 as a Mesh Node.  I experienced nothing but problems with that configuration which included SSIDs showing up which were open to the public but hidden.  When I went to the second 98 Pro, and the radios were the same, everything smoothed out.

It looks like you have 6 Mesh Nodes with varying devices.  Possibly, using those older routers is part of your problem due to mismatching radios and other settings. 

One rule of trouble shooting is to take a system down to its simplest form, i.e. router and computer.  Confirm it works that way, then start adding components back until you again see the problem.

[jzchen]

@Saltgrass That is me with the 6 nodes.  😬 You weren't the first person to tell me to tear down the network and build from scratch but...

@disenter I'm afraid our test results have one thing in common, and that is we are both pinging cell phones.  Please ping your WiFi 7 computer and see if you can get better results.  Cell phones are notorious/known for power saving features (your iPhone, my Android)...

Adding the 2nd ASUS WiFi 7 router (wired 10 Gbps ethernet backhaul) seems to have done the trick for me also.  Even though I am getting poor ping quality placing the BQ16 in my bedroom improved the speed on my OnePlus Open, both there and with the BE98.  Go figure, throwing money at the problem works too, (which in all fairness to me is similar to buying a 2nd BE98 Pro).  😂

[jzchen]

My apologies if I came off pushy/bossy.

It appears that BE stands for BEta tester, unfortunately.

If you set up your AX router as an AiMesh node then you can try to bind IoTs to it.  Hopefully that helps with the terrible response time/response lag.  I do remember that lasting maybe a day, but I guess my IoTs got smart and moved to connect with one of the AX routers/extenders, which do not seem to suffer from lag...

[jzchen]

I guess living in a more urban environment with possible WiFi interference/congestion, I like the idea of devices moving around to the best available signal.  You may not need that at your location, but that is the benefit I hope to take advantage of by assigning everything the same SSID and allowing band steering to do it's job....

[disenter]

I've tried it this way in the past, and frankly, it just doesn't work as well as you might expect. But go ahead, and try it for yourself. Persronally, I think networks, are much like computer bios. The more you can set yourself, the less it can screw up itself.  Also, it is not only my phone that I have pinged. It is EVERY wifi device in my house is having these poor latency results. Anything connected by ethernet is fine, but wifi is woeful. 

I will write to asus an link them here, but I can't accept that this is how it is. I wouldn't accept this from a $500 router, let alone a $1500 (AUD) one.  What is annoying is I bought it from USA, so have to return it there if it comes to that. But if that's what it comes to... i will be swapping to something more reliable.

[Saltgrass]

You don't always have to rebuild a system for testing, you do have the ability to disable certain components for testing.   I turn my Mesh node off all the time.

If you want to go that way, I might suggest you give the network some time to adjust, in order to decrease the TTL time.  The value of 255 is as high as that number can go.