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[HomeOwner]

Hi,

I have just upgraded my DIR-655, Hardware Version A4, Firmware 1.32NA which can at best give me only 802.11n at 130Mbps or so, to a DIR-855L dual band 900 (450Mbps in each – 5 and 2.4 GHz). After swapping the routers and getting the DIR855L configured in the same way as the old one I noticed significant degradation of bandwidth through the wireless connection using 802.11n and 2.4GHz, despite the new modem occupying the very same location as the old one and no changes on the wireless clients.

The degradation is most noticeable on my internal LAN, while WAN remained roughly the same. I first noticed it while accessing files stored in my local NAS drive which connects to the router by wire.

I then took some measurements to record the issue and these are my test results. Notice I have not tested against the 5GHz network as most of my devices are 2.4GHz only. The firmware of the router is 1.00 (I did not upgrade as new version does not seem to include any fix to known performance issues)

**Tests Using Router DIR-855L

*Test1: 2.4GHz 802.11n: Guest enabled: No other significant traffic in network: Tested from kitchen:

LAN speed test between wireless client and NAS:

NAS Upload: 1Mbps
NAS Download: 19Mbps

Network usage as reported by Windows: Peaks around 7%
Network speed as reported by Windows: 144Mbps

WAN Upload: 10.28Mbps
WAN Download: 4.10Mbps


*Test 2: 2.4GHz 802.11n: Guest enabled: No other significant traffic in network: Tested from 8ft away from wireless router:

NAS Upload: 8.26Mbps
NAS Download: 18.46Mbps

Network usage as reported by Windows: Peaks around 25%
Network speed as reported by Windows: 54Mbps

WAN Upload: 13.71Mbps
WAL Download: 4.54Mbps

*Test3: 2.4GHz 802.11n: Guest DISABLED: No other significant traffic in network: Tested from 6ft away from router:

NAS Upload: 7.36Mbps
NAS Download: 17.99Mbps

Network usage as reported by Windows: Peaks around 25%
Network speed as reported by Windows: 144Mbps

WAN Upload: 4.7Mbps
WAN Download: 4.55Mbp

(Test result above demonstrated having a guest access enabled made no difference, hence not repeating the test from Kitchen.)

**Tests Using Router DIR-655

(after swapped router, rebooted NAS, and modem. Also made sure to re-connect to wireless on remote computer)

*Test 1: 2.4GHz 802.11n: No other significant traffic in network: Tested from 6ft away from router:


NAS Upload: 37.80Mbps
NAS Download: 24.9Mbps

Network usage as reported by Windows: Peaks around 45%
Network speed as reported by Windows: 130Mbps

WAN Upload: 2.17Mbps
WAN Download: 2.05Mbp

*Test2: 2.4GHz 802.11n: No other significant traffic in network: Tested from kitchen:


NAS Upload: 13.05Mbps
NAS Download: 10.18Mbps

Network usage as reported by Windows: Peaks around 25%
Network speed as reported by Windows: 130Mbps

WAN Upload: 10.18Mbps
WAN Download: 1.98Mbp

**Analysis: While the physical location of wireless client had significant impact on internet speed and times to copy 50MB files to/from NAS drive, the router DIR-855L performed significantly worse while accessing network resources within the local network, in particular when sending data from wireless client to NAS (upload).

Other possible factors such as noise (including other networks), network cable between router and NAS shoudl be subtracted because they were the same in all tests.

Screenshots of test results above are available upon request (I could not figure out a way to include pics or attachments).

**What I'd like help with: It is not acceptable that the upgraded router should perform worse than the much older device when handling LAN trafic. From the tests, it would also appear the main issue is not betweenthe wireless client and the router, but between the router and the wired network device. Is this a known issue? Is there a workaround?

[FurryNutz]

Link>Welcome!

• What Hardware version is your router? Look at sticker under router.
• Link>What Firmware version is currently loaded? Found on routers web page under status.
• What region are you located?
• Are you wired or wireless connected to the router?

Router and Wired Configurations
Some things to try: - Log into the routers web page at 192.168.0.1. Use IE, Opera or FF to manage the router.

• Turn off ALL QoS or Disable Traffic Shaping (DIR only) GameFuel (DGL only and if ON.) options, Advanced/QoS or Gamefuel.
• Turn off Advanced DNS Services if you have this option under Setup/Internet/Manual or under Setup/PARENTAL CONTROL/Set to>None: Static IP or Obtain Automatically From ISP.
• Disable or Enable Use Unicasting (compatibility for some ISP DHCP Servers) under Setup/Internet/Manual.
• Setup DHCP reserved IP addresses for all devices ON the router. Setup/Networking. This ensures each devices gets its own IP address when turned on and connected, eliminates IP address conflicts and helps in troubleshooting.
• Ensure devices are set to auto obtain an IP address.
• If IPv6 is an option on the router, select Local Connection Only or Disable IPv6 options under Setup/IPv6.
• Set Firewall settings to Endpoint Independent for TCP and UDP under Advanced/Firewall.
• Enable uPnP and Multi-cast Streaming under Advanced/Networking. Disable uPnP for testing Port Forwarding rules. Enable IPv6 Multi-cast Streaming for routers that have a Media Server option. Disable IPv6 Multi-cast Streaming if IPv6 or Media Server is not being used.
• Turn off WISH, and WPS under Advanced.
• WAN Port Speed set to Auto or specific speed? Some newer ISP modems support 1000Mb so manually setting to Gb speeds can be supported by the router. Advanced/Advanced Networking/WAN Port Speed
• Set current Time Zone, Date and Time. Use an NTP Server feature. Tools/Time.

Wireless Configurations
Links>Wireless Installation Considerations and Managing Signal Congestion

• Ensure the default (dlink) SSID name is changed. Can be anything and not something thats already in use by any neighboring WiFi routers. Under Setup/Wireless/Manual.
• What wireless modes are you using?
• 2.4Ghz and 5Ghz routers: Try single mode G or N or mixed G and N on 2.4Ghz and single mode N on 5Ghz?
• Channel Width set for Auto 20/40/80Mhz or try 20Mhz only.
• Try setting a manual Channel to a open or unused channel. 1, 6 or 11. 11 for single mode N if the channel is clear.
• What security mode are you using? Preferred security is WPA-Personal. WPA2/AES Only. Some WiFi adapters don't support AES, so you might want to try TPIK only or Auto TPIK and AES.
• What wireless devices do you have connected?
• Any cordless house phones?
• Any other WiFi routers in the area? Link> Use InSSIDer to find out. How many?
• If you have any of theese options, Try turning OFF Short GI, WLAN Partition, HT 20/40 Co-exhistance and Extra Wireless Protection if you have it. Recommended settings are default. Under Advanced/Advanced Wireless.
• Enable WMM Enable Under Advanced/Advanced Wireless.

3rd Party Security Software Configurations

• Turn off all anti virus and firewall programs on PC while testing. 3rd party firewalls are not generally needed when using routers as they are effective on blocking malicious inbound traffic.
• Turn off all devices accept for one wired PC while testing.

What are the connection rates being reported on the routers status/wireless page? Post pictures of the Status/Wireless page from the router.

[FurryNutz]

Any status on this? 

[HomeOwner]

Hi there, after reviewing your suggestions I went through them one by one and noted the results. None of them seemed to have any impact on the data transfer rates and what I considered to be really bad performance of the new DIR855L wireless router.

I was almost ready to call my tests off when I decided to upgrade the firmware from version 1.00 to 1.01 despite the release notes for 1.01 include no notes about any problem related to performance.

As a result, the router started to work as I should it should. Performance / data rate in transfers between wireless and wired devices as well as between wireless clients is very acceptable. In fact it is able to sustain a 150+Mbps connection between the router and wireless bridge at 5GHz and going across two floors, which I consider to be very good. Connection with wireless device in the vicinity of the router is reported at 450Mbps even at 2.4GHz.

All in all I'm now satisfied with the product.

For those who have the 855L and who are experiencing bad performance: upgrade the firmware.

[FurryNutz]

Glad got your router working. For those having this issue. it's recommended to review the suggestions first before upgrading FW.

Not everyone may have the same issue nor have the same ISP services and devices. Follow the suggestions and answer some of the questions so we have a better idea first before upgrading FW.

Thank you and enjoy.

[Dhaemon]

I just wanted to say that I got this router today and was experiencing the exact same issue as the OP was.
I did everything, nothing worked and was reading to box it up and send it back.

I then noticed this thread and did the firmware upgrade....SUCCESS!

Seems like 2.4 to LAN is an issue that is resolved with a firmware upgrade.


Thank you "HomeOwner"!

[FurryNutz]

Link>Welcome!

• What Hardware version is your router? Look at sticker under router.
• Link>What Firmware version is currently loaded? Found on the routers web page under status.
• What region are you located?

Glad you got it working well. Enjoy.
 

I just wanted to say that I got this router today and was experiencing the exact same issue as the OP was.
I did everything, nothing worked and was reading to box it up and send it back.

I then noticed this thread and did the firmware upgrade....SUCCESS!

Seems like 2.4 to LAN is an issue that is resolved with a firmware upgrade.


Thank you "HomeOwner"!