WiFi tips, tricks & problems

[rscheller]

Here's the results of four network speed tests I ran using megapath speedtestplus. I ran 2 tests of the 2 drivers listed in the left column of the results and you can see by the numbers, my results were not very different.

Driver, "DOWNLOAD","UPLOAD","PACKET_LOSS","LATENCY","JITTE R","MOS"
97.168, "9.27 Mbps","4.32 Mbps","0 %","22 ms","2 ms","4.39"
97.168, "7.80 Mbps","5.32 Mbps","0 %","25 ms","1 ms","4.39"
99.187, "9.53 Mbps","5.63 Mbps","0 %","28 ms","2 ms","4.39"
99.187, "7.82 Mbps","5.60 Mbps","0 %","21 ms","2 ms","4.39"

There you go.

[PopGlobb]

Okay, my Wifi has been getting increasingly unstable. Now Its locking up 2-3 times a day and I have to reboot it, which is locks up doing and I have to hard reset it. Didn't used to do that with .168.

So I went to the newest drivers again, still have to reboot, but it does it gracefully, but it also looses connection 2-3x faster.

So, walk me through this, like I am a simpleton.

How do you guys upgrade the driver? In the past I've been selecting just the .inf file. However, there is a heck of a lot more in that driver package. I also see a setup batch file, but if I try to run it normally, it doesn't seem to work, with admin priveleages it seems to, but I am 99% sure my driver version doesn't end up changing when I do, only when I manually choose the driver inf file through upgrading the driver.

I am about at the point of doing a full system restore and reloading everything.

Thanks.

Hi, just wanted to share my experiences i have with updating the drivers and the wifi problems.

I simply use the Asus Live Update app to update all the drivers.

currently i have Broadcom Wireless adapter version 5.93.98.187 installed. Although there is a newer version out and can be found in the Asus Live update app (i think its version .99) i will keep this version as i have not big issues with wifi, just need to sometimes refresh the webpage once or twice in order to have connection or to have the page loaded properly.

anyway, today i have installed the BIOS update 226, all within Asus Live update, just select and click Install.
But one thing you have to make sure is (i didnt do that first 2 times, hence it failed both times), to connect your T100 on your charger!!! otherwise it would not work.

The installation and update of the BIOS went smoothly after that. First the current Bios was deleted and then updated and then some triple checkups would start, if all is OK the BIOS is ready. Just press the power button to restart the tablet.

One problem i immediately got after the update of the BIOS to 226 was, the Wireless connection showed as LIMITED, i was shocked!! wth!
Anyway i kept my cool and restarted my wireless router (which is linked to my providers Router) and restarted the T100, but problem still remains the same.
So i went downstairs to restart the Router of my provider aswell. Thank god this has worked! I am now having a stable internetconnection over Wifi
It seemed like somehow the Wifi connection needed a new Ip-address. So try to restart all your routers and see if that works out.

Good luck! will post here if something changes... oh i will wait awhile till i update to BIOS 227....just not wanting to risk anything now its running okay.

[ASUSFAN0001]

Running WIFI driver 99.187 and BIOS 227 both since the first day they came out. No issues here.

That said...there is no urgency to install these things day one for the typical user.

[azazel1024]

No, it is not a router issue, or at least not directly. Rebooting the router/access point when I have "limited connectivity" does nothing. Only disconnecting and reconnecting manually on the T100 does it, or a reboot if the netstack has locked up. It of course might be an issue between my router/access point and the Broadcom SDIO adapter in the T100, but this isn't simply that it is failing to connect, or invalid IP or something like that, either something my router/access point are doing is causing the broadcom drivers on my T100 to lock up, or else it is something that the broadcom drivers are doing completely on their own.

Since it has happened on several different networks, I suspect a bit of the later more than the former. However, I have seen lots and lots of problems with different broadcom adapters and a variety of routers. In general, broadcom based routers and broadcom adapters almost always seem to work fine. Broadcom adapters and OTHER chipset routers sometimes have problems (but not always). A good example is the TP-Link C7 Archer, it seems to work fine with everything, except some Broadcom 802.11ac clients, especially the ones in the Apple macbook pro seems to have a horrible time with it. Now, it might be that the router is doing something "wrong" not standards complaint, but since all OTHER chipset based clients seem to have no problem with it...

It sounds like a two way street at least. Broadcom seems to have an issue with its hardware/drivers in a lot of recent clients, but it also is possible that it is a lot of router manufactuers also have an issue in their firmware/hardware that is triggering the issue. So the question is...who is at fault?

At anyrate, it seems to be going okay now. I still get limited connectivity, but its easy to just disconnect and reconnect right now and that fixes it 9 out of 10 times. I can deal with having to reboot once a week because it won't reconnect.

On a seperate issue, something I've noticed with my T100 is that it does NOT like 40MHz mode if you are using an "edge" channel. I discovered this because a new access point I added in to my network for outdoor coverage, for some random reason, will NOT work on Channel 1. Both my T100, my laptop and my phone can connect to that AP on channel 1 (at least in 20MHz mode), but if I try to transfer a file, do a speed test, that sort of thing, it'll go at 1-2MB/sec for 500-2,000KBs and then stop...10-15s later, another 500-2000KBs, then stop and so on. Channel 2, same result. channel 11, worked great! No stuttering/locking and smooth, fast sailing.

So I switched my living room access point from Channel 6+10 40MHz to Channel 1+5 (and also my basement router to Channel 11, so no channel overlap anywhere for where routers have overlapping coverage). That was a couple of weeks ago. The laptop ran great on everything, but I just actually tested the T100, since I haven't had a reason to transfer any files to/from in a couple of weeks, just general internet/email/gaming kind of stuff. Well, on Channel 1+5, it was going pretty slow. Hitting 6.5MB/sec peak. This is over several tests, that is a lot slower than before. So I tried switching to 7+11 to see if maybe I could switch my other APs to channel 2 (to see if the outdoor one would function properly on that channel) for no overlap. Worse, it would transfer at 2-3MBsec and stutter like crazy. No issues on my iPhone or laptop. Smooth sailing on all of these channels with no noticable speed difference between then.

I finally tested on channel 2+6 and it worked great again. Back to the 8-9.5MB/sec I had been getting before. So, cool beans, its all working properly now with no overlap, but just...odd.

I mean very, very, VERY bizzare.

[Sp4ceM4rine]

No, it is not a router issue, or at least not directly. Rebooting the router/access point when I have "limited connectivity" does nothing. Only disconnecting and reconnecting manually on the T100 does it, or a reboot if the netstack has locked up. It of course might be an issue between my router/access point and the Broadcom SDIO adapter in the T100, but this isn't simply that it is failing to connect, or invalid IP or something like that, either something my router/access point are doing is causing the broadcom drivers on my T100 to lock up, or else it is something that the broadcom drivers are doing completely on their own.

Since it has happened on several different networks, I suspect a bit of the later more than the former. However, I have seen lots and lots of problems with different broadcom adapters and a variety of routers. In general, broadcom based routers and broadcom adapters almost always seem to work fine. Broadcom adapters and OTHER chipset routers sometimes have problems (but not always). A good example is the TP-Link C7 Archer, it seems to work fine with everything, except some Broadcom 802.11ac clients, especially the ones in the Apple macbook pro seems to have a horrible time with it. Now, it might be that the router is doing something "wrong" not standards complaint, but since all OTHER chipset based clients seem to have no problem with it...

It sounds like a two way street at least. Broadcom seems to have an issue with its hardware/drivers in a lot of recent clients, but it also is possible that it is a lot of router manufactuers also have an issue in their firmware/hardware that is triggering the issue. So the question is...who is at fault?

At anyrate, it seems to be going okay now. I still get limited connectivity, but its easy to just disconnect and reconnect right now and that fixes it 9 out of 10 times. I can deal with having to reboot once a week because it won't reconnect.

On a seperate issue, something I've noticed with my T100 is that it does NOT like 40MHz mode if you are using an "edge" channel. I discovered this because a new access point I added in to my network for outdoor coverage, for some random reason, will NOT work on Channel 1. Both my T100, my laptop and my phone can connect to that AP on channel 1 (at least in 20MHz mode), but if I try to transfer a file, do a speed test, that sort of thing, it'll go at 1-2MB/sec for 500-2,000KBs and then stop...10-15s later, another 500-2000KBs, then stop and so on. Channel 2, same result. channel 11, worked great! No stuttering/locking and smooth, fast sailing.

So I switched my living room access point from Channel 6+10 40MHz to Channel 1+5 (and also my basement router to Channel 11, so no channel overlap anywhere for where routers have overlapping coverage). That was a couple of weeks ago. The laptop ran great on everything, but I just actually tested the T100, since I haven't had a reason to transfer any files to/from in a couple of weeks, just general internet/email/gaming kind of stuff. Well, on Channel 1+5, it was going pretty slow. Hitting 6.5MB/sec peak. This is over several tests, that is a lot slower than before. So I tried switching to 7+11 to see if maybe I could switch my other APs to channel 2 (to see if the outdoor one would function properly on that channel) for no overlap. Worse, it would transfer at 2-3MBsec and stutter like crazy. No issues on my iPhone or laptop. Smooth sailing on all of these channels with no noticable speed difference between then.

I finally tested on channel 2+6 and it worked great again. Back to the 8-9.5MB/sec I had been getting before. So, cool beans, its all working properly now with no overlap, but just...odd.

I mean very, very, VERY bizzare.

Interesting theory about this "edge channel" thing. Thanks for your useful input. I also notice that my problems seem related to the 40Mhz feature. My issues began when I changed the bandwidth setting to "11a/b/g 20/40MHz". However, I did mess with other settings and I've never been able to reach a stable connection ever since.

That's why I finally gave up and choose to restore completely my t100 at its original state and re-update everything. I now keep my WiFi settings to their default values, and I'm happy to report that everything is running great since. I have stable speeds around 6 MB/s, not the maximum that this baby can do, but at least my WiFi doesn't give me any other troubles.

[azazel1024]

Yeah, setting it back to 20MHz mode and it purrs like a kitten. 40MHz I have issues with the connectivity, but it is also a fair amount faster. So I can only imagine it is something with the drivers/hardware itself causing issues...and those edge channels also make it that much more interesting.

[PopGlobb]

@Azazel

i see you have three different routers all connected to eachother. Wouldn't the issue be that somehow these routers are interfering eachother? causing the T100 not able to connect properly? i dunno, maybe you should try to disable the router, the one with the worse coverage, i think the one in the basement, Depends on where your internet connection enters your house though. I my case, the orginal router supplied by the internetprovider was bad and located downstairs, it had very bad coverage, so i disabled the router for wifi, and connected this router to a better router (TP Link) with much better coverage. The TP link router is located on the first floor in the living room.

See if this gives you any good result?

Do you have the same "limited connection" when you connect to someone else's router? like the one of your friends or familiy...
If so, then i would think broadcom driver is causing this, maybe you should try to reinstall the drivers (bios + broadcom) in a proper way (try using ASUS Live Update) to see if that gives you the wanted results.

[azazel1024]

Nope. All other devices work fine, 2 of the routers are the same model (Netgear 3500Lv1) and the 3rd router (TP-Link 849nd) was only introduced about 2 weeks ago, way after the problems started and has only been on and on the network about 3-4hrs out of that total time to install and test it. Its off until the weather warms up enough, long enough to actually be wandering around the great outdoors and needing wifi out there.

I've also tested with just my router on and my access point off, and the T100 still does it.

Also, yes, this has occured on all other networks I've tried my T100 on it (3 so far). No matter how I've installed the drivers, it does it. The only thing I haven't tried is a full system restore. At some point I probably will, but not anytime soon.

Its working fine enough. I can deal with needing to disconnect and reconnect to my WLAN one or twice a day. Its when things were locking up and forcing a reboot and sometimes 3-4 times a day that was intolerable.

[t100.asus]

Can you please tell how is your battery usage in sleep mode after the update...I just updated all from ASUS update utility and now my battery drain in sleep mode is >5%/hr...not sure what is causing that...but before the update it was much less than 1%/hr...

Running WIFI driver 99.187 and BIOS 227 both since the first day they came out. No issues here.

That said...there is no urgency to install these things day one for the typical user.

[Mordega]

Can you please tell how is your battery usage in sleep mode after the update...I just updated all from ASUS update utility and now my battery drain in sleep mode is >5%/hr...not sure what is causing that...but before the update it was much less than 1%/hr...

Which BIOS and Wifi Driver do you have for 1%/hr sleeping consumption?