WLAN speed reduced after updating FritzBox to firmware 06.06

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gocheck

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#144051 6-May-2014 00:29

I'm using Fritzbox 7390. The firmware was 05.51. After updating to firmware 06.06, I found the WLAN speed was always capped under 60M/s (through speedtest.net). However, it was up to 90M/s before updating. I tried to plug in a LAN cable. The speed was 100M/s. The network was ok, but the WLAN was not.

After google I found the message on AVM's website
http://service.avm.de/support/en/SKB/FRITZ-Box-7390-int/231:Slow-wireless-connection-speed-for-connections-according-to-802-11n and
http://service.avm.de/support/en/SKB/FRITZ-Box-7390-int/522:Error-message-quot-WLAN-transmission-quality-increased-by-reduced-channel-bandwidth-quot

My fritzbox log event did mention "Wireless LAN transmission quality increased by reduced channel bandwidth (2,4 GHz)." That's the problem I had never met when I was using firmware 05.51.

I tried to follow AVM's instructions to solve the problem, but it did not work.

It seems no way to downgrade the firmware to 05.51. The reduced WLAN speed really drives me crazy!!!

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#1037445 6-May-2014 00:29

Hello... Our robot found some keywords in your post, so here is an automated reply with some important things to note regarding broadband speeds.

If you are posting regarding DSL speeds please check that

- you have reset your modem and router

- your PC (or other PCs in your LAN) is not downloading large files when you are testing

- you are not being throttled by your ISP due to going over the monthly cap

- your tests are always done on an ethernet connection to the router - do not use wireless for testing

- you read this topic and follow the instructions there.

Make sure you provide information for other users to help you. If you have not already done it, please EDIT your post and add this now:

- Your ISP and plan

- Type of connection (ADSL, ADSL2, VDSL)

- Your modem DSL stats (do not worry about posting Speedtest, we need sync rate, attenuation and noise margin)

- Your general location (or street)

- If you are rural or urban

- If you know your connection is to an exchange, cabinet or conklin

- If your connection is to a ULL or wholesale service

- If you have done an isolation test as per the link above

Most of the problems with speed are likely to be related to internal wiring issues. Read this discussion to find out more about this. Your ISP is not intentionally slowing you down today (unless you are on a managed plan). Also if this is the school holidays it's likely you will notice slower than usual speed due to more users online.

A master splitter is required for VDSL2 and in most cases will improve speeds on DSL connections. Regular disconnections can be a monitored alarm or a set top box trying to connect. If there's an alarm connected to your line even if you don't have an alarm contract it may still try to connect so it's worth checking.

I recommend you read these two blog posts:

- Is your premises phone wiring impacting your broadband performance? (very technical)

- Are you receiving a substandard ULL ADSL2+ connection from your ISP?

I am the Geekzone Robot and I am here to help. I am from the Internet. I do not interact. Do not expect other replies from me.

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lucky015

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#1037468 6-May-2014 01:14

Sounds like your modem has dropped to 20mhz bandwidth rather than 40, This is a normal feature and something it does as a matter of stability.

Personally I would consider doing this more aggressively to be a benefit rather than a problem.

sbiddle

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#1037497 6-May-2014 07:33

So it would seem that the device can now switch to 20Mhz channels rather than defaulting to 40Mhz.

For 99% of WiFi users out there this will significantly improve their WiFi connections, unless you live in a very light RF area and/or live in a lead lined house 40Mhz channels have the potential to cause no end of WiFi problems, and simply contribute to 2.4 noise making the band unusable for other nearby users.

I'm really surprised you were able to even get 90Mbps on 2.4Ghz, are you sure your devices weren't connecting on 5Ghz?

gocheck

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#1037511 6-May-2014 08:39

lucky015: Sounds like your modem has dropped to 20mhz bandwidth rather than 40, This is a normal feature and something it does as a matter of stability.

Personally I would consider doing this more aggressively to be a benefit rather than a problem.

Yes, exactly the modem has dropped to 20Mhz. I don't think it is a benefit. I'm on 100M/50M UFB but I can only use 50M/50M in WLAN. That is a downgrade plan. To me, the speed is everything.

timmmay

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#1037513 6-May-2014 08:48

If speed is everything then plug in using a wire. WLAN is for convenience and for the forseeable future will not be as fast or reliable as a wired connection. You could always go back to an earlier firmware version, if you can find it somewhere.

What applications do you run that need more than 60Mbps? Do you just want it because you can, or do you have a practical need?

gocheck

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#1037515 6-May-2014 08:52

sbiddle: So it would seem that the device can now switch to 20Mhz channels rather than defaulting to 40Mhz.

For 99% of WiFi users out there this will significantly improve their WiFi connections, unless you live in a very light RF area and/or live in a lead lined house 40Mhz channels have the potential to cause no end of WiFi problems, and simply contribute to 2.4 noise making the band unusable for other nearby users.

I'm really surprised you were able to even get 90Mbps on 2.4Ghz, are you sure your devices weren't connecting on 5Ghz?

No, my adapter is TP-LINK TL-WN822N. It is a 300M adapter only works on 2.4Ghz.

Actually there are only two of my neighbors are using WIFI. They are on channel 1 and 11. However, in the WLAN disturbances it shows at least one grey column (channels affected by other radio networks) in every channels. No idea what they are. Are they fridges, microwaves, or washing machines?

Anyway, I have tried every channel, but the WLAN download speed is still capped under 60M/s

gocheck

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#1037518 6-May-2014 09:02

timmmay: If speed is everything then plug in using a wire. WLAN is for convenience and for the forseeable future will not be as fast or reliable as a wired connection. You could always go back to an earlier firmware version, if you can find it somewhere.

What applications do you run that need more than 60Mbps? Do you just want it because you can, or do you have a practical need?

Well, it's too far to plug in a wire... I had updated my network adapter to a 300M adapter. The small speed differences between a wire and a .11n wifi is acceptable to me, but half speed is not acceptable. To be honest, the bandwidth is halved. The speed is less than a half.

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timmmay

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#1037522 6-May-2014 09:20

What practical benefit would you see going from 60Mbs to 90Mbps. Coping huge files would be faster, but who does that regularly? These days most things stream, and downloading from the internet you rarely get anywhere near 100Mbps from one server. Downloading a torrent might be a bit faster, but getting your full line speed would be unusual not the normal case.

While I understand you wanting this 30Mbps my point is there would be very little practical benefit for 99% of people. Maybe you're in that 1%, but you haven't told us anything as yet to make me think you are.

Also note Mbps = megabits per second, M/s as you wrote implies megabytes per second.

eXDee

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#1037543 6-May-2014 10:11

The more annoying aspect of this is a loss of control - I don't mind if this is the default behavior, but i should be able to turn it off. I was already annoyed by the fritz reducing its transmit power when it thought devices were no longer connected, which doesn't bode well when you have something like some phones sleeping, and then they drop entirely.

This of course isn't normal behavior of all devices, but again i prefer to disable power saving modes in favour of performance on a fixed device. Particularly a small embedded one like this, if i want to save power i'll do it in an area that actually makes a notable difference and isnt just an annoying gimmick.

sbiddle: So it would seem that the device can now switch to 20Mhz channels rather than defaulting to 40Mhz.

For 99% of WiFi users out there this will significantly improve their WiFi connections, unless you live in a very light RF area and/or live in a lead lined house 40Mhz channels have the potential to cause no end of WiFi problems, and simply contribute to 2.4 noise making the band unusable for other nearby users.

I'm really surprised you were able to even get 90Mbps on 2.4Ghz, are you sure your devices weren't connecting on 5Ghz?

I tend to get 80 to 120Mbps real world throughput for windows file transfers on 2.4ghz depending on where i am, on 40mhz channels. Not being jammed up like a sardine with the neighbours means i only see two other networks.
The fastest i've seen is 136Mbps throughput when i set up my two tomato routers in a wireless bridge.

timmmay

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#1037552 6-May-2014 10:21

My S4 on 5.6GHz (or whatever the high one is) says it connects to the 7390 at over 100Mbps quite often, so long as I'm not too far from the router.

gocheck

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#1037832 6-May-2014 16:49

eXDee: The more annoying aspect of this is a loss of control - I don't mind if this is the default behavior, but i should be able to turn it off. I was already annoyed by the fritz reducing its transmit power when it thought devices were no longer connected, which doesn't bode well when you have something like some phones sleeping, and then they drop entirely.

This of course isn't normal behavior of all devices, but again i prefer to disable power saving modes in favour of performance on a fixed device. Particularly a small embedded one like this, if i want to save power i'll do it in an area that actually makes a notable difference and isnt just an annoying gimmick.

sbiddle: So it would seem that the device can now switch to 20Mhz channels rather than defaulting to 40Mhz.

For 99% of WiFi users out there this will significantly improve their WiFi connections, unless you live in a very light RF area and/or live in a lead lined house 40Mhz channels have the potential to cause no end of WiFi problems, and simply contribute to 2.4 noise making the band unusable for other nearby users.

I'm really surprised you were able to even get 90Mbps on 2.4Ghz, are you sure your devices weren't connecting on 5Ghz?

I tend to get 80 to 120Mbps real world throughput for windows file transfers on 2.4ghz depending on where i am, on 40mhz channels. Not being jammed up like a sardine with the neighbours means i only see two other networks.
The fastest i've seen is 136Mbps throughput when i set up my two tomato routers in a wireless bridge.

That's the point!

Updating firmware should bring better user's experiences, but this one is worse. I didn't suffer any WIFI problem before updating. It was stable and fast. After updating it switches to a more "stable" situation by downgrading the speed. I don't want to be more "stable". It was stable enough. At least is should allow me to choose whether to turn this on or off. But it doesn't. It makes the decision for me and prevents me to take the control back. That's a bad user's experience I've got with this modem.

It's not SNAP's fault, but it was provided by SNAP. Furthermore, it is downgrading SNAP's services. I think SNAP should help us to push AVM to improve the functions, or provide us firmware downgrading plan.

gocheck

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#1037835 6-May-2014 16:55

timmmay: What practical benefit would you see going from 60Mbs to 90Mbps. Coping huge files would be faster, but who does that regularly? These days most things stream, and downloading from the internet you rarely get anywhere near 100Mbps from one server. Downloading a torrent might be a bit faster, but getting your full line speed would be unusual not the normal case.

While I understand you wanting this 30Mbps my point is there would be very little practical benefit for 99% of people. Maybe you're in that 1%, but you haven't told us anything as yet to make me think you are.

Also note Mbps = megabits per second, M/s as you wrote implies megabytes per second.

I don't think you would try 802.11ac because 60Mbps is enough for you. I just wondering why ISPs provide 100Mbps UFB, eh??

RunningMan

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#1037840 6-May-2014 16:58

gocheck:

Updating firmware should bring better user's experiences, but this one is worse. I didn't suffer any WIFI problem before updating. It was stable and fast. After updating it switches to a more "stable" situation by downgrading the speed. I don't want to be more "stable". It was stable enough.

The problem with a 40MHz channel width on 2.4GHz WiFi is that it overlaps almost every other channel, potentially wiping out WiFi for everyone else around you - essentially it's a bit unfriendly to those around you, so moving to 20MHz may well bring a better user experience to your neighbours ;-)

Some companies (Apple for example) prevent the use of 20MHz width channels on 2.4GHz, but allow it on 5GHz for this reason. It may be that Fritz are aligning themselves with this to try to reduce the amount of WiFi congestion in the 2.4GHz band (a pretty big first world problem in densely populated areas).

timmmay

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#1037876 6-May-2014 18:05

gocheck: I don't think you would try 802.11ac because 60Mbps is enough for you. I just wondering why ISPs provide 100Mbps UFB, eh??

I have UFB, and I use a wired connection on my PC, for performance. I use WiFi for my phone for web browsing.

Sure you may be able to go through a lot of work to get another 30Mbps, but is it worth the bother?

sbiddle

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#1037888 6-May-2014 18:26

gocheck: I just wondering why ISPs provide 100Mbps UFB, eh??

Why not?

WiFi is a complementary offering to Ethernet, it is not, can not, and never will be a replacement.

Not everybody relies on WiFi for connections, and most people accept these days that unless you're using 5Ghz that speeds in the vicinity of 10-20Mbps in a typical environment and 20-30Mbps in a good environment are as good as you'll get because the 2.4Ghz band is basically munted.

The simple real world reality is that for a vast majority of people setting an AP to 20Mhz will deliver better throughput than 40Mhz. If you're in a crowded RF environment 40Mhz will simply deliver poor throughput and can deliver continual disconnections.

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