There are several things that bother us when we need a good internet connection, good speed, and a suitable environment to do what we need to do online. One commonly reported issue is that our Asus router is not getting full speed.
To understand what’s happening and how we can resolve this inconvenience, we need to understand the reasons our Asus router is not getting full speed, how to fix them, and other issues with our devices.
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Reasons Asus Router Not Getting Full Speed
There are many reasons your Asus router isn’t getting full speed, but the most common reason is incompatibility. More often than not, we buy a piece of hardware before checking if it’s compatible with other pieces of hardware we have at home.
The three main reasons we’re not getting full speed are a sketchy wireless connection, heavy network traffic, and the mentioned incompatibility. Let’s discuss these a little further to help you understand what you’re dealing with.
Sketchy Wireless Connection
If you’re not getting full speed through the wireless connection, then there might be something disrupting the signal. The position of your router might be wrong, or there are too many obstacles between your device and the router.
Depending on the frequency band you’re using, and most routers use a combination of 2.4 GHz and 5GHz bands, the signal might not go through different objects, concrete, mirrors, water, etc.
These might be some reasons you’re experiencing slow speeds.
Heavy Traffic
Another solid reason is that there’s too much traffic on the network. If there are too many devices connected to the same router, wired or wireless, then there’s definitely going to be shifts in speed.
You might get slower speeds, but someone else in the house has regular speeds. There’s a way to fix this. You can block off devices on your Wi-Fi that passively consume bandwidth.
Speed and Hardware Incompatibility
Check to see whether your hardware supports the full speed that your ISP provides. Sometimes, you can’t get the full speed because the router you’re using only supports up to 100 Mbps.
It’s possible that the incompatibility between the ISP’s maximum speed and the maximum speed of your Asus router is causing slow speeds. You should check the ASUS specs to see if this is the reason, and if it is, consider upgrading.
ISP Data Capping
Sometimes the reason your router’s not giving you the promised speed is not in the hardware or for any of the previously mentioned reasons. It’s just your ISP capping your data. Many providers maintain a fair usage policy.
This means that you can’t overuse the internet provided to you. So, the unlimited plan is still unlimited, but the bandwidth gets reduced when you go over a certain amount of data. Contact your ISP to see if that’s the case.
Fix Asus Router Not Getting Full Speed
Now that you know what the most common reasons for your Asus router not getting full speed are, there are a few things we can do to resolve these issues. These are fixes for other common issues as well:
- Factory reset: The easiest way to reset an Asus router is to turn it off. Locate the WPS button, and press and hold it. Turn on the router until the LED starts flashing. When it stops flashing, the router will automatically restart. The factory reset is done.
- Firmware update: Go to http://router.asus.com, and sign in to your Asus account. Once you’re there, you’ll be able to see a popup that says there’s new firmware available. Click on Update now.
Or you can navigate to Administration > System and click Firmware Upgrade. After that, you’ll need to reset the router and the firmware will be installed. All you need to do is log in again, go to Administration, and click on Restore.
You can also update it manually by going to the Asus website and finding the appropriate firmware for your router in the Asus download center. Download the file for your model, log into the settings, locate the Firmware Upgrade tab and click manual update.
Upload the file and do the factory reset afterwards so that everything works properly.
- Wi-Fi channel: Sometimes we need to change the channel because the current one we’re using is overlapping with other channels and there’s frequency interference. So, it’s necessary to change it.
Go to your Asus router’s settings, and click on the Advanced Settings tab, then go to Wireless. Once you’re there, look at the Band type. It should be 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz.
You can change the channels on both bands, and you need to experiment a little. Experiment with the Channel bandwidth. Switch up the values a little, and do some speed tests to see which channel works best.
Personal Device Issues
Sometimes, it’s not the router that’s slowing down the speed. It’s just something with our devices that’s making the internet slower. The specs of our device are not meant to support a certain speed. The processing speed is a little lower, and we can’t have full internet speeds.
But the main reasons we’re not getting full internet speed that are related to our devices are the adapter driver version and the protocol version. So, there are things we can do to fix this, and hopefully our internet speed increases.
Adapter Driver Not Up to Date
There’s a possibility that somehow your wireless adapter driver is not up to date. The reason it might not be up to date is a power outage when a driver update was issued. So, there’s a possibility that you might need to update it yourself.
To do that, go to the Search box and type Device Manager. Click on the first result that appears, and locate the Network adapters section. Expand it and right-click on the drivers and click Update driver. Select Search automatically for drivers, and the adapter is going to be updated.
Protocol Version
There’s a possibility that because you have IPv6 (Internet Protocol Version 6) enabled, the data that goes through converts to the data compatible with this protocol. So, instead of using the basic IPv4 (Internet Protocol Version 4), all data is translated into IPv6 compatible form.
Disable the IPv6 by going to Settings, and then go to Network & Internet > Change adapter options, select the network you’re using, and right-click on it. Go to Properties, and once there, under the Networking tab, locate the checkbox that says Internet Protocol Version 6 and uncheck it. Hit Ok, and there you have it. Your speed should improve a little.
Conclusion
When you have your Asus router not getting full speed, there are many reasons it might be happening. There are a few things we can do to make it work better, like a factory reset, a driver update, a firmware update, and changing the Wi-Fi channel.
Finally, you can always upgrade to a better router if your router’s hardware is incompatible with your ISPs speeds. If none of these work, and there’s still the issue of your Asus router not getting full speed persists, contact support, and see what they know about it.
Hey, I’m David. I’ve been working as a wireless network engineer and a network administrator for 15 years. During my studies, I also worked as an ISP field technician – that’s when I met Jeremy.
I hold a bachelor’s degree in network engineering and a master’s degree in computer science and engineering. I’m also a Cisco-certified service provider.
In my professional career, I worked for router/modem manufacturers and internet providers. I like to think that I’m good at explaining network-related issues in simple terms. That’s exactly what I’m doing on this website – I’m making simple and easy-to-follow guides on how to install, set up, and troubleshoot your networking hardware. I also review new network equipment – modems, gateways, switches, routers, extenders, mesh systems, cables, etc.
My goal is to help regular users with their everyday network issues, educate them, and make them less scared of their equipment. In my articles, you can find tips on what to look for when buying new networking hardware, and how to adjust your network settings to get the most out of your wi-fi.
Since my work is closely related to computers, servers, and other network equipment, I like to spend most of my spare time outdoors. When I want to blow off some steam, I like to ride my bike. I also love hiking and swimming. When I need to calm down and clear my mind, my go-to activity is fishing.