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exodus Nov 18, 2015 @ 3:38pm

Poor 5GHz performance

Performance isn't as good as I had hoped. Granted, both my PC and Steam Link are connected wirelessly (802.11ac).

My router is an Asus RT-AC68U. The airwaves around my house are relatively clear...there's only one other 5GHz network detectable at -95dB, so it really shouldn't interfere at all.

My PC is in the same room and is getting a full 1300mbps through ac.

My Steam Link is in a different room, on the other side of a wall, but only 5 feet away from the router.

Here's the curious thing: performance is identical whether I have my Steam Link connected to the 2.4GHz (non-ac) or the 5GHz (ac) band. I've tried setting my router to 20, 40, and 80MHz bandwidth. 20MHz works, but with performance equaling the 2.4GHz band. 40 and 80MHz are completely unusable. Steam Link is unable to make use of the larger bandwidths.

The question is: is my Steam Link faulty? Something definitely isn't right here.

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Showing 1-13 of 13 comments

exodus Nov 18, 2015 @ 3:40pm

And as I submitted this, I just read the product page and realized Steam Link only supports 802.11n.

This seems incredibly short sighted by Valve. 802.11ac could handle this with ease. No wonder performance isn't terribly good.

edit: wait, one page says 802.11n. The other says "Wired 100 Mbit/s Fast Ethernet and Wireless 802.11ac 2x2 (MIMO) networking abilities". Which is it?

Last edited by exodus; Nov 18, 2015 @ 3:41pm

Prince of Nothing Nov 18, 2015 @ 3:43pm

It's ac.

exodus Nov 18, 2015 @ 3:46pm

Yes, after doing more research, it is indeed 2x2 MIMO 802.11ac.

This brings one important point to question: shouldn't 40MHz bandwidth operate faster than 20MHz? 40MHz is basically unusable...huge amounts of packet/frame loss. This leads me to believe that one of the antennas in my Steam Link is faulty.

exodus Nov 18, 2015 @ 3:52pm

Well, I'm returning it and exchanging it for another. I'll report my results.

Greg Nov 18, 2015 @ 5:48pm

shouldn't 40MHz bandwidth operate faster than 20MHz? 40MHz is basically unusable...huge amounts of packet/frame loss. This leads me to believe that one of the antennas in my Steam Link is faulty.

This actually says that there is a lot more interference than you think. Maintaining a clear signal across a wider band would be harder with large amounts of interference.

UnReal-4-Life Nov 18, 2015 @ 8:57pm

If its in the same room dont use wifi hard wire it

Xenius Nov 19, 2015 @ 12:56am

My conclusion is that the Steamlinks 5GHZ reception could be optimized (maybe tweaking the firmware ?). I am the only one using the 5GHZ WiFi band around (i understand, that there could still be inteference from other gadgets offcourse).

My Laptop, TV, ATV, receiver and the Steamlink is all placed about 4-5 meters form my router, with clear sight, and they all draw full bars, except the Steamlink toglling on 3-4 bars.

*edit* The router is a well endowed AC2400 class router by the way, supporting MU-MIMO and "Streamboost" technology.

Last edited by Xenius; Nov 19, 2015 @ 2:46am

Ted Edison Nov 19, 2015 @ 3:49am

I am also using wifi with 5Ghz and have no problems so far. there is one room between the computer and the router is in the living room, where also the steam link is sitting. AVM router and AVM repeater (next to the computer). Everything 5Ghz

Greg Nov 19, 2015 @ 4:50pm

*edit* The router is a well endowed AC2400 class router by the way, supporting MU-MIMO and "Streamboost" technology.

Sounds like a d-link, I've never had a good experience with a d-link.

Prince of Nothing Nov 19, 2015 @ 6:02pm

Using an Asus RT-68P and I've had no problems using AC. In my old home I would have likely had the same issues you are having. Lots of things can mess with wireless performance.

Suggestion: try turning off and removing everything wireless between the steam link and your router. I've actually had other wireless devices (on an N network) kill the signal.

#10

A Regular Italian Plumber Nov 19, 2015 @ 10:19pm

Im using the same router [rt-ac68u]. I dont own a link (yet) but streaming to my laptop is incredible and I can do it more or less anywhere in my home. I just wish there wasnt some stupid ass bug [with Nvidia cards?] where the encoding method limits bandwidth to 30MBps. I can get the full 280 allowed by my laptop NIC but I have to turn off hardware encoding and deal with sub 60fps on the client.

#11