Wifi speed?

[gscotten]

I have a Netgear WNDR3400v2 router, which is a N600 dual-band router that runs both a 2.4GHz and a 5GHz channel at 300 Mbps each. My laptop confirms that the link speed is 300 Mbps. But a speed check only gives me around 22 Mbps. If I connect to the wired 100 Mbps Ethernet port, I get around 95 Mbps. (My cable plan is charging me for a 90 Mbps plan.)

Since the router is only a N type which is limited to 100 Mbps and wifi has a lot of overhead, I knew that I should not expect more than, say, 50 Mbps. But still I expected more than 22. Am I doing something wrong? My laptop has a Wi-Fi 6 modem. For these tests, the only other devices online were my two wifi printers that were both sleeping.



George

 

[gscotten]

How far are you from router? How many walls?

It is about 15 inches away with line of sight.

Try moving the router away from your computer. Sometimes the signal can be too strong and the result is heavy distortion with lots of packet loss, leading to slower data rates. Imagine someone shouting in your ear for a similar situation.

Try placing it six or so feet away, and see what you get.

I get the exact same results at six feet and twenty feet, which is as far away as I can get in the house. The speed doesn't start to drop off significantly until I am about 150 feet down the road.

This is going to sound way too simple but did you try unplugging it for a minute and then trying again after it reboots?

Routers can get weird sometimes and a power cycle can often fix it. I even did it with my own recently when I was only getting 400 down instead of the 900 I should be and it's worked fine since.

The other possible issue is WiFi interference if you live close to a bunch of people/routers.

As for a new router do you do any transfer between your computers or is it just for the Internet? If it's just the Internet and your speeds are that slow I'd look around. WiFi 6 would be ideal but if you find one without it but with a bunch of antennas and great range for a lot less you shouldn't be giving up much.

Yes, it has been rebooted.

 

[gscotten]

With no obvious cause of the problem, I would probably push the "Restore Factory Settings" button and hope for the best.

I just restored to factory settings and still get the same speeds.

I am very impressed with the support from this forum, both in its depth of knowledge and width. It sure looks like the router is the issue. One of the forum members has offered to mail me a router, so we'll see pretty soon. I'll let you know.

Thanks to all for your support!

 

[Eric Carlson]

Plenty of $50 and under routers will do what you want.

 

[D00M]

As others mentioned, wifi speed spec'ed is maximum speed in ideal case. You should check your wifi speed next to the router (which you did) and also in actual use location in other rooms.

And when you check, make sure you are not using the internet and taking up the bandwidth from other devices.

If you are getting 22 Mbps next to router and slightly slower (maybe 15-22 Mbps) in other rooms (or farthest room), then you can just get a new router. If your speed is dropping significantly to < 5-10 Mbps in farthest room, then you might need router + extender or mesh. You never know until you try, because new router can have better range, so you might not need the extender or mesh.

 

[gscotten]

As others mentioned, wifi speed spec'ed is maximum speed in ideal case. You should check your wifi speed next to the router (which you did) and also in actual use location in other rooms.

And when you check, make sure you are not using the internet and taking up the bandwidth from other devices.

If you are getting 22 Mbps next to router and slightly slower (maybe 15-22 Mbps) in other rooms (or farthest room), then you can just get a new router. If your speed is dropping significantly to < 5-10 Mbps in farthest room, then you might need router + extender or mesh. You never know until you try, because new router can have better range,

I get essentially the same speeds anywhere and everywhere inside the house and nearby outside. It is quite usable up to a couple hundred feet away.

 

[SecondTimeAround]

With no obvious cause of the problem, I would probably push the "Restore Factory Settings" button and hope for the best.

I just restored to factory settings and still get the same speeds.

I am very impressed with the support from this forum, both in its depth of knowledge and width. It sure looks like the router is the issue. One of the forum members has offered to mail me a router, so we'll see pretty soon. I'll let you know.

Thanks to all for your support!

Have a look at ShadGar's post in this thread which involves changing a setting:

WNDR3400v2 very slow wireless

The solution in this thread was to buy a new router:

Solved: N600 C3400 wndr3400v2 Wifi Speeds Slow

 

[PHXAZCRAIG]

This sort of issue is the type of thing my clients pay me to fix, so I'm interested in hearing the outcome here.

More data points:

I have an ASUS XT8 mesh system, and a 2018 Dell laptop where I replaced the Wifi5 chip with a Wifi6 chip. (Easy to do, cost under $50 by the way).

My internet connection is 50Mbps via cable modem, with a pfSense router between my wifi and the internet. I tried the Speakeasy internet test and got 46mbps down and 9.1 up, which is about right for my 50 down/ 10 up connection.

Currently I'm connected to one of my Asus nodes with a house wall in between. I'm on Win11, and looking at the stats for my connection.

-protocol Wifi6 (802.11ax)

-Network band: 5Ghz

-Link speed (Receive/Transmit): 921/721 (Mbps)

When I had the laptop sitting next to the router (1 foot away), I was getting 1.2Gbps connection speeds. The mesh node I connect to has both 1Gbps ethernet and a separate 5Gh channel for backhaul connections between router nodes. It uses the fastest of the two connection methods.

Since my Dell laptop only came with a 100Mbps Ethernet connection, I'm very happy to be using Wifi6.

 

[D00M]

I get essentially the same speeds anywhere and everywhere inside the house and nearby outside. It is quite usable up to a couple hundred feet away.

If you have good coverage, then good news is that you don't need to buy mesh or extender.

Need to figure out if something is wrong with your current router, or buy a new wireless router.

By the way, did you do a hard reset? I know you did the power down. Hard reset is using the recessed button on the rear of unit, using a paper clip. You will lose everything, including wifi network setup. So you should check that you can connect to the router using cat5 cable. And be able to enter the setup, using web browser and the correct address (something like 192.168.1.1 or 192.168.0.1).

You should check if there is any firmware update that might be important or fix some critical issue. Check Netgear's website.

After hard reset, you need to setup the wifi network (SSID and password).

 

[Eric Carlson]

Just ran a speed test on my phone via WiFi. I have FIOS 100/100 with a Fios router (WiFi disabled) wired to an Asus RT-AC68U. Moto G Stylus 2020.

Down 100.4 Mbps

Up 112.8 Mbps.

No slowdown at all via AC WiFi.

 

[SecondTimeAround]

By the way, did you do a hard reset? I know you did the power down.

The OP already said, "I just restored to factory settings and still get the same speeds. "

 

[gscotten]

Have a look at ShadGar's post in this thread which involves changing a setting:

WNDR3400v2 very slow wireless

The solution in this thread was to buy a new router:

Solved: N600 C3400 wndr3400v2 Wifi Speeds Slow

That setting was checked, but unchecking it did not help.

 

[gscotten]

At this point I really suspect the router. It will be interesting to see what happens when I get the "gift" router.

 

[gscotten]

p.s. Somebody suggested to check the firmware. According to Netgear, it is current.

 

[gscotten]

One of the forum members, BobKnDP, sent me a tp-link AC1750 router. I am now getting 120 Mbps in 5GHz and when wired, and around 80 Mbps on 2.4GHz. That is better than what Comcast is billing me for.

So the problem appears to be in the router. Many thanks to Bob for the router, and to everyone who offered advice and suggestions. The people on these forums are great!

 

[SecondTimeAround]

One of the forum members, BobKnDP, sent me a tp-link AC1750 router. I am now getting 120 Mbps in 5GHz and when wired, and around 80 Mbps on 2.4GHz. That is better than what Comcast is billing me for.

So the problem appears to be in the router. Many thanks to Bob for the router, and to everyone who offered advice and suggestions. The people on these forums are great!

That's great!
And Kudos to Bob!

 

[atom14]

One of the forum members, BobKnDP, sent me a tp-link AC1750 router. I am now getting 120 Mbps in 5GHz and when wired, and around 80 Mbps on 2.4GHz. That is better than what Comcast is billing me for.

So the problem appears to be in the router. Many thanks to Bob for the router, and to everyone who offered advice and suggestions. The people on these forums are great!

When I was reading this thread over the last couple of days I thought my (now oldish) AC1750 sounds like just the ticket. Mine is the main workhorse, which I kept connected by ethernet to the ISP supplied job after it was upgraded. (Who knows - it may be just as good???) You'll really :-D the AC1750. On 2.4GHz I get better WiFi range, but I get full ISP-blast at the desk with either 2.4 or 5 GHz.

Oh, for the power of thought... :-D (And "Good on ya, Bob!)

 

[Mark S Abeln]

When I was reading this thread over the last couple of days I thought my (now oldish) AC1750 sounds like just the ticket. Mine is the main workhorse, which I kept connected by ethernet to the ISP supplied job after it was upgraded. (Who knows - it may be just as good???) You'll really :-D the AC1750. On 2.4GHz I get better WiFi range, but I get full ISP-blast at the desk with either 2.4 or 5 GHz.

If that is also known as the TP-Link Archer A7, then I have one of those, running OpenWRT. That box really punches above its weight, costing only a bit more than US$50.

 

[BobKnDP]

When I was reading this thread over the last couple of days I thought my (now oldish) AC1750 sounds like just the ticket. Mine is the main workhorse, which I kept connected by ethernet to the ISP supplied job after it was upgraded. (Who knows - it may be just as good???) You'll really :-D the AC1750. On 2.4GHz I get better WiFi range, but I get full ISP-blast at the desk with either 2.4 or 5 GHz.

If that is also known as the TP-Link Archer A7, then I have one of those, running OpenWRT. That box really punches above its weight, costing only a bit more than US$50.

That's the one.