Netgear R7800 WiFi not fast enough?

[Realevil]

Hi,

I just got upgraded from 350Mb down to 500Mb down (soon 600Mb down). Wired speed tests suggest I am getting this but my modern WiFi devices using the FAST app never go above about 300Mb even when stood next to the router. That’s on a 5Ghz connection.

I am running stock firmware, HT160 off, 20/40 co exist off. Combined 2.4/5Ghz network. My S20 tells me my channel selection is good according to a WiFi Analyser app.

I am happy to buy a new router if it would either increase speed or range. I’d lean towards WiFi 6 as I guess that just makes sense if spending any real money on a router in 2020? The TP Link AX6000 or ASUS AX88 etc would be just within my price range. Or am I doing something wrong with this router?


Thanks in advance for any advice!

 

[Trip]

It wouldn't appear as though you're doing anything "wrong" with the R7800, nor does it appear your 5Ghz throughput is all that abnormal for a typical 2x2 client (your S20, or most any mobile or laptop). For more of an understanding on the kinds of real-world speeds you can expect out of AC 5Ghz and how link rate negotiation works, please see this Duckware article, namely section 3 (Wifi's weakest link - YOUR client device!) and section 4 (Client 'PHY' speed is the key (limiting) factor).

That being said, you may be able to increase throughput for certain AX clients (your S20) by purchasing an pre-draft AX router, but only by ~2X in 2.4Ghz and a bit less than that in 5Ghz, but only when utilizing 160Mhz channel width. If you're keen to give it a try, I'd recommend the Asus RT-AX88U, running the latest Merlin build (Asus stock firmware, but highly bug-fixed).

 

[Realevil]

Thanks for the reply,

Hmm disappointing! Not sure what I would do with more bandwidth on my phone but it does make the bandwidth upgrade feel less useful!

The ASUS router gets great reviews - but the AX6000 is £50 cheaper (£250 vs £300). Alternatively an Amazon warehouse Netgear AX12 is £335. All of those are more than I’d like to ideally spend but I could likely resell the 7800 for £75 ish and either way it has served me well.

Any thoughts on those models are those price points? It seems really hard to get great reviews that compare these types of models.

 

[Trip]

So, right now, the AX88U is the best pick, namely because of Merlin support. I highly doubt the experience on the AX6000 would be any better, and potentially worse. Ultimately, the AX12 (RAX120) will likely end up with the best overall wifi performance for this generation of gear, as it's Qualcomm-based, but in true Netgear form, it probably won't mature to that level for months (if not years) to come, or until OpenWRT finally supports ath11k drivers and the RAX120, whichever comes first. (But by that time, they'll probably be a whole new generation of Wifi 6 Draft 1 or Wifi 6E pre-draft units out, and the next subsequent model of Asus + Merlin will trump a stabilized RAX120...)

Until then, I'd go AX88U and invest the premium in knowing you've got arguably the best chance of improving wifi for your AX endpoints. If you're going to monkey with this, I'd go with the most promising option right off the bat. It's not that much more costly.

 

[K-2SO]

Hmm disappointing! Not sure what I would do with more bandwidth on my phone but it does make the bandwidth upgrade feel less useful!

It's amazing how marketing is draining consumer's pockets. Why do you need your full ISP speed to every device on your network? What is your phone going to need 500Mbps for? Netgear R7800 is an excellent WiFi router. Upgrading the router only without upgrading your entire network/clients is going to be investing in nothing. Now many of your client devices can maintain >1Gbps link speeds so you can see 500Mbps throughput, eventually? The real advantage of a higher ISP speeds is when multiple devices are connected. Multiple 1x1 AC devices with only 200Mbps throughput can saturate your 500Mbps ISP line.

 

[Klueless]

I'm not really hearing a "problem". For years we've had to design our networks upside down.

Side streets typically feed into a multi-lane highway. Picture the reverse; multiple highways all feeding into a little side street. That's what many of us have had to do with our networks. Gigabit Ethernet ports all feeding into a little 10 Mbps uplink to the Internet. Talk about 5 o'clock rush hour traffic jams!

The bigger payback is multiple users can all do stuff at the same time with little to no degradation in performance.

 

[coxhaus]

Yes, multi-user is the way business networks are built. No one user is allowed to grab all the internet traffic so restrictions are in place to support that. Wireless at work is never about how fast but how secure and stable is it. At home when maybe you have 1 user things are different. But this is consumer gear. You can always add users to increase load.