Useless AC on Netgear R6300?

[nejo]

Hi,

recently bought a Netgear R6300 to be able to use AC-speeds with my MacBookPro, but unless I'm really close to the router the 5GHz AC-wifi is almost worthless. Even browsing the internet is very slow.

I just tried copying a file from my NAS to my MBP and on the 2.4GHz N-wifi I reached speeds up to 17MB/s versus 3MB/s on the AC-wifi...

Is there some setting that I can change or should I try to return it and get the Asus AC66U instead?

//nejo

 

[bobsilver]

Hi,

recently bought a Netgear R6300 to be able to use AC-speeds with my MacBookPro, but unless I'm really close to the router the 5GHz AC-wifi is almost worthless. Even browsing the internet is very slow.

I just tried copying a file from my NAS to my MBP and on the 2.4GHz N-wifi I reached speeds up to 17MB/s versus 3MB/s on the AC-wifi...

Is there some setting that I can change or should I try to return it and get the Asus AC66U instead?

//nejo

First off the Macbook Pro is not AC. To my knowledge Apple hasn't released an AC model. My Macbook Pro 2013 model has a max speed of 450mbs which is a 3 radio configuration in the 5ghz band. I am using a Netgear R6250 as I write this and am getting a 450mbs connection.

For best performance you should be using the 5 ghz band. In the AC routers like the 6250, 6300 the 5ghz is where all the performance is. The 2.4 is relegated for legacy devices.

That said real world performance is different than what you get from the specs. Using Lan Speed test I am getting a 25mbs write and a 250mbs read. Now this test depends not only on the net but the drive speeds to so you need to factor that in.

But for normal wireless performance the system is quite snappy. Fast web page, streaming and general performance.

You should also download Netspot for the Mac. This will give you info on signal strength, noise and channels. You may be getting interference so you can try changing channels and see how that works. 5ghz range is no where what the 2.4 ghz range is so that is to be expected. But you shouldnt experience what you are experiencing. So I believe you have a placement or interference issue. Try a range in the channel settings from the low side in the 40 to the high side in the 150+ see what you get. Also since u dont have an AC device you can throttle back the speed to the 450 range and see what that does. I am using mine at the AC range of 1200mbs as it works fine for me there. But experiment.

Wireless performance depends and a lot of things. Where you place the router, device you are using and such. Also as pointed out noise plays a big part in the equation.

But again the 5ghz band is where you want to focus your efforts.

Another option in routers is the Netgear R7000. This router has the fastest performance due to improved radio and antennas as well as a dual core processor. Its about $30 more than the R6300 and you will find excellent reviews on it. Here at SNB too. But prior to the R7000 the R6300 was one of the top routers in the industry. It is no slouch.

Bob Silver
Netgear Networking Consultant