Tyler Hackert Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 My wifi speeds are terrible. I have the 2.4 and 5 networks enabled, channels and bandwidth set to automatic for both networks. iWifi app showing strong signal strength (<10ms ping) for both networks, but my download speeds are abysmal (24 mbps for the 2.4 network, 8 mbps for the 5 network). I get 250 download speed from my isp. R2 router is connected to a Motorola MB8600 modem. I turned off QoS, that didn’t help. I don’t have a reliable computer to use and my iPhone does not allow the use of a wifi analyzer so please don’t ask me to download one. My initial lousy/overpriced router/modem provided by my isp provided far superior wifi capability than the R2. I hope there’s a simple solution to my issues, because for all of it’s software potential, the hardware appears to be junk. Please help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfie Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 There is an app called WiFi Sweetspots that your iPhone can use to see what internal rates are. Before using this app just insure you have nothing on your clipboard. what other steps have you tried? how is your router positioned ie need other electrical items. are you using the WiFi with the mirror setting on? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Hackert Posted February 2, 2021 Author Share Posted February 2, 2021 The router sits right in front of the modem which are both on top of a nightstand in a guest room. The room is centrally located in a relatively small single story home on the first floor. Wifi mirroring is turned off. I have the latest firmware installed. I managed to boot up my very old laptop to run some speed tests (speedtest.net). I misspoke, I get up to 200mbps down from isp. Wired into the router, I was getting ~180-200mbps down, 11-12 up, <10ms ping. Wireless speed on 2.4ghz network: <.50mbps down, 6mbps up, 15ms ping. 5ghz network won’t even show up on the laptop as a network to connect to. I’m in the room where the router is located. Newfie 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DiGz Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 5ghz has alot of issues, software is the fault. Channels appear and disappear in the list. It's just a mess I don't know how it made it out on release to be honest. 2ghz runs fine at 20mhz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Hackert Posted February 2, 2021 Author Share Posted February 2, 2021 I’m willing to call the wireless speed tests unreliable on the laptop because it’s so old. I’m using my phone now to test the wifi speeds. What is interesting is I set the modem on the floor and at least now the connection appears to be stable on the 5ghz network. However the speeds are still atrocious. 5ghz: 20mbps on average in the same room as the router and it just gets worse the further down the house I go (again, small house). 2.4ghz: almost identical numbers as the 5ghz network Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfie Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 2 hours ago, Tyler Hackert said: I’m willing to call the wireless speed tests unreliable on the laptop because it’s so old. I’m using my phone now to test the wifi speeds. What is interesting is I set the modem on the floor and at least now the connection appears to be stable on the 5ghz network. However the speeds are still atrocious. 5ghz: 20mbps on average in the same room as the router and it just gets worse the further down the house I go (again, small house). 2.4ghz: almost identical numbers as the 5ghz network Did you factory reset after installing the latest firmware using the rear pin hole method? it should really be pushing more than that though. Interesting to hear that the WiFi improved via moving the modem, sounds like EMI. If you have not reset I would be inclined to do one but before you do what is the 5Ghz bandwidth set too? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Netduma Fraser Posted February 2, 2021 Administrators Share Posted February 2, 2021 Hey, welcome to the forum! Sorry to hear you're having this issue. We are working on improving the WiFi currently. Did you do a factory reset once you upgraded to .179? If not I would recommend you do so. Have you experimented with the width options as they should be able to get your speeds up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Hackert Posted February 2, 2021 Author Share Posted February 2, 2021 the router has been factory reset since the firmware installation. Bandwidth are currently set to automatic for both networks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfie Posted February 2, 2021 Share Posted February 2, 2021 Try 20 MHz for 2.4 and 80Mhz for 5Ghz. Netduma Fraser 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Hackert Posted February 2, 2021 Author Share Posted February 2, 2021 I’m testing rooms with the wifi SweetSpot app. In the room where the router is located I’m getting 240mbps speed on average (not even sure how that’s possible) on the 5ghz network set at 80mhz bandwidth. But I walk only 15 ft into another room and the speed plummets to less than 8mbps on average. Why is this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Netduma Fraser Posted February 2, 2021 Administrators Share Posted February 2, 2021 5GHz does have less wall penetration but overall we know there are issues with WiFi so it's something we're trying to improve currently. Make sure there are no wireless or electrical devices within close proximity to the router to ensure they don't interfere with the signal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Hackert Posted February 2, 2021 Author Share Posted February 2, 2021 The modem is now on the floor next to the nightstand which is the only electrical device near the router. And there’s no other place it can go with the way I have everything wired up. It’s disappointing that the wifi speed/connection becomes so poor in such a very short distance. I’m open to any other suggestions to improve the wifi experience, otherwise I hope another firmware update gets rolled out soon because the amount of issues I’ve had seems unreasonable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Netduma Fraser Posted February 2, 2021 Administrators Share Posted February 2, 2021 Other than changing the channel, widths, not using mirror mode there isn't much else you can do unfortunately. How have you setup the antennae? Could you take a picture? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Hackert Posted February 2, 2021 Author Share Posted February 2, 2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Netduma Fraser Posted February 2, 2021 Administrators Share Posted February 2, 2021 It may sound weird but put two of the antennae say the outer two completely flat please and see if you notice an improvement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler Hackert Posted February 3, 2021 Author Share Posted February 3, 2021 I’ve toyed around with the antennae and I get pretty solid speeds throughout the house with the exception of the master bedroom. I have a theory. With the current position of the router, the wifi signal basically needs to pass through a tile bathroom wall to reach the master bedroom. Would this effect signal strength? If so, would a wifi extender placed in the master bedroom help with this situation? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newfie Posted February 3, 2021 Share Posted February 3, 2021 10 hours ago, Tyler Hackert said: I’ve toyed around with the antennae and I get pretty solid speeds throughout the house with the exception of the master bedroom. I have a theory. With the current position of the router, the wifi signal basically needs to pass through a tile bathroom wall to reach the master bedroom. Would this effect signal strength? If so, would a wifi extender placed in the master bedroom help with this situation? Thank you. Materials have a negative effect on WiFi, mirrors, metal, brick all have a negative effect. You could place an extender in your bedroom and I’m guessing you have clients that roam so if you take that option up you need to work out it’s position and transmit rate which most extenders only allow due to the basic functions. if you picked up an extender that had great WiFi and say you walked into where the R2 is positioned your client might hang on that signal and not roam. The other alternative if you wish to go the extender route is to have that handle the WiFi from the R2 however if the signal was still low in your bedroom then that can cause issues if you have a busy household where the WiFi is being used for say calls, video and so on. Just depends on how fussy you are with your network. You would also need to have the extender in AP mode if placed in your bedroom as any extender relying on the WiFi to connect would not benefit as it’s connection rate would be low.ie if the extender was giving out say 866mbps but it’s wireless connection to the R2 was just 50mbps you would not see any throughput above the 50mbps. AP mode also benefits how the R2 sees your clients as they will sow as wired as it’s acting like a switch where as in a wireless mode/extender the R2 will see both the extender and clients behind it and this can create issues. The chances are if say you used for example a EX8000 netgear extender and had that managing the WiFi you would get fairly good rates in your bedroom however in this example it’s bumping up the price of the installation and so you have to consider perhaps either the XR500 or XR1000 that offer better WiFi would be a better solution. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Netduma Fraser Posted February 3, 2021 Administrators Share Posted February 3, 2021 14 hours ago, Tyler Hackert said: I’ve toyed around with the antennae and I get pretty solid speeds throughout the house with the exception of the master bedroom. I have a theory. With the current position of the router, the wifi signal basically needs to pass through a tile bathroom wall to reach the master bedroom. Would this effect signal strength? If so, would a wifi extender placed in the master bedroom help with this situation? Thank you. That's great news, what speeds are you getting now? Almost certainly yes - I believe I have a similar issue in my home as well. Good advice above! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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