NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
WAX620PA APs: Where's the speed?
I recently set up two WAX620PA access points in my home replacing a pair of ASUS ZenFi ET8 mesh routers that were fast but extremely unreliable. The WAX620PA APs are connected to power, not using PoE, and are hardwired. One is in my home office, the other is on the top floor of my home. I've got around 65 devices on WiFi (which is mind-boggling, but such is life in 2022!). I specifically went with APs because I have a Firewalla Purple doing the router functions and thought I'd get better performance and less complexity with pure APs vs. going with routers and putting them in bridge mode.
The APs are stable and working well — except for when it comes to speed. The APs tell me they have a very fast connection (900mbps+).
When I have a wireless device in the same room with full signal strength, and do a Speedtest.net test, I'm seeing speeds in the 250-350mbps or so range. This is when connected to the 5Ghz network. I'm seeing it across my 2021 iPad Pro (258mbps down, 32mbps up), my Pixel 7 (386mbps down, 40mbps up), and my 2021 MacBook Pro 14 (231mbps down, 32mbps up). All are WiFi6 devices with max signal strength.
The Netgear APs are configured with default settings, I haven't tweaked much of anything. Is there something I should do to get more speed out of these products? When I had the ASUS routers, I was seeing speeds in the 500 to 700mbps range, so I was hoping for something similar when I set up these Netgear routers.
Are these WAX620PA APs optimized for stability over speed and this is just what you get with a business class product? Is there something else I should be considering instead? I looked at the WAX630EP, but I only have one device that supports WiFi 6E and it seemed like overkill otherwise (and is almost 2x more expensive). And the reviews on Amazon aren't exactly filling me with confidence that these are fast APs...
(As an aside, the APs are not in mesh mode as when I tried turning that on something happened that effectively took down my entire network — hardwired devices wouldn't work. So at the moment I'm very concerned about turning mesh mode back on.)
Looks like I'll fix my own problem and put the answer here so others may benefit. Steps to fix:
1. Go into the app
2. Then Radio and Channels
3. For the 2.4 Ghz radio, change Channel Width to Dynamic 20/40MHz
4. For the 5Ghz radio, change Channel Width to Dynamic 20/40/80MHz
5. It may not save the first time you make this change, so save the settings then pop back into the settings screen in a few minutes
6. Repeat until both entries show they are set to Dynamic
The results?
The Pixel 7 now gets 785mbps down and 40.7mbps up
The iPad 11 now gets 435mbps down and 31mbps up
The MacBook Pro 14 now gets 786mbps down and 33mbps up
The real question is why isn't this the default configuration for these APs? Why not ship for max speed then let admins tweak as needed if the high performance settings aren't what they want?
1 Reply
Looks like I'll fix my own problem and put the answer here so others may benefit. Steps to fix:
1. Go into the app
2. Then Radio and Channels
3. For the 2.4 Ghz radio, change Channel Width to Dynamic 20/40MHz
4. For the 5Ghz radio, change Channel Width to Dynamic 20/40/80MHz
5. It may not save the first time you make this change, so save the settings then pop back into the settings screen in a few minutes
6. Repeat until both entries show they are set to Dynamic
The results?
The Pixel 7 now gets 785mbps down and 40.7mbps up
The iPad 11 now gets 435mbps down and 31mbps up
The MacBook Pro 14 now gets 786mbps down and 33mbps up
The real question is why isn't this the default configuration for these APs? Why not ship for max speed then let admins tweak as needed if the high performance settings aren't what they want?
NETGEAR Academy
Boost your skills with the Netgear Academy - Get trained, certified and stay ahead with the latest Netgear technology!
Join Us!
