NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds
My setup: Comcast GB internet> CM1000 > XR500>EX8000 So here’s my issue, when connected directly to Ethernet I’m pulling about 480Mbs down and 40 up. When connected to WiFi with QOS off I’m pulling...
Hi Frankie,
A few things could be causing this:
- Are any of the LEDs on your XR500 showing as amber/orange? This happens when you use an Ethernet cable that is limited to 100mbps. Regardless, it's probably a good idea to switch your cables if you have replacements (Cat5e, Cat6 or Cat7 are best)
- How are you testing speeds? If you use Wireless, then it's possible you are on the 2.4GHz band which is limited to around 70-100mbps in general. The XR500 uses a cool tool called 'Smart Connect' which will put you on 5GHz whenever your device needs it
- Do you use PPPoE to connect to the Internet? If yes, I recommend you enter those details on your modem instead of your XR500 as that can sometimes slow things down
- Hi Jack, thanks for the quick reply...
1- I’m using only cat 7 and all wired connections are working flawlessly. 480up/40 down, it should be higher but alas it’s Comcast’s issue.
2-I’ve disabled the smart connection feature since I couldn’t tell if it was on the 2.5 or 5 and on 5 ghz on a device I’ve registered over 600mbs I’m getting the 20-40mb/40 up. I’m not sure why the upload has been very consistent while the download has been all over the place
3- Comcast doesn’t use PPPOE
I also turned off 20/40 cohabitation on a prayer... didn’t do anything- Download a WiFi analyser to find the least congested channel and then change to that in settings, does that improve your speeds?
I have the same issue with my xr700. pretty much the worst wifi speeds I have gotten from any router. Its exactly the same as yours. May be this router isn't designed for wireless and all about the OS and gaming lol.
I just disabled MU-MIMO to see if that is the issue. Will test it out or its going right back. My GT AC5300 went bust on the 3rd band so I got this. But download speeds on in the same location are atleast 100mbps less and uload speeds are 120mbps less on 5ghz. I am on a gig connection but with that router in the same location I got about 150 download on 5ghz and about 170 upload. Not I am at best case 120 download and 60 upload.
But you are right I have been having the same issue as you on download. Randomly goes down to 20mbps and 2.4ghz randomly goes down to 5-10mbps. Hopefully its MU-MIMO.
I have MU-MIMO, QOS and goodput disabled to eliminate those being issue. So far I think the focus of this router is not wifi speeds, its basically the feature set. For that reason I might return it for something else.
