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Solved
Weird RBR960 Ethernet Port Speed Problems
Hi all,
The 1G Ethernet ports 2&3 on my RBR are slow. I noticed that I was getting really slow speeds on my wired SATs recently and started trouble-shooting my jacks/outlets/wiring and inadvertently discovered that anything connected to RBR Ports 2&3 is slow - even when I connect directly to them with a short CAT6A jumper. I got a USB-C to Ethernet adapter for my iPad to make testing easier.
Here are my speed results using OOKLA Speedtest:
RBR Ports on back, left to right...
2.5G Port with PC with 2.5G ethernet: 2282 Mbps...
...again, 2.5G Port with iPad/Adapter directly connected: 936Mbps
Gigabit Port 1 with iPad/Adapter directly connected: 934 (normally where my 16-port switch connects)
Gigabit Port 2 with iPad/Adapter directly connected: 332 (was RBS 1 connection)
Gigabit Port 3 with iPad/Adapter directly connected: 283 (was RBS 2 connection)
The RBS do not behave this way - all ports are consistent with the iPad/Adapter at around 700Mbps over wireless backhaul.
I have tested this multiple times yesterday and today with different jumpers and always the same result. I had previously not noticed it as I had one of the RBS connected to the 2.5G port on the RBR and have only recently connected that PC to it to test the new Xfinity speed plan. The other RBS connected to the 1G port, I just assumed was OK. Firmware: V7.2.6.21_5.0.20
So, there's a problem with my RBR 1G ethernet ports 2&3. Any ideas? Anyone seen anything like this?
Thanks.
I received a replacement RBR960 from support. This time I was a bit more methodical with the setup than I was when I reset my old RBR960. Rather than set it up, connect everything, and restore my backup config, this time I set it up and before anything else, I tested the port speeds. How disappointing to see the same diminished performance on ports 2&3.
And then I remembered reading something about people with the Xfinity XB7 and XB8 modems having issues with the highspeed port, specifically the lower right port that supports 2.5 Gbps.
And for me, if I plug the RBR into that port I indeed get 2.5Gbps performance...mostly, but it also breaks ports 2&3 on the RBR960. I if move the connection to any other of the three 1Gbps ports on the XB7, all is good...other than I'm paying for 2GB and get 1GB!
So there ya go.
The workarounds are:
- live with degraded performance, and to be honest 1000/300 is not bad at all, other than that I am paying for better.
- use wireless backhaul - this also not terrible, just annoying and inconvenient.
- add a small 4-port switch to the 2.5G port for the Satellites - ugh!
Ugh! Hopefully Netgear can fix this. But I fear there will be finger pointing at Xfinity and vice versa and it will go nowhere. Not excited about the small switch workaround. 😞
22 Replies
What FW are you using? I haven't had a chance to check v.31. From all the posts I see about it, I've asked NG to pull v.31 since it seems to be problematic for most users. Users have gone back to v.21 along with donawalt as well. He saw odd issues with it loaded on his system.
Did you factory reset and setup from scratch if you downgraded FW?
