I just bought AX8 yesterday and I connected to 5GHz and the results were all limited to around 450Mbps (451 highest), is it because of the channel i chose? (I'm using 160), and which chnnel or settings can make it even faster? Thank you!!

If I recall correctly, the iPhone 11 does not support HT160 it’s HT80 only. Also I believe there are some issues with the WiFi firmware that were supposed to be fixed on the iPhone 11 in the recent .1 iOS update.If it’s any solace, either way I doubt it makes much of a difference on a mobile device as you’d realistically probably never use anywhere close to that much bandwidth on a phone at any given time other than benchmarks like Ookla or DSL Reports.

Also note that WiFi-6 will realistically only give you like 5-10% increase in performance over WiFi-5, and maybe up to 15-20% in rare cases as 1024QAM is more sensitive to noise so don’t expect to be at max link rate all the time. WiFi-6 is more about better spectrum sharing especially in multi AP/router environments allowing for better performance in signal dense situations.450 Mbps is actually pretty decent benchmark and, and also depends how close you are to the router and how many walls/floors are between you and the router as well. I wouldn’t expect more than say 600-800 Mbps peak real world throughout and that too at close ranges.

Both iPhone 11 and Galaxy S10 phones only support HT80 in AX so you won’t achieve max link rate, even if HT160 is set in the 5Ghz WiFi band.Theoretically you should be able to get half link rate 1.2Gbps but this is link rate which is different than throughput.Unfortunately and I’ve raised a ticket with Apple since iOS 13 there seems to be a WiFi throughput issue so my iPhone X being only AC can achieve around 300Mbps throughput on downstream.This is somewhat lower than the 650Mbps on iOS 12.It seems related to AX routers so could be compatibility issues that need ironing out.In the AX8 and AX12 routers HT160 is dynamic and as long as it’s selected in the 5Ghz WiFi band settings you only need to select the primary channel. The primary channel could be DFS or non DFS.Each Chanel is HT20 so a block of 8 channels for HT160 consisting of lower and upper (DFS) channels.I wouldn’t recommend setting a DFS channel as a primary channel in case you have any legacy devices that don’t support DFS channels.So 450Mbps from your iPhone 11 is much lower than you should expect but this can also depend what ookla server you’re using, time of day, server load etc...650-700 would be reasonable depending on your internet connection.Still 450Mbps is not so bad.I think there’s a common misconception that AX is going to bring astonishing speeds but the reality is, there’s nothing wrong with AX but speeds are going to be marginal over AC.Where AX does come in to its own is with many many AX clients connected, resulting in overall improved performance, reliability and stability.If you don’t have many AX clients you won’t notice much difference.Yes I know this comment goes against the marketing hype but it’s just reality and please don’t let this influence your purchasing.Cheers.

to use the full 160hrz spectrum you need to be using the dfs channels. so make sure that 160hrz is enabled, that you've selected 4800mbps, and that you select the lower spectrum 5ghz channels so you can utilize dfs. I could be wrong but my understanding was that if you select the higher 5ghz channels, it auto selects 2400mbps and not 4800mbps.

Oh yes sorry should be 161, should i switch the mode to 4800mbps?

Is it normal my iPhone 11 Pro's wifi speed limited to ~450Mbps when i connect to AX8 5GHz?

17 Replies

plemans
Guru
Oct 03, 2019
to use the full 160hrz spectrum you need to be using the dfs channels. so make sure that 160hrz is enabled, that you've selected 4800mbps, and that you select the lower spectrum 5ghz channels so you can utilize dfs. I could be wrong but my understanding was that if you select the higher 5ghz channels, it auto selects 2400mbps and not 4800mbps.
- cyruslego
  Aspirant
  Oct 03, 2019
  Oh yes sorry should be 161, should i switch the mode to 4800mbps?
  - plemans
    Guru
    Oct 03, 2019
    It'll auto switch you back to 2400mbps until you set your 5ghz channels to the lower spectrum. So set your channel selection down and then set it to 4800mbps.
- avtella
  Prodigy
  Oct 03, 2019
  If I recall correctly, the iPhone 11 does not support HT160 it’s HT80 only. Also I believe there are some issues with the WiFi firmware that were supposed to be fixed on the iPhone 11 in the recent .1 iOS update.
  
  If it’s any solace, either way I doubt it makes much of a difference on a mobile device as you’d realistically probably never use anywhere close to that much bandwidth on a phone at any given time other than benchmarks like Ookla or DSL Reports.
  - plemans
    Guru
    Oct 03, 2019
    avtella wrote:
    If I recall correctly, the iPhone 11 does not support HT160 it’s HT80 only. Also I believe there are some issues with the WiFi firmware that were supposed to be fixed on the iPhone 11 in the recent .1 iOS update.
    
    If it’s any solace, either way I doubt it makes much of a difference on a mobile device as you’d realistically probably never use anywhere close to that much bandwidth on a phone at any given time other than benchmarks like Ookla or DSL Reports.
    thanks, I'm not an apple guy so wasn't aware of the Iphone limitations.
vinniemac
Luminary
Nov 13, 2019
Both iPhone 11 and Galaxy S10 phones only support HT80 in AX so you won’t achieve max link rate, even if HT160 is set in the 5Ghz WiFi band.
Theoretically you should be able to get half link rate 1.2Gbps but this is link rate which is different than throughput.

Unfortunately and I’ve raised a ticket with Apple since iOS 13 there seems to be a WiFi throughput issue so my iPhone X being only AC can achieve around 300Mbps throughput on downstream.
This is somewhat lower than the 650Mbps on iOS 12.
It seems related to AX routers so could be compatibility issues that need ironing out.

In the AX8 and AX12 routers HT160 is dynamic and as long as it’s selected in the 5Ghz WiFi band settings you only need to select the primary channel. The primary channel could be DFS or non DFS.

Each Chanel is HT20 so a block of 8 channels for HT160 consisting of lower and upper (DFS) channels.
I wouldn’t recommend setting a DFS channel as a primary channel in case you have any legacy devices that don’t support DFS channels.

So 450Mbps from your iPhone 11 is much lower than you should expect but this can also depend what ookla server you’re using, time of day, server load etc...

650-700 would be reasonable depending on your internet connection.

Still 450Mbps is not so bad.

I think there’s a common misconception that AX is going to bring astonishing speeds but the reality is, there’s nothing wrong with AX but speeds are going to be marginal over AC.

Where AX does come in to its own is with many many AX clients connected, resulting in overall improved performance, reliability and stability.

If you don’t have many AX clients you won’t notice much difference.

Yes I know this comment goes against the marketing hype but it’s just reality and please don’t let this influence your purchasing.

Cheers.
- digitsnbits
  Apprentice
  Nov 13, 2019
  I have an RAX80 and a couple of iPhone 11s and they both link at 1200, even my AC clients hover around 700 and my iPad pros link at 866.

Forum Discussion

Is it normal my iPhone 11 Pro's wifi speed limited to ~450Mbps when i connect to AX8 5GHz?