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Nighthawk RAX70 Full Gigabit wired speeds but half Over Wifi
Hi Everyone, I tried to do a search online but I am getting so many different answers of (yes you should get these speeds and no you shouldn't) I just upgraded to gigabit net, and wired to my...
a lot of it is usually it isn't the router thats limiting the wireless speed but the device you're testing on.
What device are you testing with?
What link speed are you getting? (hint, actual throughput is roughly 55-65% of link speed)
How do I go about testing the link speed?
I am using a iphone 13 pro max / Macbook M1 - Tested on both similar speeds.
plemans wrote:a lot of it is usually it isn't the router thats limiting the wireless speed but the device you're testing on.
What device are you testing with?
What link speed are you getting? (hint, actual throughput is roughly 55-65% of link speed)
sorry! no clue on a mac. I'm an android/windows guy.
Anothter thing to check.
The RAX70 is a triband. The 5ghz is much much faster than the 2.4ghz.
But with that said, the 1-5ghz band is only a 2x2 antenna 1.2gig connection (80hz).
the other 5ghz is a 4x4 antenna (160hz) 4.8ghz band.
so try disabling smart connect and test each 5ghz band and see what you get.
(5ghz band will drop speed quickly with distance/obstructions).
Okay I have my PC too but I will have to try it on wifi instad of wired.
I was using the second 5ghz channel 4x4 (or at least that is what the router page said)
I will disabled the smart connect and try again and see what I get on each band.
Hopefully that might be the solution.
plemans wrote:sorry! no clue on a mac. I'm an android/windows guy.
Anothter thing to check.
The RAX70 is a triband. The 5ghz is much much faster than the 2.4ghz.
But with that said, the 1-5ghz band is only a 2x2 antenna 1.2gig connection (80hz).
the other 5ghz is a 4x4 antenna (160hz) 4.8ghz band.
so try disabling smart connect and test each 5ghz band and see what you get.
(5ghz band will drop speed quickly with distance/obstructions).
Not sure if the iphone supports 160hz wide channels.
If its only 80hz wide and they're a 2x2 connection, it should at best link at 1.2ghz for either channel.
You can try changing wifi channels to see if it helps.
The M1 macbook supports 802.11ax, though due to either a hardware or firmware limit, they are limited to 80MHz channel width, which for 802.11ax, is effectively a 50% speed reduction for close to medium range.
https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/macbook-pro-wi-fi-specification-details-dep2ac3e3b51/web
In the case of your RAX70, you will not have issues with smart connect, or other similar settings, and they can be left on their defaults.
On the other hand, for medium to longer distances, you may get a speed boost by changing the WiFi speed setting on the RAX70, from the "Up to 4800 Mbps" setting, to "Up to 2400 Mbps". After that, make sure it is not using a DFS channel as those willlimit your transmit power 240mW, down from the usual 980mW.PS this change will cause a speed drop in laptops and desktops using WiFi adapters such as the Intel AX200 and AX210 which do not have firmware or hardware level crippling of the channel width.
2 stream 160MHz channel width 802.11ax, will get you speeds in the 1800+Mbps range in terms of real world throughput (with a PHY rate of 2400Mbps). Since 160MHz channel width, forces the AP to use some DFS channels, total transmit power is limited to 250mW (due to an arbitrary an dunnecessary FCC restriction), thus it will experience a more rapid throughput dropoff as you move away from the AP, especially to other rooms where it has to contend with the attenuation of the walls.
the 80MHz channel width setting, will allow the router to use a higher transmit power, and for many WiFi radios, it will allow allow more distant client devices to maintain a higher PHY rate at distance if they are limited to 80MHz channel width (this also provides a small benefit to homes where all of the clients are 802.11ac).The iphone 13 Pro Max may also be limmited to 80MHz channel width. https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/iphone-wi-fi-specification-details-dep268652e6c/1/web/1.0
You are the best! I been looking all over the net for why I was only getting half speeds, it makes sense when why I am only getting half speeds with my wifi no on my apple products.
I was so confused on why I wasn't able to get somewhere near the "ideal" speeds but it makes sense now.
Ill need to test the wifi with another device, but I have no idea what could accept those speeds now lol.
Thank you for this info, I didn't know the dfs channels cut the power down, I do use the dfs channel for my lower 5ghz "2400" channel for my other products (IOT and devices not used much) and the 161 channel for my "4800" 5ghz channel for my main devices (macbook and phone).
Thanks again for this post, it was super informative! This was eye opening level of information! thanks!
Razor512 wrote:The M1 macbook supports 802.11ax, though due to either a hardware or firmware limit, they are limited to 80MHz channel width, which for 802.11ax, is effectively a 50% speed reduction for close to medium range.
https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/macbook-pro-wi-fi-specification-details-dep2ac3e3b51/web
In the case of your RAX70, you will not have issues with smart connect, or other similar settings, and they can be left on their defaults.
On the other hand, for medium to longer distances, you may get a speed boost by changing the WiFi speed setting on the RAX70, from the "Up to 4800 Mbps" setting, to "Up to 2400 Mbps". After that, make sure it is not using a DFS channel as those willlimit your transmit power 240mW, down from the usual 980mW.PS this change will cause a speed drop in laptops and desktops using WiFi adapters such as the Intel AX200 and AX210 which do not have firmware or hardware level crippling of the channel width.
2 stream 160MHz channel width 802.11ax, will get you speeds in the 1800+Mbps range in terms of real world throughput (with a PHY rate of 2400Mbps). Since 160MHz channel width, forces the AP to use some DFS channels, total transmit power is limited to 250mW (due to an arbitrary an dunnecessary FCC restriction), thus it will experience a more rapid throughput dropoff as you move away from the AP, especially to other rooms where it has to contend with the attenuation of the walls.
the 80MHz channel width setting, will allow the router to use a higher transmit power, and for many WiFi radios, it will allow allow more distant client devices to maintain a higher PHY rate at distance if they are limited to 80MHz channel width (this also provides a small benefit to homes where all of the clients are 802.11ac).The iphone 13 Pro Max may also be limmited to 80MHz channel width. https://support.apple.com/guide/deployment/iphone-wi-fi-specification-details-dep268652e6c/1/web/1.0
Oh one last thing since you seem to know a lot.
Is there a reason why I can't see the 80mghz channel? When I look i only see the lower channels 40 ect...
and my higher channels I don't see "160" I have "161" is that a difference?
I also have a iPhone 12 pro Max and Mac Book Pro 2018. Though the MBP doesnt' have AX mode, it tops out at around 700Mpbs when close to the router. Averages 500-600Mpbs most times and at farther distances. The iphone is AX supporting and I usually sees also around 500-600Mpbs, however since it's only a 2x2, this seems to be the limiting factor on seeing any speeds higher than 700Mpbs. I have a ASUS GT-AX11000 router that I run in wifi bridge mode and it sees near or over 900Mpbs speeds, however this devices is a 4x4 MIMO device so you gain the higher performance with more antennas.
You can check some link speed with WiFi Sweet Spots app installed on the phone and connect and run this app near the router. Say 3-6 feet away to start.
roninremy wrote:
How do I go about testing the link speed?
I am using a iphone 13 pro max / Macbook M1 - Tested on both similar speeds.
