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Forum Discussion
Nighthawk RAX80 Middling WiFi Speeds
I just want to see how others are doing when it comes to WiFi speeds with the AX8. My WiFi coverage is great, but the speed is underwhelming.
I have Xfinity Gigabit coming to my home. I get full 1Gbps to my desktop that is wired in, no issues there. My WiFi speeds aren’t even bad, but they are lower than the modem/router combo I replaced this setup with, which was the docsis 3.1 with the 7800 equivalent, nighthawk x4s I believe.
Anyway, I have done extensive testing with both a Galaxy S10+ as well as an iPhone XS Max. On the S10+, I could never break 450Mbps on speedtests both through ookla (to 4 different servers) and fast.com. On iPhone XS Max, I can’t break 370Mbps.
There are way too many combinations that I tried to list them all. But I am running on the latest firmware for the router. On the S10 I tried both with ax/WiFi 6 enabled and disabled on the router side. I tried every different combination of toggles between beamforming on/off, mu-mimo on/off, ipv6 on/off, 2400 and 4800 mode on 36, 128, and 153 as main 5ghz channel, etc.
When I say every combination, I really mean I’ve spent the past 2 days trying all of them independently and a mixture of on/off, and no matter what, I could never break those speed barriers listed on both phones. Always on the 5ghz channel, and literally from on top of the router to 5 feet away, same results.
Again, I am not saying these are bad results, and I understand the rates listed are theoretical, but the modem/router combo I had before the AX8, I could hit 600Mbps on the S10+ (I don’t have iPhone XS Max tests from that box unfortunately). So I’m not saying it’s unreasonable, and the tests are at least very consistent, but I just want to know if anyone else has eeked out more WiFi speed in the basically ideal conditions that I have tested mine in.
I should also add that any WiFi analyzer only picks up on one neighboring WiFi network, and I tested on several bands anyway, so congestion/interference really isn’t a factor in my house.
I was just super bummed that even with one of/possibly the only WiFi 6 device on the market in the S10, that the speed was literally the exact same as WiFi 5.
Now I’m debating switching back to a stand-alone 7800 or XR500, or possibly that Asus AX11000. Please let me know if you’ve had better luck, and if so, what your exact settings are; but I think I’ve literally tried every combo possible already.
I have Xfinity Gigabit coming to my home. I get full 1Gbps to my desktop that is wired in, no issues there. My WiFi speeds aren’t even bad, but they are lower than the modem/router combo I replaced this setup with, which was the docsis 3.1 with the 7800 equivalent, nighthawk x4s I believe.
Anyway, I have done extensive testing with both a Galaxy S10+ as well as an iPhone XS Max. On the S10+, I could never break 450Mbps on speedtests both through ookla (to 4 different servers) and fast.com. On iPhone XS Max, I can’t break 370Mbps.
There are way too many combinations that I tried to list them all. But I am running on the latest firmware for the router. On the S10 I tried both with ax/WiFi 6 enabled and disabled on the router side. I tried every different combination of toggles between beamforming on/off, mu-mimo on/off, ipv6 on/off, 2400 and 4800 mode on 36, 128, and 153 as main 5ghz channel, etc.
When I say every combination, I really mean I’ve spent the past 2 days trying all of them independently and a mixture of on/off, and no matter what, I could never break those speed barriers listed on both phones. Always on the 5ghz channel, and literally from on top of the router to 5 feet away, same results.
Again, I am not saying these are bad results, and I understand the rates listed are theoretical, but the modem/router combo I had before the AX8, I could hit 600Mbps on the S10+ (I don’t have iPhone XS Max tests from that box unfortunately). So I’m not saying it’s unreasonable, and the tests are at least very consistent, but I just want to know if anyone else has eeked out more WiFi speed in the basically ideal conditions that I have tested mine in.
I should also add that any WiFi analyzer only picks up on one neighboring WiFi network, and I tested on several bands anyway, so congestion/interference really isn’t a factor in my house.
I was just super bummed that even with one of/possibly the only WiFi 6 device on the market in the S10, that the speed was literally the exact same as WiFi 5.
Now I’m debating switching back to a stand-alone 7800 or XR500, or possibly that Asus AX11000. Please let me know if you’ve had better luck, and if so, what your exact settings are; but I think I’ve literally tried every combo possible already.
8 Replies
On my RAX80 for the 5 ghz band I am using channel 161 and 2400 is the speed I have it set at. If I set it at 4800 I get similar speeds you are receving. I have AX mode turned on. With the speed setting at 2400 on my GIG connection with Spectrum I can get about 667 Mbps down on my iPhone XS Max & iPad and get about 700 Mbps on my Note 9.
Thanks for the response. After trying for half the day again and still not budging over the 370 mark on the iPhone, I decided to just call it quits.
I then saw the RAX120 on sale for $399 on Amazon, so I had my local Best Buy price match that. I've returned the RAX80 for the RAX120 and now I'm hitting 650Mbps consistently on the iPhone and I'm a happy camper.
With so many people recommending the 7800 over the 8000/8000p, or the 9000 if you want to spend more of the "last-gen" stuff, I'm really thinking this is just a Qualcomm vs Broadcom issue and Qualcomm seems to be bringing the good stuff lately, but that's just purely speculation on my end from comparing all these routers lately.
In the same exact boat here. Xfinity gig. Get near Gig speed on wired. but no matter what I do, I can't get the wifi to go over 450Mbps. I've got a laptop with 802.11ac, so should be well acheivable. Someone from Netgear should pipe up here and let us know what the correct settings are. Looking at just giving this thing back and going the Ubiquiti route.