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Forum Discussion

brsankaranand's avatar
Dec 27, 2016
Solved

N150 WNR1000 v3 slow Wifi speed

My Internet service provider recently upgraded my service to 100MBPS. I use a motorola surfboard modem and i get 100mbps when connect my laptop directly to the modem. I also get 100 MBPS when i conne...
  • StephenB's avatar
    StephenB
    Dec 27, 2016

    One confusing aspect to this - wifi speeds (like N150) are "link speeds", which are always a lot higher than real-world throughput.  You can think of the "link speeds" as "marketing speeds".  

     

    For instance, while 802.11g does have a link speed up to 54 mbits - the throughput generally won't exceed 20 mbits.  The theoretical max throughput is 27 mbits - much lower than the link speed.

     

    40 mbits is about right for an 802.11n router - see the info here: http://www.speedguide.net/faq/what-is-the-actual-real-life-speed-of-wireless-374

     

    To go faster on wifi you'll need an 802.11ac router (using the 5 ghz band).  Check your client device specs before upgrading, since you won't get any speed improvments if the clients can't use the new wifi modes.

     

    As noted above, you might also get faster wired speeds with a gigabit router. Sometimes the ISP will exceed the service you are paying for, and sometimes there are burst modes that can exceed the service grade for short transfers.