NETGEAR is aware of a growing number of phone and online scams. To learn how to stay safe click here.
Forum Discussion
Solved
NETGEAR Nighthawk R7960P wifi slower on devices than is says on the app
Hello, I recently got one of these used. I 30, 30, 30 reset it and set it up for my son. After setup, when I run a speed test through the Netgear Nighthawk app, I get 450+ Mbps. When I connect through my computer or my phone (which by the way is running the Netgear Nighthawk app) I get 140 Mbps. This is with a standard speedtest.net. I am not sure why so I am looking for help. What could make the Nighthawk app give 450 Mbps yet on the same device seconds later, I get 140Mbps with speedtest.net which I tend to believe is the actual speed the device is running on. Is the router garbage or am I doing something wrong? Traffic meter is off, smart connect is on, the security trial software is running but I will disable that when I can. Thanks for any and all help
- I had similar issues. Via wifi i was only pulling 50mbps. But through wire ir app i was getting 300+. I enabled the Smart Connect function in the app. It did some reset on the router. And now im pulling close to 300mbps via wifi on my phone
16 Replies
What Firmware version is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?What wireless devices are you speed testing with.
Is this the only one online while speed testing with the router or is other devices connected and taking up bandwidth during speed testing?
What are ethernet speeds with Ooklas installable speed test app for Apple or Windows?
WiFi can be varied results as it has many variables that can cause inaccurate speed results. Why wired speeds are preferred and are more accurate. https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/New-R7900P-R7960P-R8000P-Firmware-Version-1-4-3-88-Released/m-p/2216105/highlight/true#M214850
What channels are you using? Auto? Try Auto and 48 on 5Ghz. Or try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and 40 to 48 channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?Is 40Mhz, Beamforming and MIMO enabled? Under Advanced Tab/Advanced Settings/Wireless Settings
Are speeds better with Smart Connect enabled?
Are you testing over wireless?
Reason I ask is if you're testing using the nighthawk app, it hosts the test on the router.
When you test the speed in your browser or using the speed test app, usually the bottleneck is the wifi you're testing over.
What actual wireless card are you testing on?
Are you testing over the 2.4ghz or the 5ghz? (hint, 2.4ghz is much much slower and sensitive to interfernce)
I will try and give as much additional information as I have right now specifically because I will not return to my son's house until tomorrow.
The modem is a Spectrum issued Sercomm ES2251
when I installed the router, it said it was searching for firmware updates, it found and installed the latest update I assumed.
The only devices that were installed and tested were
1) the Spectrum modem
2) the router in discussion
3) Iphone 13 Pro Max
4) Acer G3-571
- this router was first tested using the netgear nighthawk app on a iphone 13 pro max, the app gave me a speed of 450 Mbps. I then tested all 3 bands on a speedtest.net app and got 80 Mbps on 2.4ghz and 140 Mbps on both 5 ghz frequencies. Originally, it was tested without smart connect but once I was concerned with the speeds, I tried to enable smart connect which yielded the same results of 140Mbps as it defaulted to the 5ghz. I fiddled with this on the iphone quite a bit at first only because I could not get it to open on my laptop (Acer G3-571). I eventually got my laptop to connect on 192.168.1.1 after, I went to speedtest.net and got the same results as on the iphone. I only had 1 device testing at a time, this is my son's first home and nobody is currently living there so it was only me testing. I did see a number (roughly 10 or so) other networks in range. I also tried the speedtest app for windows as I remembered reading somewhere that speeds over 100 Mbps are not always correct with the website and that the app is recommended for higher speeds.
-I then decided to do what I know the ISP would say and bypass the router and just hook my laptop directly to the modem. In doing so, my results at speedtest.net were >450 Mbps. Hence my leaning towards the router or it's configuration being the issue.
-I know wired is preferred, in a perfect world, I would have a wired connection everywhere. This house was built in 1906 with plaster walls and wool insulation. Wiring this house will not be something I will attempt. I wanted a decent wifi because of this and when I came across this router, it seemed to fit the bill.
-the channels were default to auto as far as I know. I did not do any adjustments in the configuration on the router page except accepting the free trial of the security software. I declined disney circle.
-the wireless card on the computer is Qualcomm Atheros QCA61x4A Wireless Network Adapter but it yielded the same results as the iphone 13 pro max.I think I covered everything. This is a used router that I found at goodwill so I am leaning more towards the router being the problem but I figured I would reach out to people that know more than I for help before I throw in the towel and just buy some brand new TP link or something cheap as my son's budget is small.
Again, thank you for any and all help, it is really appreciated.Check to see what actual firmware version you're on. I've seen the auto-update not be on the latest version.
And if you did setup and then update, try the factory reset again. But check the speeds with everything setup with the defaults and test.
Also, try enabling ipv6
