NetGear R6700v3 Slow speed

michaelkenward
Guru - Experienced User
Dec 12, 2022
JSebek wrote:
I have a Gigabit fiber connection and with any new firmware past 1.03.66, my max speed test is around 180mbit. The firmware update after that which integrated the Armor software kills/throttles LAN wired speeds.

These toys and other things that eat into your router's processor power, such as QoS and traffic metering, are known to slow them down.

You should be able to disable Armor and prevent that hit.

Try asking for help here:

NETGEAR Armor - NETGEAR Communities

It amazes me that with technology and Internet speed continuing to trend upward that they seem to think this is acceptable.

Another way of putting it is that someone who has a gigabit Internet service shouldn't expect too much of a router that dates back to 2014. While R6700s claim to be Gigabit, that'll be at the top of their operating window.

Technology and Internet speed do indeed trend upward, so does router technology. You might like to look into getting a router that matches your Internet service.
- JSebek
  Aspirant
  Dec 12, 2022
  Telling me to buy a new router is completely missing the point of the reply/reason other people are complaining/upset.
  
  If you were referring to the wireless performance then the age of the router not getting sustained Gigabit speeds, your point might be valid but I'm not referring to WiFi performance. I'm referring to the fact that my wired connection is cut to 20-25% of what it should be. It's like you buying a car that's supposed to go 120 and the company releases a recall issue that you have done and your car maxes out at 30. You could drive it but why would you want to? You'd likely demand the company fix the issue or revert it. If they left it, you'd probably not do business with them ever again.
  
  Basic switching/pass through for wired LAN gigabit connections has been available for far more than 10 years (probably more than 20 since Europe has had Gigabit connections to home for longer than that even). It's also proven that this router CAN handle proper speeds by downgrading the firmware. Netgear themselves have caused this problem with their firmware when they added the Armor code to the firmware basically breaking/throttling the LAN port. Even if you disable it in settings, the code still throttles the connection. It amuses me that you think this is an acceptable thing to do to customers who pay for one of your products to do a specific thing.
  
  The purpose of Firmware is to IMPROVE performance and stability, not make the user experience terrible.
  
  You have a right to your opinion but any router in the last 10-15 years should be able to do basic switching to a wired connection/LAN port without requiring someone to buy a new router.
  
  I have a $40 router from 2010 that doesn't harm my LAN throughput but isn't up to spec in terms of WiFi or I'd throw this in the trash.
  
  Why should I have to buy a new router when the company themselves released software that hurt the product's performance. I don't understand how anyone could think that's a good or acceptable practice.
  
  To anyone else having this speed issue, the only solution I'm aware of is to downgrade your firmware to the version I mentioned unfortunately.
  - michaelkenward
    Guru - Experienced User
    Dec 12, 2022
    JSebek wrote:
    Telling me to buy a new router is completely missing the point of the reply/reason other people are complaining/upset.
    
    I made several points, including that you should be able to get your ageing router to deliver much better speeds.
    
    I also explained how you could go about that. Here it is again:
    
    Armor will slow things down because, as a security service, it has to inspect the traffic on your network
    
    If you want to turn it off, ask the right people
    
    NETGEAR Armor - NETGEAR Communities
    
    How do I turn NETGEAR Armor on or off using the Nighthawk or Orbi app? | Answer | NETGEAR Support
    
    The purpose of Firmware is to IMPROVE performance and stability, not make the user experience terrible.
    
    Not really. Firmware can do next to nothing to improve the performance of your hardware. The clue is in the name, hardware.
    
    Firmware updates are there to fix problems and, as you said, to improve stability. They are there to improve security. Most of Netgear's updates fall into that category.
    
    I don't know what you mean by "performance". Better Stability is certainly improved performance. But so is an added feature, like Armor.
    
    Another firmware improvement on the performance front was when Netgear added better parental controls.
    
    Users have asked for both better security and controls, both of which are performance enhancements brought about by new firmware.
    
    That these enhancements are also a way of Netgear making money is, of course, a sideshow.
    
    Netgear will sometimes warn people that new firmware will change things and that they might like to skip an update if it is going to break something important.
    
    Basic switching/pass through for wired LAN gigabit connections has been available for far more than 10 years (probably more than 20 since Europe has had Gigabit connections to home for longer than that even).
    
    Again, it is more subtle than that. A decade ago, a Gigabit router would have no problem handling the traffic on most Internet services. In most places, Gigabit speeds are relatively new. Here in the UK they are still rare.
    
    A router designed for a Gigabit connections will happily process anything thrown at them. But now Internet speeds are hitting the limits of the hardware's capability. That's why newer hardware is designed for faster Internet.
    
    The choice is yours. But it helps to base it on an understanding of what is going on.
t0md0
Aspirant
Dec 12, 2022
I'll be honest... I've never really tested speeds via hard wiring on any firmware past v1.0.3. I assumed the "throttling" was mainly a WiFi issue but that's pretty crazy to hear it's also wired that takes a hit.

Still looking for confirmation if the latest firmware is still "throttling".
- FURRYe38
  Guru - Experienced User
  Dec 12, 2022
  I see the OP mentioned that there was a beta offered to the user after contacting NG support. One might contact them and reference that post and see if it's still available.
  
  https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/NetGear-R6700v3-Slow-speed/m-p/2264220/highlight/true#M222278
- michaelkenward
  Guru - Experienced User
  Dec 12, 2022
  t0md0 wrote:
  I'll be honest... I've never really tested speeds via hard wiring on any firmware past v1.0.3. I assumed the "throttling" was mainly a WiFi issue but that's pretty crazy to hear it's also wired that takes a hit.
  
  That's a pretty likely analysis. Wifi is always flakier and has been known to cause problems in the past.
  
  In this case, one theory was that it was something to do with Armor. That is known to have a bit of a hit on performance. But you should be able to turn that off or disable it.
  
  If the speed issue persists with Armor, disabled then it could be the firmware.
  
  But someone has to do a test or two to conform that.
  - JSebek
    Aspirant
    Dec 12, 2022
    I've already done a lot of tests with every firmware I can find and disabling armor in settings. I have a Bachelors Degree in computer science and understand packets, network topology, network layers, what firmware does, etc etc. I'm not some misinformed average user or young person making things up or randomly guessing.
    
    Furry, I appreciate you referencing that post in regards to the beta firmware. I did read it over but also read that the guy couldn't share the firmware due to NDA. I also see another gentleman post right after it that he tried the newest one and it still throttles his connection way down.
    
    I have literally tried EVERY publicly available firmware version and turned off anything that could adversely impact LAN speeds/QoS, etc. The ONLY thing that works is going back to 3.0.66 firmware before they included the Armor code or whatever code is negatively impacting throughput.
    
    Nobody in the known universe wants to pay for a connection speed and have a router they purchased make it slow.
    
    I believe you're trying to help Michael but the only real help would be Netgear fixing their firmware or giving us an alternate firmware without the Armor code that started throttling it. Whatever network inspection code they added between 1.0.3.66 and the next available firmware is what changed everything. They likely have changelogs/diff files internally that show the code that was added/changed and could likely fix this issue for all of us that doesn't turn our router into a paperweight.
    
    This issue is affecting people with even 200mbit/300mbit connections. They're calling their ISPs support trying to figure out why they're not getting the speeds they pay for, etc.
    
    This is something that should have been resolved when it was first reported back in 2019. If you do a Google search for 6700v3 LAN speeds you'll see there are loads of discussions about it.
    
    Anyway, if someone does convince Netgear to fix it or find a solution that works, please let us know. Until then I guess I'm stuck at 1.0.366 or spending more money on something I could be using for another item I need to get a new router just for normal LAN wired speeds.

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