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Nighthawk R8000 - 1000MB fiber but still slow wifi speeds and slow router speed after manual update
I have a Nighthawk X6 AC3200 R8000 which is hooked up directly with ethernet cable to our 1000 Mbps fiber broadband. The cable has been tested by a technician and confirmed to be bringing in the requ...
The built in speedtest on the nighthawk app isn't accurate. Reason why is that it usually doesn't choose the best server to test from. And this can cause wildly inaccurate readings on it. I've complained a bit about it. It hasn't helped.
In terms of your speeds. I'd recommend reading 2 articles.
The first is a tested review of the r8000 by a site that has a well setup test process and great review articles.
The other would be another well written one on misunderstandings of wifi. Many people think that because their router is "up to 1300mbps" that they'll actually get that number. Its highly over inflated. (industry wide issue) I won't re-write the article but will let you read it.
https://www.duckware.com/tech/wifi-in-the-us.html
MIght help between the 2 of these articles to understand the limitations on wifi as well as the expected performance of the router you own.
Thanks for your reply, and the links you posted. I was certainly also expecting significant loss in speed but was just unsure how much should be expected given this setup. The technician I spoke to mentioned that an iPhone 12 should be able to reach 800 Mbps but I thought that achieving only approx. 350 Mbps in close proximity to the router and 100Mbps in our bedroom was possibly too great a loss in speed. Although the articles are quite technical for my level, I seem to gather that maybe the 350Mbps level is still maybe a bit in the low end. Not sure if I should be concerned about the 2.4Ghz speeds however?
Should I therefore deduce from this that my router is completely fine and operating as it should, and the speeds are as would be expected? Would running Smartconnect improve the speed I experience or is it best avoided (I seem to hear mixed things about it)?
The iphone 12 might hit 800mbps but that'd be over wireless AX where it can connect at a 1200mbps link rate (and it'd have to be close to it).
If you looked at the tested specs of the R8000, its average throughput was around 250-300mbps over 5ghz. and over 2.4ghz it was hitting around 80-90mbps average. (2.4ghz is a much slower band)
Again, these are averages and under optimal conditions. You might get faster for period of time or slower depending on interference, device used, environment, etc.
Something to keep in mind is that most devices, don't need super faster wireless speeds. Most 4k streaming is only hitting 25-40mbps. And gaming doesn't even need those speeds (more about latency with gaming). The super fast speeds are nice if you do a lot of large file downloading/backing up but it isn't going to make your movie play better.
Smart connect works nice for some people, horrible for others. In congested environments it tends to struggle as it likes to have devices on the 2.4ghz. In my area, 2.4ghz is oversaturated with signals and devices that are on 2.4ghz, just work poorly. so try it with it on and off. the only downfall to off is that you have to choose which band to connect to. Make sure your streamers/gaming devices/high bandwidth devices are on the 5ghz. Put your low bandwidth devices on the 2.4ghz.
I have nothing to complain: :smileyvery-happy:
R9000 -> Sansung S20Ultra