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Forum Discussion
Slow internet when connected to Wifi (R6260)
I have a fiber internet service of 300+ mpbs. When I plug from my laptop directly into the wall, I get the full bandwidth; but when I use wifi with this Nighthawk model, it limits bandwidth to betwe...
What firmware version do you have on the device?
A number is more useful than "the latest". (It may not be by the time people read this.) There can also be newer versions, or "hot fixes", that do not show up if you check for new firmware in the browser interface.
clang7 wrote:
but when I use wifi with this Nighthawk model, it limits bandwidth to between 50 and 95 mbps download (about the same for upload speed)
Your subject says "Slow internet when connected to Wifi". This is always slower than wired and depends on the wifi clients. Fr some wifi clients, those speeds are as as good as it gets.
Do these things perform a lot better elsewhere?
I reviewed the related articles on this site, but none of the suggestions seemed to help.
Only you know which suggestions you tried, so we have no idea if they included the most obvious move, reset the router and set it up from scratch. This is especially important if you are reusing a device that was previously on a different service.
If you want to compare notes with people who have the same hardware, you might get more help, and find earlier questions and answers specific to your device, in the appropriate section for your hardware. That's probably here:
General WiFi Routers (Non-Nighthawk & Non-Orbi) - NETGEAR Communities
In the meantime you could visit the support pages:
Support | NETGEAR
Feed in your model number and check the documentation for your hardware. Look at the label on the device for the model number.
You may have done this already. I can't tell from your message.
I mention it because Netgear stopped supplying printed manuals and CD versions some years ago and people sometimes miss the downloads.
Greetings Michael, thanks for your response!
The firmware version I currently show - V1.1.0.84_1.0.1
UPDATE: Last night, I saw a YT video showing that you could change DNS to 1.1.1.1 and 1.0.0.1 and it would help. So, I did that, but it didn't do better than the automatic DNS setting. SO, I changed it back to automatic ("Automatically from ISP") and saved, then SUDDENLY! I had the max download/upload of 300+ mbps, but ONLY on the 5ghz channel. The 2.4ghz channel then became even slower than before (download ranging 10-20 mpps (upload ranging 20-50) compared to 50-90 previous to these changes. My fiber service provides for a max of 300+ mbps bandwidth down/up.
As so to other settings I changed on the unit based on other articles I saw here, I disabled Accept Point mode, Traffic Meter and Qos. There are no parental controls on this unit that I could find. Lastly, on the Wireless Setup page, I changed the channel from "AUTO" to "06" on 2.4ghz and from "AUTO" to "161" on 5ghz channel. When I saw what happened to the 2.4ghz channel, I changed it back to "AUTO" and saved, but it didn't help the speed to go back to what it was before (averaging 50 - 90 mbps download/upload).
So, after my last message, the device has gone bqck to my original problem - both channels are now under 100 mbps again including 5ghz. I could just do a full reset at this point and try all over again... would that be appropriate now?
clang7 wrote:
I had the max download/upload of 300+ mbps, but ONLY on the 5ghz channel. The 2.4ghz channel then became even slower than before (download ranging 10-20 mpps (upload ranging 20-50) compared to 50-90 previous to these changes. My fiber service provides for a max of 300+ mbps bandwidth down/up.
The 5 GHz speed is about right for some devices and a basic router like the R6260. (Take no notice of the numbers quoted on the box for wifi speeds.)
50-90 Mbps is also not out of the ordinary for some 2.4 GHz clients.
A lot depends on how you test speeds. One test with one yest site is not reliable.
Do these devices perform a lot better when connected to more powerful wifi sources?
To make the most of your 300 Mbps Internet service, invest in something that lets you connect with wired Ethernet.