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Forum Discussion
Speed test odd results
Just a question. I run both Okla and Spectrum speed tests on my notebook... when I am connected to my ethernet the speed is great push go... Bang I am seeing my speeds... Then, I remove the e...
davidk1952 wrote:
Then, I remove the ethernet cable... use the Wifi for a while to make sure its working .. run speed test... dial shows going up to 300 -400mbps and then it drops back as low as 120.... run the test 3 or 4 times and everything comes up to speed and stays up...
Are these tests made with Ookla or via the Nighthawk app?
The latter measures speed between router and outside world, not the link that connects you to the network. You'll see the same things, WiFi or wired.
WiFi is, by definition, slower than wired.
WiFi also depends on the capability of the device tat connecst to the WiFi, along with the connection speed, 2.4 versus 5 GHz.
It also depends on the Netgear hardware you own. You don't say.
Depending on its technology the speed you see is in line with what many bits of 2.4 GHz hardware can deliver.
It might be worth a bit of background reading.
Understand Wi-Fi 4/5/6 (802.11 n/ac/ad/ax)
@duckware knows their stuff and can bust a few myths and cut through marketing hype.
Michael, thanks for responding and I actually thought my equipment was listed (I'll fix that)
My router is a Netgear Nighthawk S4 2350 Dual Band. My laptop is a Dell I7 with the intel 9250 wifi card. I sit about 15' from the router. I have both a hardline Ethernet connection and Wifi and switch off from time to time. I do understand that the wifi will be slower than the ethernet, I get 500-580mpbs. My WIFI is as I said mostly runs at 300-400mps.
The Nighthawk application is not compatible with my router so I use the Netgear genie from time to time. My laptop is Windows 10 so it is not Wifi 6 compatible and won't be because the processor will not be compatible for Windows 11. and it's 5 or 6 years old so I won't be go to Wifi 6 until I change laptops ... .On the other hand my notebook is and does everything I need... I am consistent I run Windows 10 on all my desktops as well.
So that should give you an idea of my set up. When I run the Oakla speed test I am always on the g band, my link speed is at 866 on my wifi card. Under properties. The oakla app in windows 10 allows me to close all my windows and run the test with miniium overhead. I am on Spectrum with a 500mbps service (soon to go 1 gb) Spectrum has an a tool to run my Spectrum speeds and wifi. And yes I do understand that the difference from Hard Line to Wifi will take a hit.
The speeds on 2.4 typically runs around 70mbps which is a pretty good average but, I don't run on 2.4 band when I cam checking performance.
To better make my question a bit more clear... running while hooked to the router with an Cat5 ethernet cable my speed is very consistent and with in specs of the service.
Lately what I have seen is while running my wifi and running the speed test I find that the first few times I run the test my speed will spin up to around 300mbps and then you can watch the speed drop to anywhere from 120 - 160mbps... when I run the test 2 or 3 times it seems to lock in between 300 - 400mbps and holds steady.
I just wondered if anyone else experiences this on their Wifi ... FYI my Ping is usually in the 24 ms range. The good thing is that Netgear has said my router is ready for my 1GB connections... I understand there are other limitations for example, 18 years ago we wired our home with Cat 5, Cat 5e was not on the market so, we will always have a transfer limit . Probably doesn't play in to it but I am running 7 NAS units all connected to ethernet...
Hopefully this will explain my question a little better.