RS700S — Wi-Fi upload capped at ~400 Mbps in router mode only (hardware acceleration / ONT issue)

Question

Here's the summary for the online support form in English, with the current ~400 Mbps figure:

Subject: RS700S — Wi-Fi upload capped at ~400 Mbps in router mode only (hardware acceleration / ONT issue)

I'm running an RS700S on a symmetrical 10 Gbps fiber line (Swisscom, Switzerland) with a Zyxel PM7300-T0 ONT in bridge mode, connected to the router's 10G WAN port. WAN config: DHCP, VLAN 10, DHCP Option 60 = 100008,0001. Latest firmware installed.

Problem: Download is fine (~1500 Mbps), but Wi-Fi upload is hard-capped at ~400 Mbps, reproducible from multiple clients (iPhone and MacBook), measured with a speedtest app.

Isolation testing — the key evidence:

RS700S as router, wired (LAN): full upload ✓
RS700S as router, Wi-Fi: ~400 Mbps ✗
RS700S in AP mode (behind another router), Wi-Fi: full upload ✓
Different router (Asus), same line/ONT, Wi-Fi: full ~1000/1000 ✓

This shows the Wi-Fi radio is fine (full speed in AP mode) and the WAN/routing path is fine (full speed wired). The cap appears only when Wi-Fi upload AND the router's own NAT/routing run together.

Likely root cause: Per Netgear's documentation, AP mode disables hardware acceleration between WAN and LAN. This maps exactly onto the symptom — acceleration OFF (AP mode) = full upload; acceleration ON (router mode) = throttled. The active hardware acceleration in router mode appears to mishandle the wireless upstream toward the ONT. There's no user-facing toggle to disable hardware acceleration / NAT offload in router mode.

Additional symptom: The router's built-in speedtest never works in router mode either, pointing to a router-stack issue.

Already tried, no change: QoS disabled; latest firmware; WAN Preference = Internet Port (10 Gbps); flow control toggled on both RS700S and ONT; MTU matched on both sides (RS700S maxes at 1500); VLAN tagging tested on the ONT instead of the router (broke the connection — on Swisscom the VLAN must stay on the router); multiple speed-test servers and clients.

My questions:

Is this a known issue with the wireless-upstream path when hardware acceleration is active in router mode?
Is there any way to disable hardware acceleration / NAT offload while staying in router mode?
I've read about a trial/beta firmware that addresses slow upload with ONTs — can this be provided for the RS700S, and does it fix this wireless-upstream case?

If no fix is available, please advise on RMA/return options under warranty.

schumaku · Answer

michaeljeger wrote:
RS700S as router, Wi-Fi: ~400 Mbps ✗

&nbsp;
michaeljeger wrote:
The router's built-in speedtest never works in router mode either, pointing to a router-stack issue.

&nbsp;
Grüezi Michael,
&nbsp;
RS700S Firmware Version 1.0.11.8&nbsp; already in place?&nbsp;&nbsp;
&nbsp;
Reason asking is this:
&nbsp;

Fixed an issue affecting the GUI and app speed test function.

No personal experience with the newer Netgear consumer routers, more actively using Netgear business router, wireless access point (Qualcomm based), and switches. No idea by far this addresses the WiFi upload perfomance issue you are experiencing.
&nbsp;
The downloaded ZIP archive shows firmware image date 11 May 2026, the RN says release date is 11 June 2026 - well possible this is not in the live update push yet.&nbsp;
&nbsp;
michaeljeger wrote:
... please advise on RMA/return options under warranty.

&nbsp;
That's not a question community members can answer. In Switzerland, if we buy a product, the reseller is in charge in case you want to return the router (not talking of an RMA replacement, which is unlikely helping).&nbsp; But I expect Netgear (backed by Broadcom as the SoC maker in this case) is able to address such an issue.
&nbsp;
Grüsse aus Birchwil Nürensdorf&nbsp;
-Kurt

FURRYe38 · Answer

What wireless brand and model # are you connecting to the router?&nbsp;
How is the wirelss configured on the RS?
Smart Connect enabled or disabled? Try disabled?
What channels are you using?&nbsp;
Be sure that your wireless device is connecting to the 5 or 6Ghz radios for speed testing
&nbsp;
Make contact with NG support for RMA needs.&nbsp;
&nbsp;

schumaku · Answer

FURRYe38 wrote:
What wireless brand and model # are you connecting to the router?&nbsp;

&nbsp;
Not many variants available:
&nbsp;
michaeljeger wrote:
multiple clients (iPhone and MacBook),

&nbsp;
&nbsp;
FURRYe38 wrote:
Smart Connect enabled or disabled? Try disabled?What channels are you using?&nbsp;

&nbsp;
There must be an awful mass of concurrently active 5 and 6 GHz traffic on air to cause such issues constantly.

michaeljeger · Answer

this is not a WLAN but a routing issue.... with customer support we tried to connect to the individual bands with Smart Connect disabled. Still the same.
The same problem also with my sons iphone and from my partners computer......
(1)- Asus Router connected to Zyxel ONT... no problem
(2)- RS700S as AP, no problem, same WIFI settings, full speed
(3)- RS700S as Router connected to the Zyxel ONT, upload is limited
(4)- RS700S as Router connected to the Zyxel ONT, computer connected with LAN to RS700S, full speed over LAN

So, (1) proves, the WAN connection is working with full speed with another router with Zyxel PM7300 ONT
(2) proves RS700S WIFI works with full speed always in AP mode (routing disabled)
(3) reproduces the problem, slow upload in Routing over WIFI
(4) shows, the slow routing is only affected over WIFI

This cannot be anything but a firmware problem, i ran this with other analytics and everything points to that.

michaeljeger · Answer

All this was tried with a Netgear tech.... told me to turn off Smart Connect, select certain channels. Tried to connect to 5G, 6G.... no change..... and per my tests... this is not a WLAN problem, it is a routing problem.... full speed when in Access Point mode.

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RS700S — Wi-Fi upload capped at ~400 Mbps in router mode only (hardware acceleration / ONT issue)

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