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RS700S not delivering 1.5Gbps
I recently upgraded my modem and router so I could add more devices and get higher speeds. I purchased the Netgear Nighthawk CM2000 cable modem and the Nighthawk RS700S Wifi 7 router. According to the specs, this pair should be more than capable of handling 200+ devices and delivering more up to 2.5 Gbps internet download speeds.
My ISP has confirmed they are delivering internet at around 1.7Gbps to my home. However when I measured the speeds with the stand-alone Speedtest app, I could never get more than 970 Mbps. Upload speed was fine (40-50Mbps) but download speeds are nowhere near what I expected.
I then ran a speed test from within the Nighthawk app and it showed speeds around 1,600 Mbps. I assume this is measuring the speed that the router is receiving and the stand-alone Speedtest app on my iPad, iPhone and Macbook measures what the device is receiving (and is not close to 1,600Mbps).
So it raises several questions that I am reaching out to the community for input on:
1. Why are the download speeds so different when measured via the Nighthawk app vs. the stand-alone Speedtest app?
2. Does the Nighthawk app measure the download speed coming into the router and the Speedtest app the speed at the device (Macbook, iPad, iPhone, etc.)?
3. If the Speedtest app measures the speed at the device, why is it so much less than the speed coming into the router as measured by the Nighthawk app?
4. What can I do to enable the devices to show speeds that are actually above 1,000Mbps (or 0.977 Gbps)?
I attached a short supporting file that helps to illustrate this anomaly. Any help to answer these four questions would be much appreciated.
20 Replies
stanfrench wrote:1. Why are the download speeds so different when measured via the Nighthawk app vs. the stand-alone Speedtest app?
The Nighthawk app tests the speed to the WAN interface on the RS700. It completely ignores LAN-side/your local network
2. Does the Nighthawk app measure the download speed coming into the router and the Speedtest app the speed at the device (Macbook, iPad, iPhone, etc.)?
Correct. The Nighthawk app is measuring Internet > WAN, the speedtest app is testing Internet > WAN > WLAN > device
3. If the Speedtest app measures the speed at the device, why is it so much less than the speed coming into the router as measured by the Nighthawk app?
Is the device connected wirelessly? Depending on the capabilities of the device and it's physical link speed to the RS700, then there's every chance that's where your bottleneck is. In the app, you'll see the Wi-Fi link speed by tapping into the device in question on the device list. As a v.rough rule of thumb, reduce this link speed by ~40% or so to give you an idea of what actual speedtest throughput to expect.
4. What can I do to enable the devices to show speeds that are actually above 1,000Mbps (or 0.977 Gbps)?
Depends on your findings from above really. Potentiall move closer to the RS700, upgrade to a more capable client device, or use a wire (but make sure it's connected to a 2.5GbE+ LAN port).
Thank you for your reply and input. After more checking, I was able to determine that some of my devices just aren't capable to receive more than 1 Gbps (my iPhone 14, 2022 Macbook Pro M2 and 2017 iMac). However, my iPad Pro M2 can; it supports 6E.
So I did as you suggested and moved it to within a few feet of the RS700 and it clocked 1,011 Mbps, the first time over the 970 mark. It's still a big gap though to the incoming speed of 1,652 Mbps.
With your help, questions 1, 2 and 4 so now I focus on 3; getting the device to receive speeds closer to what is coming into the router. I'll look into your suggestion under that and let you know what happens.
Thanks again!
Hi BobbyP,
I checked the link speeds in the Device Manager of the Nighthawk app as you suggested and here's the result for my devices :
- iPad Pro: 2215 Mbps (40% reduction is 1,330 Mbps) at 6GHz. ST= 1,017 Mbps.
- iPad Pro: 1876 Mbps (40% reduction is 1,125 Mbps) at 5GHz. ST= 804 Mbps.
- iPhone 14: 1055 Mbps (40% reduction is 633 Mbps) at 5GHz. ST= 575 Mbps.
- Macbook: 1172 Mbps (40% reduction is 703 Mbps) at 5GHz. ST=785 Mbps.
The actual speed from the Speedtest app (ST) is next to each one.
The figures improve as I get closer to the router. I did try a 2.5 Gbps USB-C adapter with my Macbook and iPad (iMac too). For some reason I can't understand, it capped out at 940 Mbps on all, even the iPad which can get almost 1,100 Mbps wirelessly. Any thoughts on why the ethernet speeds are capped?
Thanks,
Stan
What brand and model ethernet adapter are you using?
What speeds does it support.
Tried different ethernet supporting PCs to compare speed results?
stanfrench wrote:
I then ran a speed test from within the Nighthawk app and it showed speeds around 1,600 Mbps. I assume this is measuring the speed that the router is receiving and the stand-alone Speedtest app on my iPad, iPhone and Macbook measures what the device is receiving (and is not close to 1,600Mbps).
The Nighthawk app does, indeed, measure the speed between the router and the mode, even though you are using a WiFi connection to initiate the test.
The standalone app on a device measures the WiFi speed between router and client. That isn't going to be as high as the wired speed. There aren't many WiFi clients that can handle those speeds.
What speeds does Apple say you will get from these clients?
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.
Just another user with time on their hands.
Thank you for your feedback and advice. I was able to determine that of my four devices, only one has the capability to receive at speeds higher than 1 Gbps; my iPad Pro M2 which has 6E capability. So I connected it to the 6 GHz channel, moved it to within a few feet of the RS700 router and was finally able to clock speeds above 1Gbps. It showed Download of 1,011 Mbps. Pretty far away from the 1,652 Mbps that is going in to the router and that will be my focus.
I'll look over the info on Wifi and if you have any troubleshooting insights to help close the speed gap, feel free to reply. I just installed both the CM2000 modem and RS700 router a couple of days ago using mainly the default settings. Perhaps there are some additional adjustments to need to make but which ones?
Thanks again.
It depends on which device you were performing the initial speedtest from. For example, if you were doing it over WiFi, speeds will vary. If your desktop/laptop doesn't have any multigig ethernet ports, you won't get speeds over 940 or so. For example, if I am in the same room as the RS700, my Google Pixel 7 Pro can get around 1300 Mbps download and 1600 upload on the 6 GHz connection.
If you want to get faster speeds, you need to get a multigig ethernet port for your devices. Also make sure that they are compatible with 6GHz wifi. Just note that even if you do, you might not get the desired speeds if your CPU can't handle it, so you will likely need to buy a new device.
Thanks! I found that of my four client devices, only my iPad Pro M2 has the capability to receive higher than 1 Gbps. I set it to 6GHz wifi and moved the iPad within a few feet of the router. The speed was 1,011 Mbps so making progress, but still far away from the 1,652 Mbps coing into the router. Any router settings I should check?
What are you speeds seen with a ethernet PC connected directly to the back of the CM modem?
Then same PC connected to the RS connected to the CM modem?
Be sure you have PC that has a ethernet adapter that connects at 2.5 or higher speeds.
https://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/realistic-speeds-wi-fi-5-and-wi-fi-6
https://www.wiisfi.com
https://support.google.com/fiber/answer/6250056#zippy=%2Cmobile-devices-wi-fi
stanfrench wrote:
I recently upgraded my modem and router so I could add more devices and get higher speeds. I purchased the Netgear Nighthawk CM2000 cable modem and the Nighthawk RS700S Wifi 7 router. According to the specs, this pair should be more than capable of handling 200+ devices and delivering more up to 2.5 Gbps internet download speeds.
My ISP has confirmed they are delivering internet at around 1.7Gbps to my home. However when I measured the speeds with the stand-alone Speedtest app, I could never get more than 970 Mbps. Upload speed was fine (40-50Mbps) but download speeds are nowhere near what I expected.
I then ran a speed test from within the Nighthawk app and it showed speeds around 1,600 Mbps. I assume this is measuring the speed that the router is receiving and the stand-alone Speedtest app on my iPad, iPhone and Macbook measures what the device is receiving (and is not close to 1,600Mbps).
So it raises several questions that I am reaching out to the community for input on:
1. Why are the download speeds so different when measured via the Nighthawk app vs. the stand-alone Speedtest app?
2. Does the Nighthawk app measure the download speed coming into the router and the Speedtest app the speed at the device (Macbook, iPad, iPhone, etc.)?
3. If the Speedtest app measures the speed at the device, why is it so much less than the speed coming into the router as measured by the Nighthawk app?
4. What can I do to enable the devices to show speeds that are actually above 1,000Mbps (or 0.977 Gbps)?
I attached a short supporting file that helps to illustrate this anomaly. Any help to answer these four questions would be much appreciated.
I do have a couple of USB-C adapters with 2.5 Gbps ethernet ports and tried connecting that to my Macbook Pro. There must have been some problem with the MBP as it only showed 900 Mbps coming in from the CM2000. Strange.
I'm pretty sure the incoming signal to the router is ok, the Nighthawk app speedtest shows it to be around 1,650 Mbps. I was also able to determine that only my iPad Pro M2 can receive speeds above 1 Gbps (from the 6GHz channel), so I connected it ti 6G, moved it within a few feet of the router and finally got speeds above 940 (was 1,011 Mbps). It's still far away from the incoming speed to the router but progress nonetheless. Any tips to close that gap? Maybe settings on the router?
stanfrench wrote:
so I connected it ti 6G, moved it within a few feet of the router and finally got speeds above 940 (was 1,011 Mbps). It's still far away from the incoming speed to the router but progress nonetheless.
What speed does you research say you should get with the iPad Pro M2?
Are you still trying to get WiFi to match the wired speed?
Just another user with time on their hands.
