Spectrum Gigabit service - Netgear CM2000 & Orbi RBK853 Not getting Full 1 Gig Speed

[justinlevi]

I recently upgraded my Spectrum service to 1gig last month and I was getting the full service speed for a couple of weeks. My download speeds are now pinning at near 100mbps. I've spoken with the spectrum service and they've had me power cycle a bunch of times and do a factory reset, but nothing seems to work. 

One thing that is very strange is that if I power cycle the router, the gigabit light on the modem will flash blue indicating that the gigabit connection is working but my internet service won't resolve any web pages and the router admin page speed test indicates my internet connection is down. I can only get my internet back if I power cycle the orbi again but the connection is back to ~100mbps. 

I've tried three different cat5e cables and checked that all cables are seated well. I've disconnected and reconnected my coax as well. What's frustrating is that this setup was working fine for a couple of weeks and now it's not. 

My question to the community is why would a power cycle on the orbi router, once the modem is online, give me the correct blinking blue gigabit light but my internet would be down? Why would a power cycle on the orbi one more time revert back to the 100mbps connection?

Screen shot of my speed tests attached. 
Seems very similar to this issue: https://community.netgear.com/t5/Cable-Modems-Routers/CM2000-Nighthawk-Router-Not-Getting-Full-1-Gig...

[justinlevi]

Attaching my cable connection screenshot

[plemans]

What speeds do you get if you directly wire a pc/laptop to the modem?

[justinlevi]

Directly connected to the modem, I get my full gigabit speeds. 

Any idea why the router can't connect to the modem at full speed? 

[plemans]

Waht firmware is on the orbi? 

Are you using parental controls/armor on the orbi? 

Did you check your wan port statistics when the speeds are low? 

How do I display Internet port statistics on my Nighthawk router? | Answer | NETGEAR Support

(its an article for nighthawk but should work for orbi)

[justinlevi]

Firmware Version
V4.6.3.16_2.0.51

I'm not using any parental controls. I do have armor enabled and have no idea how to disable it if there is that option. 


Here are the port statistics that I'm seeing when the internet speeds are low

[justinlevi]

Here is my latest speed test from the router admin screen

[plemans]

Don't use the built in speedtest. Try directly connecting a pc/laptop to the router and host it on there. 

The built in test doesn't always pick a good server

[plemans]

And according to your wan port statistics, the wan port is only connecting at 100mbps speeds, not gigabit. 

Try a new high quality cat 6 cable. 

[justinlevi]

The spectrum speed test gives me nearly the same results. 

Hardwired to the modem, I get full gigabit service
Hardwired to the router, I get ~100mbps
Tried 4 different cat 5e cables now
This exact setup was working no problem for at least a week or two

[plemans]

I've seen cat 5e cables not connect at gigabit speeds on some devices while connecting at gigabit on others. Its why I'd try getting a cat 6 and trying it. 

[justinlevi]

Just tried swapping out the cat5e cable w/ a high quality cat 6 cable for the modem to the router and I'm still seeing the slow speed.

Tried another power cycle on the modem and router with no effect.

Here are the port statistics again which still show the WAN connection at 100M????

[justinlevi]

Here's the Cat 6/8 patch cable I tried, just for reference

[justinlevi]

Do you have any recommended cat 6 cables? 

The fact that I can hardwire directly to the modem and get gigabit speeds makes me think that there is something wrong with the WAN port on the Orbi RBK853. I've tried several different cables including a high quality cat 6/8 cable. 

Here are a couple more threads with similar issues
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-WiFi-6-AX-and-WiFi-6E-AXE/RBR850-WAN-status/m-p/1973934
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi/WAN-Interface-stuck-at-100-MBPS/td-p/1699353

This one seems to be exactly what I'm experiencing
https://community.netgear.com/t5/Orbi-WiFi-6-AX-and-WiFi-6E-AXE/Orbi-850-throttles-download-speed/td...

[plemans]

any chance you have a simple unmanaged switch sitting around ?

Try going ONT---->unmanaged switch--->RBK

Don't plug anything else into the unmanaged switch other than the RBK. 
I've seen some ont's not negotiate a gigabit connection before when connected to the router

[plemans]

It shouldn't happen and you can always open a support case with netgear as one of the ports seems to be having issues. 

(the port check is just to see if one device isn't negotiating properly. Helps to check it)

To get a hold of support. Click on "MyNetgear" at the top.
Register an account (or login) and then the device.
From there you can start the support process. Keep in mind that its only free for the first 90 days.

[justinlevi]

Thanks so much for the help. 

I don't have an extra switch laying around unfortunately. These were purchased within the last 30 days so I should be within the support window thankfully. I'm working through the support process now. 

Level 1 support had me upgrade the firmware manually to v.6.8.5_2.1.9 without any effect other than seemingly taking my internet offline. 

Oddly though, the blue gigabit light flashes on my modem, but the orbi router never seems to negotiate the gigabit connection and I'm rendered without any internet. If I then reboot the router, the connection is established at 100 mbps.

Really feels like a hardware issue to me at this point.