Slow Ethernet with WNR3500Lv2

[TaterSalid]

After reading this if you think I am crazy, well that is OK.

For nearly 2 months I have fought with a throughput issue. I have a 3+1 (4) router network. Link if you are interested:

https://www.pcper.com/reviews/General-Tech/Steve-Gibsons-Three-Router-Solution-IOT-Insecurity

The Border router was to be a Ubiquiti ER-X. I wanted the WNR3500Lv2 to serve my PC. The other two routers are irrelevant to this topic.

The best speed I could get to the PC was 12Mbps with 120Mbps service. I swapped cables, power supplies, went direct to the modem. I even swapped to different routers, R6020 and ER-X, which were better and great. All indications were of a faulty router. I then opened a case and contacted Support. All the troubleshooting was done again including a hard reset. No joy! Support issued an RMA and I shipped the router. The replacement came in about 2 weeks. You guessed it, except the replacement was slower, 6Mps.

When you run out of logical ideas the illogical ones come next. I had suspected the modem earlier. I dismissed this because other routers worked just fine. I called my ISP, Charter, who said that my service had been recently upgraded and that I needed a modem upgrade. OK, great, mine is 9 years old and the upgrade is free. While waiting, I took the router to another node and it worked fine. Two days later the modem arrived. You guessed it, no improvement! Charter tested the modem and found no problems. At this point I was questioning my sanity. The next illogical step was to the PC. Remember, it was fine with other routers both 100M and 1G and direct to the modem. In desperation I plugged up the laptop, 120Mbps. I was beginning to suspect incompatibility between the PC and that specific router.

I have a Dell PC with a Realtek Gbit Ethernet controller. I upgraded the driver and even dumped it. Upon reinstalling there was no improvement. An Internet search yielded little except what I had just done. I may, in the future may add another NIC.

After all this headache the solution was simple. I moved the WNR3500 to the Border position and the ER-X now serves the PC. I wish I had a good explanation but am just happy to move on to something else. Now if I play with the ER-X I don't get complaints from anyone else in the house. I like a challenge but this was beyond that. That R6020 may also have the issue but that is for another day.

[TaterSalid · Accepted solution]

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@michaelkenward wrote:

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@TaterSalid wrote:
The other two routers are irrelevant to this topic.

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That depends on how they are configured.

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Michael, I resorted to a standard configuration with only one router in troubleshooting this. I added that line to reduce clutter and confusion. The only reason multiple routers ware mentioned is that they were involved in the solution. Had I not had another Gbit router I would still be troubleshooting.

[michaelkenward]

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@TaterSalid wrote:
The other two routers are irrelevant to this topic.

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That depends on how they are configured.

[TaterSalid · Accepted solution]

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@michaelkenward wrote:

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@TaterSalid wrote:
The other two routers are irrelevant to this topic.

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That depends on how they are configured.

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Michael, I resorted to a standard configuration with only one router in troubleshooting this. I added that line to reduce clutter and confusion. The only reason multiple routers ware mentioned is that they were involved in the solution. Had I not had another Gbit router I would still be troubleshooting.