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Re: Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

FrankieJ54
Aspirant

Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

My setup: Comcast GB internet> CM1000 > XR500>EX8000

So here’s my issue, when connected directly to Ethernet I’m pulling about 480Mbs down and 40 up. When connected to WiFi with QOS off I’m pulling 30-100 (varies wildly) down and 40ish up. When connecting a wired computer to the EX8000 I’m pulling 1-100(varies wildly) down and again about 40 up. My previous setup was two ASUS rt-87u which were linked to provide connection for the computer where I can’t hard wire it in. My speeds were typically somewhere around 200Mbs/40mbs both on the computer and WiFi devices.

Long story short I swapped out these routers to get better and faster speeds but I’ve seen vastly poorer WiFi speed on the xr500 and want to rule out something I’m doing. I’m running up to date firmware on all, looking for any advice you guys can give, I really like the overall performance while wired but I need the WiFi to perform to justify the purchases.
Model: XR500| Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router
Message 1 of 13
Netduma_Jack
NetDuma Partner

Re: Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

Hi Frankie,

 

A few things could be causing this:

  1. Are any of the LEDs on your XR500 showing as amber/orange? This happens when you use an Ethernet cable that is limited to 100mbps. Regardless, it's probably a good idea to switch your cables if you have replacements (Cat5e, Cat6 or Cat7 are best)
  2. How are you testing speeds? If you use Wireless, then it's possible you are on the 2.4GHz band which is limited to around 70-100mbps in general. The XR500 uses a cool tool called 'Smart Connect' which will put you on 5GHz whenever your device needs it
  3. Do you use PPPoE to connect to the Internet? If yes, I recommend you enter those details on your modem instead of your XR500 as that can sometimes slow things down
Message 2 of 13
FrankieJ54
Aspirant

Re: Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

Hi Jack, thanks for the quick reply...

1- I’m using only cat 7 and all wired connections are working flawlessly. 480up/40 down, it should be higher but alas it’s Comcast’s issue.

2-I’ve disabled the smart connection feature since I couldn’t tell if it was on the 2.5 or 5 and on 5 ghz on a device I’ve registered over 600mbs I’m getting the 20-40mb/40 up. I’m not sure why the upload has been very consistent while the download has been all over the place

3- Comcast doesn’t use PPPOE

I also turned off 20/40 cohabitation on a prayer... didn’t do anything
Message 3 of 13
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

Download a WiFi analyser to find the least congested channel and then change to that in settings, does that improve your speeds?
Message 4 of 13
nkd
Apprentice
Apprentice

Re: Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

I have the same issue with my xr700. pretty much the worst wifi speeds I have gotten from any router. Its exactly the same as yours. May be this router isn't designed for wireless and all about the OS  and gaming lol. 

 

I just disabled MU-MIMO to see if that is the issue. Will test it out or its going right back. My GT AC5300 went bust on the 3rd band so I got this. But download speeds on in the same location are atleast 100mbps less and uload speeds are 120mbps less on 5ghz. I am on a gig connection but with that router in the same location I got about 150 download on 5ghz and about 170 upload. Not I am at best case 120 download and 60 upload. 

 

But you are right I have been having the same issue as you on download. Randomly goes down to 20mbps and 2.4ghz randomly goes down to 5-10mbps.  Hopefully its MU-MIMO.

 

I have MU-MIMO, QOS and goodput disabled to eliminate those being issue. So far I think the focus of this router is not wifi speeds, its basically the feature set. For that reason I might return it for something else. 

 

Model: XR700| Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router
Message 5 of 13
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

If you're encountering issues like that and you've ruled out QoS by disabling it then I would highly recommend contacting Netgears support as they're more specialised with their hardware/settings and so will hopefully be able to resolve it.
Message 6 of 13
Keggerss
Aspirant

Re: Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

Exact same issue.  I have the latest up to date firmware.  I get a 1000 mbps when it is directly connected to the xr500 via ethernet but wifi holds steady at around 100 mbps on multiple wifi cards (all 5ghz).  I placed my laptop in close proximity to the router to try and rule out network congestion. I tried different channels on the 5ghz. I turned on and off various wifi settings under wifi setup and advanced wireless (anything that was a wifi setting was a candidate for turning on and off).  I turned QoS off.  I did a factory reset.  I'm at a complete loss on what to try so I'm going to attempt rolling back the firmware to older versions to see if that does anything.  I have no idea how long this has been going since I upgraded my connection yesterday (was 100mbps...). If anything works, I'll reply back since this is the first link that comes up when I search 'xr500 wifi slow'. 😃

Model: XR500| Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router
Message 7 of 13
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

Beamforming should be enabled. MIMO/160Mhz disabled if you don't have any MIMO or 160Mhz supporting devices. Try setting manual channels, 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any un-used channels by neighbors on 5ghz. 

Try setting WPA2 and AES only. Disable 20/40Mhz Coexistence. 

Test with Smart Connect disabled and enabled.

Log into debug.htm and disable 802.11k (Fast Roaming) to see if this does anything. 

 

Depending upon adapter used, you can see over 100Mb on 2.4Ghz. Max speeds on 5ghz would be around 400-500Mb, depending upon adapter used and it's support. 

 

I'm currently working with NG support on a 2.4Ghz speed issue seen on the XR450:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-Pro-Gaming-Routers/XR450-not-giving-full-speeds-on-2-4GHZ...

 

Message 8 of 13
Netduma_Jack
NetDuma Partner

Re: Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

The fact you're at 100mbps suggests you're using a CAT5 cable somewhere in your setup e.g. between the router and the modem. Do you have a CAT5e or CAT6 cable you can use instead?

Message 9 of 13
Websurfer33
Aspirant

Re: Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

Did you ever get this working. 

 

Im having the same issues .

 

I have fiber 200/200 Mb when plugged direct i get full speeds while connected to wifi i get max 25mb Up and down on the 2G and even slower 15Mb on the 5G . 

 

I have disabled QoS no geo filter tried reset new firmware 

 

Nothing seems to fix this. 

Model: XR500| Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router
Message 10 of 13
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

What FW is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the ISP modem the NG router is connected too?

 

What devices are you testing with? 

Are wired speeds good with a PC? 

 

What channels are you using? Auto? Try setting manual channel 1, 6 or 11 on 2.4Ghz and any unused channel on 5Ghz.
Any Wifi Neighbors near by? If so, how many?
What WPA security modes are you using?

Try enabling Beamforming and MIMO.


@Websurfer33 wrote:

Did you ever get this working. 

 

Im having the same issues .

 

I have fiber 200/200 Mb when plugged direct i get full speeds while connected to wifi i get max 25mb Up and down on the 2G and even slower 15Mb on the 5G . 

 

I have disabled QoS no geo filter tried reset new firmware 

 

Nothing seems to fix this. 


 

Message 11 of 13
FrankieJ54
Aspirant

Re: Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

The only solution that fixed it for me was unfortunately an exchange for another unit. Now I’m averaging much higher and consistent speeds.
Message 12 of 13
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: Nighthawk XR500 slow wifi speeds

@web, do you get your full speeds via ethernet to the XR500?
Message 13 of 13
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