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Re: XR500 Speed Problem

Chowningr
Aspirant

XR500 Speed Problem

Recently purchased an XR500 from Amazon. I have AT&T Fiber with Gigabit speed. I am currently getting nowhere near my rated speeds since using the XR500. Running a speed test on my PC gets me about 32MB/s. I am using wireless because of port locations in my house. Can someone help me figure out what settings I'm messing up? I've tried with QoS off and on and still get super slow speeds.
Model: XR500|Nighthawk Pro Gaming Router
Message 1 of 22
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

On the QoS page on the Anti-Bufferbloat panel click the 3 line icon on the left of the panel and ensure you have 1000/1000 entered for your speeds. Then click 'Disable QoS'. Once you've done that disable Smart Connect on WiFi settings and then connect manually to 5GHz and see what you get. It would also be worth trying to test via ethernet with these settings to see what speeds you get.
Message 2 of 22
Chowningr
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

Disabled the Smart. I am connected to 5GHz on WiFi and disabled QoS. Now speed is about 22MB/s. When connected by Ethernet I get a speed of 43MB/s. Still terrible.
Message 3 of 22
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

What speedtest site are you using to test this? It can be the case that when introducing a new router into your connection that it takes a little while to sync up with the ISP, during which speeds can be reduced. Try giving the router the MAC address of your previous router in Internet Setup as this may counteract it if thats the issue.
Message 4 of 22
Chowningr
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

I tried to MAC swap trick. Only increased speeds minimally, been using speedtest.net

 

Call ISP, AT&T, and they say everything is set up properly on their end. 

Message 5 of 22
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

What is the ethernet cable cat that you're using to connect the modem to the XR500? Did the XR detect the correct speeds during the setup wizard?
Message 6 of 22
Chowningr
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

The XR500 detected around 750MB/s.

It is a Cat5 cable

Message 7 of 22
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

Slightly confused as you're using different speed measurements you have 1000 Mbps up/down. Router detected 750 Mbps which isn't too bad. The tests you're doing now is speedtest actually showing 22 Mbps or ~184mbps (22MBps)? One is bad but the other would be terrible!
Message 8 of 22
Chowningr
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

Yes. I tried a reset and can get between 100-180MB/s right now.

Still not getting what was determined in setup or what my service is rated for.
Message 9 of 22
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

Having just double checked Cat 5 cables while it's possible to be able to get gigabit it's not always guaranteed. I'd suggest getting at least two Cat5e cables (1 to connect modem to router and one for PC to router tests) and see if that improves your speed.
Message 10 of 22
Chowningr
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

I did try with a Cat5 on both sides already. And I'm predominantly going to have to use the WiFi since of where the location is in my home.
Message 11 of 22
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

That's what I mean Cat5 won't always get gigabit, a Cat5e cable or higher should be used to ensure its not the cable.
Message 12 of 22
Chowningr
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

Okay. Misunderstood. I ran a test from my phone today on the 2.4 and got over 300. But when I used my PC upstairs on the 5GHz I only got a speed of 80.
Message 13 of 22
Netduma_Alex
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

So the 2.4GHz network is faster than the 5GHz network? Well that ain't right, that ain't right at all...

 

How far away is the PC from the router? Remember that 5GHz has a shorter range than 2.4GHz, so you'd have to be in the same room as the router to get the maximum speeds from it. It drops off quickly after that, making 2.4GHz the more versatile band.

Message 14 of 22
Chowningr
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Speed Problem


Update: Swapped the cables from the fiber box on the wall to the modem from Cat5 to Cat7 and swapped the cable from modem to router to a Cat7. I used a Cat5 to go from router to laptop, still only netted me about 300Mbps, vice closer to my 1000Mbps rated. Switched to WiFi in the same room, both bands were around 180Mbps, only differing by about 20-30Mbps. Moved my laptop up to the gameroom, I get about 80Mbps. On my phone running the speed test it is about 175Mbps, so maybe it is that my laptop (5 years old) just has a bad WiFi card. 

 

Router is on first floor in an office, game room is on second floor. Both rooms are on the same side of the house. Straight line distance is probably 35 feet, just from doing some rough pythagorean. 

Message 15 of 22
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

Well if you're still using Cat5 for the laptop ethernet I would expect it to cap out at about 300mbps so it may be capable of getting higher. Just to double check are all these WiFi tests done with QoS completely disabled? Now you changed the cables if you do the setup wizard again (don't need to complete it just click off after speed test) and do the speed test on that does it show higher than 750 this time?
Message 16 of 22
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

Althought using CAT6 or higher cabling should results in seeing near 900Mpbs on 1Gb ISP servcies, wireless speed tests will not see this with current wifi devices and this model router. Most wifi devices max out at around 400-500Mpbs depending on what the device really supports. You'll need to contact the devices Mfr to see what actual thruput speeds they support on there device. 

 

Also check the actual connetion rate of yoru mobile devices by installing WIFi sweet spots app. Then while you have the mobile device near the XR router, run the app and you can see what connection rate the device is connecting at with the XR router. 

You may need to disable smart connect so you can ensure the device connects at either 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz before testing to compare. 

 

 

Message 17 of 22
Chowningr
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

Smart connect is off. QoS disabled. The device mfr is Netgear, hence the reason I'm on here and the topic is about the XR500. The XR500 boasts >1Gbps speeds, which is why I bought it.

I still need to do speed test using DumaOS, all my speeds have been through speedtest.net and the supporting apps on my phone.
Message 18 of 22
FURRYe38
Guru

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

You'll need to contact the devices (phone, pad) Mfr to see what actual thruput speeds they support on there device. 

Message 19 of 22
Chowningr
Aspirant

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

After doing some more equipment checks and being gone for a bit, I ran the test through the setup wizard as recommended and it did manage to get around 800Mb/s on the speeds. Still getting nowhere near that upstairs and really don't want to have to drop money into setting up a mesh system. 

Message 21 of 22
Netduma_Alex
NetDuma Partner

Re: XR500 Speed Problem

It doesn't work perfectly for everybody but it might be worth trying an ethernet-through-mains/powerline solution. In theory this can reach quite high speeds if there's no noise.

Message 22 of 22
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