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nighthawk xr500 speed help

crj83
Aspirant

nighthawk xr500 speed help

Hello i have the nighthawk xr500 with virgin 320mb internet and i am struggling to get the speed on my laptop and other devices ont the laptop i am getting between 30 100 mb same on the iphone 5. I downloaded the nighthawk app on the i phone 5 and when i tested the speed on the nighthawk app it say's 380 mb but on speedtest site only 30 to 100 mb

Message 1 of 10
plemans
Guru

Re: nighthawk xr500 speed help

When you test with the app, it actually hosts the test off the router and not from your phone. This is why you're getting full speed on your app and not using the speedtest app.  

What device are you testing with? Are you testing with smart connect on? If smart connect is on and your device is connected on the 2.4ghz band, you can expect slower speeds.  So details are important. For speed testing, shut off smart connect, assign different ssid names for the bands, and then connect to the 5ghz at a close range and test. 5ghz is going to have your fastest speeds but doesn't penatrate as far.  2.4ghz is going to reach further distances but with less (some times significant less) speed. 

 

its hard to fully evaluate speeds using wireless devices and using smart connect due to smart connects load balancing, specific wireless devices antenna arrangement, and even wireless interference. its good for testing channel arrangements and router placment but can't give you varible results. 

 

Best testing is hardwired (which the built in app does by hosting it on the that specific router). Even saying that gets iffy when you approach gigabit speeds as then you need a computer with gigabit and a fast enough processor to fully stress it. 

Message 2 of 10
crj83
Aspirant

Re: nighthawk xr500 speed help

yes i turned the smart connection off and i am useing 2.4 ghz the laptop i am useing is a dell g3 3579 i also have a alienware aurora r7 pc the speeds are better on the AW which is up stairs the router is down stairs i can get the 320 mb at times. I have hard wired the dell g3 with 2 different cables and the speeds were 49 mb (cat 5e) and 56 mb (cat 7)

Message 3 of 10
plemans
Guru

Re: nighthawk xr500 speed help


@crj83 wrote:

yes i turned the smart connection off and i am useing 2.4 ghz the laptop i am useing is a dell g3 3579 i also have a alienware aurora r7 pc the speeds are better on the AW which is up stairs the router is down stairs i can get the 320 mb at times. I have hard wired the dell g3 with 2 different cables and the speeds were 49 mb (cat 5e) and 56 mb (cat 7)


If your AW gets the full speeds over hardwired and over wireless, I'm inclined to believe its a problem with the dell or just the function of smart connect.  2.4ghz is going to give you significant slower speeds than the 5ghz. have you connected the dell to the 5ghz?

 

there's a thread here with good information about smart connect and how it functions. the label is about login info but it has a lot of smart connect.

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/Router-Log-in/td-p/1740461

 

Message 4 of 10
crj83
Aspirant

Re: nighthawk xr500 speed help

I get about the same speed via 5ghz but it seems very buggie

Message 5 of 10
plemans
Guru

Re: nighthawk xr500 speed help

You get slow speeds on the 5ghz only on the dell or on the AW as well? How far from the router are you testing?

it comes down to if its the router of a specific device causing the issue. Test in same location with the dell, AW, a phone, etc. compare the results.  

Message 6 of 10
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: nighthawk xr500 speed help

Sounds like plemans is correct in that the dell is the one device experiencing the issue. You may need to update the network drivers/adapters on the dell.

Message 7 of 10
crj83
Aspirant

Re: nighthawk xr500 speed help

It's not just the dell it's the iphone 5 and two differant iphone x all slow speeds 

Message 8 of 10
Netduma-Fraser
NetDuma Partner

Re: nighthawk xr500 speed help

So just wireless devices then? Use a WiFi analyser to find the least congested channel in your area and then change to that.
Message 9 of 10
plemans
Guru

Re: nighthawk xr500 speed help


@crj83 wrote:

It's not just the dell it's the iphone 5 and two differant iphone x all slow speeds 


Also list what speeds you are getting on them, what distance from the router you were, and 2.4ghz or 5ghz speeds. This helps. Try the scanner as prior suggested. 

Message 10 of 10
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