Nighthawk RAX50 Wifi Capped at 200mbps

[kqcef]

Hi there,

I’m trying to troubleshoot why my wifi speeds are so much slower than the signal that the router is receiving from the modem, especially when it’s below the max for the RAX50.

I have a 400mbps/20 plan from spectrum. I have an Arris SB6183 cable modem. The RAX50 router is connected to the modem via ethernet and running the Internet Speed feature in the Nighthawk app shows it’s getting 450mbps of signal.

When I run a speed test from a phone or laptop connected to the router, I’m getting only ~230mbps max download speeds. I’ve made sure that Traffic Meter and QoS are off and that there is only 1 device connected to the wireless network during any of these tests.

Router and modem are brand new. Any ideas?

[plemans]

Are you testing wireless? 

Many things impact wireless speeds from device used, antenna configuration of your device, distance, interference, drivers, etc. 

What wired speeds do you get when directly connected to the router? 

Firmware on the router? 

[kqcef]

Yep! Testing wirelessly. I don’t have any devices that have an ethernet port to test with unfortunately.

[plemans]

Its tough to tell you if theres an issue or if its related to the device you're testing with based off your info. 

[kqcef]

Sorry about that. Just got an ethernet adapter, speeds clocking in around 380-410 on a Macbook Pro. Any ideas what might be throttling the WiFi throughput?

[kqcef]

Firmware version is v1.0.2.30_2.0.37

[plemans]

it might actually be the wireless devices themself. 

a couple things. 

1. 2.4ghz is much slower than 5ghz. 

2. 5ghz speeds drop off quickly with distance/obstructions

3. a 1x1 antenna device isn't going to be as fast as a 2x2 antenna device

What link speed are your devices showing? your actual throughput speed is going to be roughly 55-65% of what your link speed is. 

[kqcef]

 @plemans Yes, sorry, should specify that I'm testing WiFi speeds on the 5ghz network directly next to the router to reduce any sort of interference or distance variables.

From my MacbookPro, the Tx Rate (which I believe is the Link Speed) is currently 780mbps

[plemans]

What site are you using for speed testing? speedtest.com doesn't always pick the fastest server. I'd try several of them. 

since the RAx has been updated, have you tried any factory reset and reinstalls? That RAX devices were released before the AX spec was even finalized and have responded well to factory resets after changing firmware. 

Another though is what modem are you using? 

[kqcef]

I used a few: 

Google: 182.0

Ookla: 223.17

Speakeasy: 217.5

Fast.com: 180

I've tried factory resets, updating to the latest .40 hot fix firmware, no change in speeds

I'm using an Arris SB6183

Thanks so much for the help!

[plemans]

tried enabling ipv6?

Did you ever get full speed with it? 

How old is it? 

[kqcef]

Haven't tried IPv6, but both modem and router were brand new out of the box the day I first posted :). before getting on the phone with customer support, I was only getting around 80mbps with the default settings...

[kqcef]

Tested with IPv6, negligible difference if not a bit slower (~180mbps as opposed to low 200s)

[plemans]

I would open a support case with netgear. 

click mynetgear at the top and register an account and then the device

from there you can open a support case

[kqcef]

Hmm. If ethernet speeds are also coming in at around 250mbps, would that give you any other ideas? I might have been looking at the wrong value before. Now I'm testing on a ethernet -> usb-c adapter and it's coming in at 250

[kqcef]

Unfortunately I've already done so and doing whatever changing of settings they suggested only got me to the point we're at now (started at 130mbps before support call, ended up with the speeds I started this thread with). Looks like I'm going to return and purchase a different router, especially because I just received a replacement for this unit and it actually performed worse with the same settings, both connected to ethernet and connected to WiFi