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Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

comper
Aspirant

S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

Latest firmware. Xfinity gigabit plan. Everything left equal aside from the ax box. Running on 5ghz HT80 mode (S10 doesn't support 160 and it was slightly slower and inconsistent when I tested it independently against HT80). Channel 161 with no interference.

5 feet from router
WiFi 5
Speedtest 727/42
Fast.com 900/40

WiFi 6
Speedtest 604/41
Fast.com 740/40

Bedroom
WiFi 5
Speedtest 422/41
Fast.com 550/40

WiFi 6
Speedtest 343/42
Fast.com 400/40

I was interested at the results and figured I'd share mine in case anyone else was looking for some speed tests with a WiFi 6 enabled device. I hope WiFi 6 will only improve from here on out.
Model: RAX120|Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi Router
Message 1 of 17
schumaku
Guru

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

More interesting would be the PHY link speed negotiated at these locations with the two standards - check the Network Details along with each test. Convinced you see - at least on the short range tests - link rates above the max 866 Mbit/s (2x2, HT80, 400 ns guard, 256-QAM, 5/6 coding) - otherwise some of these higher Wi-Fi 5 numbers would not be possible at all.

 

Based on the numbers, knowing the S10+ is a 2x2 WiFi radio, you have not tested a "standard" 802.11ac, much more 802.11ac with the non-standard 1024-QAM - and this the key component is where most of the performance "advantage" for 802.11ax (WiFi 6) is coming from.

 

Still, your Wi-Fi 6 test numbers are lower from what I would expect in the comparison.

Message 2 of 17
comper
Aspirant

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

Just did some looking based on your response and on ac I'm showing 866 and on ax I'm showing 1200 when 5 feet from router. What you said about the non standard ac makes sense and unfortunately there's no switch (at least that I can see) that would take me off 1024, just HT20/40/80/160.

But yeah, first speedtest this morning on ac showing 866 PHY was 816/41 and on ax showing 1200 PHY, I ran 3 tests and highest I achieved was 586/42 so it's definitely a little odd.
Message 3 of 17
comper
Aspirant

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

Huh I had responded with a picture attached but now it's not showing up. Anyway, thanks for your response. Your explanation about the non-standard ac makes sense. Unfortunately I can't test any other way as the only toggle is for HT20/40/80/160, but QAM is always at 1024.

ax showing 1200 PHY
ac showing 866 PHY

First ac test this morning came back 816/41
Ran three ax tests and fastest I got was 586/42

So it's definitely a little odd at this point, but hopeful it will improve with software tweaks.
Message 4 of 17
schumaku
Guru

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

More than 800 or even 900 as you listed before sounds almost resp. completely impossible on a 866 Mbit 802.11ac PHY.

Message 5 of 17
schumaku
Guru

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

With just the 866 Mbit/s PHY link rate, it's probably not 1024-QAM 802.11ac ... that would make a link rate of about 975 or 1083 Mbit/s.

Message 6 of 17
avtella
Prodigy

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

1024 QAM is not on Qualcomm based routers, only on Broadcom based and only works when both client and router have BCM chipsets. The Galaxy does use a Broadcom WiFi chipset but the router is a Qualcomm based unit so no 1024QAM on AC.
Message 7 of 17
avtella
Prodigy

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

1024 QAM on AX is standardized across vendors.

1024 QAM in general is more susceptible to noise however. That’s why I can get a stable 1.7 Gbps link rate across my house on AC HT160 but it fluctuates between 1.2-2.4 on HT160 AX depending on location.

As for 1024 QAM on AC, even with BCMs non standard 1024 QAM implementation the BCM based routers still in general had lower peak & average throughput than the R7800/R9000 (Qualcomm based routers) even at close ranges (where 1024 QAM is more effective) with BCM based clients. On AC it was more of a gimmick.
Message 8 of 17
comper
Aspirant

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

Hoping the picture shows this time as my attachment.
Message 9 of 17
schumaku
Guru

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

Very odd ... and sorry for my mistake mixing chipset vendors for the RAX120.

Message 10 of 17
comper
Aspirant

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

Are you sure about that, Avtella? My settings clearly state 1024-QAM on the router side, but maybe that's not official? Also, I find it odd the S10 would use a broadcom modem when the chipset is a Qualcomm product (US Snapdragon 855 variant, not exynos).
Message 11 of 17
comper
Aspirant

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

Disregard the S10 portion of that last post, a quick search shows they must have went Broadcom for the WiFi 6 capabilities.
Message 12 of 17
avtella
Prodigy

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

1024 QAM is for AX which is standard regardless of Broadcom or Qualcomm , 1024 QAM on AC however is not standard and is a Broadcom proprietary addition which only works between their router chipsets and client chips. It doesn’t matter if you have the Sanpdragon or Exynos version Samsung is using a BCM chip for WiFi. It’s the Broadcom BCM4375 in the S10 and as far as I know, no HT160.

HT160 is more susceptible to interference and can lead to reduced range depending on your environment so unless you’re benchmarking or something, not much of a loss by not having it on a phone.

Samsung has been using Broadcom WiFi chips on their Galaxy S series devices for quite a while. But yeah the one in the S10 supports AX (WiFi-6).
Message 13 of 17
comper
Aspirant

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

That makes sense. I'm guessing the tooltip may just be wrong on the router settings because it shows the ax/1024-QAM when on ax mode then it switches to ac/1024-QAM when ax is turned off.

 

Thanks for the info. Still seems odd that I'm getting less performance on that standard despite the higher link speed. 

Message 14 of 17
SAM_the_GAM
Luminary

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

I have the AX8 RAX80 and notice that if I set the speed to 4800 Mbps enabling 160 MHz channel mode my Wireless AC devices such as Samsung Note 9 will test slower on speed tests around 300 - 400 mbps on my GIG connection but if I set the speed to 2400 Mbps I get about 667-700 mbps down on Note 9. When I check the AC connection speed on the phone it is higher then 866 and be 1083.

Message 15 of 17
avtella
Prodigy

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

A new firmware 1.0.1.86 with one of the fixes mentioned specifically for the S10 just got released:
https://kb.netgear.com/000061013/RAX120-Firmware-Version-1-0-1-86
Message 16 of 17
comper
Aspirant

Re: S10+ faster on WiFi 5 vs WiFi 6

Thanks for the heads-up. I ended up returning the S10+ over the weekend to switch back to my iPhone full-time, so I can't run any new tests with the new firmware. I'm glad they addressed it, though, and I look forward to trying it out again whenever I pick up another WiFi 6 device in the future. 

Message 17 of 17
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