Nighthawk R7000 firmware update with APP & Connected Question

[WilsonY]

So I had upgraded my Comcast internet speed to 800mbs about a year ago and upgraded my modem and router to be able to run at Gig speed.   For the past year since the upgrade, my internet speed have ony reached about 250mbs at best, and I had always thought it was the Provider's fault.  I finally had a tech come out today and based on his diagnosis, the speed coming out of the modem is 1gb, so that leaves him to conclude that the issue is with the router.  He suggested that I check to see if there is  a new firmware update, which, there indeed is.  Here comes the problem though...

I used the Nighthawk app to check for updates and it says "no new firmware is available at this time".   But when I look at what firmware version it is currently running on, it says v1.0.11."126".  According to Netgear website, the newest firmware is version ..."134".  After reading the manual, it seems like I'll have to do Manual Update....  So my problem now is that none of my laptops have any Ethernet Ports.  Hoping someone can give me some advice here.  I'm a novice when it comes to tech, so hoping there is a simple way of doing this.  Thanks in advance.

[plemans]

a couple things. 

1. you don't need ethernet to update manual. its recommended but you can do it over wifi. 

https://kb.netgear.com/23960/How-do-I-manually-update-the-firmware-on-my-NETGEAR-router

2. that router won't hit gigabit speeds over wifi. It will over wired. Here's some realistic speedtesting info from smallnetbuilder (reputable site) on how that router performed https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/32239-ac1900-first-look-netgear-r7000-a-as...

3. what wired speeds are you getting? (hint, the built in speedtest isn't accurate). 

4. how are you testing those speeds? 

[WilsonY]

Thanks for the quick reply.  I'll have to try this tonight when I get home and connected to the network.  Good to know that it is not an absolute necessity to connect through Ethernet for the FW update.  Question:  based on your experience, can this lack of firmware update affect the internet speed this much?  I attached a screen shot of the speed test results over the past several months.  Based on the App, the speed usually goes from the low 100s to about 250 mbs on average.  

The speed test that I've done is through the App.    Understood on the difference between wire connection speed vs wireless :).   I'm just wondering if that speed a general difference of about 700-800 mbs slower that what is optimal when connected via wire?  Thanks for your input.

[FURRYe38]

What I get with my R7000 currently:

https://community.netgear.com/t5/Nighthawk-WiFi-Routers/New-R7000-Firmware-Version-1-0-11-134-Releas...

[WilsonY]

Wow, the difference is very drastic...is this normal with any kind of router no matter how advance the router is?

[plemans]

You're going to get a bit of variation. 

1. wired speed is going to be the best. Least amount of interference and least amount of overhead

2. 5ghz is next fastest. It'll have speeds that drop off quickly with distance, obstructions, interference. but it has a higher starting speed by a significant amount

3. 2.4ghz is a slow network. but it broadcasts further and through more materials. Also suffers from more interference from other 2.4ghz networks/devices. 

4. Your device makes a big impact. Some devices only have a 1x1 internal antenna. A decent wifi device is a 2x2 devices. Pretty rare to find 3x3 antenna devices. Plus if you're testing on an older AC device versus a newer one you'll have different efficiencies. 

If you want to learn more about it, I'd suggest a read through this site/article. It does a great job of breaking it down and doesn't get to complex. 🙂

https://www.duckware.com/tech/wifi-in-the-us.html

[FURRYe38]

Nature of the wifi beast. 

---

@WilsonY wrote:

Wow, the difference is very drastic...is this normal with any kind of router no matter how advance the router is?

---