Nighthawk R8000 to Virgin Media Super Hub 2 Connection problem.

[Canth]

My R8000 will not connect to the virgin media super hub at 1.0 Gbps. I have a 150 meg line and through the R8000 I only get 96 Mbps.

My local area network is set to the following:

Speed = 1.0 Gbps.

I have performed factory default settings and it has not cured the problem.

If I connect the VM super hub 2 directly to my PC I get 158.2 Mbps when the local area newtwork speed is 1.0 Gbps

I am running Windows 10

When connected to the VM hub via Wifi I get 157 Mbps on the % GHz line.

Any sugestions on how to get this sorted would be very usfulll

[Canth · Accepted solution]

OK I will look into that. Thanks again.

[netwrks]

You may have a negotiation issue between the R8000 and the Super Hub. First try replacing the cable between hub and R8000 with at least a CAT5e cable. (Cat6 better)\ and retest..

[Canth]

The cable is a cat 6 and I have tested it with a network cable tester. The same cable is used to connect the VM modem to the R8000 and the PC. 

[netwrks]

if you have a dumb 1 gig switch, use it to plug the router and VM hub into it. Ther's an obvious negotiation between both devices..

[TheEther]

@Canth, when you connect the R8000 to the VM hub, does the link light and/or the link status in the R8000 management page indicate that the link speed is 1 Gigabit?

[Canth]

I cannot answer that as I dont know where that page is on the R8000 system.

[Canth]

I found some information about a connection and it is DHCP if that helps.

[Canth]

Also the link light on the VM hub is yellow (100 Mbps).

From what the VM help line said I think the green light should be on for 1.0 Gbps.

[TheEther]

On the Advanced page, click on Show Statistics and you will see the link speed for each port.

But if the VM hub is indicating the link speed is 100 Mbps, then I expect the R8000 will say the same thing. Either your cable is bad or, perhaps, the VM hub is forcing the link speed to 100 Mbps. Check if there is a speed setting on the VM hub.

[Canth]

OK I nipped out today and got a Thunderbolt to Gigabit Ethernet adapter for my MacBook Air so I can test the VM router cables and so on.

First of all I tried every Ethernet port on the VM router and got 1 Gbps (150 Mbps).

Second I tested the cable to the R8000 router and got 1 Gbps (150 Mbps).

I have now found the information you wanted on the R8000:

WAN = 100M/Full

LAN 1 = 1000M/Full

LAN 2 = Link Down (Nothing connected).

LAN 3 = 100M/Full

LAN 4 = 1000M/Full

2.4G WLAN b/g/n = 600M

5G WLAN a/n/ac = 1300M

5G WLAN 2 a/n/ac = 1300M

Nighthawk Firmware Version is V1.0.3.4_1.1.2

[Canth]

I could find no speed setting on the VM hub.

[netwrks]

As I suggested on the first page... If you have a dumb 1 gig switch, use it to plug the router and VM hub into it. There's an obvious negotiation between both devices..

Then check your WAN connection. Even if you can borrow one to test with.

[Canth]

I will see if I can borrow one during the week.

Thanks.

[TheEther]

You should be able to test the ability of the WAN port to negotiate to 1 Gbps by connecting your Mac to it. Then log into the router with another device and check the speed of the WAN port.

[Canth]

I will try that.

[Canth]

I have plugged the Mac into the WAN port and I get 1000/Full.

It still goes back to 100/Full when I put the VM hub in the WAN port.

[TheEther]

Are your Ethernet cables straight-through or crossover?  It shouldn't matter, but try using the other type than you are currently using between the R8000 WAN port and VM hub.  If that still doesn't help, then use the advice of @netwrks.

[Canth]

My cable is a straight through cat 6. I tried a crossover cat 5E cable and it made no difference.

I got a Netgear ProSafe 5-Port Gigabit Desktop switch and connected it to the VM modem and then the R8000 to the switch.

The results I got are below:

WAN = 1000M/Full

LAN 1 = 1000M/Full

LAN 2 = Link Down

LAN 3 = 100M/Full

LAN 4 = 1000M/Full

2.4G WLAN b/g/n = 600M

5G WLAN a/n/ac = 1300M

5G WLAN 2 a/n/ac = 1300M

I will now look at the @netwrks.

[TheEther]

Well, your WAN port speed is now 1 Gbps, so I'd say that @netwrks was right.  You should be able to get your full 150 Mbps through the R8000, now.

[Canth]

Yes I had a 1000m connection but I was only getting 126 Mbps (Not 1507 Mbps).

This bugged me so I tested the cable again and found no problems.

Cut the end off at my computer end. Fitted a new RJ45, tested it and tried it in the R8000.

Fixed the problem now getting 157 Mbps. Although I tested the cable several times and found no problems it was worth replacing the RJ45.

I have now ordered a new cable Cat6E and will use that in future.

Many thanks and I think it was worth it as I learnt a few things as well.

[TheEther]

Glad to hear that your problem has been resolved.  Note, technically there is no such thing as Cat 6E.  There's Cat 6 and Cat 6A.  For short runs, like 10m or less, they are overkill.  Cat 5E is perfectly suitable for 1 Gbps.  But if you are determined to go better than 5E, then skip Cat 6 and go to Cat 6A.  The latter is rated for 10 Gbps up to 100m.

Since you appear to be terminating your own cables, you should investigate whether you may need new tooling.  I believe Cat 6A, especially shielded Cat 6A, requires different methods for termination.

[Canth · Accepted solution]

OK I will look into that. Thanks again.