WLAN speed is slow or slow to increase speed

[webn4ever]

I have been searching through all the different forums and online posts through various websites and have not been able to find a solution to this problem, even as multiple people have reported the same issue.  I'm hoping some others may have some insight or other ideas as to what is going on, because I've hit my limit at the present time.

Hardware:

NightHawk X6 AC3200 R8000-100NAS (FW: 1.0.4.62) - Purchased 5/2020 (2 months out of complimentary support now  )

        - The R8000 is not configured with any Dynamic QoS or any special configurations.  I'm currently running factory defaults.

SurfBoard SB8200 (with dual 1G interfaces) with service speed of 400/20

When running speed tests through the R8000 (wired or wireless), I am not able to get to my maximum subscribed downstream speed and when I do, it is only for a few moments.  I seem to be stuck around the 260Mbps download rate.  Speed across the LAN interfaces seems to be fine, but I can't say that I have moved multiple gigs of files across the interfaces in long stretches, to monitor the LAN performance.

I can plug my laptop directly into the SurfBoard and get my subscribed speed without issue.  I currently still have my ISP's router connected as well to the second interface on the SurfBoard and can run a speed test in parallel or individually and consistently maintain 325Mbps - 350Mbps or better.

I've performed a factory reset via the web interface of the R8000 without any improvement.  Last night I did a hard reset (reset button for more than 5 seconds until the power light blinks amber) and got it to at least start breaking the 260Mb limit mentioned above, but not consistently.

I've verified that the R8000 is showing a 1G link speed to the router, replaced cables, checked home wiring jacks, connected the router directly to the modem (not using any home wiring), various previous firmware versions, and still can't get the R8000 to consistently get past 260Mbps. 

Oh and now I can't remotely manage the R8000 with the NightHawk app, while off network, which previously worked.

I hate to toss this device, but it is starting to look like I'm going to have to do just that, unless someone has any other ideas.

Thanks in advance to all who inquire.

[plemans]

Try installing version 1.0.4.28 of the firmware to the R8000. then factory reset and clean install the router. Don't install a backup configuration. 

the newer versions had netgear armor added and maybe yours isn't playing nice with armor. 

[webn4ever]

I just tried that specific version (previously tried 1.0.3.54) and still nothing better.

The router is trying, but it seems like the bus on the board is having an issue.  I'm seeing some inconsistency from what the speedtest from the router and my PC says, versus my WiFi driven test from my cell phone.

Wired and from the router, I'm only showing 120Mbps - 160Mbps, but my phone is getting to 260Mbps or even 317Mbps on one test.  But the average from my phone is 258Mbps - 290Mbps, over 9 tests.  My odd reults are the 317 and a low of 155.

This worked after Armor expired, so this is just perplexing that it having this issue.  I get that hardware fails, but I would've expected a more spectactular failure instead of something that just makes you mad.

[plemans]

try it with armor disabled.

wireless you're getting about what you can expect if you're hitting 250+

wired you should be able to get faster. One thing I'd avoid is the built in speedtest in the netgear app. it rarely picks the fastest server (usually the closest)

[webn4ever]

Armor isn't in this older firmware, so nothing to disable there.

As for the wireless from my phone, I can get well beyond the 260.  I can hit 480 off the ISP router.  I'm not sure what my wireless max would be, other than I know I see an 866 link on WiFi to the R8000 when I'm close to it on the 5GHz network.

[plemans]

a triband isn't the same as a high end dual band. 

https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wireless/wireless-reviews/32489-netgear-r8000-nighthawk-x6-review-pa...

[webn4ever]

So last night I thought this was resolved, but apparently not. 

I did a reset on my modem last night, the R8000 as well as the ISP provided router and everything was rocking for longer than previous verifications, while on the older firmware.

Since I'm currently directly exposed, I didn't want to run the older firmware for any longer than necessary, so I did the update to the lastest version.  I checked speeds at various points before calling it a night, and was still rocking.

Got up this morning and back to the same old problem.  I can get full speed on my ISP provided router, but not from the R8000.

As for the wireless signal attenuation, I'm on a strong -32dBm signal and can get the fast speed when the R8000 wants to let me have it.  I'm not competing with other routers (other than the ISP provided router) as my closest neighbor is about 250' away and a channel scan shows that I have them separated nicely apart from each other.  I'm using a Galaxy S10 5G, so I'm confident that my phone is not a limiting factor.  I have even tested with my girlfriends iPhone and she is getting the same results.

I guess it is time to start looking into another router.

[plemans]

are you going:

modem----isp supplied router-----r8000?

you keep referencing your isp supplied router. what is it and how is it setup in the system?

[webn4ever]

So... Yes and no.

The original setup was Spectrum provided Hitron modem, to Spectrum (Wave 2 or 3 if I recall correctly, odd looking tower type device) router, to the R800, as this was the only way I could pull this off.  Spectrum had/has some sort of MAC address filtering (at least what the tech would admit to) to limit to those devices and only allow their device to be connected.

I like being able to see my network and determine what is going on, so I purchased the Arris SurfBoard modem and swapped it in and have it online.  The SurfBoard has 2 - 1Gbps ports on it.

So I can split the routers and connect each directly to the modem, or of course daisy chain them.

I have tested in all different configurations and no matter what, the R8000 keeps reducing the speed.