× Introducing the Orbi 970 Series Mesh System with WiFi 7 technology. For more information visit the NETGEAR Press Room.
Orbi WiFi 7 RBE973
Reply

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

dlwhite66
Guide

RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

On Xfinity Internet Service.  

Using a Netgear CM1200 cable modem

Nighthawk RAX120

Using Nighthawk App, Wired and Wireless connections

Nighthawk App reports 326Mbps; Speedtest.Net app on wired connection to CM1200 reports 320Mbps

Speedtest.net App on wireless connections for laptop, desktop and iPad: consistent 20-24Mbs download

Mix of testing connections 2.4 and 5 ghz, same results regardless of network

Have reset to factory, same results

Have turned on then off then on then off QOS and AX support

No combination changes the wireless download speed. 

 

I'm coming to the conclusion that the RAX120 is a broken box. It's so frustrating as I had switched to another vendor's gear for years and returned recently to take advantage of the higher speeds Comcast offers.  I'm getting those speeds on the cable modem, but not even close on wireless. 

 

Suggestions? 

 

Model: RAX120|Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi Router
Message 1 of 16
plemans
Guru

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

1. What firmware is on your RAX120? make sure to update over a hardwired connection. 

2. You've stated you factory reset the device. good work. 

3. Did you disable smart connection to seperate out the 2.4ghz and 5ghz signal?

4. Can you do a wireless channel scan and post a screen snip/shot here?

5. Have you tried reinstalling the firmware?

6. have you tried downgrading a firmware version if you're on the latest? It wouldn't be the first time a new firmware broke something. 

Message 2 of 16
dlwhite66
Guide

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

Thanks for your questions. 

1. firmware is latest listed: V1.0.1.90

3. Yes, Smart Connect is turned off and the 2.4 and 5 have different names

4. I live on 4 acres with few houses anywhere near. I'm sure it's not channel congestion. But, no I don't have a scanning tool so haven't tried that. 

5. No, I haven't tired reinstalling same version.  It's firmware. How would reinstalling the same firmware change anything (that a factory reset doesn't)? 

6. This is the firmware that came with the box and I haven't seen any down-version downloads from netgear site. So no, I haven't tried this. 

 

I'll try 5. but if that works, netgear has done some very poor engineering. 

I'm happy to try 6 if there's a place to access down-versions. 

 

thanks.

 

 

Message 3 of 16
plemans
Guru

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

Reinstalling firmware can help when something was corrupt during the install process. Factory resetting only removes the settings but doesn't load a backup firmware. So even if you factory reset, if the firmware was bad, its going to stay bad. The newest firmware is 1.0.1.100.  Try downloading that, install over a hardwired connection, factory reset it, and see what happens. 

https://www.netgear.com/support/product/rax120

 

Message 4 of 16
dlwhite66
Guide

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

Installed the .100 firmware.

Reset

Reboot

Download speed 1Mbps

Turned off QOS features, reboot

Download speed back to ~20-24Mbs. 

 

So firmware update did not fix the issue.  

I've tested two very different computers and the ipad. All within line of sight of the Router.  Router is in the same spot my other routers have been in which had no problem getting north of 100Mbps through the entire house. 

 

I've ordered a new router (different brand) to pick up tomorrow and try out. 

 

 

Message 5 of 16
plemans
Guru

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

The RAX120 is new enough you should either be within your 90 days of free support or your 1 year warranty to get it replaced. If the new one functions with the appropriate speeds, you might have gotten a bad device. 

Message 6 of 16
dlwhite66
Guide

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

New Router: 

Won't connect directly to cable modem and get Internet (will work on this later). 

 

But set up as in bridge mode, cabled to RAX120 ethernet Port

So: Computer->New Modem Wireless -> cabled to RAX120 Ethernet

Speedtest (Mbps): 47.85, 244.57, 58.21, 52.83

 

Reconnect to RAX120 wireless 

Speedtest: 19.08, 15.25, 16.76, 24.87

 

BTW, Upload speeds are consistently higher via new wireless router in bridge mode than connecting to wireless RAX120.

New Router: 21-35Mbps

RAX120: 11-21Mbps

 

 

Message 7 of 16
dlwhite66
Guide

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

I am making progress.  I kept thinking "what could be the reason to throttle bandwidth?"

a) Wireless signal quality - nope, hardwire connection is similarly throttled though a higher speed

b) Wireless client capability - nope, multiple clients behave exactly the same, different router provided higher speeds

c) QOS - should be NOPE, because it's turned off, but I am suspecting this is not true.   (and maybe QOS has a different setting for hardwired connection which would account for the increased but not full speed access). 

 

I turned QOS back on and removed all rules, then added rules for specific mac addresses to make them Highest priority.  Suddenly those computers have access to the full >300Mbps of my ISP connection.  

 

In general, the admin area of QOS rules list is, at best, beta quality.  You can't edit a rule, though it looks like you can. But editing a rule results in a duplicate rule and if focused on Mac Addressed, it won't let you edit/add a rule for a mac address that already has a rule.  Deleting the rule causes the list of Mac Address devices to include two devices for the same Mac Address.  It's all very confusing and clearly not working correctly.  See attached image as an example when trying to create a QOS rule for a mac addresss. 

 

I'm going to continue to see if setting these rules and then turning QOS back off keeps highbandwidth - in which case QOS on/off switch isn't working correctly. 

Message 8 of 16
dlwhite66
Guide

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

After further experimentation and several resets/reboots using latest firmware in beta V1.0.1.100

QOS on 2.4ghz = horrible performance - 1.4Mbps

QOS off 2.4 = average performance - ~24Mbps

Using an older computer with wireless card that supports 2.4 only, so could be bandlimited at the client

 

QOS on 5ghz = excellent performance - nearly full bandwidth of ISP, ~160-300Mbps

QOS off 5 = average performance - ~24Mbps

Using a new HP Laptop and an iPad Pro 10in (gen 6)

 

So something appears to be throttling bandwidth when QOS is off for 5ghz

I have no idea what is happening with QOS on for 2.4ghz. But for now I can at least rely on the 5ghz. 

 

With default set of rules 

 

Message 9 of 16
aFireInside82
Aspirant

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

Following as I'm having similar issues with my RAX120, and have since the purchase date just over 90 days ago. On the latest (1.0.1.100) firmware.

 

We have gigabit internet with Comcast. Direct modem speed test is > 920mbps. Speed test on (awful) Nighthawk app is similar. 

 

Assuming we're talking the same language... When my QOS is enabled (WMM on 2.4 and ghz anyway), I get ~30mbps / 400mpbs wireless, respectively. Wired network speeds slow, especially on my TVs (a new LG OLED and Samsung QLED), which hardwired become unusable for streaming. Disabling QOS (WMM) limits the wifi speeds to a crawl, but now the TVs show 96mbps download speed on a Netflix speed test. (I assume the TVs have 10/100 network cards?)


Enabling WMM brings the wifi speeds back up, but kills the wired speed.

 

Enabling upload QOS doesn't seem to work, as the interface takes around 2 minutes to reboot, but the box remains unchecked.

 

I tried browsing / utilizing the "hidden" QOS menu but I don't understand what QOS Fasttrack VS service options are.


We have AX disabled and traffic meter disabled.

 

My whole house is wired, and I'm extremely dissapointed in the flaky performance of this router. On the plus side... every wireless device on every floor receives a good signal.

Model: A6150|AC1200 Dual Band WiFi USB Mini Adapter, RAX120|Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi Router
Message 10 of 16
dlwhite66
Guide

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

I'm working with Netgear support to trouble shoot but it's very slow going because I live in the foothills of the rockies and have no cell service so internet is my only telephone access.  So any change and reboot means also restarting the call after the reboot. 

 

so far they have just gathered information. 

Message 11 of 16
NS_LabMan
Aspirant

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

Seems to be a firmware issue/bug.

 

Just moved my router one room over to hardwire my PC since I finally ran the coax today and started having WiFi issues. Having the same issue, capped at ~30 down on both 2.4GHz and 5GHz with nothing changing other than moving to the otherside of the wall it already was on and plugging in 1 PC.

Model: RAX120|Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi Router
Message 12 of 16

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

Hello, I still have additional information.

I verified that, when the router renews the lease with the wired device, the speed is halved (this happens even if the lease is renewed manually from the "connection status" panel). In this case it is enough, with the qos activated, to open the "connected devices" panel, select the device connected by cable and simply click on "apply" (even without changing any settings) and the speed returns to maximum. However, at the first automatic renewal of the lease, the speed will be halved again.

 

I gave this information, like all the information I have given to you so far, to the technical support, which transmitted it to the engineers.

I don't think they will be limited to generic requests to do useless tests. It is all too obvious that this is a software problem and it is up to them to solve it if they do not want to be faced with massive product returns.

In this regard, I believe that the fact that the problem is widespread and does not concern only one person is a good thing.

 

 

Model: RAX200|Nighthawk Tri-band AX12 12-Stream Wi-Fi 6 Router
Message 13 of 16
PigletRider
Apprentice

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)


@dlwhite66 wrote:

After further experimentation and several resets/reboots using latest firmware in beta V1.0.1.100

QOS on 2.4ghz = horrible performance - 1.4Mbps

QOS off 2.4 = average performance - ~24Mbps

Using an older computer with wireless card that supports 2.4 only, so could be bandlimited at the client

 

QOS on 5ghz = excellent performance - nearly full bandwidth of ISP, ~160-300Mbps

QOS off 5 = average performance - ~24Mbps

Using a new HP Laptop and an iPad Pro 10in (gen 6)

 

So something appears to be throttling bandwidth when QOS is off for 5ghz

I have no idea what is happening with QOS on for 2.4ghz. But for now I can at least rely on the 5ghz. 

 

With default set of rules 

 


Hmmm... I've never turned on nor toggled any of the QoS settings.  When my 5GHz radio is working, I get the full speed (~200Mbps down).  When it's not working, I get half of that and (or 0), causing me to reboot and/or factory reset the router, whichever recovers the radio's performance.

 

When I next notice a serious performance degredation on my 5GHz radio, I'll try toggling the QoS settings and see if the speed returns.  If it does, then this confirms your findings.  QoS ("Quality of Service" ironically), even when off, is screwing things up royally.

Model: RAX120|Nighthawk AX12 12-Stream WiFi Router
Message 14 of 16
dlwhite66
Guide

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

Don't just toggle QOS, but make sure the Mac Address of your devices is in the QOS list with priority set to Highest

Message 15 of 16
GabboCH
Apprentice

Re: RAX120 slow wireless download speed (24Mbps) with High Internet Speed (325Mbps)

Seems very similar to the issues other people have experienced on the RAX80.

I have tried the same things (QoS on/off) to try to improve 5G performance but either way it seems to grind to a halt after a day or so uptime.

 

Its quite clearly a firmware issue but waiting on a response/acceptance from Netgear is like watching water grind away a stone....

Message 16 of 16
Top Contributors
Discussion stats
  • 15 replies
  • 5865 views
  • 3 kudos
  • 7 in conversation
Announcements

Orbi WiFi 7