Wired ports on Orbi show declining speed on every test typically ending around 500mb

[Pdarbonne]

Have a similar issue with my Orbi RBR850 and 2gb frontier fiber.  Speed tests to the RBR850 max out at 2.3gb every time.  Wired ports on Orbi show declining speed on every test typically ending around 500mb.  Very much feels like a firmware issue to me.  Have tried all the typical actions - replacing cables to 6a STP, resetting the Orbi and turning off all other non needed configs such as parental control.  Same issues when on web/video calls with declining performance which is getting old. Would love to determine where the bottleneck is before tearing out my entire setup and going with business level equipment.  Not easy to do without any engineering support from Netgear.  Am surprised we are totally cut off without paying for pro support for a consumer product.  In any case will keep watch on this thread. 

[FURRYe38]

What Firmware version is currently loaded?
What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too?

How many RBS are deployed? 
What is the size of your home? Sq Ft?

Does this happen with the RBS turned OFF? 
Does this happen with both wireless and wired devices? 
What channel configurations are currently set on the router?

Is SIP ALG enabled or disabled on the RBR? 

Speed test results same across two wired PCs? 

[Pdarbonne]

Thank you for asking and offering to assist.  See my answers below:

What Firmware version is currently loaded?  - Firmware is 7.2.6.21_5.0.20

What is the Mfr and model# of the Internet Service Providers modem/ONT the NG router is connected too? - The ONT is an XGS-PON ONT Model: FX523 from Intertek

How many RBS are deployed? 1 RBS deployed.  Wireless isn't really my issue however.

What is the size of your home? Sq Ft? - 4500 sq ft.  As stated however, am focused on the wired speed issue  

Does this happen with the RBS turned OFF?  - Yes I did try this with the RBS turned off.  Same results 

Does this happen with both wireless and wired devices?  - The issue is with wired connections, specifically with download speeds.  Wireless is more consistent but still shows a drop on download speeds.

The below is a speed test example on wired.  note that the upload speed is what I expect for a 1gb connection and has never been an issue - only download speeds.   Note the drop in the blue line indicating that a download test starts at a higher speed and then decreases to ~ 500mb.   

What channel configurations are currently set on the router? - As mentioned wifi isn't really the issue I am trying to solve however:   2.4Ghz = Auto and 5Ghz = 40

Is SIP ALG enabled or disabled on the RBR?   - NAT Filtering is disabled 

Speed test results same across two wired PCs? - Yes the issue is the same for two different MacBooks from two different wired drops in the home.  Have tested these drops to 1gb with iperf3 consistently so believe I am getting consistent wired speeds and do not have a cabling issue.  

Also as I mentioned in the original post, direct connection to the ONT produces consistent speed results (topped out at 1gb).  it is only when I use the RBR850 and its LAN ports that I am experiencing the issue with degraded download speeds.  

Hope this is clear enough.  Appreciate your inputs following.  

Message 2 of 2

[FURRYe38]

Did you happen to power OFF the ONT for 30 seconds while performing a factory reset on the RBR and setting it up from scratch, then go in and speed test with the wired PC?

Sounlds like the RBR is not getting or handling the speeds while connected at the ONT. Wondering if there maybe some issue in FW with this particular ONT. 

Any chance you have a friend, nieghbor or family member around to take the RBR to and see if problem follows? 

Is SIP ALG enabled or disabled on the RBR? This is not NAT Filtering. 

Can you are using a CAT6A STP cable between the RBR and ONT? 

[Pdarbonne]

Did you happen to power OFF the ONT for 30 seconds while performing a factory reset on the RBR and setting it up from scratch, then go in and speed test with the wired PC?  - Yes have done this several times, unplugged both RBR & RBS and ONT.  Brought up RBR850 alone and factory reset followed by powering on the ONT.  Then proceeded to set up the RBR850 (again alone) from scratch.  

Sounds like the RBR is not getting or handling the speeds while connected at the ONT. Wondering if there maybe some issue in FW with this particular ONT.  - I wonder the same.  Have talked with Frontier support multiple times to have them 'check' the ONT.  they have reported no errors found on the ONT each time.   There is no user access to the ONT that I can find to check myself.  

Bear in mind two factors.  1.  Whenever I speed test from my laptop on wired I ALWAYS get 930-940mb uploads via the RBR850.   It is download only that is affected.   And 2.  Speed test from the RBR850 reports 2.3Gb Up/Down consistently every time.  

Any chance you have a friend, nieghbor or family member around to take the RBR to and see if problem follows? - Good Q.  Unfortunately no as I don't have anyone else around at 2gb 

Is SIP ALG enabled or disabled on the RBR? This is not NAT Filtering. - it is disabled (see screenshot) 

Can you are using a CAT6A STP cable between the RBR and ONT? - yes.  This is one of the first things I checked into and then replaced.  

Have also done multiple log captures via the debug.htm screen.  There are many log files in here but nothing I've seen so far that leads me to better understand what is going on with the WAN connection.  

[FURRYe38]

Is the ISP configuration on the ONT DHCP or does the ISP support PPPoE on the RBR? 

If you have logs, I recommend opening up a support ticket and attach the logs. Make note of everything in this thread, include this thread as well. https://my.netgear.com/support/contact.aspx
https://www.netgear.com/support/contact.aspx
Then clicking on "Get answers about NETGEAR products before I buy" then clicking on "Networking for Home" then "Chat with us". 

Only other item to try, if you have a different router, test that router with the ONT. 
Something on the RBR or in FW in not working well with this ONT and ISP service. NG will need to take a look. 

[Pdarbonne]

Hello,

Have done a bit of testing over the weekend with some interesting results and wanted to share them.  Firstly though:

Is the ISP configuration on the ONT DHCP or does the ISP support PPPoE on the RBR? 

The configuration is DHCP

If you have logs, I recommend opening up a support ticket and attach the logs. Make note of everything in this thread, include this thread as well. https://my.netgear.com/support/contact.aspx
https://www.netgear.com/support/contact.aspx
Then clicking on "Get answers about NETGEAR products before I buy" then clicking on "Networking for Home" then "Chat with us". 

Thank you for sharing the above.  It wasn't clear to me that you could request support in this way so I'll do this after completing the testing I'll describe below. 

Only other item to try, if you have a different router, test that router with the ONT. 

I was able to that.  I have an EERO Pro 6E provided by Frontier.  It has a 2.5gb internet port and a 1gb LAN port.  When I plugged this into the ONT and ran my testing it produced 1gb speed output every time.  

Something on the RBR or in FW in not working well with this ONT and ISP service. NG will need to take a look. 

I agree this is very much what seems to be the issue and will open a ticket upon completing my final testing.  

I had a 1gb unmanaged switch laying around and decided to put this on the WAN side ahead of the RBR850.  By doing this I realize that I am throttling the internet speed from 2gb to 1gb however with this switch in place my LAN side speed testing directly from the RBR850 LAN ports was 1gb consistently.  Removing it from the connection drops my LAN speeds back closer to 500mb so it is definitely something to do with the ORBI firmware and its connection to the ONT @ 2.5gb 

I've ordered a 2.5gb unmanaged switch to sit on the WAN side of the RBR850 and want to test LAN speeds with that in place.  Will be doing that tomorrow and will report the results.  

[FURRYe38]

Make contact with NG support and open a support ticket for sure. 

Good Luck.

[Pdarbonne]

I plan on doing that.  Any idea if Netgear support teams responsible for firmware monitor this forum??

[FURRYe38]

From what I know, they don't. Best to get a ticket open. 

[CrimpOn]

---

@Pdarbonne wrote:

I plan on doing that.  Any idea if Netgear support teams responsible for firmware monitor this forum??

---

My guess is, "no".

• In nearly seven years, I have never seen a post from anyone that even suggests that they might be a software engineer at Netgear (or even professional support staff).
• Most large companies have employees like software engineers reporting their time in increments (sometimes as little as 15 minute spans) to be charged to specific projects.  "Reading random comments from users" is not likely to be regarded as a revenue producing project.
• Netgear already has a support structure that (one might think) could be assigned to summarize "what's happening" in terms of customer issues.  i.e. "what are customers calling about recently?  Anything different than 'the usual'?")

[Pdarbonne]

Fair points raised on software engineers are generally focused on projects that are intended to produce revenue.  Would imagine though that they do allocate some percentage of time (and $$) to addressing bugs in the platform just like any other company that produces B2C software.  Opening the support ticket is likely the way to get into that queue.  

On testing in my scenario.  I've purchased a 2.5G switch and inserted that into the mix.  Essentially as follows: 

Frontier ONT ----> 2.5G switch ----> RBR850 ----> laptop device (MacBook Pro).  All cabling is 6a. 

Speed testing from the RBR850 shows 2.3G consistently.  tests on the LAN/laptop show 1G consistently.  The LAN speeds test the same as they did when I had the 1GB switch in front of the RBR850.  The 2.3GB testing from the RBR850 is obviously 2x as fast so I'll expect I will get some better throughput on my wifi connections as a result.  It's a good work around until they review the situation and/or release a new firmware version.  

Will be opening a support ticket next and will share those results.  

[FURRYe38]

https://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/realistic-speeds-wi-fi-5-and-wi-fi-6
https://www.duckware.com/tech/wifi-in-the-us.html
https://support.google.com/fiber/answer/6250056#zippy=%2Cmobile-devices-wi-fi

[gregnauman]

I have the exact same thing going on. Xfinity modem in bridge mode. Wired to RBR which is backhaul wired to RBS

I have two Apple TV 4K. One wired to RBR and one wired to RBS

Ill get 700-950 for about 2-3 seconds and it then drops to 150-200 and settles in.
Same with a laptop hooked direct to RBR.

Wireless near the RBR 890mb on iphone and 750-900mb on apple tv.

Seems to be something with the 1GB ports on the RBR