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Get my pies
outta the oven!

Picture of PASig
posted
So I'm supposed to get 200 Mbps internet service through Comcast and I've been doing speed tests and the BEST I've ever gotten is like 95 Mbps on a good day.

I finally get tired of this and get on the phone with Comcast and try to get them to come out and check my wiring to the house which was only done in December 2017. They do all sorts of tests on their end and conclude that it's on my end, it's my equipment that is the issue. They claim they are seeing 200 Mpbs on their end.

I change out the cable modem from an Arris Surfboard to new Netgear CM500 and nope, still only getting 80-95 Mpbs. Dammit, Comcast! Then I think to myself "Could it be my router?" I had an ASUS router that I got last year or so, couldn't be that could it?

DOHHHH! I am a complete DUMBASS! Looked up the specs on the ASUS and it's ONLY RATED TO 100 Mbps! Confused How the hell did I miss that?

Replaced that with a new TP-Link Archer A7 Mesh router and BOOOOM! 200-239 Mpbs pretty much throughout the entire house now!

For once Comcast wasn't trying to feed me a line of BS to make me go away! Mea Culpa.


 
Posts: 33601 | Location: Pennsylvania | Registered: November 12, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
posted Hide Post
We're on Comcast Business Class, so our experience tends to be somewhat different from that of Residential customers, but we've been with Comcast for thirteen years and the only time I ever experienced less than the promised bandwidth was with our recent bump from 50/12 -> 75/15. I wasn't quite seeing 15mb/s up. Apparently they corrected something recently, because now I'm seeing 89/18.

(The reason the upload bandwidth is important to me is I run a server on our end of our Internet connection, and we have a surveillance system--the NVR for which is also hosted on-site.)



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
If you see me running
try to keep up
Picture of mrvmax
posted Hide Post
I think I've got their 600 plan and I never see that. My modem/router is rated for gig speeds, they claim my devices (mostly Apple) are limited to the 200 that I am seeing.
 
Posts: 4075 | Location: Friendswood Texas | Registered: August 24, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by mrvmax:
I think I've got their 600 plan and I never see that. My modem/router is rated for gig speeds, they claim my devices (mostly Apple) are limited to the 200 that I am seeing.

Is the router guaranteed to route at wire speed?

IME, modem/router/switch/WiFi/food-processor combo devices rarely perform any of their functions particularly well.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Fighting the good fight
Picture of RogueJSK
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
quote:
Originally posted by mrvmax:
I think I've got their 600 plan and I never see that. My modem/router is rated for gig speeds, they claim my devices (mostly Apple) are limited to the 200 that I am seeing.

Is the router guaranteed to route at wire speed?

IME, modem/router/switch/WiFi/food-processor combo devices rarely perform any of their functions particularly well.


In addition, a 2.4 ghz band wireless network has a lower speed cap than a 5 ghz network. 2.4 usually tops out around 150 mbps. Whereas 5 tops out at 1000+ mbps.

So if you want top speed, be sure you're connected to your router's 5 gig band. (2.4 is usually the default for most devices, and older devices and routers won't even support 5.)

If your Apple devices aren't capable of connecting to a 5 ghz network, it doesn't matter that your router is capable of sending 1000+ mbps over a 5 ghz network. In that case, they absolutely correct that it's your Apple devices that are limiting you to around 150-200 mbps, by only being able to connect to 2.4 ghz with its low speed cap.

If they are capable, then connect them to 5 ghz, and run the speed test again.
 
Posts: 32421 | Location: Northwest Arkansas | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
If you see me running
try to keep up
Picture of mrvmax
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by RogueJSK:
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
quote:
Originally posted by mrvmax:
I think I've got their 600 plan and I never see that. My modem/router is rated for gig speeds, they claim my devices (mostly Apple) are limited to the 200 that I am seeing.

Is the router guaranteed to route at wire speed?

IME, modem/router/switch/WiFi/food-processor combo devices rarely perform any of their functions particularly well.


In addition, a 2.4 ghz band wireless network has a lower speed cap than a 5 ghz network. 2.4 usually tops out around 150 mbps. Whereas 5 tops out at 1000+ mbps.

So if you want top speed, be sure you're connected to your router's 5 gig band. (2.4 is usually the default for most devices, and older devices and routers won't even support 5.)

If your Apple devices aren't capable of connecting to a 5 ghz network, it doesn't matter that your router is capable of sending 1000+ mbps over a 5 ghz network. In that case, they absolutely correct that it's your Apple devices that are limiting you to around 150-200 mbps, by only being able to connect to 2.4 ghz with its low speed cap.

If they are capable, then connect them to 5 ghz, and run the speed test again.

I use 5ghz and this is my modem/router: https://www.netgear.com/home/p...-routers/C7100V.aspx
 
Posts: 4075 | Location: Friendswood Texas | Registered: August 24, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by mrvmax:
I use 5ghz ...

If you're doing your speed tests wirelessly, then they're meaningless except as a reflection of how good is your wireless bandwidth at that location and at that particular point-in-time. (Unless, as in my case, your wireless connection speed greatly exceeds your Internet connection speed.)

quote:
Originally posted by mrvmax:
... and this is my modem/router: https://www.netgear.com/home/p...-routers/C7100V.aspx

I am not a fan of all-in-one network devices. My oft-repeated mantra: Modems to modem, routers to route, switches to switch, APs to supply WiFi, and never any of them to be combined.

All-in-one devices like that have three primary design goals: Attractive to consumers (price, appearance, feature set), ease-of-use by consumers, and profit for manufacturers.

Consider: Price for that device is $280 on Amazon. To fulfill its four roles with even prosumer-grade gear (cable modem + router + 5-port switch + AP) would cost more on the order of $400-$500.

That being said: Your best chance of determining what is your real Internet connection speed would be to connect a capable wired device (fairly modern desktop or laptop) directly to one of the LAN ports on your NetGear thing and test with a wired connection.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
If you see me running
try to keep up
Picture of mrvmax
posted Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by ensigmatic:
quote:
Originally posted by mrvmax:
I use 5ghz ...

If you're doing your speed tests wirelessly, then they're meaningless except as a reflection of how good is your wireless bandwidth at that location and at that particular point-in-time. (Unless, as in my case, your wireless connection speed greatly exceeds your Internet connection speed.)

quote:
Originally posted by mrvmax:
... and this is my modem/router: https://www.netgear.com/home/p...-routers/C7100V.aspx

I am not a fan of all-in-one network devices. My oft-repeated mantra: Modems to modem, routers to route, switches to switch, APs to supply WiFi, and never any of them to be combined.

All-in-one devices like that have three primary design goals: Attractive to consumers (price, appearance, feature set), ease-of-use by consumers, and profit for manufacturers.

Consider: Price for that device is $280 on Amazon. To fulfill its four roles with even prosumer-grade gear (cable modem + router + 5-port switch + AP) would cost more on the order of $400-$500.

That being said: Your best chance of determining what is your real Internet connection speed would be to connect a capable wired device (fairly modern desktop or laptop) directly to one of the LAN ports on your NetGear thing and test with a wired connection.

I got it on sale for around $200 and I thought that was high. I went from just having internet to using their phone service and never stopped to think that I needed phone capabilities on the modem so I had to buy something quickly and I was without internet until I got that modem. Next time I upgrade I'll consider doing what you said and go prosumer.
 
Posts: 4075 | Location: Friendswood Texas | Registered: August 24, 2007Reply With QuoteReport This Post
Nullus Anxietas
Picture of ensigmatic
posted Hide Post
¯\_(ツ)_/¯ If it works for you that's fine.

I go the way I do because IT was what I did for a living. I essentially set up my home network to look a lot like the networks I managed for a living.

Anyway: You have to connect to a wired port on it with a laptop or desktop to see what your true connection performance is.



"America is at that awkward stage. It's too late to work within the system,,,, but too early to shoot the bastards." -- Claire Wolfe
"If we let things terrify us, life will not be worth living." -- Seneca the Younger, Roman Stoic philosopher
 
Posts: 26009 | Location: S.E. Michigan | Registered: January 06, 2008Reply With QuoteReport This Post
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