Any IT folks here? We have nearly 800MBPS to the house but in the house the wireless is much slower

[roydamnmercer]

My question is do you need that much? I get “300”mb service but speed tests always show in the neighborhood of 16-35mb/s.

Even then I don’t get any buffering with two TV’s streaming, my wife on her phone, my mother in law on her tablet and the father in law on his phone. Plus I have 6 WiFi security cameras running 24/7. Just saying, 100+ ought to do most everything short of uploading plans to the Death Star across the galaxy. Four people running six devices seems average in this day and age so I’m just wondering if it’s really needed or do you just want what you paid for…no judgement here, either way.

 

[rbstern]

Do WiFi repeaters actually work?

Yes, but they are more limited than mesh systems or access points.

The Achilles heel of repeaters is they are typically at least 50% slower than the wireless network itself. They have to receive the signal from the router, repeat it to the client, and then do the same with traffic going in the other direction. And it can get much worse with multiple devices using a repeater.

They're fine for situations where the bandwidth is still good enough to support a specific device (like a TV for streaming) that would otherwise not be able to get or hold a signal. They're also good for extending a signal to a spot with bad coverage not normally in use (like temporary guest accommodations, an impromptu meeting setup, etc).

 

[rbstern]

My question is do you need that much? I get “300”mb service but speed tests always show in the neighborhood of 16-35mb/s.

Even then I don’t get any buffering with two TV’s streaming, my wife on her phone, my mother in law on her tablet and the father in law on his phone. Just saying, 100+ ought to do most everything short of uploading plans to the Death Star across the galaxy. Four people running six devices seems average in this day and age so I’m just wondering if it’s really needed or do you just want what you paid for…no judgement here, either way.
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It's very much depends on how you use the service. The limitations you are seeing are probably the device you posted the results with. Some contribution from the less than ideal Wifi signal shown on your device.

If all you ever wanted to do was watch Netflix on a couple of TVs, surf ODT, and check your email, 20 to 30Mbps is plenty for a household.

But when the house is full of people using wireless devices, that performance can quickly bog. Or, if you have a video camera that uploads motion clips to the cloud, that might make downloading bog down. Lots of variables, again, depending on use cases.

I'm on 1Gbps fiber (yes, way out in the boonies of Hart County). For work, I routinely download and upload files to/from servers that get in to the hundreds of gigabytes. At the speed you posted, it would be a multi-day process for one file, and it would kill service for everyone else. Instead, with a fast fiber connection, hard wired ethernet on my workstation, it takes an hour, and nobody else is impacted.

 

[testdepth]

The new router is a TP link Archer AX20 and located basically in the middle of the house.
My house is a 1900sqft brick ranch.
3 desktops, 2 laptops and 2 TVs
TDS fiber comes in from the street. It's about 150' from the box in the front yard to the end of my house where it comes in the wall and runs up into the attic to the middle of the house and down the wall to the router.
2 computers on the end of the house where the fiber comes in and the others at the other end of them house. House is about 70 feet long with router splitting it. Interior walls are drywall.
802.11 BG NAC AX 6E

We just started this service last Friday with a plan that promised 1gig. I was at work and the guy hooked it up and left without ensuring there was close to 1gig coming into the home from the street. He measured 600MBPS and left. They came back out today to improve it and when they left this time it was between 700MBPS to 800MBPS at the input of my home. The computers at the end of the house behind 1 brick wall where the fiber comes in the wall get about 250MBPS. The computers at the other end of the house behind 3 drywall walls get 125MBPS

My thinking is that if I get 700 to 800 in then wirelessly I should be getting more than what I am?

 

[rbstern]

Sounds like you are getting reasonable wifi bandwidth for the setup you have.

Some variables and very general guidelines:

- Devices with a Wifi 6 ("AX") interface will typically perform between 10 and 30% better than devices with a Wifi 5 ("AC") interface. Lots of mitigating factors, though.
- The devices 3 walls away are going to be limited unless you put in a mesh system, or an access point.
- 5G channels give better performance if it's a smaller distance. 2.4Ghz is better if further away.
- You can use a signal analyzer to check and see if other devices are interfering with your signal, and change your router to another, less used frequency. Try "Wifi Analyzer" app on your phone. Gives you a very clear picture of what's taking place with wifi signal strength around your house, including any overlapping signals getting in the way of your devices.
- Nothing beats the consistency and stability of a hardwire connection.

 

[DanKATL]

The new router is a TP link Archer AX20 and located basically in the middle of the house.
My house is a 1900sqft brick ranch.
3 desktops, 2 laptops and 2 TVs
TDS fiber comes in from the street. It's about 150' from the box in the front yard to the end of my house where it comes in the wall and runs up into the attic to the middle of the house and down the wall to the router.
2 computers on the end of the house where the fiber comes in and the others at the other end of them house. House is about 70 feet long with router splitting it. Interior walls are drywall.
802.11 BG NAC AX 6E

We just started this service last Friday with a plan that promised 1gig. I was at work and the guy hooked it up and left without ensuring there was close to 1gig coming into the home from the street. He measured 600MBPS and left. They came back out today to improve it and when they left this time it was between 700MBPS to 800MBPS at the input of my home. The computers at the end of the house behind 1 brick wall where the fiber comes in the wall get about 250MBPS. The computers at the other end of the house behind 3 drywall walls get 125MBPS

My thinking is that if I get 700 to 800 in then wirelessly I should be getting more than what I am?

Forced air heating? Copper or plastic water lines? Both ca affect you coverage, so can a fridge or freezer between the device and the router.

 

[rbstern]

Forced air heating? Copper or plastic water lines? Both ca affect you coverage, so can a fridge or freezer between the device and the router.

I have an access point in my basement. It sits in a mechanical room, below a bunch of rigid and flexible aluminum ductwork. The signal from that router doesn't carry much beyond the basement, which is why I have a separate access point for the main level. We built this house in 2018. I ran hundreds of feet of Cat6 cable to points all around the house, while the electricians were doing their thing.

 

[Cadcom]

Wifi routers and receivers have different channels. Try changing the channel on the router to 1, 11 or 6. If it is already using one of those then change it to one of the other channels and try a speed test. It's like a CB radio - other wifi routers in the area are also using the same channels and can cause interference. In the real world 1 gb wireless speeds are rare. Try connecting to your router by cat 5 cable and see what speeds you get. I bet it's much higher.

 

[rbstern]

Wifi routers and receivers have different channels. Try changing the channel on the router to 1, 11 or 6. If it is already using one of those then change it to one of the other channels and try a speed test. It's like a CB radio - other wifi routers in the area are also using the same channels and can cause interference. In the real world 1 gb wireless speeds are rare. Try connecting to your router by cat 5 cable and see what speeds you get. I bet it's much higher.

Yep, hardwire with a 1Gbps ethernet cable to the router will give you very close to full speed of the plan you're on.

 

[DanKATL]

I have an access point in my basement. It sits in a mechanical room, below a bunch of rigid and flexible aluminum ductwork. The signal from that router doesn't carry much beyond the basement, which is why I have a separate access point for the main level. We built this house in 2018. I ran hundreds of feet of Cat6 cable to points all around the house, while the electricians were doing their thing.

Direct wired connection is always best if possible. And cat6 is useful for more than ethernet with the right dongles.