Wireless speeds capping at 20 Mbps on preferred plan?

The TL-WR841N is a single band, 2.4GHz, wireless N 300 router.  The 2,4GHz band is very very crowded with WiFi, wireless telephones, microwave ovens, etc.  That is especially true in an apartment complex, a lot of interference.  First thing I would try, if you haven't already, is different channels.  Try setting the router to channel 1, 6 or 11, pick the one with best performance.  What mode have you selected?  b, g, n, bg mixed or bgn mixed.  If you have all wireless n devices, select n only.

Wireless G devices will slow the network down, as ChrisL posted.  20Mbps is good for G, nothing else you can do with those devices.

Finally, if you devices support 5GHz, you can purchase a dual band router and use the 5GHz band.  Many more channels and less crowded & interference.  At this time, I would get a dual band, wireless-ac gigabit router.  Even if you don't have wireless ac devices today, getting a capable router will future-proof your network a bit.

I've heard pretty good things about those TP-LINK archer routers, have not ever used them myself personally though. I've always been a fan of ASUS and Netgear and I absolutely LOVE my Nighthawk

SamBlue said:

Thanks for the replies,

The devices we use most are all wireless n, and I tried setting different channels but had no success.

I'm looking into new routers, how does this one look?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00KATWRIY

Cheers. 

SamBlue, your devices are wireless N but do they the support 5GHz band?  If not, I don't think you will see much, if any, improvement.  The TP-Link router does have some good reviews, that's what I go on since I don't have first hand experience with that brand.  I would give it a try, especially if you can use the 5GHz band and get away from the congestion on the 2.4GHz band.

Hi AllenP,

Assuming the core devices don't support 5GHz band, what sort of solution would there be? Non-dual band, but generally better quality? 

Cheers.