Slow Wi Fi speeds
I am getting above speeds to the router, but the Wi Fi speeds coming out of the router are slow. Getting over the 1 gig speed to the router, however by using a speed test from by phone, the highest I...
Forum Discussion
The challenge is, you really need to perform more measurements to understand whether the constraint(s) is (are) a) The router b) the wi-fi device c) distance or obstruction. I can test speeds (using Google mesh) using the onboard testing and get a) speed to Cox b) speed from router to router c) speed from router to device. OR, I can take a device, go close to the router I want to test with, switch wi-fi off/on to reestablish the connection and, if the device supports it, run a local rather than web version of Speedtest, which at least provides a frame of reference. My Samsung S22 is useful and on a 5Ghz connection will run at 450+. (I just ran a test at 486.) My laptop will run about 350 most of the time. Once you know a base speed, you can try other locations and determine how much the drop is due to distance. You can then use WiFi Analyzer, WiFiman, or similar to understand how much the signal has dropped. You'll observe that 5Ghz drops off faster than 2.4 if a wall is in the way. So, I'd start there and with some empirical data we may be able to provide useful suggestions on ways to improve performance.
Google offers a pretty useful tool, huh?
Lots. I still have the old Google Wi-Fi app, and I have the Home app.
You can determine what devices have the strongest signal, which ones use the most data, current speed to each device. I really like the ability to check data up and down by device over a 30 day window. I always know what my top data consumers are. It takes a little while to get used to after working with the console in a Netgear router, but once you get over the learning curve it's easy. And, easy to check remotely. I also use Fing to help monitor the devices on the network.
The reason 5ghz drops off faster is due to the wavelength. Since it "bounces" up and down more than twice as fast as 2.4ghz, that means for each meter of travel, it's distance traveled is actually twice as far. Because of that, physical obstructions block more than twice as much of it's signal as well. Additionally anything with a device electronics board will do the same, or worse, because of the components, and the boards themselves, it can depending on the components end up completely blocking the signal. A Microwave will completely block 2.4 ghz, because they run on the same freq, and they are designed to hold it inside so placing your router on one side and trying to use 2.4ghz wifi on the other will not work, and if you DO get it to work, it will be slower than molasses running uphill on a cold winter day.
The reason 5ghz drops off faster is due to the wavelength.
I like to compare it to sound waves. Just like a low pitch fog horn can cross long distances and through obstacles, so can the lower frequency Wi-Fi signal.
As for speed, I just saw a video on the importance of Wi-Fi channel width. If you don't live in a congested area, increasing the width can increase your wireless speed. Like a highway, the wider the lane, the more traffic that can pass through it. Does anyone know if the Panoramic gateway allows configuration of channel width or what it defaults to for 5Ghz? 20Mhz?
Forget comparing sound waves and think Cutler Naval Station up the road from you. It's one of the most powerful radio transmitters in the world but broadcasts on 24 kHz. Its VLF wavelength is about 8 miles long to send text to submerged submarines in the Atlantic.
