Hub4 slow modem speed

[Indonick]

Hi,

I have a VM Hub4 and 1Gb subscription. In practice I get about 550Mb from the Hub4 on wifi.

I have switched the Hub to modem mode and installed a Netgear Orbi RBR750 mesh system. That only gives me about 90Mb. I tried plugging a laptop direct to the Hub4 as a modem and hey presto that only gives me 90Mb as well.

So there seems to be a speed problem with Hub4 as a modem. Is this fixable?

I tried calling VM technical support and was told that the Orbi was not ‘compatible’ and I needed a VM Pod. But the problem isn’t the Orbi, it’s the data speed from the modem.

Any advice or solutions gratefully received!

[Andrew-G]

Was that using the same ethernet cable?  Ethernet protocol chooses between 10,100 and 1,000 Mbps, so net of the "overheads" 90-100 Mbps usually means the hub and the device have decided that the cable isn't capable of operating at 1,000 Mbps.  Try a different cable, ideally Cat 6a or better, we know from other people's experience that the Hub 4 can work perfectly well with the Orbis (good choice).  Even if the existing cable is gigabit capable (Cat 5e or higher) they can and do go bad from time to time, for reasons we usually never work out, but could be iffy manufacture, degradation or minor damage such as a poorly made or yanked connector on the plugs. 

If a different cable is still limited in this way for both a device and the Orbis, then it sounds like a problem with the hub's ethernet ports. 

[Indonick]

Many thanks, I don’t know what grade the cable is so will give that a go.

[Andrew-G]

Amazon (or other online seller) offer thousands of different ethernet cables - all you need is Cat 6a of the correct length, and for a couple of metres you're looking at three to seven quid.  You can get cheaper, but I reckon that the absolute cheapest on offer are usually best avoided.

The only difference between the Cat rating is that the higher the number the better the (theoretical) capabilities, there's no harm in buying Cat 7, Cat 8, but its generally a few pence more and won't confer any benefits in real world use, although you might choose say Cat 7 because that's the cheapest option for the colour, length or profile (flat or round).

[Indonick]

Hi

Ended up with a Cat8 cable and it is now all sorted - giving me 775Mb. Thanks v much for the tip!