Why does my Wi-Fi speed vastly improve if I do this simple thing?

[Lamprey2603]

I am receiving stable and fast download speed on my M500 (500 Mbps) Virgin feed via the supplied Hub 4.

SamKnows RealSpeed reports download speeds of between 538 Mbps to 568 Mbps at the Hub 4 and Wi-Fi speeds to my iPad Air 4 (2021) in the next door room between 450 Mbps and 480 Mbps - really excellent results. SamKnows reports varying and lower Wi-Fi speeds on my less capable kit (Samsung A71 mobile phone, Amazon Fire Stick 4K, elderly iMac etc.) and the speed also reduces with distance from the Hub - all as expected but still excellent results.

However, I have noticed that after a relatively short time the Wi-Fi speeds on all of my Wi-Fi attached devices slow by nearly half. This is nothing to do with the Virgin feed as SamKnows continues to report download speeds of between 538 Mbps to 568 Mbps at the Hub 4.

All I have to do to return the Wi-Fi speed of the attached devices to their previous faster speed is to turn off the Wi-Fi on the device i.e. not the Hub 4 itself but the individual device and then turn it back on again. Instantly the Wi-Fi speed returns which is confirmed by SamKnows.

Can anyone tell me:

- Why does this happen?

- Is there anything that I can do to prevent this (other than continuing to toggle on/off/on the devices Wi-Fi)?

I know that this is a minor issue compared to the many horror stories that I have read on this forum but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Adduxi · Accepted solution]

I'm thinking the wifi is maybe moving channels and not necessarily to the best choice?  It may help to split the SSID and disable all "Smart Wifi/Optimisation" options.  Get a decent wifi scanner, then you can pick the best band, channel and it will not move. 

[Lamprey2603]

Thank you for your advice - I think I understand what you are saying but I won’t pretend to understand SSID.

I am expecting delivery of an Archer AX1800 router later today so I will be using the Hub 4 in Modem mode and the Archer will be dealing with all the Wi-Fi and routing. It should be ‘smarter’ and better at optimising the Wi-Fi channels that the Hub 4. I will be setting it up over the next day or so and it might sort out the issues.

I will post my findings once completed and if the new router doesn’t sort it I will have to ask for additional advice regarding SSID and channel splitting.

Thanks again for your advice Adduxi.

[Adduxi]

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@Lamprey2603 wrote:

Thank you for your advice - I think I understand what you are saying but I won’t pretend to understand SSID.<snip>

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Any good Router will be better than an ISP made to a cost one!.   You will find the new Router will have the 2.4 and 5 bands as separate entities, so you can name them differently if you wish, a.k.a. split the SSID's.  

To get the new Router up and running follow the steps as below.

Remove all ethernet cables from the Hub and put the Hub into Modem mode.  Then power it off.

Setup the Archer in DHCP/Automatic IP mode.  It will most likely be set for this out of the box.  Leave the Archer switched on.

Connect the Archer's WAN port to one of the Hubs ethernet ports with a good Cat 6 cable.

Power on the Hub and wait for it to stabilise.

Connect any other ethernet cables to the Archer's LAN ports and you should be good to go.

[Lamprey2603]

Thanks again Adduxi - my new Archer ax1800 (Router) is now up and running along side the Hub 4 (now in Modem mode) following a relatively simple install and setup.

SamKnows will longer work with this configuration as it states that it must have a direct link to the Hub 4 to produce any readings - I guess no separate router allowed in the configuration as I now have??? However, Ookla Speedtest still works and so I have tested using this and found:

Download speeds via Wi-Fi to my iPad Air 4 (2021) located in the room next door to the router (previously reported as between 450 Mbps and 480 Mbps) is now reported as between 490 Mbps and 520 Mbps. Both the new Archer router and my IPad Air 4 use the latest Wi-Fi 6 (ax) technology so this connection is obviously benefiting from the upgrade from the previous basic Hub 4 (Wi-Fi 5 (ac)) setup. At the opposite end of the scale my elderly iMAC computer, located at the farthest point inside the house from the router, previously had a reported Wi-Fi connected speed of 60Mbps to 100 Mbps is now reporting Wi-Fi connections between 160 Mbps and 180 Mbps. The iMac uses Wi-Fi 802.11n which is a few generations old so it is obviously not directly benefitting from my new Wi-Fi 6 (ax) network but probably just from the general better signal outputs from the new Archer router over the basic Hub 4.

You are correct - the Archer defaulted to DHCP in Automatic IP mode - I left this setting as supplied. I have devices that will only work on 2.4 GHz frequency e.g. Smart Plugs and other devices that will work on both the 2.4 GHz or 5 GHz frequencies e.g. Amazon Fire Sticks. I guess that the Archer router will send out both frequencies simultaneously and that the attached device would pick up and use the most appropriate frequency based on its strength and speed. Can you please clarify what the benefits might be if I were to split these two frequencies by naming them differently?

I have yet to establish if the new router has solved my original problem of the Wi-Fi speeds on my devices slowing after a relatively short period of time which you suggested may be due to the Hub 4 moving channels although I have not noticed this issue again as yet so moving to the new Archer router may well have fixed it.

Finally (I know I have asked a lot) can you recommend a decent wifi scanner (Android or iOS) that I might use to test my Wi-Fi network.

Thanks again for all your help and advice - so far so good 🙂

[Stobbsy74]

5g is faster than 2.4g so you want devices you want faster speed on 5g. There is a shorter range on 5g and is more susceptible to interference. 2.4g is much slower, but has a greater range. 

Basically if the ssid are not split, your devices that you want to download fast on might swap to the slower 2.4g signal. If you split the ssid to 5g and 2.4g, your devices that you connect to 5g will stay on 5g instead of roaming between the 2 bands.

[Adduxi]

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@Lamprey2603 wrote:

<snip>   Can you please clarify what the benefits might be if I were to split these two frequencies by naming them differently?

I have yet to establish if the new router has solved my original problem of the Wi-Fi speeds on my devices slowing after a relatively short period of time which you suggested may be due to the Hub 4 moving channels although I have not noticed this issue again as yet so moving to the new Archer router may well have fixed it.

Finally (I know I have asked a lot) can you recommend a decent wifi scanner (Android or iOS) that I might use to test my Wi-Fi network.

Thanks again for all your help and advice - so far so good 🙂

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On my own AP's I've just appended _5 to the 5Ghz band so I can manually choose the band for each piece of wifi kit.  Otherwise some devices will swap bands depending on where they are located, e.g. wandering about the house on your phone might start on 5Ghz but move to 2.4Ghz as you get further away from the Router.  Does this make sense to you?

As for scanners, the only one for iOS is the Airport Utility and you need to turn on the scanner via the Settings menu for the app.  Android has several, so as I don't have an Android, go for one with decent reviews in the Play Store.

[Lamprey2603]

Thanks Stobbsy 74 for your very clear explanation - I now understand WHY I would want to do it.

[Lamprey2603]

Thanks again Adduxi - I now understand HOW to do this.

[Lamprey2603]

What a great forum.

A sincere thank you for your help and device 🙂