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.

[paul1276]

Hi, this is really very common as wifi is complicated and errors mount over time. With my Hub 4 in router mode wifi speeds to my phone, tablet and laptop drop from a fresh 540Mbs to around 200Mbs with time. Unless they run regular speed checks most people probably won't ever notice this as even the lower speed is fast enough. When I replaced my devices with models with wifi 6 I purchased an Archer AX3000 and the figures immediately changed to 760Mbs down to around 450Mbs. All these figures are in the same room as the router/hub 4. With the AX3000 there is nowhere in the house that has a fresh wifi speed of less than 450Mbs. If you need the fastest wifi it is always a good idea to switch off the wifi on the device and switch it on again as this resets the wifi and restores the maximum possible speed. Also set your Archer AX1800 to automatically reboot once a week. Sadly there doesn't seem to be an option to reboot the Hub 4 on an automatic schedule but manually rebooting it at least once a month is a good idea. Networks like most things in life work best with regular maintenance.

[Adduxi]

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@paul1276 wrote:

<snip>   Sadly there doesn't seem to be an option to reboot the Hub 4 on an automatic schedule but manually rebooting it at least once a month is a good idea. Networks like most things in life work best with regular maintenance.

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The uptime on my Router is 130 days and it was only rebooted because Draytek issued a security patch.  I can't remember the last time I rebooted the VM Hub.  Generally I don't reboot any of my kit, unless there is a problem. 

[paul1276]

Hi Adduxi, I guess I am a bit of a belt and braces kinda guy when it comes to networking.

[Tudor]

Some more points bout WiFi. The 2.4GHz band only has 3 channels of 20MHz bandwidth that do not overlap other channels 1, 6 & 11 and as it has a greater reach so has peoples WiFi in adjacent properties. Therefore you can get a lot of interference. In may location I have seen over 100 SSIDs active on the 2.4 GHz band. The 5GHz band has many more channels available and you can use a bandwidth of 40 or 180 or 160 MHz, this of course increases the throughput. It is not advisable to use the 160 bandwidth as a lot of devices do not support it. Depending on your WiFi characteristics you may also be able to change the power of the signal. On my Access Points there are Low, Medium and High settings. If you have something like this and use more than one Access Point it is best to tune the signal to stop overlaps. I run one AP at medium and the other at low power on the 5GHz band and still get excellent Wifi throughout my house and right to the end of the garden 

[Lamprey2603]

Great advice form everyone again - thank you 🙂