Gig1 speeds lower than expected

[billettg]

Hi guys,

This doesn't seem like a VM issue but wanted to run it by you just in case, as I find it hard to believe that all of my endpoints are having the same issue.

Recently upgraded to Gig1. I have a Hub 4 in modem mode going to an AX20 WiFi-6 router then out to an 8 port gigabit switch. All of this is brand new except the Hub 4 and using new cat6 cable and all ethernet devices have a gigabit NIC, e.g:

C:\Users\Gareth>wmic nic where netEnabled=true get name,speed
Name Speed
Realtek PCIe GbE Family Controller 1000000000

I am seeing the following speeds on my LAN:

WiFi devices: Typically no more than 600Mbps
Ethernet devices: Typically no more than 850Mbps (although rarely sometimes peaks at 950Mbps)

In order to test further, I reset the Hub 4 to factory, put it in router mode and connected a single cat6 cable directly to port 1, and tested speed with samknows realspeed, result:

Router: 1149Mbps
Device: 849Mbps

Fairly consistent with what I am seeing with the AX20 router and switch in situ, and the router appears to be downloading at around the expected speed. I also tried with a fairly new Lenovo laptop connected again with cat6 directly to port 1 on the Hub 4, similar result, and on my Ubuntu server with gigabit NIC, same result again.

I'm now lost as to where to take this further. Have I set my expectations too high? Is there some sort of bedding in period?

I have the Hub 4 network status logs if you are interested: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1Eg1mgUAk7MNVkfs4gaDySxzY2jfvL-COQhspyq7Ks98/edit?usp=sharing

Any ideas?

[jbrennand]

See if there are any useful pointers in these re the wifi speeds
____________________________________

See this excellent thread with good examples of maximum theoretical wifi speeds on wifi 5 with different “parameters” varying.

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Tech-Chatter/Useful-chart-to-show-why-you-will-not-get-1G-on-Wi...

ALSO SEE

https://www.increasebroadbandspeed.co.uk/realistic-speeds-wi-fi-5-and-wi-fi-6

https://community.virginmedia.com/t5/Tech-Chatter/Speed-Test-Sam-Knows/m-p/4878862#M49694

[billettg]

Thanks for the links, however I do have very new 802.11ax/WiFi-6 capable router (OFDMA, MU-MIMO, Beamforming, WPA3, OneMesh) and devices, so would expect gigabit speeds sat on top of the router.

I did some further tweaking and testing on my Macbook Air (WiFi-6/5Ghz) which was sat directly underneath the AX router, with no other devices connected, and managed to achieve nearly 800Mbps, but seems almost inline with what I am seeing with the cat6 speeds now, still no where near gigabit on WiFi OR ethernet, despite my best efforts.

Unfortunately I cannot see any reference to channel width in the router configuration so it appears this is all handled internally, although I would expect this to be optimised for gigabit as the theoretical maximum is 1800Mbps (AX1800).

I'm less concerned about WiFi, as I know there can be a lot of external factors that can influence it, I am more concerned with the fact that despite the newest equipment and highest speed VM can offer, I can still only achieve approximately 85% of the connection speed (on a good day) with any gigabit capable devices. Wondering if this is related to the ethernet ports or some fault with the Hub 4.

[Adduxi]

Top speed of ANY wired 1 Gb Ethernet port is around 950mb. 

[billettg]

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@Adduxi wrote:

Top speed of ANY wired 1 Gb Ethernet port is around 950mb. 

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I consistently see 10% below this with brand new equipment and cat6 cable. Are you suggesting that ~850Mbps should be expected across a gigabit network? If the general consensus is yes, then I will abandon the issue, however I see people with similar equipment receiving faster bandwidth.

The testing I conducted was also with the standardised online tester that VM recommend, with no other devices or traffic on the network.

[billettg]

For some reason I am now seeing 940Mbps fairly consistently so perhaps I missed something in testing, but please consider this resolved and thanks for any help and advice offered, I do appreciate it.

[jem101]

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@billettg wrote:

For some reason I am now seeing 940Mbps fairly consistently so perhaps I missed something in testing, but please consider this resolved and thanks for any help and advice offered, I do appreciate it.

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Just for information, the maximum you will ever, ever get wired from a Hub 4 is around 960 Mb/s, but always bear in mind that there is a level of tolerance in the components, so some people with an identical setup will get a bit less, the average, at best, is around 940, so anywhere near that is fine.

Now VM, and like all other suppliers, cannot absolutely guarantee these speeds and instead will say (check the Ts and Cs) that they promise 50% of the headline speed (download only, forget about upload*) and if you get less than that averaged over three days, then you can leave VM without my penalty!

OK fine, so if you are getting anywhere over, say 500 Mb/s, then VM can claim that nothing is wrong.

* on the other hand, poor upload speed, absolutely will impact your use of the internet connection. So there is scope to take action under the 2015 Consumer Rights Act, on the grounds that the overall service is not performing to a level that an average (and the Law does like the concept of an average/reasonable) person might expect.