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General discussion

Speed issues with wifi routers bought online

May 12, 2019 4:00AM PDT

In last 2 weeks i bought 4 routers , TP link archer c7, Tp Link archer c60, Asus RT-AC58U, Netgear R6220

I am getting 80 mbps speed from cable broadband when connected directly with laptop. However all the dual band routers except Netgear could give only at maximum 20-25 mbps speed with even the 5 GHZ band.

Neither the technical support team of TP link or Asus was able to sort the issue after initial diagnosis and troubleshooting. Eventually all of them have one common answer. Replace the product.

To my surprise, only netgear could give 70-80 mbps consistently but then it had other issue. Internet would keep disconnecting on a random basis atleast 5-6 times a day. While this happens, if the router page is checked, ISP subnet details and Ip address details all would be blank. With a hard reboot, however it solves the issue for a brief period of time. Replaced Netgear product also have same issue.

What should i be doing now to get atleast 80 mbps internet connection with reliable connectivity. Can anyone throw some light.

I am tired with this constant review checks, replace, return and refund process with the last 5 products.

Discussion is locked

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I only checked out a few but
May 12, 2019 6:57AM PDT

Here's a few things that get new networkers.

1. Install ANY device and you will get a speed penalty. How much depends on the gear.
2. For beyond 30 or so megabits I find I can't use anything but dual core gigabit routers.
3. All routers I've received had out of date firmware.

Item 3 really upsets folk that expected to unpack and deploy.

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Another penalty box.
May 12, 2019 7:15AM PDT

The more security you turn on, the slower these routers go.

Definitely your choice but I find new networkers to be taken aback over the speed hit.

Another area that confounds many is the variation in WiFi speeds. WiFi is open to a lot of interference issues and you can see speeds plummet in mixed client setups. That is if you had a clean area (no other WiFi in use) then setup with only 802.11ac router and devices you find it pretty speedy. To kill the speed add a few 802.11g devices. This is no bug. It's not unexpected yet the router maker and support often won't be holding classes on why this is.

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Any device which i could try
May 12, 2019 7:53AM PDT

For an 80 mbps lan speed, with my 5 GHZ routers :

Netgear R6220 gives 70 mbps
Asus AC58U gives max 25 mbps
TP Link Archer c60 and C7 both gives not more than 16-18 mbps

So obviously i am again inclined towards buying Netgear as it was the best performing in same conditions. However , the issue of random internet disconnects is a huge drawback.

So is there another budget priced Netgear which i could give a try or should i try may be a DLink/Linksys which is the one left to try

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I had the C7.
May 12, 2019 8:08AM PDT

Out of the box it was terrible. I updated the firmware, did a factory reset and with minimal changes it performed well until I wanted more. I then went with the C9.

It appears that some of my points are lost here. Anyhow let me add one more.

DO NOT USE ROUTER LAN PORTS FOR SPEED. Even in gigabit models I find that for performance I'm still better off putting the LAN ETHERNET connections on their own (Gigabit) Ethernet Switch. This can again sorely test those that expected the router to be on par with a common network switch.

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As to the Netgear, why buy that?
May 12, 2019 8:17AM PDT
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Let me share what I have at home today.
May 12, 2019 8:29AM PDT
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No Luck - 6th Time
May 26, 2019 5:16AM PDT

So today I ended up getting another advanced router TP Link Archer c9.

ISP Speed from ethernet cable : 70-80 Mbps.
5 GHZ Dual Band Speed : 20 - 26 Mpbs.

My miserable time continues. Waiting for TP Link support team to diagnose before going ahead with another replacement / return

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You may be leaving out details.
May 26, 2019 9:16AM PDT

I did write that the router from TP-Link arrived with out of date firmware and delivered poor performance. You are not writing you are doing the work but waiting for TP-Link to diagnose.

THAT'S OK. Here I would not be waiting.