Tweak router
pcnerd
Contributor - Level 3

I have the Actiontec router.

I'm paying for 100/100. I tested the wireless speed this morning with my smartphone. It was about 20 megabits. I assume that the wireless speed will always be slower than the wired speed. I went to the Actiontec website this morning & found out that the router supports a maximum wireless speed of 300 megabits. I went to the router webpage this morning & found out that the fastest speed is 802.11n. That's an older protocol. Is it possible to tweak the settings of the router to get a faster wireless speed?

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Re: Tweak router
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

It can be a variety of factors.

First off, are you testing to speedtest.Verizon.net? That tests network connectivity. Other test sites are subject to internet delays.

Its possible you have WiFi issues. If you have an android phone, download an app called WiFi analyzer and use it to see if you can improve WiFi performance.

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Re: Tweak router
Edg1
Community Leader
Community Leader

Unfortunately wireless n is very slow compared to ac. Maybe consider upgrading you router. 

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Re: Tweak router
smith6612
Community Leader
Community Leader

In a general scenario, the Rev. I router will only perform up to "144Mbps" or "130Mbps" since 300Mbps will require operating the radio at 40Mhz, something which is not possible unless you happen to live out on a farm.

With that 130Mbps/144Mbps link, you should see at least 50Mbps in most scenarios. 80-100Mbps will be an ideal case.

To optimize router performance, use a 2x2 Wireless N device and check the link speeds. If by the router, while running a download you can only see a 65Mbps or 72.2Mbps link, it's possible that you are only seeing one spatial stream. Check to ensure both the client and the router have two functioning antennas, and that both are tight.

If you see something higher than 72.2Mbps such as 130Mbps, the next step is to change the router's performance mode to Performance mode instead of Compatibility mode. There may be two settings. One for 802.11g and 802.11n only devices, and one which covers all devices from 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n. Make sure only 802.11g and 802.11n devices can connect, as 802.11b conenctions will drastically affect the performance of the network. If you choose to select 802.11n mode, this will provide the best performance, but all devices on your network will need to support 802.11n for this setting to work. Lastly, make sure that you are using only WPA2 Encryption, and try changing your wireless channel. Channels 1, 6, and 11 are the best to use, but you may see better results by using an intermediate channel if you have a lot of very busy wireless networks in your neighborhood.

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Re: Tweak router
pcnerd
Contributor - Level 3

To optimize router performance, use a 2x2 Wireless N device and check the link speeds. If by the router, while running a download you can only see a 65Mbps or 72.2Mbps link, it's possible that you are only seeing one spatial stream. Check to ensure both the client and the router have two functioning antennas, and that both are tight.

What is a 2x2 wireless N device & what does it cost? What is one spatial stream? How do I check to ensure both the client & the router have 2 functioning antennas?

If you see something higher than 72.2Mbps such as 130Mbps, the next step is to change the router's performance mode to Performance mode instead of Compatibility mode. How do I do that? There may be two settings. One for 802.11g and 802.11n only devices, and one which covers all devices from 802.11b, 802.11g, 802.11n. Make sure only 802.11g and 802.11n devices can connect, as 802.11b conenctions will drastically affect the performance of the network. If you choose to select 802.11n mode, this will provide the best performance, but all devices on your network will need to support 802.11n for this setting to work. Lastly, make sure that you are using only WPA2 Encryption, and try changing your wireless channel. Channels 1, 6, and 11 are the best to use, but you may see better results by using an intermediate channel What is that? if you have a lot of very busy wireless networks in your neighborhood.

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Re: Tweak router
pcnerd
Contributor - Level 3

I tested the upload/download speed on my smartphone this morning. It was 44/48. Yet a while back it was around 20 up & down.

On my laptop this morning it was 41/34.

I'm paying for 100/100. Is that wired only? Will wi-fi always be slower than wired?

I went to the Best Buy website. They don't have very many routers with coax & I don't want to spend $80 for a moca adapter.

I went to the router homepage this morning & copied down the network connections.

Here they are:

macusers - air (AKA MacBook Air)
wireless
192.168.1.2
Status: active

Davids-mac-mini (my desktop)
ethernet
192.168.1.3
Status: active
Remote Access: enabled (should it be? If not, how do I disable it?)

Wi-fi is enabled but I use the LAN cable. Would turning off the wi-fi help?

android-1b9c22fb39a7b713 (MAC Address?)
wireless
192.168.1.8
Status: active

BRWC48E8F7B4908 (HDTV?)
Wireless
192.168.1.4
Status: active

If this is the TV, there are no more firmware updates available. Do I need the wi-fi enabled on my HDTV?

IP-STB-1
Coax
192.168.1.100
Status: active
Remote Access: enabled

new-host
wireless
192.168.1.5
Status: inactive

new-host-3
wireless
192.168.1.6
Status: active

Why is new-host inactive but new-host-3 active?

IP-STB2
Coax
192.168.1.101
Status: active

Remote Access: enabled

Can I make any changes to my network connections listed above?

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Re: Tweak router
pcnerd
Contributor - Level 3

Hello?

Would someone please answer my questions about my router network settings that I previously posted?

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Re: Tweak router
CRobGauth
Community Leader
Community Leader

Couple of items:

1) Verizon (like most ISPs) only guarantee speeds as access to their network. So you need to test to speedtest.verizon.net

2) Verizon (again like most ISPs) only used wired speeds for performance. There ware way too many factors that can affect wifi speeds. Some were listed in previous posts. Interference and overlaps with othe router is another.