2 diff routers only allow 50% speed. Is Airport Extreme a solution?

[dak125]

My condo building recently upgraded the internet to some sort of a FIOS option. I've selected the 50 mbps package and I do see those speeds when plugged directly into the wall, but two different routers limit the output to 25 mbps, both when connecting directly to the router and wirelessly.

The two routers used are:

Linksys N600 (http://www.amazon.com/Linksys-Wirele...s=linksys+n600)
TP-Link TL-WR841N (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...?ie=UTF8&psc=1)

I live in a 140 unit building in downtown Chicago. There is a significant amount of wireless traffic in the area, which is one of the contributing factors. All channels on both routers have been tested, netting the 25 mbps at it's peak.

I need a router that will wirelessly deliver 50 mbps and one which will be powerful enough to overcome the other wireless traffic in the area. Would the Airport Extreme solve this? Other options?

Thanks!

 

[VirtualLarry]

My condo building recently upgraded the internet to some sort of a FIOS option. I've selected the 50 mbps package and I do see those speeds when plugged directly into the wall, but two different routers limit the output to 25 mbps, both when connecting directly to the router and wirelessly.

I live in a 140 unit building in downtown Chicago. There is a significant amount of wireless traffic in the area, which is one of the contributing factors. All channels on both routers have been tested, netting the 25 mbps at it's peak.

I need a router that will wirelessly deliver 50 mbps and one which will be powerful enough to overcome the other wireless traffic in the area. Would the Airport Extreme solve this? Other options?

Thanks!

All that will do, is make your neighbors hate you. The solution, is to find a free 5Ghz channel, if the 2.4Ghz channels are saturated.

Look into an 802.11ac ("AC1200" or better) router. Those use 5Ghz, and even if you are limited to a single channel due to interference, it should allow you to reach 50Mbit/sec.

If your client devices are all 2.4Ghz, then you're basically screwed, sorry.

 

[dak125]

The Linkeys router is dual band and I'm presently on 5ghz. I have tried every channel, again maxing out at 25mbps.

Do you have any specific router suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[JackMDS]

Not clear how and what plugged itno the wall means.

If the condo is buying the service and distributes it to residents, make sure that adding a Router (or what ever) is Not programed to reduce bandwidth.

The Linksys is Dual Band but No external Antenna.

The TP-link is a plastic box for $19.99.

Both are nothing to write home about when real action is needed.

Interference of other Wireless is usually over rated when regular Wireless is used.

That said, if there is a close buy aHole running 5Watts Wireless there is not much that you can do about it and it would raise the SNR to be very high..

First plug one of the Router to the wall, plug a wire computer to the Router and see what you get when Not using Wireless.

If you do get via Router and a Wire the correct bandwidth get a better Wireless Router.

This is just as good as an Airport and cost less.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16833320091

 

[Fardringle]

If you get the full expected speed with a computer connected directly but significantly lower speeds when using a router on the same connection, it's very likely that the condo association has a setting that limits the speed when using a router. It might not even be intentional, but you should talk to whoever manages the network in the association to find out if there is anything you can do to resolve the problem.

 

[dak125]

Thanks for both of your responses:

Not clear how and what plugged itno the wall means.

If the condo is buying the service and distributes it to residents, make sure that adding a Router (or what ever) is Not programed to reduce bandwidth.

First plug one of the Router to the wall, plug a wire computer to the Router and see what you get when Not using Wireless.

If you do get via Router and a Wire the correct bandwidth get a better Wireless Router.

This is just as good as an Airport and cost less.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16833320091

By plugging into the wall directly, I mean it's a direct connection to the FIOS (at least as it relates to coming into my unit) source plug in my condo, nothing in between (like a router, or switch).

I have tested the router, to hard wire, to my computer with the same bandwidth as wireless, 25 mbps. When plugged directly into the 'source', I do see the full 50 mbps.

My condo does not limit the bandwidth, in fact there are speed packages of 100 mbps. These are not "up to 100 mbps" claims either (supposedly) and I believe it, because I see the advertised speed when plugged to the source. The tech that installed my connection and also installed the Linksys router was surprised by the bandwidth as well. The standard package is 30mbps and it can take 24 hours (again, what I'm told) for the upgraded package to take affect, so I gave it that amount of time.

So now that you know the wireless speed is the same as the router/hard ethernet cable do you think the router is still the problem? I feel that it's a hardware issue on my side of the wall.

If you get the full expected speed with a computer connected directly but significantly lower speeds when using a router on the same connection, it's very likely that the condo association has a setting that limits the speed when using a router. It might not even be intentional, but you should talk to whoever manages the network in the association to find out if there is anything you can do to resolve the problem.

The tech was surprised by the results of Speedtest when using a router. He was the one who recommended that I get something more powerful and they are taking back the router which they provided without any question.

 

[Fardringle]

Both of those routers have 10/100mpbs WAN ports and should be able to handle the speed of the internet connection, particularly with a wired connection. Wireless may be slower simply because of the way wireless works in a crowded area, but the fact that both routers only get 25mbps while connected still makes me think it's a problem upstream from you.

 

[VirtualLarry]

Thanks for both of your responses:



By plugging into the wall directly, I mean it's a direct connection to the FIOS (at least as it relates to coming into my unit) source plug in my condo, nothing in between (like a router, or switch).

I have tested the router, to hard wire, to my computer with the same bandwidth as wireless, 25 mbps. When plugged directly into the 'source', I do see the full 50 mbps.

My condo does not limit the bandwidth, in fact there are speed packages of 100 mbps. These are not "up to 100 mbps" claims either (supposedly) and I believe it, because I see the advertised speed when plugged to the source. The tech that installed my connection and also installed the Linksys router was surprised by the bandwidth as well. The standard package is 30mbps and it can take 24 hours (again, what I'm told) for the upgraded package to take affect, so I gave it that amount of time.

So now that you know the wireless speed is the same as the router/hard ethernet cable do you think the router is still the problem? I feel that it's a hardware issue on my side of the wall.



The tech was surprised by the results of Speedtest when using a router. He was the one who recommended that I get something more powerful and they are taking back the router which they provided without any question.

I'm a bit confused by all of this. "the router which they provided", And "speed package", makes me believe that this is not just a standard ethernet wall-jack connection. If FIOS is run into a central location, and the condo assoc. or apt landlord pays for it, and connects a head-end router, and gives tenants an ethernet drop, that's one thing. You would be subject to the whims of their upstream router and networking gear.

But are you paying the landlord for internet, or are you paying verizon directly? The reason I ask is, for MDUs (multiple dwelling units), they run one centrally-located fiber ONT, and then they provision each FIOS customer with VDSL. You may have been provided with a VDSL modem / router, and not an ethernet one, if you pay Verizon directly.

Edit: When they provisioned your service, did they plug your computer directly into the wall first to do that? I'm just wondering if your speed package, if you are indeed provisioned by ethernet in an MDU, is tied to your MAC address, and therefore, connecting a router without cloning your PC's MAC address to the router's WAN MAC address, would cause your service to drop down to a default provisioning.

 

[dak125]

I'm a bit confused by all of this. "the router which they provided", And "speed package", makes me believe that this is not just a standard ethernet wall-jack connection. If FIOS is run into a central location, and the condo assoc. or apt landlord pays for it, and connects a head-end router, and gives tenants an ethernet drop, that's one thing. You would be subject to the whims of their upstream router and networking gear.

But are you paying the landlord for internet, or are you paying verizon directly? The reason I ask is, for MDUs (multiple dwelling units), they run one centrally-located fiber ONT, and then they provision each FIOS customer with VDSL. You may have been provided with a VDSL modem / router, and not an ethernet one, if you pay Verizon directly.

Edit: When they provisioned your service, did they plug your computer directly into the wall first to do that? I'm just wondering if your speed package, if you are indeed provisioned by ethernet in an MDU, is tied to your MAC address, and therefore, connecting a router without cloning your PC's MAC address to the router's WAN MAC address, would cause your service to drop down to a default provisioning.

This isn't a rental building so the association entered into an agreement with this provider: http://www.silverip.com/

As an owner, I can elect to use Silver IP or I could have continued to use ATT. I work directly with Silver IP. My building's involvement ended when they entered into an agreement with Silver IP for this MDU. There is a 30, 50, 75, and 100 mbps package available. I elected for the 50 mbps package.

When they provisioned service, the tech opened a panel in one of my closets and messed around with some small, thin wires. He then retrofitted what was once a phone jack in my living room to accommodate an ethernet port.

If I hardwire into that ethernet port, I'm seeing 47 mbps. As soon as I bring a router into the mix, I see 50% of that. This leads me to believe that it's exclusively hardware related. Thoughts?

Thanks again!

 

[VirtualLarry]

This isn't a rental building so the association entered into an agreement with this provider: http://www.silverip.com/

As an owner, I can elect to use Silver IP or I could have continued to use ATT. I work directly with Silver IP. My building's involvement ended when they entered into an agreement with Silver IP for this MDU. There is a 30, 50, 75, and 100 mbps package available. I elected for the 50 mbps package.

Why do you keep mentioning FIOS then? That ISP, as far as I can tell, has nothing to do with Verizon. Especially if you are in an AT&T area. Giving bad info is sometimes worse than no info at all.

When they provisioned service, the tech opened a panel in one of my closets and messed around with some small, thin wires. He then retrofitted what was once a phone jack in my living room to accommodate an ethernet port.

If I hardwire into that ethernet port, I'm seeing 47 mbps. As soon as I bring a router into the mix, I see 50% of that. This leads me to believe that it's exclusively hardware related. Thoughts?

Thanks again!

Did the tech initially provision service with a computer hardwired to the port, or did he have a router connected?

Have you tried cloning the MAC of the PC that connects at 47Mbit/sec, into the router's WAN port?

Edit: It could be as simple as needing a router with a faster WAN-to-LAN speed. A refurb Netgear WNR2000 v2 should handle up to 80Mbit/sec down.

 

[dak125]

He was hardwired directly to the port.

I have not tried tried cloning the MAC, not really in my repertoire but can probably figure it out. This would be on a MacBook Pro is that's of any help.

Will check out that router. Thanks.

 

[JackMDS]

Check with other tenants that use Router.

Given that the same thing happens on two different wire Router connection I doubt that this has to do with your Devices.

Find out exactly what you get from your Ethernet jack in technology terms rather than "Poetry".:hmm:

 

[drebo]

This sounds like it could be a duplex mismatch.

 

[azazel1024]

What is your wireless client?

No one seems to have asked that yet. If you are getting 25Mbps from both, even trying the 5GHz band, what kind of client and where is it located? It sounds like you have a client impossed limitation (single stream I am assuming, maybe not located in the same room as the router).

 

[dak125]

Two different Macbook Pro's, Apple TV, iPhone 5S, iPhone 6.

I've ordered the Airport Extreme to see if that helps the situation. A tech for the ISP is coming by this evening to pick up their router, so I'm going to pick his brain.

I'll circle back once more info is available.

 

[JoeMcJoe]

When you plug directly into the router, what speeds do you get?

It seems as though you went with the Apple router because of the word 'extreme'.
Get the hard wired speed working first, then move to wifi.

When you live in apartments/condos/flats, your wifi speeds on 2.4 Ghz will be quite bad, so move to a 5Ghz band.

 

[azazel1024]

If hardwiring in to the 841n is resulting in 25Mbps speeds also, then I'd suspect an upstream problem. I have that router running as an access point and I can attest to some wireless channel weirdness (it does not like Channel 1 and 2 for some reason, runs really slow if I select them, no issues with the higher 2.4GHz channels), but wired it works at port rate (~11.7MB/sec or 94Mbps if you want), at LEAST for LAN to LAN, and wireless with a decent enough client I hit port rate also (~11.7MB/sec to my laptop wirelessly, though with my gigabit ported WDR3600 I hit 25MB/sec...so sad on those 10/100 ports. Oh well. I got it for a super cheap outdoor access point and it works fine for that). I have never run it as a router, it might choke with a 50Mbps connection for all I know.

I'd say try a gigabit router of some flavor, even a lot end one should deffinitely be able to handle a 50Mbps connection (I'd think that the 100Mbps router should handle better than a 50Mbps connection as well, but since I don't know what KIND of 50Mbps it is or protocol is uses, I don't know. Some WAN protocols are rather overhead intensive and a slow speed router like the two you posted just might not be able to keep up).

 

[dak125]

I installed the Airport Extreme and netted 55 mbps down / 54 mbps up. Problem solved!

Thanks for the responses.

 

[inachu]

Getting the Latest Router from Apple was my only solution.
The upside was now I also use a USB AC WIFI adapter in my USB 3.0 slot and it works great.

 

[RadiclDreamer]

While the apple router is a great unit, the better solution is to find a frequency that is less congested as long as your devices support it, 5ghz is the way to go. AC speeds are 5ghz only, so going forward you are stuck with N speeds if you want to continue using 2.4ghz

 

[azazel1024]

Yes, but most 11ac routers provide much better 2.4GHz speeds at medium/long distances even for older 11n devices. Check smallnetbuilder for a recent test they did of this (which also matches up with my experience). So there are benefits to an 11ac router/AP, even with 11n only devices.

 

[Zargon]

yeah but were test done with congestion, they cant cancel out interference, just make more


the airport may have just been better at finding an empty channel

 

[azazel1024]

They can certain handle it better (most likely). No, the tests weren't conducted with interference to the best of my knowledge.

However, if it improves speed in the absence of interfernce, it is likely to work better WITH interference as well.

In this case, I think it was a routing issue and not a wireless issue. For whatever reason (protocol used or what not), neither router was being able to handle greater than 25Mbps WAN to LAN. 25Mbps is very, very slow, even with interference if you are close to the base station, at least with a decent client (dual stream or better) and even with 2.4GHz.