OT: Wireless Router Question

[Richard]

I have an older Netgear ac1750 (450/1300 mbps) router. I have 200 mpbs internet service. When I direct wire my laptop into the modem, I test at 235 mbps download speed. On the wireless network, I test at 160 mbps. Does this imply that I need an newer router to realize the higher speeds over the air?

[tourmalet]

Location is key. You will only get full speed if you're close enough to the router. You may be testing too far and suffering from signal degradation.

Also, 200 Mbps is a lot of bandwidth for any practical individual use besides downloading large files. You can drive yourself nuts trying to set up routers and extenders that will deliver the full bandwidth to any location in your house. Most likely, the 100+ Mbps you're receiving is plenty enough for whatever application you want. Bear in mind that even if a single device can only receive data at 160 Mbps, two devices at that location can easily top 200 Mbps.

[C40_guy]

Looks like your router should be able to handle the higher bandwidth. Have you checked the wifi configuration on your laptop? I typically get higher bandwidth with the 5GHz band on my Airport Extremes.

Have you checked throughput with a second device? If you have an iPhone, download the app wifisweetspots and check bandwidth in a variety of locations.

You may also have a configuration issue on the router itself. No need to throw money at the problem, yet. :)

[Avispa]

I have an older Netgear ac1750 (450/1300 mbps) router. I have 200 mpbs internet service. When I direct wire my laptop into the modem, I test at 235 mbps download speed. On the wireless network, I test at 160 mbps. Does this imply that I need an newer router to realize the higher speeds over the air?

You will never achieve the same downstream/upstream speeds on WIFI as you do when using a direct cable. For testing speed I always recommend SpeedSmart: https://speedsmart.net/

[ultraman6970]

WHat avispa says.

Honestly? dont sweat it...

[cribbit]

The speeds you're seeing are the cap, not a ratio. Files only transfer as fast as the slowest part of the network. As long as you can connect to the router your internet connection will be fine, it's only if you're doing file transfers within your network where it would matter.

[Richard]

Thanks for the responses. As to location, I was running speedtest.com within 15 feet of the router. I really have no problems with the current setup, I suppose the question was academic to a degree. That said, I am curious about the additive effect of multiple devices on a network. As I understand it, if my streaming TV is downloading at say 50 mbps and my computer at 150 mbps, then my provider is delivering 200 mbps. Is this correct?

Just a secondary curiosity, at what point does one know that the router is tired and needs a replacement (other than no network)? When you have to constantly reboot? Do they slow down with age? Sorry for the sort of dumb questions.

[tourmalet]

It helps to think of data as analogous to water.

The ISP/utility hooks up a big water main to your house. The router distributes that water into the different rooms of your house, pumping an appropriate amount into each outgoing pipe. Each device is a tap at the end of a run of pipe. The further you are from the router, the narrower a pipe gets, so less water can be pumped through. If you have 10 gallons per minute available from the main but you are in a room that can only get 1 gallon per minute, you will need 10 taps to get all the water coming up through the main. If you're right next to the router, you may only need one or two taps.

So, yes, if you have one device receiving data at 150 Mbps and one at 50 Mbps, you will be using the entire bandwidth available from your ISP. There are limitations to the additivity of bandwidth (your router can't handle 1000 simultaneous connections), but for home use you won't run into them. More likely it will be signal degradation and remote server issues slowing you down.

Regarding router longevity, the answer is that unless it fails outright or some new technology becomes available, there should be no reason to get rid of a working router.

[paredown]

Thanks for the responses. As to location, I was running speedtest.com within 15 feet of the router. I really have no problems with the current setup, I suppose the question was academic to a degree. That said, I am curious about the additive effect of multiple devices on a network. As I understand it, if my streaming TV is downloading at say 50 mbps and my computer at 150 mbps, then my provider is delivering 200 mbps. Is this correct?

Just a secondary curiosity, at what point does one know that the router is tired and needs a replacement (other than no network)? When you have to constantly reboot? Do they slow down with age? Sorry for the sort of dumb questions.
From my experience, routers will show little degradation over time if they are in a place where they can vent a little--typically, some new feature set will develop where you want to upgrade before they die.

The speed thing is a little tricky--a wired connection is always faster than a wireless, since it is full duplex with little to no interference (ie although it relies on collision detection, unless there are problems send-receive signals are easily sorted. Don't forget--whatever you are connecting with, the traffic is always 2-way to some degree--probably least on a straight internal file transfer on your network). Wireless have higher latency, connections are channel sensitive--so your machine will hunt for the best channel automatically, and typically will also have more errors/dropped packets that require re-sending.

In practice, with a good wireless card, current drivers and a good wireless connection, and a fast internet connection, the speed difference is not an issue. One thing I typically do to limit latency is to use a quality public gateway address--best known is Google 8.8.8.8. / 8.8.4.4 since often your ISP will have less powerful/adept or busy routing equipment.

As far as the additive nature of traffic--that gets complicated pretty quickly, but for a rough approximation it is. If the worry is too much traffic leading to signal degradation, my solution is to put something like my media PC on a wired connection--or machines that I know are heavy users on a different subnet (in office situations; never had to do it at home) will help the wireless connection continue to work at optimum speeds.

Realistically though, I have not seen any significant problems with multiple devices dragging down speed at home since we got off ADSL back in the dark ages. We probably have 8 or 10 devices connected constantly now, and latency through the ISP/website your are reaching not up to snuff are usually much more of a problem.