900MB full fibre wireless lack luster

[Troubled_Talent]

OK moved house from 300mbs smart hub 2, was perfect connection all the time.
Now I have the 900mb package with a nokia modem and the new Hub that gives an EE-wifi address.

Wifi was topping out at 20Mbps. Constantly drops. Engineer found the installer bent the cable, replaced that.
Wifi still slow as hell. Next engineer things it's intereference, changes bands on hub and tells me to upgrade to a wifi 6 router if I want to use the fibre to full potential.

So now I have a TP-Link Wifi 6 AX3000 Mbps plugged into the BT Hub and I am using a TP-Link AC1300 high gain MU-MIMO wifi dongle.
Dongle showing 866Mbps link speed. Router showing 1000mbps speed.
Internet speed tests 220-300mbps....?

I have checked it's using 5ghz etc. Can't work out why I'm not getting the full speed possible.

[ptrduffy]

The first thing to check is that you're getting the 900 Mb/s speed on your fibre.  You can do this on the MyBT app on your phone, or with a laptop connected to the router by a Cat 5e or better ethernet cable (although I think the MyBT app will only work with the BT Hub).

Assuming that shows the fibre is delivering full speed, then you know the problem is 'just' your WiFi.  Unfortunately that's the hardest thing to optimise as it depends on so many parameters.  Best starting point is to get a WiFi analyser app on your phone and switching your router to the least busy channel(s).

To be honest, the 220 - 300 Mb/s you're seeing is pretty good in my experience, and if you want to do something that needs more (e.g. large game downloads) then you're better off with an ethernet cable.

[Troubled_Talent · Accepted solution]

Alas I have solved the issue.

Turns out the high gain dongle isn't Wifi 6, which I discovered in trying to switch the band to 802.11ax.

Have ordered a wifi 6 dongle now. Should have 866 Mb/s by tomorrow 😄

/edit, should also add that disabling wifi on the EE BT hub whatever it's called, has dramatically improved the connection. Customer service offered to send me a Smart hub 2 again, because in their own words "it's much stronger against interference than the new ones"

If I could remove the hub from the daisy chain completely I would but the nokia modem doesn't have a phone jack so I can't use my landline unless I have the hub plugged in 🙄

[naylor2006]

Please dont expect 866Mbps ahead of time, it is very hard to achieve unless the conditions are perfect and you are right near an AP. You will likely need to use 80Mhz which will open you up to more interference.

In my home after much tweaking, it is possible to get 850Mbps using Unifi gear but actually 600-700Mbps is more often the result, also if you want to see the absolute max WIFI performance you need a local speed test server, build an Openspeed Test Server either on a Raspberry Pi or something.

[WSH]

Glad to hear it but if you want reliable performance, especially at those sorts of speeds, you really need to grasp the nettle and put cat 6 cables in.

To be fair, they’ve made tremendous strides with wireless over the last 10 years but any techie will tell you it is still second rate.  ISPs like it because it is quick and cheap for them to provide, not because it is any good.

I would take the speed figure quoted with a pinch of salt.  For example, did you know that that 866Mb/s is almost certainly being quoted as 433 send plus 433 receive?  Wireless can’t do both at the same time.  It has to alternate between sending for a period and listening for a reply.  Wires can do both at the same time, so 1Gb/s is 1Gb send and 1Gb receive.  There are a lot of other factors in play with wireless as well, but I’ve said enough.

[naylor2006]

Cat5e is perfectly fine for break neck WIFI speeds, my setup is all 2.5Gb switches which we all know is rock solid over Cat5e. Now a 2.5Gb network is going to give you more than enough headroom for WIFI 6 top speeds. 

Indeed WIFI is half duplex.

If I was doing a new install i'd put Cat 6 in but if you have Cat5e home wiring then get on the 2.5Gb train because its great.

Anyway, other than that, this dude isnt getting 866Mbps tomorrow and this could lead him down an expensive wormhole like I did. Like I said, if you want to chase dizzy wifi highs then you need a local speed test server and not using internet ones.

[Troubled_Talent]

The new dongle is 1200 down 540 up. The 866 link speed is what my new router is sending out and windows is recognising it but my current dongle can't process wifi 6 protcol so it's topping out at 300Mb/s by not using the correct band. very consistently 300Mb/s though it's very nice for a laptop.

I know I can do much better with a hardline but I am on a mission to get full value of my fibre with a wireless connection. I only recently moved so I'll install some lines when I'm not acheing from the renovation works anymore

[WSH]

@naylor2006  Have to agree.  5e should do the job but if it's a new install cat 6 has more future proofing.

5e is only going to be able to handle 2.5Gb at short distances, with good quality cable and a good install.  Then again, domestic installations are short distances <50m.  Unofficially, cat 6 can cope with up to 10Gb/s at 55m, so better for a new install.

Wi-Fi 6 was rumoured to be full duplex but it never happened, as far as I know.  Wi-Fi 7 is in prep and said to be full duplex, using two different frequencies, but that may turn out to be urban myth again.

[naylor2006]

Those are theoretical max numbers.

Link speed also is not the speed you can expect, its a mild indication, my iPhone says link speed is 1200/1200 sometimes, but it will never get much past 850.

Hey look if you get 866Mbps on a speed test then more power to you, come back prove me wrong 🙂

[Troubled_Talent]

That sounds realistic, I'll let you know what I achieve.
I am currently running the 5ghz on 160Mhz and it's been crystal clear, I've now optimized my software for the speed. Fingers crossed it works as planned.