[SOLVED] getting 1/3rd of the speed I'm paying for

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Mephis39

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Sep 27, 2019
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Hardware:
Modem: Virgin Media Hub 4
Router: TP-Link Archer C4000

Idle router usage:
CPU load: 32%
Memory Usage: 58%

Connected devices:
Wired: 2
Wireless: 18

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I'm paying for gigabit speed, but when I run speed tests on my hardwired PC I see speeds of about 600+mb/s which then drops precipitously to about 400mb/s, which is about the speed I see when downloading a large file.

My last download had my router's CPU load at 90% with speeds of 370+mb/s. I guess that's the issue, but why would CPU usage be that high? All other devices are using next to no internet and the max throughput of this router and the LAN port I'm connected to easily exceeds 1gb.

Do I just have too many devices connected?
 
Solution
Hardware:
Modem: Virgin Media Hub 4
Router: TP-Link Archer C4000

Idle router usage:
CPU load: 32%
Memory Usage: 58%

Connected devices:
Wired: 2
Wireless: 18

---

I'm paying for gigabit speed, but when I run speed tests on my hardwired PC I see speeds of about 600+mb/s which then drops precipitously to about 400mb/s, which is about the speed I see when downloading a large file.

My last download had my router's CPU load at 90% with speeds of 370+mb/s. I guess that's the issue, but why would CPU usage be that high? All other devices are using next to no internet and the max throughput of this router and the LAN port I'm connected to easily exceeds 1gb.

Do I just have too many devices connected?
You may have features enabled...

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
Hardware:
Modem: Virgin Media Hub 4
Router: TP-Link Archer C4000

Idle router usage:
CPU load: 32%
Memory Usage: 58%

Connected devices:
Wired: 2
Wireless: 18

---

I'm paying for gigabit speed, but when I run speed tests on my hardwired PC I see speeds of about 600+mb/s which then drops precipitously to about 400mb/s, which is about the speed I see when downloading a large file.

My last download had my router's CPU load at 90% with speeds of 370+mb/s. I guess that's the issue, but why would CPU usage be that high? All other devices are using next to no internet and the max throughput of this router and the LAN port I'm connected to easily exceeds 1gb.

Do I just have too many devices connected?
You may have features enabled on your router that prevent hardware only processing of traffic. To test, save your current config, then factory reset the router. Set JUST the admin password, SSID and WIFI password. Retest. If you get gigabit speed, then you have some feature enabled that is forcing traffic through the router CPU. It could be a firewall fezture, or connection logging or QOS.
 
Solution

Mephis39

Reputable
Sep 27, 2019
33
0
4,540
You may have features enabled on your router that prevent hardware only processing of traffic. To test, save your current config, then factory reset the router. Set JUST the admin password, SSID and WIFI password. Retest. If you get gigabit speed, then you have some feature enabled that is forcing traffic through the router CPU. It could be a firewall fezture, or connection logging or QOS.

I've done that and I'm getting speeds above 900mb/s, which is great!

The only setting I want to configure is smart connect, which hides both 5ghz and the 2.4ghz bands and reveals 1 SSID that everyone connects to, and the router automatically moves devices around the bands to even out congestion. I've just reenabled it and allowed all the devices to reconnect. It's not causing an issues yet, but does it seem like something that could be causing the issues I was seeing?
 

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
I've done that and I'm getting speeds above 900mb/s, which is great!

The only setting I want to configure is smart connect, which hides both 5ghz and the 2.4ghz bands and reveals 1 SSID that everyone connects to, and the router automatically moves devices around the bands to even out congestion. I've just reenabled it and allowed all the devices to reconnect. It's not causing an issues yet, but does it seem like something that could be causing the issues I was seeing?
Probably not. WIFI things and routing things are usually independent.
 

Mephis39

Reputable
Sep 27, 2019
33
0
4,540
Probably not. WIFI things and routing things are usually independent.

Ok, I did also have QOS configured to prioritise downloads, I thought that would help my issue but I take it that enabling QOS makes the CPU look at each packet to guess what it's for which could've been causing high cpu usage?
 

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
Ok, I did also have QOS configured to prioritise downloads, I thought that would help my issue but I take it that enabling QOS makes the CPU look at each packet to guess what it's for which could've been causing high cpu usage?
YEP. That will do it. With high WAN speeds, QOS is usually a bad thing rather than a good thing.
QOS generally will only benefit uploads if you much lower upload bandwidth. It is a trade off.
 
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