[SOLVED] Is 930mbps wireless too much to ask for?

Aug 4, 2021
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Hi all,

I'm posting this question out of general curiosity and a little bit of frustration.

So I've been paying for 1gig internet for a little over two years now, and have never really gotten anywhere near those speeds wirelessly. Using my ATT modem, I average anywhere from 200mbps-400mbps depending on proximity, which I've always attributed to 'using the crappy modem as my wireless router' because using a wired connection to the modem I always do get ~930-940mbps.

So recently I decided to do something about it and buy an actual router.

After much research to find a good mid-range AX router (Asus RT-AX86U) and seeing it's wireless performance results in a bunch of different websites I decided to buy it hoping it'd get me to at least 800-900mbps while sitting in front of the router (router being behind my TV and me sitting on the couch 5-6ft in front of it)... but nope, I'm now testing at around 500-600mbps sitting 5ft away from the router. When I test the internet speeds via the Asus router itself I do get a full 940mbps which makes me wonder, is it even possible to get those speeds wirelessly? Do I need to return this, and shell out $600-700 to be able to get those speeds?

At this point I'm really boggled and thought I'd reach out to the community for advice/help.

Thanks
 
Solution
Wifi is half duplex, so in order to get 900mbps on wifi, you would need to have an 1800mbps link rate. But because your phone has maybe a 2x2 wifi antenna, you can probably only achieve 1200mbps link rate, so your download speeds will be like 500-600mbps. It doesn't matter if your router has 4 or 20 antennas, your phone can only connect to 2 of them.

Wifi 6E at 6ghz with 160mhz channel width may give you the link rate you need to get near gigabit wifi speeds. But your phone needs wifi 6E as well as your router.

kanewolf

Titan
Moderator
Hi all,

I'm posting this question out of general curiosity and a little bit of frustration.

So I've been paying for 1gig internet for a little over two years now, and have never really gotten anywhere near those speeds wirelessly. Using my ATT modem, I average anywhere from 200mbps-400mbps depending on proximity, which I've always attributed to 'using the crappy modem as my wireless router' because using a wired connection to the modem I always do get ~930-940mbps.

So recently I decided to do something about it and buy an actual router.

After much research to find a good mid-range AX router (Asus RT-AX86U) and seeing it's wireless performance results in a bunch of different websites I decided to buy it hoping it'd get me to at least 800-900mbps while sitting in front of the router (router being behind my TV and me sitting on the couch 5-6ft in front of it)... but nope, I'm now testing at around 500-600mbps sitting 5ft away from the router. When I test the internet speeds via the Asus router itself I do get a full 940mbps which makes me wonder, is it even possible to get those speeds wirelessly? Do I need to return this, and shell out $600-700 to be able to get those speeds?

At this point I'm really boggled and thought I'd reach out to the community for advice/help.

Thanks
Yes, IMO. 400Mbit for hand held devices is plenty. When WIFI6E becomes common, then 800+ may be common. Until then, 400-600Mbit is the practical limit.
 
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Wifi is half duplex, so in order to get 900mbps on wifi, you would need to have an 1800mbps link rate. But because your phone has maybe a 2x2 wifi antenna, you can probably only achieve 1200mbps link rate, so your download speeds will be like 500-600mbps. It doesn't matter if your router has 4 or 20 antennas, your phone can only connect to 2 of them.

Wifi 6E at 6ghz with 160mhz channel width may give you the link rate you need to get near gigabit wifi speeds. But your phone needs wifi 6E as well as your router.
 
Solution
Aug 4, 2021
2
0
10
Oh wow interesting. I had no idea that this sort of thing was expected, I just assumed that subscribing to 1gig home internet meant it was achievable to get near those speeds on everyday products. Thanks for your feedback!