My second router is not accessing the full speeds.

[torresraul555]

I have a two combo router (1st: MG7550 Motorola) (2nd: AC1900 R7000 Nighthawk) and I usually use it for gaming related at times. When i connect my devices to my first router it is good, and on the second router is where I begin to notice a huge drop, especially when wired. I have Spectrum Internet 100 down and 20 up. Whenever i connect via ethernet my second router the speeds are 10x slower then the first router. Is there a way I can get my actual speeds good? The AC1900 nighthawk even has the capability to maximize it way more then the average or at least make it more reliable.

 

[anotherdrew]

The nighthawk is not a bad router, so this is surprising.
1. Do you have QOS turned on? Some QOS software ensures that every device will get some bandwidth by making sure no one device takes it all.
2. Are you running the Nighthawk as a router/gateway (DHCP, NAT, security) ... if so, is there a good reason? Could you run it in bridge mode?

 

[torresraul555]

The nighthawk is not a bad router, so this is surprising.
1. Do you have QOS turned on? Some QOS software ensures that every device will get some bandwidth by making sure no one device takes it all.
2. Are you running the Nighthawk as a router/gateway (DHCP, NAT, security) ... if so, is there a good reason? Could you run it in bridge mode?

I had qos setup and everything but I turned it off too see if there will be a change in speeds, it still continued to do the same. I also used dns servers like Google’d and same thing. And yes I do have it in router/gateway reason being is that I just used the default auto setup on it. Although last night I disabled dhcp on the second router and speeds are better! But I am unable to connect too anything that’s wired connected as like my PlayStation 4.

 

[anotherdrew]

Google DNS server (and others) are nice for the options they give you and can sometimes get you to a site a couple milliseconds faster, but once you're connected to a site DNS is not used.

Read about bridge mode. Or a quick and dirty way is to use the Nighthawk as a hub/switch and just use the LAN plugs and ignore the wan plug. If you do this, you would want to make sure to turn off DHCP too.

 

[torresraul555]

Google DNS server (and others) are nice for the options they give you and can sometimes get you to a site a couple milliseconds faster, but once you're connected to a site DNS is not used.

Read about bridge mode. Or a quick and dirty way is to use the Nighthawk as a hub/switch and just use the LAN plugs and ignore the wan plug. If you do this, you would want to make sure to turn off DHCP too.

I looked into bridge mode, on my first router which is my modem in a way. I wanted to put it as bridge node but it wouldn’t slow me to. As if it’s grey boxed for me not to touch not really sure. And for the dhcp, if it’s currently off on the nighthawk (second router) how can I still use it to connect via LAN? It doesn’t let me connect at all

 

[anotherdrew]

If you bridge the Motorola, then it is like the Nighthawk is connected directly to the Internet and the Nighthawk does the NAT, security, and DHCP. In this configuration the only thing connected to the Motorola should be the Nighthawk (also, no WIFI from the Motorola).

If you bridge the Nighthawk (page 42 of your Nighthawk manual) then the Motorola does the NAT, security, and DHCP. The Nighthawk acts like a hub and passes packets on the Motorola. With this setup you should be able to use both the Nighthawk and Motorola for WIFI. This is the preferred way of doing this.

If you are lazy or just can't get it to work, then on the Nighthawk, take the line in the WAN port (should be the one going to the Motorola) and plug it into one of the LAN ports. Now the Nighthawk is just a dumb hub (with WIFI ... probably).

Remember one thing ... when you make changes to your network like this, it is quite common that network address, gateway, etc (all that DHCP stuff) needs to be updated. Restarting your device (like the PlayStation) is an easy way to update all that. That or you can do your network setup again.

BTW ... I saw there was a recent firmware update for your Nighthawk ... don't know if that will help you at all.

 

[torresraul555]

If you bridge the Motorola, then it is like the Nighthawk is connected directly to the Internet and the Nighthawk does the NAT, security, and DHCP. In this configuration the only thing connected to the Motorola should be the Nighthawk (also, no WIFI from the Motorola).

If you bridge the Nighthawk (page 42 of your Nighthawk manual) then the Motorola does the NAT, security, and DHCP. The Nighthawk acts like a hub and passes packets on the Motorola. With this setup you should be able to use both the Nighthawk and Motorola for WIFI. This is the preferred way of doing this.

If you are lazy or just can't get it to work, then on the Nighthawk, take the line in the WAN port (should be the one going to the Motorola) and plug it into one of the LAN ports. Now the Nighthawk is just a dumb hub (with WIFI ... probably).

Remember one thing ... when you make changes to your network like this, it is quite common that network address, gateway, etc (all that DHCP stuff) needs to be updated. Restarting your device (like the PlayStation) is an easy way to update all that. That or you can do your network setup again.

BTW ... I saw there was a recent firmware update for your Nighthawk ... don't know if that will help you at all.

I haven’t checked for an update in weeks but I’ll look into it. And for the nighthawk if I do as what you said, will my LAN connection not only be better but improved? It pretty much optimizes LAN connection from what the reviews and everything says apparently.

 

[anotherdrew]

Turning your Nighthawk into a hub should remove the slow down you have experienced. Forwarding packets is a trivial matter nowadays. That said, moving packets from the LAN side to the WAN side should also be trivial and if I had purchased that device and experienced what you did, I would be upset. I would probably change every setting possible and more to try to get it to behave like I would expect (hey, the thing wasn't cheap!). So, I encourage you to keep trying ... but, if you want a fix now, I expect bridging will do it.

"It pretty much optimizes LAN connection" ... what does this mean to you and what does it mean to you and what does it mean to Netgear? No device out there can make your connection faster than that between you house and your ISP. I expect to you it means "give me the fastest speed" ... especially if you are the only one using this connection. I have a wife and 2 teenagers ... to me it might mean give me enough bandwidth to watch a movie while my son is downloading a new patch for DOTA2 and my daughter facetimes her boyfriend. I expect what Netgear thinks of optimization is more "give everyone something" and less "give one person everything". If you are looking for max speed all the time, the fix might be turning off (or bypassing) all the bells and whistles you paid for. Yes, that sucks.