[SOLVED] Ridiculously slow speeds on Archer C7

[DudleyLd]

Hi guys, this is my first post, I hope the formatting is right.

I have a gigabit connection from my ISP (Digi), which provide me with a router/modem combo (Huawei HG8143A5), on which I have deactivated WLAN and had the ISP put in bridge mode to use a TP-Link Archer C7 for wifi. I am mainly using a Lenovo G710, with an unknown motherboard (all I know is the laptop is "type 20252"), unknown power supply, Qualcomm Atheros AR956x Wireless Network Adapter (driver ver.: 10.0.0.263), Windows 8.1.

I have run a few different scenaries for testing speed:
Huawei through cable to pc: about 70Mbps
Huawei through wifi to pc: about 25-30 Mbps
Archer through cable to pc: about 80 Mbps
Archet through wifi to pc: About 30 Mbps

These results are similar from tests run from a Dell Precision 5540 (gigabit network card, enough CPU/RAM to run multiple sandboxes/VMs) which I can't dig around in due to employer concerns. All of my neighbors in the residential complex are getting speeds of over 300 Mbps (those that use a personal router over the Huawei), and I'm struggling to get 30 while less than a meter away from the router. I have contacted my ISP which refuses to investigate the situation, since they don't guarantee any speed despite the obvious problem when I'm the only person with such horrible speeds.

Is there anything I am missing or I can do? Should I just replace the Huawei modem/router combo? Could there be a problem with the port on the ISP's central terminal from the residential complex?

Update: I have been running tests for a while now, before the ISP dudes get here. I am getting a whopping 21.52 (yes, the dot is in the right place) Mbps through a gigabit connection on a 5GHz band on the work laptop. Is this actually considered normal?

 

[SteveRX4]

Use cable wherever you can rather than wifi. The shorter, the better.

Try different DNS than the ISP uses. See https://www.hpe.com/us/en/insights/articles/get-faster-internet-with-better-dns-1909.html

Use tracert to find where the biggest delays are - https://support.microsoft.com/en-au...rt-to-troubleshoot-tcp-ip-problems-in-windows

 

[DudleyLd]

Use cable wherever you can rather than wifi. The shorter, the better.

Try different DNS than the ISP uses. See https://www.hpe.com/us/en/insights/articles/get-faster-internet-with-better-dns-1909.html

Use tracert to find where the biggest delays are - https://support.microsoft.com/en-au...rt-to-troubleshoot-tcp-ip-problems-in-windows

Hi! I was already using a different DNS, and as I said, my neighbors with the same internet packages are getting 4 times my cabled speed on Wi-Fi.

 

[SteveRX4]

Are they using the same ISP? And have they got the same speed package?
Are they using the same router? Are their cables longer than yours?

 

[DudleyLd]

Are they using the same ISP? And have they got the same speed package?
Are they using the same router? Are their cables longer than yours?

Hi again! Same ISP, same speed package, same ISP-given router/modem combo. They probably have different personal routers (but I doubt the issue stems from my Archer C7), and I can't reasonably ask so many people to take the time to measure their cable lengths.

Edit: many of those with smaller speed packages / no dedicated router are still enjoying better speeds than me.

 

[SteveRX4]

Then you have to redo your installation - make sure the ISP has properly wired in their box. Replace your cables.

 

[DudleyLd]

Then you have to redo your installation - make sure the ISP has properly wired in their box. Replace your cables.

Alright, I had to give them 30 calls in the last two days to bring them over for that. Was hoping there was a small thing I was missing, but oh well. Thanks for your time!

 

[SteveRX4]

Good luck. I spend way too much time fixing network stuff at home. But that's the way it's gone.

 

[bill001g]

I doubt it is your router since it does the same plugged into the huawei.

It is going to be really hard to test and be sure the issue is not the laptop. I have never figured out why lenovo artificially cripples equipment with 10/100 ports and other similar things. The chipset support the gigabit lan but they for whatever reason force it to 100. There parts themselves cost the same or are less than a penny difference. It also only supports 802.11n on the 2.4g and your results are a little slow but not way out of line. Would have to dig to see the actual chipset they are using it could be they have a artificial slowness here also.

Hard to explain why your work laptop would get similar results when it has gigabit ports.

This is one of those things where it looks like the ISP but you really have no way to test and be sure it is not your equipment. Many ISP will charge you to come out to the house if they find no problems.

Normally the next test I recommend is to copy files between machines. With devices that do not have gigabit ports you will never get much more than 90mbps.

 

[DudleyLd]

I doubt it is your router since it does the same plugged into the huawei.

It is going to be really hard to test and be sure the issue is not the laptop. I have never figured out why lenovo artificially cripples equipment with 10/100 ports and other similar things. The chipset support the gigabit lan but they for whatever reason force it to 100. There parts themselves cost the same or are less than a penny difference. It also only supports 802.11n on the 2.4g and your results are a little slow but not way out of line. Would have to dig to see the actual chipset they are using it could be they have a artificial slowness here also.

Hard to explain why your work laptop would get similar results when it has gigabit ports.

This is one of those things where it looks like the ISP but you really have no way to test and be sure it is not your equipment. Many ISP will charge you to come out to the house if they find no problems.

Normally the next test I recommend is to copy files between machines. With devices that do not have gigabit ports you will never get much more than 90mbps.

Unfortunately I am unable to copy files between my work laptop and any other media due to security concerns. I am 99% this is an ISP issue. I could understand my outdated laptop/phone being the cause, but there is no excuse for a powerful laptop only getting 30 Mbps out of 1Gbps during late night when the traffic is low. The network card on my work laptop is an Intel Wireless AC 9260, there is no scenario in which this, coupled with an Archer C7, is getting 30 Mbps without ISP equipment failure.

 

[bill001g]

I agree but the many ISP are jerks. They will say they find nothing and many times charge you to come out.

In any case if they do come out have the tech hook his pc to the router and show you the speedtest so you can really be sure that it is possible to run at the speeds they claim.