[SOLVED] WIFI AP only 100mbps while PC on same cable is full gigabit

[Kiekepoot]

Hello,

Today I've noticed something strange. My WIFI AP (TP-Link EAP225) is connected with a Cat5e cable onto my Netgear PoE switch. Speeds were alsways ok (speedtest around 285mbps -- ISP gives 300mpbs) and pulling data from my NAS was going good.
Last couple of days the speed when copying data to/from my nas was going very slow. Ran a speedtest and always capped out at 90 to 95mbps. I noticed my switch was showing an orange light for speed connection, wich indicates this line was only running at 100mbps instead of gigabit.
Tested my AP with a short 2meter cable attached to my netgear PoE and received gigabit link. OK, presumably the cable inside the wall is bad. Connected my laptop to this and also got full gigabit (speedtest 295mbps).
So far with testing: the cable inside the wall is fine, the AccessPoint itself is also fine, maybe my netgear over PoE budget?? Used the PoE brick inside the TP-link box for this, but still only 100mpbs. The PoE brick was connected directly to my router, bypassing my netgear switch.
The cable itself is inside the wall for about 10 years. The AP for a solid 1 year (start of the pandemic). To rule out a bad connector, I've repinched new ones on both ends, cable tester showed no shorts or errors. I didn't use wall sockets, the ethernet cable plugs in directly to the AP (done this to hide the cable behind the AP).
Current result: AP connected to wall-calbe: 100mbps // Laptop connected to wall-cable: gigabit // AP connected with other cable to switch: gigabit

Has anyone have an idea what could be causing this problem? In a couple of days I should receive a 15meter long CAT6 cable. I shall test this, because my only remaining idea is that the length of the cable combining with PoE gives slower speeds suddenly. Degraded cable over time???
Thanks in advance! Its not that big of a problem because most of the time we only use wifi for checking mails and watching netflix. Just when we want to transfer to our NAS... 11MB/s instead of 100MB/s 😅
Almost forgot: When on the desktop PC, NAS speeds are good.

 

[bill001g]

The POE function will not affect the speed. If there are power issues the device will generally not boot.

If this is the industry standard 802.3af/at form of POE that can go 100 meters. Now some forms of passive PoE will limit you to 100mbps but on your AP it says it is 1gbit on passive also. But it likely doesn't matter because if you are using a switch those tend to only be 802.3af/at so it will have all 4 pair for data also.

This almost has to be a bad cable. I know you re terminated the cables but there is not much else it can be. Using the standard color codes it means either the blue or brown pair is having issues. Problem with cheap cable testers is they only show simple connectivity they will not find issues like split pairs or a crimp that is good enough to light a led but not to pass data.

There is a slight possibility that the port in your AP is damaged but that is not very common.

 

[kanewolf]

Hello,

Today I've noticed something strange. My WIFI AP (TP-Link EAP225) is connected with a Cat5e cable onto my Netgear PoE switch. Speeds were alsways ok (speedtest around 285mbps -- ISP gives 300mpbs) and pulling data from my NAS was going good.
Last couple of days the speed when copying data to/from my nas was going very slow. Ran a speedtest and always capped out at 90 to 95mbps. I noticed my switch was showing an orange light for speed connection, wich indicates this line was only running at 100mbps instead of gigabit.
Tested my AP with a short 2meter cable attached to my netgear PoE and received gigabit link. OK, presumably the cable inside the wall is bad. Connected my laptop to this and also got full gigabit (speedtest 295mbps).
So far with testing: the cable inside the wall is fine, the AccessPoint itself is also fine, maybe my netgear over PoE budget?? Used the PoE brick inside the TP-link box for this, but still only 100mpbs. The PoE brick was connected directly to my router, bypassing my netgear switch.
The cable itself is inside the wall for about 10 years. The AP for a solid 1 year (start of the pandemic). To rule out a bad connector, I've repinched new ones on both ends, cable tester showed no shorts or errors. I didn't use wall sockets, the ethernet cable plugs in directly to the AP (done this to hide the cable behind the AP).
Current result: AP connected to wall-calbe: 100mbps // Laptop connected to wall-cable: gigabit // AP connected with other cable to switch: gigabit

Has anyone have an idea what could be causing this problem? In a couple of days I should receive a 15meter long CAT6 cable. I shall test this, because my only remaining idea is that the length of the cable combining with PoE gives slower speeds suddenly. Degraded cable over time???
Thanks in advance! Its not that big of a problem because most of the time we only use wifi for checking mails and watching netflix. Just when we want to transfer to our NAS... 11MB/s instead of 100MB/s 😅
Almost forgot: When on the desktop PC, NAS speeds are good.

Does the in-wall cable have wall plates? If so, I would recommend reterminating or at least re-punching them. Ethernet cable is funny. It could work on a laptop because you moved it around when disconnecting the AP. When you plug the cable back into the AP you could bend it again "just right" so that one of the 8 wires doesn't make contact. That is all it takes, one of eight, to get a 100Mbit rather than gigabit connection.
99.99% of the time it is a cable problem.

 

[Kiekepoot]

The cable is the problem. Yesterday in the evening I received a 15 meter CAT6 (double the length of the wall cable). Connected it and boom, 1gig speeds.
Begin of next week I'm going to repinch both ends with new connectors and post the result.

Thanks bill001g and kanewolf for the feedback! Very VERY helpfull!!!