ASUS ROG GT-AXE11000 only netting 200-500mbps WiFi

[Centauri]

I've gone through two modems in the past week; an Arris S33 and now a Motorola MB8621 - both of which are optimal for the 1200mbps Xfinity plan I'm on.

When I run any of my 2.5gbps capable devices wired directly to the modem, I get around 1000mbps. When I connect the modem to the router and run devices wired to the router directly, I lose a bit, but still in the 900s.

But when I use my WiFi 6E capable desktop, or my 6E capable GS21, or either of my WiFi 6 laptops... I am getting around 500-600 in the same room as the router.

A Comcast tech tested my lines and my wiring is showing capability for up to 2500mbps as well so it's nothing coming into the house that's the problem either. He advised I may need to dig more deeply into the router's settings but I can't imagine what would be losing 70% of my speed.

Thoughts?

 

[SamirD]

Wired is always faster than wireless. I'm sure in some lab, wifi6 can break gigabit, but I don't think I've seen that in the real world.

 

[GotNoRice]

There are a lot of variables at play here.

To start, as far as your internet speeds go, does your router have a 2.5G port? To see more than 1Gbps you will need either a modem and router that both have a 2.5G port, or a modem and router that both have 2 gigabit ports and both support link aggregation. Otherwise you'll be limited to 1Gbps, even wired, regardless of what your plan is.

Many things can affect your WiFi speeds.

Are you connected to the 5Ghz or 2.4Ghz band? (Do you have the ability to differentiate or simply use the same SSID for both?)
Are there other devices within range also transmitting on that channel?

WiFi has always had amazing amounts of marketing when it comes to the speeds you are able to achieve. It's still very rare, even with the latest WiFi standards and hardware, to actually be able to achieve Gigabit speeds even under near ideal scenarios.

 

[Centauri]

There are a lot of variables at play here.

To start, as far as your internet speeds go, does your router have a 2.5G port? To see more than 1Gbps you will need either a modem and router that both have a 2.5G port, or a modem and router that both have 2 gigabit ports and both support link aggregation. Otherwise you'll be limited to 1Gbps, even wired, regardless of what your plan is.

Many things can affect your WiFi speeds.

Are you connected to the 5Ghz or 2.4Ghz band? (Do you have the ability to differentiate or simply use the same SSID for both?)
Are there other devices within range also transmitting on that channel?

WiFi has always had amazing amounts of marketing when it comes to the speeds you are able to achieve. It's still very rare, even with the latest WiFi standards and hardware, to actually be able to achieve Gigabit speeds even under near ideal scenarios.

Yes, the router has a 2.5g port and so does my modem.

I am connecting to the 6GHz band. This is all WiFi 6E equipment. It's a pretty vacant channel since only my Galaxy S21 and desktop PC have 6E.

 

[Centauri]

All I know is - this device is capable of far more than I'm seeing at home. It was the entire point behind building a 6E setup.

Though I think I may have hit onto something after skimming this review. Going into the router configuration and setting the 6GHz channel to 160MHz-only and then picking one of the lowest channels for it to broadcast on got me this.

But shortly after I'm back down into the 200-600 range. Something is up...

 

[Nicklebon]

Something is up...

Wireless is unpredictable in the real world and very much subject to subtle changes in your environment. Changes that you are unlikely aware of and never mind the fact something as simple as the orientation of your laptop can make a huge difference. I've seen something as simple as a cup of tea being on the table too near to her laptop make a difference in performance numbers in my wife's office. In short nothing is up beyond wireless is a convenience and it basically sucks. Be happy it works as well as it does.

 

[Centauri]

Hi passers by,

If there's anybody here who is actually willing to chime in with helpful advice, I'd appreciate it. Especially if you're familiar with WiFi 6E and the things it is capable of, as well as the capabilities of this specific router - which have been demonstrated consistently by countless reviewers.

'Be happy' with 80% performance swings is not really an [H] answer - it reeks of defeatism and unwillingness to research anything about the hardware in question.

 

[THUMPer]

for the wifi devices, have you tried to get closer to the router?

 

[Nicklebon]

'Be happy' with 80% performance swings is not really an [H] answer - it reeks of defeatism and unwillingness to research anything about the hardware in question.

LMAO .. it reeks of years of professional experience. It reeks of RF mapping an area one day only to come back another and get a completely different view. You're trying to use a 160MHz of bandwidth in an uncontrolled space. You are going to be subject to the most likelihood of interference as you will be overlapping many channels. Frankly, if I were doing this I would try using the higher channels as most people flock to lower channels. This should decrease the likelihood of overlap albeit with some range trade off. I will reiterate that no one actually interested in reliable, stable and predicable network connections uses wifi. It very simply cannot be those things in the real world. It is convenient and in most cases passes for good enough.

 

[Centauri]

for the wifi devices, have you tried to get closer to the router?

I'm doing basically all of the testing in the same room as the router. The 6E desktop is less than 10ft from the router, in particular.

You're trying to use a 160MHz of bandwidth in an uncontrolled space. You are going to be subject to the most likelihood of interference as you will be overlapping many channels. Frankly, if I were doing this I would try using the higher channels as most people flock to lower channels. This should decrease the likelihood of overlap albeit with some range trade off. I will reiterate that no one actually interested in reliable, stable and predicable network connections uses wifi. It very simply cannot be those things in the real world. It is convenient and in most cases passes for good enough.

Thank you.

The router allows you to set 2.4, 5 and 6 Channels but it defaults to Auto.

On 5, I enabled 160MHz for my devices with only WiFi 6 instead of 6E and manually selected Ch 36.
On 6, in addition to setting it to 160MHz-only instead of 20/40/80/160, I set to Ch to 85.

This seems to have helped things significantly as I'm getting a much more consistent 700-900mbps across all of my 6/6E devices.

 

[Nicklebon]

On 5, I enabled 160MHz for my devices with only WiFi 6 instead of 6E and manually selected Ch 36.
On 6, in addition to setting it to 160MHz-only instead of 20/40/80/160, I set to Ch to 85.

This seems to have helped things significantly as I'm getting a much more consistent 700-900mbps across all of my 6/6E devices.

Be aware that 160MHz on the 5GHz band occupies channels 36-64 half of which are DFS channels meaning if your router picks up any radar interference it will back off as it required to do so. Meaning you may be able use 160MHz of spectrum now whereas in 5min you can't. Hope you don't live near an airport.

 

[GotNoRice]

You never answered my previous question about the SSID.

Are you using a different SSID for the different bands? Or are you just assuming that WiFi 6E devices will default to the higher frequency band? If you are using the same SSID, that makes configuration easier but in practice many devices end up on the 2.4Ghz channel and tend to stay there.

If there's anybody here who is actually willing to chime in with helpful advice, I'd appreciate it. Especially if you're familiar with WiFi 6E and the things it is capable of, as well as the capabilities of this specific router - which have been demonstrated consistently by countless reviewers.

'Be happy' with 80% performance swings is not really an [H] answer - it reeks of defeatism and unwillingness to research anything about the hardware in question.

Disappointed that the answers you got do not correspond with what you wanted to believe? If you think reading a review makes you more knowledgeable than those actually deploying equipment in the field, then I think we've successfully identified the actual source of the "problem" you are having.

 

[Centauri]

You never answered my previous question about the SSID.

Are you using a different SSID for the different bands? Or are you just assuming that WiFi 6E devices will default to the higher frequency band? If you are using the same SSID, that makes configuration easier but in practice many devices end up on the 2.4Ghz channel and tend to stay there.



Disappointed that the answers you got do not correspond with what you wanted to believe? If you think reading a review makes you more knowledgeable than those actually deploying equipment in the field, then I think we've successfully identified the actual source of the "problem" you are having.

Different SSID for each band.

And here's the thing... I've worked in various fields of customer service long enough to know that, after a certain amount of time in the same industry, people stop looking at situations and specifics because they assume they already have the answers to everything. That's where 'canned responses' come from.

The fact that I've already exceeded, significantly, what certain replies in this thread indicated I would ever be able to achieve with any form of WiFi, and did it fiddling around mostly aimlessly in the router's settings for an evening... is a pretty good indicator that what I described above is what played out here. It's brand new tech that is live in very few environments. It's why I specifically cited what I was running and what was connected to what else.

The equipment I am running and the environment I'm running it all in was capable of more than I was experiencing with the router in its out-of-the-box state. Nothing else needs to be said. It was the entire reason for the thread. And certain responses did not at all point me toward it.

 

[Gavv]

I think the problem may be your expectations.

Up to 2500mbps on wired. Note up to.

What is your expectation for wireless? Note your Comcast guy didn’t tell you what you’d be getting there. So what are your expectations as to what you’d expect to see?

And I read the network forum here because these folks have their poop in a group. It’s still amazes me people want help either won’t accept it or know far greater than the help their asking for. At which point call your tech guy, he’ll fix it right up ;p