5GHz speed limited, but good signal strength

[Karde]

I've recently come across a weird problem with my home network.

Decided to splash out on a Netgear WNDR3700 and a WNHDE111. The internet comes into a lan port on the WNDR3700 and I have set it up as an AP with DHCP disabled using your excellent guide.

When I connect to the 2.4GHz radio (using an old Linksys wirelessN PCI adapter) and test my internet speed (speedtest.net) I have a download speed of around 2.8Mps

When I connect using the WNHDE111 on the 5GHz radio using speedtest again my download speed never goes above 0.4MPs and in fact caps @ 0.4MPs every single time I run the test.

Upload speed is also considerably slower.

I have tried different Ethernet cables, different computers and different Ethernet ports. Security on the entire network is disabled during the testing.

Checking on the WNHDE111's homepage, under the 'wireless' tab I get a signal strength of between 66% and 76%.

To my inexperienced eye it looks almost as though my 5GHz radio is having its speeds artificially capped somehow. I've gone through all the settings I can see for my Ethernet port on my PC, both home-pages of the wireless devices and I have made sure the firmware is up-to-date.

Has anyone got any ideas that I could try out to improve my internet speeds? Would be very useful to get the 5GHz radio speeds to match or at least be comparable to the 2.4GHz speeds.

Cheers all,

karde

 

[thiggins]

I'm assuming that you have the WNHDE111 and router in the same room for testing. They should be at least 10 feet apart.

Make sure either no wireless security is used or WPA2/AES. Anything else will limit your speed.

Uncheck "Enable video network" on the Wireless Settings page.

On QoS Setup page make sure Enable WMM is checked for both radios and Turn Internet Access QoS On is unchecked.

 

[Karde]

Hey, thanks for the quick response.

Checked all the settings that you mentioned in your last post and made sure my routers settings match your suggestions (they did already). Also found a setting on the WNHDE111 called 'WISH' tried the test with that on and off which made no difference.

Did realise that I forgot to mention two things in my original post;

First that I get the DL speed of 0.4 no matter the 5ghz signal strength. At 100% signal strength (10 ft and empty air between the wireless devices), at 68% signal (the actual position I want to use the device in) and at 35% signal (really bad test position with lots of walls in the way) I still get that 0.4 MBs DL speed.

Secondly, the WNHDE111 unit I bought was a refurbished unit, which did not bother me at the time since it was a reputable company etc. that I was buying from. However, I'm now wondering if there was a fault on this unit in manufacture which is why it was been returned once already? Does this sound like something that is possible?

 

[thiggins]

Yes, could be that you have a defective unit.

Sounds like you have tried everything that you can.