Configure Netgear R7000 for Gigabit WAN

[GreenSlime96]

Heyya!

I picked up a R7000 not too long ago and am liking it so far; I was worried that I'd have to perform these "random reboots" as well as dropped connections. I am proud and happy to say I have none but one problem:

I have a gigabit connection to the Internet and the main reason I felt compelled to buy a new top-of-the-line Wireless Router is because my old router - an AirPort Express 2012 - doesn't support gigabit speeds and only gave me 60Mbps on a good day (which is by no means slow). The R7000 on default configuration (out-of-the-box) on the latest firmware V1.0.3.80_1.1.38 doesn't allow me to get any higher than 500Mbps.

Here are a few pictures.

Direct connection: http://i.imgur.com/GZB86yH.png

Through R7000: http://i.imgur.com/3AZol6w.png

Thanks for any input, it'll be greatly appreciated. I wouldn't like to go through the hassle of returning this router I've bought but money's tight on a student budget.

Hoping for @RogerSC's input here because he seems to be pretty happy with his R7000

 

[byonik]

Are you using the same NIC and patch cable in each scenario? Have you already tried disabling the firewall? Is the traffic meter enabled by any chance?

I don't know if folks are getting full line rate in the real world with the stock firmware, but 500 Mbps does seem low.

Assuming you have ruled out any other bottlenecks, your next stop might be a custom firmware and a mild overclock, but I think DD-WRT is still slower than stock WAN to LAN, even with overclock.

 

[GreenSlime96]

Heyya byonik and thanks for your reply!

Yep, same NIC and cable is used all the time. I sit beside my router so I can just shift the cable quickly.

Regarding the Firewall, I've disabled all forms of Access Control/Scheduling/Site Blocking as well as the SIP ALG and changed NAT to Open... still no difference.

However, disabling Traffic Meter does help! I'm now getting 900Mbps! Hehe thanks mate.

Who'd guess that such a small feature would have such an impact?

I've re-enabled the SIP ALG and changed NAT to Secure and it works fine.

Thanks for the obscure suggestion, I wish Netgear had made it more clear >.>

 

[azazel1024]

No mention on the web admin page? I am sure many don't, but I know at least for the TP-Link Archer C8, there is a mention next to every feature that disables hardware NAT acceleration. My connection is too slow to see a difference betwee enabled and disabled (only a 75/75 connection), but when SMB tested it, they saw around a 300Mbps jump in throughput by having hardware NAT enabled.

So I am guess you were running in to a similar thing, hardware NAT was disabled by the traffic monitoring and disabling monitoring reenabled hardware NAT acceleration giving you a big boost to routing speeds.

 

[GreenSlime96]

No mention on the web admin page? I am sure many don't, but I know at least for the TP-Link Archer C8, there is a mention next to every feature that disables hardware NAT acceleration. My connection is too slow to see a difference betwee enabled and disabled (only a 75/75 connection), but when SMB tested it, they saw around a 300Mbps jump in throughput by having hardware NAT enabled.

So I am guess you were running in to a similar thing, hardware NAT was disabled by the traffic monitoring and disabling monitoring reenabled hardware NAT acceleration giving you a big boost to routing speeds.

Yeah, I think Netgear should've made this more explicit. The trial and error method used to find this out is tedious haha.

Thanks for your reply!

 

[htismaqe]

Do you have a metered internet plan?

Honestly, unless you absolutely need it, you should probably disable Traffic Meter. It's been known for many years (even prior to Netgear Genie series firmware) to cause various issues, not the least of which is screwing up the router flash.

 

[GreenSlime96]

Do you have a metered internet plan?

Honestly, unless you absolutely need it, you should probably disable Traffic Meter. It's been known for many years (even prior to Netgear Genie series firmware) to cause various issues, not the least of which is screwing up the router flash.

Nope, unmetered haha.

Makes it all the better

 

[byonik]

Glad you got that figured out. I'd be a little giddy too if I had a 1Gb pipe!