Wi-Fi Speeds on nbn - HELP

hunter_syd on 29/06/2021 - 18:18
Last edited 30/06/2021 - 09:43

Seeing as the OzBargain community is huge and there are some very smart people on here who are more tech savvy than me, I have to pose this question.

I have NBN in my apartment and I'm on an NBN250 plan. Despite this I find everything loads pretty slow when on wi-fi (2.4Ghz) (I'm using a TP-Link Archer VR900 - which I believe has max speeds of 600mbps). It's not dead spots either… I can be right next to the router and no difference.

I use my smart TV (Samsung) and Netflix has to buffer occasionally. Wi-Fi on my phone is alright but not fast by any means.On my Surface Laptop 3, again it runs alright but not anywhere near the 250mbps of my plan. I've done a speed test on the Wi-Fi on my phone and laptop and they both come out at best around 70mbps… but sometimes it gets really bad and drops way below that!

Now I've checked, and when I plug an ethernet cable direct to the NBN box to my laptop I'll get consistently 250mbps and similarly plugging an ethernet cable from the TP-Link Router direct to my laptop I'll also get 250mbps.

What is wrong with my wireless connection? I've tried chatting to TP Link and they've kind of indicated that my devices don't go fast enough and the maximum "Link Speed" is lower than 250mbps and furthermore Wi-Fi ends up at 30-60% of that link speed. I've run the check and truly the best I can get is 144mbps link speed on my laptop with Wi-Fi and so the 70mbps makes sense… but then again, I'm doubtful that all my devices can't go faster. As I have a surface laptop 2 (it's older but not super old) and I believe the wireless adapter is Wi-Fi 6 (which I thought is pretty fast). Also surely I can't be the only one using these types of devices and then what is the point of me paying for NBN250 if the max speed I'll ever get is 70mbps. So I'm a bit at a loss as to what the issue is…

Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

Computing Broadband nbn

Comments

  • Platinumtelecom on 29/06/2021 - 18:22
    +7

    Do you know how to get into the setting of the router?
    http://tplinkmodem.net/

    Go in and change the Wifi channels. It seems you may have interference with other appliances or neighbours.

    Happy to check it out for you via a remote sessions.

    • hunter_syd on 30/06/2021 - 13:45

      thanks! I'll try some stuff and if I get nowhere, I'll have to hit you up for help.

  • AndyC1 on 29/06/2021 - 19:07

    What wifi max standard does the equipment you are connecting to the modem have? 5g or N or AC or AX

    • hunter_syd on 30/06/2021 - 09:56

      I'm not sure exactly. But my Surface Laptop 3 has Wi-Fi 6 .. .and I have an iPhone 12 Pro Max which says it can do AX.
      I'm thinking that if both these devices are coming back with the same speeds it must be an issue with the TP-Link router?

      • AndyC1 on 30/06/2021 - 10:35

        The highest you have is AX and then AC. You should be getting allot more than the speed you are seeing.

        As such you definitely have wifi issue, which you need help with. As such I would go onto the TP-LInk web site support area and ask for help there.

        • hunter_syd on 30/06/2021 - 12:20

          that's what I thought… TP-Link haven't been that helpful though! I'm going to try a firmware update and see how it goes (as per their suggestion)

  • askme69 on 29/06/2021 - 20:44

    I have 100mbps plan and i get 95+mbps on my phone over wifi.

    LinkSys ac1200 router.

  • Twix on 29/06/2021 - 22:46
    +1

    The Surface Laptop 2 is Wi-Fi 5. Are you connected to the 2.4Ghz or 5Ghz TP-Link Wi-Fi network?

    • avoidfullprice on 30/06/2021 - 00:09
      +1

      Yup, the most relevant piece of info is not provided by OP - whether it is on 5GHz or not.

      If on 2.4GHz, then second most important piece is how congested the spectrum is. Like does OP live in apartment with 10 other networks competing for the same 2.4GHz.

      My router is next to my TV, and the TV struggles to stream ABC view using 2.4Ghz.

      • hunter_syd on 30/06/2021 - 09:45

        2.4 Ghz. Well I live in an apartment building with quite a few units around me… but I would have thought this is common with apartment living.

        • avoidfullprice on 30/06/2021 - 17:53

          That's why the Wifi 4 and newer standards move to the 5GHz to overcome the 2.4GHz spectrum being overcrowded, especially if your neighbours use 40Mhz bandwidth for their networks or their channels overlapping each other

          Having a Wifi5/6 laptop alone don't do jack if everyone else is screaming and shouting in 2.4Ghz space.

          • hunter_syd on 02/07/2021 - 16:45
            +1

            @avoidfullprice: turns out moving to 5Ghz did result in an improvement. Thanks for the tip!

            I can't imagine how many people are paying for high speed internet and being limited by the congestion on the 2.4Ghz spectrum. I had no idea the congestion would be so bad.

      • Twix on 30/06/2021 - 15:40

        Move the router away from the TV.

    • hunter_syd on 30/06/2021 - 09:43

      my bad, actually I have a Surface Laptop 3. I'm connected to the 2.4Ghz network

      • Twix on 30/06/2021 - 11:23
        +1

        To get Wi-Fi 6 speeds from the Microsoft Surface Laptop 3 and iPhone 12 Pro Max you need to purchase a Wi-Fi 6 router. For now connect everything possible via 5Ghz and run a new speedtest.

        • hunter_syd on 30/06/2021 - 13:28

          I don't really even need Wi-Fi 6 speeds… but getting 70mbps is pretty pathetic I think.

          thanks, I'll give that a try… but obviously not ideal.

          • Twix on 30/06/2021 - 13:29
            +3

            @hunter_syd: 2.4Ghz can be congested in apartments. 5Ghz is faster and less congested.

          • Twix on 01/07/2021 - 23:56

            @hunter_syd: Was 5Ghz the speed fix?

            • hunter_syd on 02/07/2021 - 16:44
              +2

              @Twix: I tried the 5Ghz and it actually worked!! I was getting around 150mbps with a link speed of about 250mbps on the laptop which I think makes sense.

              So perhaps it is just network congestion on the 2.4ghz network? I had it really bad one day where is was getting like 1mbps speeds, basically unusable. Can't imagine what made that day any different.

              • Twix on 02/07/2021 - 17:02

                @hunter_syd: 2.4Ghz is slower in general and yeah maybe congestion.

  • MeesusEff on 30/06/2021 - 01:10
    +1

    I downloaded an app called Wifi Analyser (Android), can't remember if I paid for a premium version but it's great. You can see the different wifi signals around you and see your signal strength. That's how I found out my $500 router was a POS 😂

  • EshaySlayer on 02/07/2021 - 14:39

    Have you tried turning your router off and on again? :D

    • hunter_syd on 02/07/2021 - 16:47
      +1

      that used to be my "go to" move. I often had complete drop outs.

      But one day that just didn't help at all…. that's when i discovered the speeds I was getting was like <1mbps! and even at best was 70mbps. Seems a colossal waste when paying for 250mbps

      • EshaySlayer on 02/07/2021 - 20:16

        I have the same problems too sometimes. I'm on a 100mbps plan and i rarely reach my full speed over wireless internet. I remember when i first got NBN, and i bought a brand new router as a result. The first week or two, my speeds were practically perfect, with even wireless speeds reaching the 80-85mbps mark on 5Ghz. It's been a year and when I do a speedtest it averages 20-30mbps.

        I read somewhere that apparently ISPs can throttle your speeds, so that could be the problem; it is not illegal and they can throttle your speeds to oblivion whenever they need to. I suspect that might be what happened to me, although it could be that my devices are bad. What is your ISP (internet servive provider?

        • hunter_syd on 06/07/2021 - 13:52

          I'm with one of the ozbargain favourites - Superloop

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