2BD Apt - Wi-Fi Speed Issues in Office Room - Router's Fault?

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  JimmyF on 21/04/2022 - 20:38

  +2

  When I test using my phone close to the router I'm getting ~500/47

  I assume you're worried most about the upload as you are transferring data to them? 47 is about the max you'll see for uploads after overheads. As for downloads it is a upto 1000 plan, most other providers sell this as 500/50 for a reason and aussie says typical evening speeds are 600.

  So 44 upload over the wifi in the office is about as good as it gets after overheads etc, so wouldn't be too worried about that.

  I also connect to a secured VPN in the USA for work and then the speed drops even further, to ~110/37 so I'm trying to get as much out of the speed as possibly can.

  Yep VPNs suck the speed out of most connections. You're now limited by their end as well, as that now the data has to go from you, to the USA and then off to where it needs to go, then back to the USA and then back to you again.

  I wish I could install another NBN outlet in my office and plug via Ethernet but it's a rental… I also don't want to pass a very long Ethernet cable throughout the apt.

  Worth giving the cable a shot to see if your speeds really do improve. Is your PC mobile? Move it closer and try a cable.

  • 

    ClioB on 21/04/2022 - 22:43

    Worth giving the cable a shot to see if your speeds really do improve. Is your PC mobile? Move it closer and try a cable.

    If I would like to test this, I'd need to get a specific cable if I'm not mistaken? One that can support high speeds?

    • 

      geekcohen on 22/04/2022 - 06:10

      Most CAT5 Ethernet cables will be fine. You need specific cables for longer distances or even higher speeds. But Most CAT5 cables will be fine for you.

    • 

      JimmyF on 23/04/2022 - 10:43

      CAT5/6 cable is fine for 1000mb up to 100m. So just grab one to test.

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  AndyC1 on 21/04/2022 - 20:39

  Interesting testing results:
  https://community.tpg.com.au/t5/Modems-and-Devices/TP-Link-V…

  • 

    ClioB on 21/04/2022 - 22:41

    Very interesting indeed. Thanks.

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  freefall101 on 21/04/2022 - 22:30

  +1

  I also connect to a secured VPN in the USA for work and then the speed drops even further, to ~110/37 so I'm trying to get as much out of the speed as possibly can.

  This likely is a limitation on the VPN side, there's likely nothing you can do about it. Think about it, how many people are connecting to that VPN and how many are using it at once? They need to allocate a minimum amount of speed to everyone to maintain a decent connection and probably cap the fastest speed. You'd need to talk to them about the speeds.

  I have the same problem, my work has a ridiculous 20/5 restriction on VPN connections, doesn't matter what I do on my end there's no fixing that. I disconnect from it to load things to sharepoint and connect again, it's very annoying.

  Currently, using TP-Link Archer VR1600V I'm only getting ~300/44 during peak hours in my office over 5Ghz WiFi. When I test using my phone close to the router I'm getting ~500/47.

  Basically how wifi works, signal gets worse the further you get away. Honestly I'm shocked you get those speeds from that router. Despite the "1300Mbps" rating of it at 5ghz, that's the most the router can send to all devices, reality is it's handling multiple connections and working with distance as well. You'd need to look at moving to wifi6 (both router and device) to get any more out of it but I wouldn't expect too much more.

  How much is a "lot" of data though? At 300 you can transfer 10GB in about 5-6 minutes. Upload speeds are just abhorrent on NBN though if you you're sending data to a server, 50Mbps simply isn't fast enough IMO. Only way around that is to get a business account and pay through the nose for it.

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    ClioB on 21/04/2022 - 22:41

    This likely is a limitation on the VPN side, there's likely nothing you can do about it. Think about it, how many people are connecting to that VPN and how many are using it at once? They need to allocate a minimum amount of speed to everyone to maintain a decent connection and probably cap the fastest speed. You'd need to talk to them about the speeds.

    I had no idea. I'll chat to IT. It's a massive company though so you're probably onto something.

    You'd need to look at moving to wifi6 (both router and device) to get any more out of it but I wouldn't expect too much more.

    Any recommendations? There's a WFH reimbursement plan that I can access so I don't mind trying.

    • 

      freefall101 on 21/04/2022 - 23:11

      +1

      I had no idea. I'll chat to IT. It's a massive company though so you're probably onto something.

      I’d also ask about a Remote Desktop. Why do it locally and transmit all that data over vpn when you can just run it on a local server? That was my solution to the 20/5 issue for some of my data transformations.

      Any recommendations? There's a WFH reimbursement plan that I can access so I don't mind trying.

      No idea sorry, I went through a similar upgrade recently, tried to go budget with a Xiaomi one and it was utterly terrible so got a RT-AC86U because it was on sale and does the job (I get over 500Mbps, that’s fine for me). TP Link Archer ones tend to rank highly on pure speed from what I read, but I went with the ASUS because of good software I understand and price, the C5400X is faster but costs more. As always, comes down to budget.

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  ClioB on 22/04/2022 - 08:40

  Thanks all for your comments.
  I have started looking into a mesh wifi solution, this is tech that is very new to me. Do you think that might help in my situation? So that I'll have a stronger 5GHz signal in my office? I've also noticed some have LAN ports at the back for Ethernet backhaul.. pretty interesting.