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AE downloads slower than uploads

T

timlietzen

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Jan 4, 2015
14
0
Kansas City, KS
Just got my AE up and running and my upload/download speeds run in the neighborhood of 180Mb/500Mb if I'm right next to the router, and 125/300 if further away (thanks googfiber). I don't have a problem with the download speed, but my system didn't have this upload bias with the google wifi. If wired, I get numbers like 630/600 down/up.

Like I say, not a problem, but I'd really rather have these numbers reversed. Any ideas?
 
timlietzen said:
Just got my AE up and running and my upload/download speeds run in the neighborhood of 180Mb/500Mb if I'm right next to the router, and 125/300 if further away (thanks googfiber). I don't have a problem with the download speed, but my system didn't have this upload bias with the google wifi. If wired, I get numbers like 630/600 down/up.

Like I say, not a problem, but I'd really rather have these numbers reversed. Any ideas?
Click to expand...

Is it different over Ethernet? What transmit rate are you getting from the client to the AirPort?
 
Ethernet to my macair is about 630Mb/600Mb down/up. This is what should be going to the airport extreme (same ethernet wire, different but identical port on modem).
 
Good call, however I'm getting 630/612Mb (to a different apple, no ethernet port on the airbook), about the same as if I'm hooked right to the modem: about a 2.5% to 4% edge to download speed when connected to the AE.
Btw, thanx for looking at this for me.
 
timlietzen said:
Good call, however I'm getting 630/612Mb (to a different apple, no ethernet port on the airbook), about the same as if I'm hooked right to the modem: about a 2.5% to 4% edge to download speed when connected to the AE.
Btw, thanx for looking at this for me.
Click to expand...

So there is no issues getting the bandwidth over Ethernet, only wireless? What is the transmit rate on your machine when you are doing the tests over Wi-Fi?
 
Restarted chain, modem-AE-air-mb; get same results on both laptops.
140/425 down/up on air, 112/206 on MB (when placed next to router).

----------

Tx = 527Mbps
 
From the wifi option-dropdown info:
Channel: 149 (5 GHz, 8MHz)
I haven't done anything in the AirPort Utility to set this, both the 2.4GHz Channel and 5GHz Channel controls are set to automatic.

----------

(5GHz, 80MHz)
 
I can only rename the 5GHz band by checking the box next to the name field.
When I do this my speeds drop to about one third, and it always runs in 2.4 GHz. The opt-wifi drop down shows a channel number followed by (2.4GHz, 20MHz), and the Tx rate drops to 145Mbps.

If I uncheck the ‘5GHz network name’ field, the name reverts and my speeds go back to normal, and it appears to operate on the 5GHz band (5GHz, 80MHz) and the Tx rate goes back to 527Mbps.

If I check the 5GHz box and don’t rename, the speeds drop to about one third and it operates on the 2.4GHz band (again). Uncheck the box and the speeds and transmit rates go back up.

This seems like slightly odd behavior—that when I check the 5GHz box it operates at 2.4GHz; and that it always wants to operate in the 5GHz band when the box is unchecked.

All of these speed checks were done from a remote location, one floor away from the router.
 
Hey. Previous post shows that when I renamed the 5GHz band that I could only connect at 2.4 GHz band (much slower). I was failing to select the new wifi channel, so I wasn’t testing that band. My bad.
I decided to bite the bullet and ask Apple to investigate, and my Help guy just reviewed our work; walked me thru a reset; and there was no change.
So he said bring in to the store and we’ll test it and swap me into a new one. I’ll post after my visit tomorrow and update.
If it’s a hardware problem, then that’s a pretty easy fix. But he had no record of a similar problem. But that he thought I should be getting about 70% of my speed over the AE, so there was obviously something horribly wrong.
Thanks again for working thru this with me.
Will post tomorrow.
 
timlietzen said:
Hey. Previous post shows that when I renamed the 5GHz band that I could only connect at 2.4 GHz band (much slower). I was failing to select the new wifi channel, so I wasn’t testing that band. My bad.
I decided to bite the bullet and ask Apple to investigate, and my Help guy just reviewed our work; walked me thru a reset; and there was no change.
So he said bring in to the store and we’ll test it and swap me into a new one. I’ll post after my visit tomorrow and update.
If it’s a hardware problem, then that’s a pretty easy fix. But he had no record of a similar problem. But that he thought I should be getting about 70% of my speed over the AE, so there was obviously something horribly wrong.
Thanks again for working thru this with me.
Will post tomorrow.
Click to expand...

When separating the 2.4 and 5 GHz bands you must select the new network name. Report back with the replacement AE's speeds.
 
I think I’ve tried everything multiple times:
power up the chain (fiberjack, modem, AE)
rename 5G (and select it)
uncheck the 5G (goes to 2.4G band consistently), much slower
got a new AE from Apple
bought all new cables (CAT6)
reset the AE router
plug ethernet into LAN port
turned Google’s wifi on / off a few times
Nothing had any effect on the down/up ratio, I’m getting upload about greater than download:
164Mbps / 479Mbps are typical with computer next to the router.

I’m ready to call/visit Google store again and get them to give me a new modem.
 
Generally, on Google's wifi I get almost 1.5 the download speed. Next to the router: 92/59Mbps, down/up.
If this new AE gives me same results as the other one, it sounds like an issue with the AE-modem talking to one another (if the modem is healthy).
Apple techie said that he has no issues like this, with the same provider.
 
timlietzen said:
Generally, on Google's wifi I get almost 1.5 the download speed. Next to the router: 92/59Mbps, down/up.
If this new AE gives me same results as the other one, it sounds like an issue with the AE-modem talking to one another (if the modem is healthy).
Apple techie said that he has no issues like this, with the same provider.
Click to expand...

I have no issues with the Extreme here. I am not on Google however. Did you get the new Extreme yet?
 
Right now, my next move is to make the Goog give me a new modem (modem/router). I'll let you know how that works out.
After that, I think that I give up on the AE and go get an Asus maybe.
 
The google guy rated the directly connected speeds of 620/600Mbps (down/up) as borderline. He wanted to see 700 or better in that configuration. This suggests a maybe-problem upstream of the modem which should probably be corrected before I return my AE router and try something else (not an Asus).

I got a new netbox (router/modem) from goog and tested it, with no change in results.

Going back over my data, before the new router, the google wifi showed an upload bias of 1.5x when the client was next to the router, and this went away as soon as I changed floors (1.0x) or went to more remote location (0.8x),

Google router-airbook config gives me an upload bias of (near to far) 1.5x, 1.0x, and 0.8x
The AE router-airbook combination has (near to far) multipliers of 3.0x, 2.7x, and 2.1x.

Does this suggest anything? Does this feel like a feature?
 
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