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thelucas

macrumors member
Original poster
Jan 4, 2013
34
0
Hi,

I purchase 100mbps of speed from Spectrum. I have a Netgear cm600 modem (up to 960 mbps speed) connected to an Apple Time Capsule (router).

I'm getting about 50-60 mbps on my MBPro and iPhone X when connecting via wifi.

Is this normal? If not, what I can I do to improve the wifi speed? New router? Adjustments?
 

techwarrior

macrumors 65816
Jul 30, 2009
1,250
499
Colorado
With a properly "tuned" wifi, your speeds should equal or exceed the 100mbps Spectrum "advertised" speed.

Cable companies generally over deliver, because in heavy use periods, things will tend to slow a bit due to neighbor's traffic. They try to average the advertised speed so in off times, you may get 10-20% faster speeds.

Time Capsule is a dual band router. Depending on which model TC, the 5Ghz frequency will be either 802.11n with speeds up to 450 Mbps, or 802.11ac with speeds up to 1.3Gbps. In both models, the 2.4Ghz speed will generally be no more than 150Mbps or so. But, most people configure Airports with many of the default settings. One setting is the SSiD on 2.4 and 5Ghz frequencies which is the same unless you change the 5Ghz SSID.

I tend to use a theme like NETWORK and NETWORK5G but use the same security\password. By joining NETWORK5G but "forgetting" NETWORK, you force devices to connect to the 5Ghz network.

2.4Ghz suffers from a number of factors that can slow it down, but has a longer range so often appears as the "strongest" signal and devices will connect to it. 2.4Ghz is the same frequency range of microwave ovens, radar, wireless home phones, wireless keyboard\mice, bluetooth. And because it has longer range and is ubiquitous, chances are your neighbor's wifi signals are in range and interfere with yours. 5Ghz has far fewer devices operating in that part of the spectrum, and thus much less interference, including from neighbors (shorter range).

If you separate the network names and connect to 5Ghz only, your speeds will more than likely approach or exceed Spectrum's advertised speeds.

To know if it is your modem slowing things down, connect something with ethernet to the TC and run a speed test. That will tell you wireline speeds, a good measure of what Charter is delivering and your modem and router are able to do. If that is 100Mbps +\-, then it is time to look at optimizing your WiFi.
 

Banglazed

macrumors 601
Apr 17, 2017
4,999
9,433
Cupertino, CA
To troubleshoot, you can try connect your wired comp/laptop directly to modem to ensure you atleast get the advertised speed by ISP. If not, contact ISP to ensure proper provision to your modem. Once that is sorted out, you can play with your router. Depends on various router, wireless mode auto, b/g/n, or ac mode with wpa2/aes key for optimized speed. It may be better to use DOCSIS 3.0 cable modem as well.

Time Capsule.
2.4Ghz - b/g/n for maximum support or N for maximum speed (channel 1,6,11 with width 20 mhz)
5GHZ - ac for maximum speed (width 40 or 80 mhz on a higher channel 161 or 155)

or use Auto for channel

You do need to account for wireless channel nearby used by your neighbors.
https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT202068

Speedtest do varies though depending on testing server location.
 
Last edited:

MacBH928

macrumors G3
May 17, 2008
8,720
3,891
With a properly "tuned" wifi, your speeds should equal or exceed the 100mbps Spectrum "advertised" speed.

Cable companies generally over deliver, because in heavy use periods, things will tend to slow a bit due to neighbor's traffic. They try to average the advertised speed so in off times, you may get 10-20% faster speeds.

Time Capsule is a dual band router. Depending on which model TC, the 5Ghz frequency will be either 802.11n with speeds up to 450 Mbps, or 802.11ac with speeds up to 1.3Gbps. In both models, the 2.4Ghz speed will generally be no more than 150Mbps or so. But, most people configure Airports with many of the default settings. One setting is the SSiD on 2.4 and 5Ghz frequencies which is the same unless you change the 5Ghz SSID.

I tend to use a theme like NETWORK and NETWORK5G but use the same security\password. By joining NETWORK5G but "forgetting" NETWORK, you force devices to connect to the 5Ghz network.

2.4Ghz suffers from a number of factors that can slow it down, but has a longer range so often appears as the "strongest" signal and devices will connect to it. 2.4Ghz is the same frequency range of microwave ovens, radar, wireless home phones, wireless keyboard\mice, bluetooth. And because it has longer range and is ubiquitous, chances are your neighbor's wifi signals are in range and interfere with yours. 5Ghz has far fewer devices operating in that part of the spectrum, and thus much less interference, including from neighbors (shorter range).

If you separate the network names and connect to 5Ghz only, your speeds will more than likely approach or exceed Spectrum's advertised speeds.

To know if it is your modem slowing things down, connect something with ethernet to the TC and run a speed test. That will tell you wireline speeds, a good measure of what Charter is delivering and your modem and router are able to do. If that is 100Mbps +\-, then it is time to look at optimizing your WiFi.

is it possible to name both networks the same name and have it auto-choose the better spectrum depending on your location? Like it auto connects if you are closer to the router but as you get farther it switches to 2.4GH to extend the range?
 

Howard2k

macrumors 603
Mar 10, 2016
5,660
5,581
is it possible to name both networks the same name and have it auto-choose the better spectrum depending on your location? Like it auto connects if you are closer to the router but as you get farther it switches to 2.4GH to extend the range?


Yes but it's a fairly complex algorithm for network selection and sometimes it seems to make suboptimal choices. Certainly you can do that though.
 

techwarrior

macrumors 65816
Jul 30, 2009
1,250
499
Colorado
is it possible to name both networks the same name and have it auto-choose the better spectrum depending on your location? Like it auto connects if you are closer to the router but as you get farther it switches to 2.4GH to extend the range?

Not really. Apple devices will connect to whatever signal seems strongest, then cling to it to preserve connections. If you roam (iOS or laptops), you will often find you are connected to 2.4 even when 5Ghz has a better signal. Separate allows you to choose the best network for your device(s). If you have a lot of devices, putting 5GHz capable devices on a separate SSID can preserve bandwidth for the legacy 2.4GHz devices.
 
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