Not getting full speeds on Airport Extreme

[Ebok]

My internet at home is 500mbps and I'm only getting about 120mbps over the wifi.

When I press and click on the wifi logo at the top, I get what is attached but when I run a speediest I don't get anywhere close to 500mbps.

When hardwired to a computer, I do get the speeds they promise.

Using a cat6 ethernet cable.

AirPort Extreme a1521

(happens on Mac and iPhone)

 

[CrashTestWalrus]

You should get more than 120Mbps if you are getting a connection at 700Mbps. WiFi is a bit different and there is a lot of overhead, also it is a shared medium. What that is going to mean is if other devices are operating at the same time you will see the throughput reduced on one device because the AP in general can only transmit data to one client at a time. There are also maximum throughout numbers for various physical rates that are much lower than the physical rate you see. For a connection at 833Mbps the maximum throughput is going to be around 450Mbps for one client or so. I can’t recall exactly. Source for all this is my day job is a network engineer. I don’t deal with the wireless as much which is why my numbers aren’t exact for you, but not knowing what exactly is going on in your environment while you are running your speed tests there can be a lot of variables. You could even just have interference from other networks in the area impacting your performance. You can try changing the channel on the airport and see if it helps, or even to get a better AP. Some of the newer ones will have MU-MIMO which means that the AP can transmit to multiple devices at once, a lot of caveats need to be met here first, which speeds up performance if your clients will support it. What you seem to have on your hands is a WiFi tuning problem and unfortunately it’s really hard to diagnose and fix via a forum.

 

[Ebok]

You should get more than 120Mbps if you are getting a connection at 700Mbps. WiFi is a bit different and there is a lot of overhead, also it is a shared medium. What that is going to mean is if other devices are operating at the same time you will see the throughput reduced on one device because the AP in general can only transmit data to one client at a time. There are also maximum throughout numbers for various physical rates that are much lower than the physical rate you see. For a connection at 833Mbps the maximum throughput is going to be around 450Mbps for one client or so. I can’t recall exactly. Source for all this is my day job is a network engineer. I don’t deal with the wireless as much which is why my numbers aren’t exact for you, but not knowing what exactly is going on in your environment while you are running your speed tests there can be a lot of variables. You could even just have interference from other networks in the area impacting your performance. You can try changing the channel on the airport and see if it helps, or even to get a better AP. Some of the newer ones will have MU-MIMO which means that the AP can transmit to multiple devices at once, a lot of caveats need to be met here first, which speeds up performance if your clients will support it. What you seem to have on your hands is a WiFi tuning problem and unfortunately it’s really hard to diagnose and fix via a forum.

thanks.

I live in a condo so I'm assuming that's affecting my speeds.

I went out today and bought another router capable of giving me speeds over 1gbps, thinking my AirPort Extreme was defective, but even on the 5ghz network I was getting the same exact speeds so I returned it to save the cash.

 

[Howard2k]

With a 700Mb/s signal I can pull data off my local NAS at around 280Mb/s. So you’re certainly coming lower than perhaps you should, though you will never see 500Mb/s.

Assuming you can physically get closer to the router, you should try that. Your signal strength is pretty good but it’s not fantastic. All the same, I would move closer and repeat the test. If you’re still getting relatively poor throughput it might be that there is not enough free spectrum, but that doesn’t seem hugely likely. If you option click the wifi icon you can create a diagnostic report. That will create a file (wifi.txt I think) which details all your local wifi networks and their signal strengthen. You can then see if there is another channel that is less crowded.

 

[Audit13]

I think it's the router. I have 500 Mbps service and use the wifi capability built into the Hitron coda-4582 and hit 540 Mbps down at various times during the day on an early 2015 air from about 10' away.

 

[Ebok]

With a 700Mb/s signal I can pull data off my local NAS at around 280Mb/s. So you’re certainly coming lower than perhaps you should, though you will never see 500Mb/s.

Assuming you can physically get closer to the router, you should try that. Your signal strength is pretty good but it’s not fantastic. All the same, I would move closer and repeat the test. If you’re still getting relatively poor throughput it might be that there is not enough free spectrum, but that doesn’t seem hugely likely. If you option click the wifi icon you can create a diagnostic report. That will create a file (wifi.txt I think) which details all your local wifi networks and their signal strengthen. You can then see if there is another channel that is less crowded.

my condo is about 600sqf and I've run the test right beside the router.

when I run the speed test, it spikes to 300 for about a second then drops down to 100-120..

I think it's the router. I have 500 Mbps service and use the wifi capability built into the Hitron coda-4582 and hit 540 Mbps down at various times during the day on an early 2015 air from about 10' away.

I bought another one today to see and my speeds were the same. I'm in a condo, in the middle of square one. I'm assuming it's congestion.

 

[Audit13]

my condo is about 600sqf and I've run the test right beside the router.

when I run the speed test, it spikes to 300 for about a second then drops down to 100-120..




I bought another one today to see and my speeds were the same. I'm in a condo, in the middle of square one. I'm assuming it's congestion.

You are in Mississauga? I'm in Toronto.

Which modem do you have?

 

[Ebok]

ran the diagnostics and it said my channel was congested and to try another one. so I did and still the same/similar speed.

You are in Mississauga? I'm in Toronto.

Which modem do you have?

Yup. I don't have a modem, my condo has ethernet built in and internet is provided by Coextro (rogers/bell do offer in this building as well but I pay peanuts for 500mbps unlimited) I'm running directly from the wall to the AE.

 

[snaky69]

my condo is about 600sqf and I've run the test right beside the router.

when I run the speed test, it spikes to 300 for about a second then drops down to 100-120..




I bought another one today to see and my speeds were the same. I'm in a condo, in the middle of square one. I'm assuming it's congestion.

You could try running wireless diagnostics.

Hit CMD+Space to bring up spotlight search, type in wireless diagnostics, it should auto-suggest if before you're done. Hit enter.

From there go to Window then Scan. You'll be able to see all other wireless networks around and what channel and frequency they're broadcasting on. You'll also get a suggestion on the lower left for the least congested frequencies and channels. Set your airport extreme to those channels and try again, it can't hurt.

 

[Audit13]

Your condo is setup like my niece's place where she just supplies a router for wireless.

Since the reduced wireless speed is present in the iPhone and Macbook, I would try a different router or a non-apple device if possible.

 

[Howard2k]

I would find the wifi text file if you can. Then dump it into numbers/excel, and sort the networks by signal strength. That will give you a good guide as to what channel space is free.

For the router, it’s the 6th Gen I assume? What was the other router you tried?

And which MacBook is it?

 

[Ebok]

I would find the wifi text file if you can. Then dump it into numbers/excel, and sort the networks by signal strength. That will give you a good guide as to what channel space is free.

For the router, it’s the 6th Gen I assume? What was the other router you tried?

And which MacBook is it?

model 1521 AirPort Extreme
2014 macbook pro retina
other router was a TP link ac1750

so I connected with ethernet to my xbox one and I got 110mbps straight from the router. it's the only ethernet device I have at the moment.

my setup is:

wall -> cat6 cable -> AirPort Extreme -> unknown ethernet cable to the xbox.

(above I stated hardwired straight to a computer, I did this months ago but no longer have access to a computer with an ethernet port)

could it be the ethernet port from the AirPort Extreme is faulty? is there anyway to see how much speed is coming into the device?

 

[Audit13]

It could be that the router can't handle the speed which I find odd. Here's a comparison table for what looks like a first gen:https://www.pcmag.com/image_popup/0,1871,iid=383198,00.asp

Another review with throughput speeds: https://www.smallnetbuilder.com/wir...ort-extreme-80211ac-reviewed?showall=&start=1

 

[Howard2k]

model 1521 AirPort Extreme
2014 macbook pro retina
other router was a TP link ac1750

so I connected with ethernet to my xbox one and I got 110mbps straight from the router. it's the only ethernet device I have at the moment.

my setup is:

wall -> cat6 cable -> AirPort Extreme -> unknown ethernet cable to the xbox.

(above I stated hardwired straight to a computer, I did this months ago but no longer have access to a computer with an ethernet port)

could it be the ethernet port from the AirPort Extreme is faulty? is there anyway to see how much speed is coming into the device?

I don’t have an Xbox but I have a PS4 and that had a network test utility which will show upstream and downstream.

Assuming the Xbox has this too, I would mark your cables and then run these tests:

Xbox -> cat6 -> Wall (no router)
Xbox -> other cable -> Wall.

You will be able to find out whether there’s an issue with your cable, and the Xbox will likely show you the negotiation speed.

I would do these tests twice. I think this is kinda what you did actually, but just want to be sure.

If they all look good then you’ve shown that the Internet service is good (notwithstanding any contention issues).

If they don’t look good (110Mb/s is not good) and assuming you’ve tried both cables then it could be a contention issue on the Internet side. For example, too many neighbours doing simultaneous downloads.

If the Xbox tests are good with both cables, then we’ve got to figure out the next steps.

 

[Ebok]

I don’t have an Xbox but I have a PS4 and that had a network test utility which will show upstream and downstream.

Assuming the Xbox has this too, I would mark your cables and then run these tests:

Xbox -> cat6 -> Wall (no router)
Xbox -> other cable -> Wall.

You will be able to find out whether there’s an issue with your cable, and the Xbox will likely show you the negotiation speed.

I would do these tests twice. I think this is kinda what you did actually, but just want to be sure.

If they all look good then you’ve shown that the Internet service is good (notwithstanding any contention issues).

If they don’t look good (110Mb/s is not good) and assuming you’ve tried both cables then it could be a contention issue on the Internet side. For example, too many neighbours doing simultaneous downloads.

If the Xbox tests are good with both cables, then we’ve got to figure out the next steps.

I wanna run from the wall to the Xbox One, but with the way my service provider is set up they lock the IP address to that specific router. they do it to prevent people from sharing the network between units. I have to call in to get it unlocked (had to do that with the new router i bought yesterday twice) and then it relocks to the new router. a bit confusing but ya.

I sent them an email explaining what's happening and maybe they'll be able to help me out. I have a hunch that the port in the wall wasn't set up correctly in this unit. I rented another unit in this same building last year and my speed through the same router were over 200mbps (at the time I was paying for 250mbps)

 

[jerryk]

my condo is about 600sqf and I've run the test right beside the router.

when I run the speed test, it spikes to 300 for about a second then drops down to 100-120..

Does this throttling occur when you try a hardwired computer?

 

[Howard2k]

I wanna run from the wall to the Xbox One, but with the way my service provider is set up they lock the IP address to that specific router. they do it to prevent people from sharing the network between units. I have to call in to get it unlocked (had to do that with the new router i bought yesterday twice) and then it relocks to the new router. a bit confusing but ya.

I sent them an email explaining what's happening and maybe they'll be able to help me out. I have a hunch that the port in the wall wasn't set up correctly in this unit. I rented another unit in this same building last year and my speed through the same router were over 200mbps (at the time I was paying for 250mbps)

They’re probably MAC registering. You can work around that.

https://www.itprotoday.com/manageme...nfigure-my-xbox-360-use-alternate-mac-address

 

[Ebok]

They’re probably MAC registering. You can work around that.

https://www.itprotoday.com/manageme...nfigure-my-xbox-360-use-alternate-mac-address

tried changing the Mac address, didn't work. I called them and they're gonna look into it. something isn't right if 2 routers are giving me the same speed. I went out an bought a gigabit ethernet->thunderbolt adapter so I can test the speed and still 100-120mbps or so (plugged in from the AE)

I appreciate everyone's help!

 

[Howard2k]

tried changing the Mac address, didn't work. I called them and they're gonna look into it. something isn't right if 2 routers are giving me the same speed. I went out an bought a gigabit ethernet->thunderbolt adapter so I can test the speed and still 100-120mbps or so (plugged in from the AE)

I appreciate everyone's help!

Not to ask a stupid question, but to ask a stupid question, you assigned the MAC of the WAN/Internet address of Extreme to the Xbox, not the LAN/Wifi address?

But if you were able to use a second router it is probably not MAC locked. Or did you daisy chain them?

 

[Ebok]

Not to ask a stupid question, but to ask a stupid question, you assigned the MAC of the WAN/Internet address of Extreme to the Xbox, not the LAN/Wifi address?

But if you were able to use a second router it is probably not MAC locked. Or did you daisy chain them?

no question is stupid unless asked twice lol.

the second router I had them on the phone with me and they unlocked my IP or whatever they called it. and I told them I got the same speeds so I plugged the AE back in and it locked back to the AE.

I changed the Mac address on the thunderbolt->gigabit ethernet port (following instructions on google) to the same Mac address as the wifi connection was giving me. that's what I was supposed to do, right?

I used terminal to do it. it changed the Mac address according to terminal but it didn't show the same Mac address in network utility or under network preferences.

 

[Howard2k]

If you’re going TB/Eth to the wall, the MAC needs to be the same as the MAC on the WAN/Internet of the Extreme, not the wifi MAC.

 

[Ebok]

If you’re going TB/Eth to the wall, the MAC needs to be the same as the MAC on the WAN/Internet of the Extreme, not the wifi MAC.

how do I get that?

edit: nvm got it. let me figure this out.

edit2: thanks. that worked. speeds are the exact same as the wifi, so it's not the router.

 

[Howard2k]

how do I get that?

edit: nvm got it. let me figure this out.

edit2: thanks. that worked. speeds are the exact same as the wifi, so it's not the router.

Good stuff.

So not the wifi, not the router.

So it could be that it’s a temporary performance issue in your building. Sounds like you’ve got a good methodology to diagnose how prevalent it is, and now your Internet provider can’t blame your router.

Often these buildings have a single large pipe (say 1Gb/s or 10Gb/s) and then propose that tenants get “up to 500Mb/s” but limiting your specific port to a maximum of 500Mb/s, and relying on the fact that most people simply aren’t doing large downloads. Not to insult your intelligence but this is called “oversubscription”. It’s common, and it’s a balancing act that requires them to monitor the service to ensure that the oversubscription is not excessive.

So my guess is that they’re too oversubscribed, or there is some other technical challenge such as a cabling or switch issue. I would talk to the provider though and see what they say. At least now you know.

Through your wifi I’d expect to be getting >200Mb/s. But I’d make sure you like getting that through the TB/Eth first.

Good luck!
[doublepost=1535229046][/doublepost]Just remember if you want to want to test the TB/Eth through the router, to remove that MAC address.

 

[Ebok]

Good stuff.

So not the wifi, not the router.

So it could be that it’s a temporary performance issue in your building. Sounds like you’ve got a good methodology to diagnose how prevalent it is, and now your Internet provider can’t blame your router.

Often these buildings have a single large pipe (say 1Gb/s or 10Gb/s) and then propose that tenants get “up to 500Mb/s” but limiting your specific port to a maximum of 500Mb/s, and relying on the fact that most people simply aren’t doing large downloads. Not to insult your intelligence but this is called “oversubscription”. It’s common, and it’s a balancing act that requires them to monitor the service to ensure that the oversubscription is not excessive.

So my guess is that they’re too oversubscribed, or there is some other technical challenge such as a cabling or switch issue. I would talk to the provider though and see what they say. At least now you know.

Through your wifi I’d expect to be getting >200Mb/s. But I’d make sure you like getting that through the TB/Eth first.

Good luck!
[doublepost=1535229046][/doublepost]Just remember if you want to want to test the TB/Eth through the router, to remove that MAC address.

Thanks once again for your help earlier. After sending them screenshots of my speeds they were able to fix it. Over 5ghz wifi I get 350-400mbps (understandable with the interference) and with ethernet I get 490-500mbps.

 

[Rizvi1]

Thanks once again for your help earlier. After sending them screenshots of my speeds they were able to fix it. Over 5ghz wifi I get 350-400mbps (understandable with the interference) and with ethernet I get 490-500mbps.

Late post, but interesting to see the Airport Extreme give those speeds wirelessly. I wasn't getting those speeds with my Airport Extreme before I replaced it with a Synology, with which I was getting those speeds. However, my Airport extreme did start acting up with a constant overheating message and fans that would kick on, so maybe that's what was limiting it.