I joined Superloop's 1000/50 plan yesterday, but I noticed that the speed didn't improve when using both Wi-Fi and wired connections. However, when I connect my PC directly to the NBN box with an Ethernet cable, I can achieve speeds of up to 950 Mbps. Do you have any suggestions regarding whether the issue lies with the router or the Ethernet cable? My current Ethernet cable seems to be a Cat5 Cat5e, and my router is a TP-Link Archer VR400 AC1200. If I need to replace them, could you provide me with some recommendations? Thank you!
1000/50 Speed Test Lower than 100Mbps
Comments
Do I just need to replace the Cat5 Ethernet cable? When I called for assistance, the customer service mentioned Cat5 or Cat6, but I'm not quite sure about the difference.
Did you use the same CAT5 ethernet cable from PC to the nbn NTD?
My PC is connected to the NBN using a Cat7 Ethernet cable (I'm not entirely sure, but the cable itself has this number). However, the connection between my NBN box and router is using a Cat5 Ethernet cable, but it's not long enough for me to connect it to my PC for speed testing.
@Gintokiii: Are you certain it is Cat5 and not Cat5e? Unless it is a very old cable you need to go out of your way to get Cat5 over Cat5e. It should be printed on the cable if it is Cat5 or Cat5e.
Cat5e from NBN to the WAN port on your router, then Cat5e to your computer should give you full speed.
@Gintokiii: The cat5 cable between your NBN NTD and router is the issue here, Cat5E or better.
Your wireless will be slower than hard wired (with the right cables) but its going to be a lot better than 100mbps (unless your signal is crap due to your house structure/distance - you won't get the 887mbps or whatever the theoretical is, maybe 300-400mbps on a 5GHz channel) so I'd get that link from NTD to router sorted then see if you're happy with the wireless performance, and hard wire all the things you can to lessen the load on your WiFi.
If your Cat7 cable is longer to suit the router to PC, look for any other Ethernet cable in your router or switch boxes - there's gotta be a Cat5E or Cat6 cable in there somewhere.
Bin all the Cat5 ones once you get this sorted, don't want to make the mistake again if you grab the wrong cable.
That is how I would start.
Make sure the cable from NBN box to your router is Cat5e or higher (double check that the cable you use to connect PC to NBN box says Cat5e on it too).
Then test using ethernet port on router (once again, make sure Cat5e or higher) to your PC as well as wifi. When using wifi make sure you connect to the 5Ghz network, which theoretically can hit 867 Mbps.
EDIT: Read your reply above
I would try -
NBN box <— Cat7 cable —> Router
Then connect to 5Ghz network on wifi from your PC/phone and test the speed again
I try what you said, still 70mbps. And I check my cable it's cat5e, so is it something wrong on my router?
@Gintokiii: put the Cat7 cable in there and test from your PC over WiFi and see what happens - got any other cables?
It could be that your Cat5E cable is simply dodgy. I've had a few Cat5e & Cat6 cables fail and drop to 100mbps rather than stop working full stop
@Gintokiii: yeah, something ain't right there
the fact that nbn box —> cat7 cable —> PC works properly means it isn't NBN/Superloop
now it has failed with that known good cable, it pretty much has to be the router - either is it hardware stuffed, needs to be factory reset due to some software issue, or you're misconfigured something
Do you happen to have another router, even if it has crap WiFi, to put in there just to test with?
The other thing you can try is backing up all the settings from the router (your WiFi names and passcode would be most vital so you don't have to change it on all your devices) then factory reset the router
Tho bear in mind - I can't see what you're doing, so NFI if you're making some mistake I can't even think of.
Also, if you had this much trouble pinning down the fault, factory resetting the router and reconfiguring it may be beyond you, so if you aren't at all confident don't do it, and ask all your friends/relatives/etc locally if any of them have an NBN router laying around you can test with
Seriously, another router from someone you know is probs the best approach before you go spending money - though if you were considering getting a mesh system or the like then you could probably just do that, but you may not need to
@smashman42: I have another wireless router with the model number DGN2200. What kind of testing do you suggest I perform with this router? It also comes with a Cat5e cable.
VR400 router is too slow. How much do you want to spend? Do you need a mesh Wi-Fi setup or is the Wi-Fi from one router enough?
under 200 is fine, just one router is enough, thank you
TP-Link Archer AX20 Wi-Fi 6 Router $160 Delivered @ Amazon AU.
TP-Link Archer AX55 Wi-Fi 6 Router $183 + Delivery @ Shopping Express.
ASUS RT-AX55 Wi-Fi 6 Router - White $199 Delivered @ Amazon AU.I can afford the prices of all three models, so it would be great if you could help me choose one. I don't have much knowledge about them.
@Gintokiii: TP-Link Archer AX55 Wi-Fi 6 Router or ASUS RT-AX55 Wi-Fi 6 Router. TP-Link review and ASUS review.
For wifi, USE the upper 5GHz band and ALL the gear got to be rated for Gigabit.
https://www.tp-link.com/au/home-networking/dsl-modem-router/…
https://www.tp-link.com/au/home-networking/dsl-modem-router/…V2 is only capable of 100Mbps but V3 version is up to 1Gbps.
Oh I'm v2!!!! so I need buy a new one
Yeah correct I'd go the Asus over tp-link personally better quality.
The best VR400 V3 speedtest I can find is 270Mbps. Do you have a V3 or are you going by the Gigabit ports?
Also correct if the Routers ports can only handle 100Mbps your not going to get anywhere near 1gbps and you will need a better router. Most of the Asus ones will handle 1GBPS easily.
If in doubt buy an enterprise grade Cisco router those will definitely handle the job.
V2 is only capable of 100Mbps but V3 version is up to 1Gbps
OP, this is not correct.
Twix is probably correct that this is a router that just isn't fast enough for a 1000/50 service, but it should be faster than <100 Mb/s.
If you can afford a 1000/50 service you can afford a fast router. If you can only afford a cheap router, downgrade your plan to something it can handle.
Router WAN port is only enabled for 100Mbps ..
TP-Link Archer VR400 provides impressive broadband speeds of up to 100Mbps …
From here
Further down there it clearly says the LAN/WAN port is a gigabit port.
Where you refer to it saying 100 Mb/s it is referring to VDSL. The OP wouldn't be on VDSL with a 1000/50 plan. He's connecting to the NBN box through an ethernet cable plugged into a gigabit LAN/WAN port on the router.
Nup, V2 is limited to 100Mbps on WAN, but keeping spreading FUD for the OP ;)
Had one, upgraded to an ASUS AX86U (same NBN box, same RSP, same cable, same network setup), bam, 1000Mbps easy :P
You said the V2's WAN port is only 100 Mb/s.
I said it wasn't.
In fact what the specifications of the V2 say is that its WAN port is gigabit, but its LAN ports are only 100 Mb/s. So a PC connected through the router via ethernet would only get a maximum of 100 Mb/s. Whereas for the V3 the WAN port and the 3x LAN ports are gigabit.
Your experience matches that. But not for the reason you thought, that it was the WAN connection that was slowing it down. It was actually the LAN connection that was.
Ethernet ports usually have a light on them that tells you what speed the connection is. Seeing what colour it is should tell you whether the problem is the speed of that connection between the NBN box and the router. You have to look up the manual to see what colour means what speed.
Ethernet ports usually have a light on them
😲
If the OP looked at the lights on the ethernet port on his PC he would have seen that its the connection between the PC and the router that's limiting him to 95 Mb/s, not the connection between thew NBN box and the router. That's why he gets a far faster connection if he connects his PC directly to the NBN box.
Most of the answers are incorrect. The Ethernet ports are only 100Mb. Only the WAN port is Gigabit. No matter what cable you use, you won't get any better. Next, the VR400 is an AC router. I've never got anything close to gigabit speeds out of an AC wireless. You need a new router. I bought an Eero 6 plus mesh system with 3 stations. Each can be a router and/or a wired access point. They run a different band for the backhaul, making them faster with less latency. You need a wifi 6 system and I'm sure there are other good brands out there that work well, but not all wifi 6 are the same. Look for proper technical reviews and believe only a fraction of what you read in forums.
But if you go here:
https://www.tp-link.com/au/home-networking/dsl-modem-router/…
You can see the router had gigabit LAN ports.My guess is that the cable might be an el-cheapo four wire cable. I once got caught by that. It was only when I noticed the RJ45 jack only had four wires attached that it clicked.
But if you go here:
Read the previous posts. There's a V2 and a V3 model of that router. Your link is to the V3 version. The OP has the V2 version which does NOT have gigabit LAN ports. Previous postings have already covered that.
Cat5 tops out at 100Mbps.
You want Cat5e for 1000Mbps.