Internet Speeds - speedtest.net by Ookla

[jyeh74]

I have a new AC router and a 3.0 modem. I used to have Cox Preferred Internet (50 Mbps) and was getting around 40 Mbps downloads wireless speeds. I just recently upgraded to their Premier Internet (100 Mbps). I was expecting 70-80 Mbps downloads wireless speeds but instead, am only getting about 50 Mbps. How can that be?

In the household, we have 1 laptop connected to the network at once. Usually djust streaming videos online but no hardcore gaming. Anyone have Cox Premier getting such low 50 Mbps speeds? I am debating of downgrading back to the Cox Preferred Internet since I am paying more for the Cox Premier Internet with just 10 Mbps download speeds more. I even called their tier 2 support and they said its probably a combination of my hardware I am using. It can't be since I have the latest router and modem?

[jyeh74]

I tried connecting a ethernet cable directly from my laptop to the modem, just so I can test the speeds to see if I can get close to the 100 Mbps download speeds. It drops internet connectivity and I can't seem to switch it to wired connection. Isn't it suppose to auto detect and go from wireless to wired? Or do I need to restart my computer or something?

[hydra3333]

what AC router ?
these links indicate a 20% drop in internet throughput performance when moving from a dlink DIR655 to a new DIR880L AC router, when connected to a back-end cable modem and a 100Mbps plan.
(it replicates findings by others shown in links in those posts)
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2265803#r7
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2238249&p=5#r96

[jyeh74]

what AC router ?
these links indicate a 20% drop in internet throughput performance when moving from a dlink DIR655 to a new DIR880L AC router, when connected to a back-end cable modem and a 100Mbps plan.
(it replicates findings by others shown in links in those posts)
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2265803#r7
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/forum-replies.cfm?t=2238249&p=5#r96

Netgear Nighthawk

[Budman1]

As far as auto-detecting, Windows 7 isn't very good at it. I have 2 service providers and use a combination of wireless for one and wired for the other and occasionally need to switch and/or disable one or the other. Booting never keeps the priority constant and it doesn't switch over nicely.

You can assign a priority to your network adapters, but again, it doesn't always cooperate. I recently turned off automatic metric and assigned a hard metric setting to each adapter with the wired, main adapter, set to metric 24 and the wireless set to 30. Now it uses them with the lowest number given priority first. You can use 1 and 2 with the lowest, 1, having priority and it will still work but I happen to know what mine are assigned to under automatic metric with my setup so I used them.

Check the other reasons given above first unless you are having trouble getting the wired to work correctly.

[Budman1]

As far as auto-detecting, Windows 7 isn't very good at it. I have 2 service providers and use a combination of wireless for one and wired for the other and occasionally need to switch and/or disable one or the other. Booting never keeps the priority constant and it doesn't switch over nicely.

You can assign a priority to your network adapters, but again, it doesn't always cooperate. I recently turned off automatic metric and assigned a hard metric setting to each adapter with the wired, main adapter, set to metric 24 and the wireless set to 30. Now it uses them with the lowest number given priority first. You can use 1 and 2 with the lowest, 1, having priority and it will still work but I happen to know what mine are assigned to under automatic metric with my setup so I used them.

Check the other reasons given above first unless you are having trouble getting the wired to work correctly.

[jyeh74]

OK guys, I hard wired directly to the modem. It goes to 60 Mbps which is not even close to the 100 Mbps they advertised. What gives?

[budwzr]

It's the usual problem. They advertise 100 Mbps, and the fine print changes it to "Up to 100 Mbps". You might get that speed at 3 in the morning when no one else is using it. Cable is a shared connection.

[Budman1]

Make sure your service provider isn't saying UP TO 100 Mbps like some do. This can be affected by busy times on your network, ISP using burst transmitters, and other reasons. Do you know if the 60 Mbps is a solid 60 Mbps or is it fluctuating and averaging 60 Mbps? Utilities like DU Meter (buy) or Networx (free) can be of assistance in determining this.

My service provider simply made some correction when I had a similar problem and within 10 minutes I was no longer throttled but it took a couple calls until I got someone that had a clue.

[Arnold_Layne]

What's your wireless card capable of? If you are using a 802.11g card you're peak bandwidth is 54Mbps.

Here's the max bandwidth depending on the wireless card's and router's capabilities:

802.11b - 11 Mbps (2.4GHz)
802.11a - 54 Mbps (5 GHz)
802.11g - 54 Mbps (2.4GHz)
802.11n - 600 Mbps (2.4GHz and 5 GHz) - 150Mbps typical for network adapters, 300Mbps, 450Mbps, and 600Mbps speeds when bonding channels with some routers
802.11ac - 1300+Mbps (5 GHz) - newer standard that uses wider channels, QAM and spatial streams for higher throughput

[jyeh74]

It fluctuates between 45 and 65. I have a N card on a 2.4 Ghz......so at least I should be getting 150 Mbps when hardwired in right?

[jyeh74]

It's the usual problem. They advertise 100 Mbps, and the fine print changes it to "Up to 100 Mbps". You might get that speed at 3 in the morning when no one else is using it. Cable is a shared connection.

So would ATT Uverses fiber optic, which quotes up to 50 Mpbs download fiber optic speeds be faster than Cox's up to 100 Mbps download cable speeds because it is dedicated and not shared like cable is?