Slow Wireless Download Speeds on 900mb

Hi Guys,

I'm trying to find out what the Max Wireless Download speed is from a BT HUB 2?
I have just upgraded from Fibre 300 to Fibre 900.

Wired to the Hub I get 910mb download and 110mb upload.

The problem I have is that most of the devices in my house are Apple iOS, iPad, iMac MacBook.
None of these devices have Network cards so can only be used Wireless.

When running Wireless speed tests the Download is around 900mb to the BT Hub 2 its self.
But to any of the Apple devices I get around 423mb Download. Wireless upload is fine.

I know the speed is always higher when Wired, but why is the Wireless Download speed so low?
When I am testing no other devices are connected, and the device used to test is right beside the BT Hub 2 on 5 GHz
Im also bearing in mind other networks and interference can lower your wireless speed.

BT Tech help run remote checks and say they see the slow speed and that there must be a fault on the line.
Yet when the Engineer turns up they say they can see 900mb at the socket and at the Hub 2,
But can't explain the much lower wireless download speed from the Hub 2 to the Devices.

They then leave saying to call BT and tell them the Wireless Download speed to the device is under the expected range.
The Engineer couldn't answer my Question on what rate the download wireless speed from the Hub 2 spec should be or be roughly as I know this varies.

When I call back to relay this to BT Tech help they check again and say they still see a fault on the line and want to send the Engineer out again. Even tho the last Engineer said the speed to the socket and hub 2 was great.

Does anyone have any ideas about why the wireless download speed to the device is so low when the speed to the Hub 2 and when wired to a device is full rate?

Could it be the 423mb I get is the highest wireless speed the Hub 2 can do?

The next Engineer who is coming out in the morning will no doubt say the same thing about its full speed to the Hub 2, and to a wired device and leave.

But surely if the Hub is receiving the full speed of 900mb, the wireless speed I get should be a good bit higher than what Im seeing.

Any advice or thoughts would be great.

Thanks

Because your wireless stuff cannot handle the full speed …..

Stop fretting, and get on with using your connection. Why do you need to know the throughput speed other than bragging rights. It all works, end of.

Careful, or you’ll be getting charged for those engineer visits

The best WiFi you can get is WiFi 6 (using old WiFi naming convention WiFi AX)

Now there are few issues. Walls are big issue. Distance is an issue. Of couse both device have to be WiFi 6 to get max speeds.

YouTube:Chris Majestic-Best Wifi Router - Netgear Orbi Wifi 6, Eero Pro 6, Asus Zenwifi AX

YouTube:Linus Tech Tips-GB Just how FAST is WiFi 6?

Doesn’t appear to be a ‘fault’ per se, just the natural limits of your BT Hub and your own associated gear. So unlikely that any BT engineers despatched will be able to improve matters.

The highest consistent speeds I’ve seen with my 802.11ac (same wireless generation as your BT hub and I suspect much of your Apple gear unless you bought it all in the last 6-12 months) based access point are high 600’s - but there is more than one AP and they are wired back to my main network.

You may wish to look at another replacement access point to improve performance. Moving to 802.11ax (WiFi 6) would be the next step, but it’s still early days for vendor support. Much will depend on what exactly your Apple devices are capable of and the home environment - walls etc. are a major stumbling block especially when you are trying to consistently get very high wireless speeds.

In reply to a post by abductedcraig:

The problem I have is that most of the devices in my house are Apple iOS, iPad, iMac MacBook.
None of these devices have Network cards so can only be used Wireless.

If your MacBook has a USB-C port you could use one of these, and if your iPad has USB-C then similar adaptors can work.

If you can post the model/age of your MacBook and iPad then we can advise if there is anything you can do, but as Pheasant says, it depends on the age of the hardware.

Its not for bragging rights.

BT are the ones saying there is a fault and they need to send someone out, and its the Engineers that are saying there is no fault.

So no charge can be made to me.

The 2nd Engineer didn't come out this morning, but sent a text saying nothing more could be done.
No doubt BT will say they can still see a fault on the line.

Im asking about the Hubs Wireless speed as I don't know if I should keep the 900 Fibre or go back to the 300 Fibre I upgraded from.

I just wanted to ask if the Wireless speed from Hub to Device Im seeing was normal or not, before deciding.

Im not sure what WiFi type my Apple devices have, but all of the devices are the latest ones out if that helps.
I will have a look at the Videos you link to, Thanks

You might ask them what the ‘fault’ is they can ‘see’ ?

Ok so the Hubs Wireless is flat out so to speak.
That would explain the speeds Im seeing then.

The Apple Devices are all the latest versions, all fully updated.

Its looking like while my devices can't be wired, there's not much else to be done.

When using Wireless does this slower download speed get shared between devices, or is this speed limitation to each Device?

Looking at apples own specs the macbook has a 3x3 array and the iphone is STILL only running a 2x2 array, general consensus on the apple forums is they can't do 1gig over wifi and the only benefit they get from wifi 6 (when paired with a wifi6 router which the smarthub 2 you have isn't) is the extra battery life and channel support.

Once again Zarjaz hit the nail square on the head

Hmmm yes that Adaptor would help the iMac and MacBook for sure.

The iMac and MacBook are both this years models, both don't have network cards fitted.
I didn't think I needed them, plus it added so much to upgrade to versions that do have the network cards.
The iPads only come wireless and again are less than a year old..

I knew wireless is always slower, just didn't know it would be so much slower when on the 900 Fibre

All they will say is that the tests show a fault on the line not far from my home, and that it would affect the speeds. Even after reminding them a Engineer has been out and said the line was fine.

While the Engineer says its full speed at the socket and to the Hub, and that the light is bright.
Light being the Fibre signal/strength I imagine.

Yes its starting to sink in why and how I'm seeing the speed I am.

Odd that they don't point that out on the Apple and BT Ads.

And yes I know Zarjaz knows his stuff, only bad thing about his replies when I'm reading the forums posts is that most of it goes over my head.

Ok so if someone can answer my last question I ll give you guys peace.

Say for example you find out that the Hub or any other routers highest wireless speed was say 400mb,
is that 400mb shared between devices or if say 2 devices are connected to the router would each device get 400mb.

Don't know if I explained that well. best I can do.

Edited by deleted (Thu 30-Sep-21 13:02:33)

Well as the BT Hub has 4 Wi-Fi 5 Wave 2 (802.11AC Wave 2) antennas it can hit a maximum theoretical bandwidth of 3.39 Gbit/s but you would need a device that supports the same wireless standard and have the same amount of antennas to hit that speed.
So it would appear the wireless devices you are testing on are the limiting factor as although they have at least two antennas I don't believe they support Wave 2 which halves the maximum throughput from 1600Mbps to 800Mbps and with that around 400Mbps real world tests sound about right.

Thanks
Dan

In reply to a post by danielhyde:

So it would appear the wireless devices you are testing on are the limiting factor as although they have at least two antennas I don't believe they support Wave 2 which halves the maximum throughput from 1600Mbps to 800Mbps and with that around 400Mbps real world tests sound about right.

If they are 2020 and 2021 MacBook and iPad devices they will all support WiFi 6 (802.11ax). If the router supported WiFi 6 would that improve the throughput?

For interest and what its worth.
Fritzbox 7530AX + Macbook M1 +ZEN 900/100

via wifi not cable

From Fast.com


I get 1. 0 Gbps

don't know how to upload pics.

Edited by westlodge (Thu 30-Sep-21 14:32:20)

Yeah that makes sense as both the router and the device support Wi-Fi 6 (802.11AX) that can achieve much better real world speeds than Wi-Fi 5.

Thanks
Dan

Ok so looks like its the hub 2 that's the prob with it not being WiFi 6.

So basically I would need a WiFi 6 Router to up the wireless speed, I will have a look at the cost and availability of them.

How about the iPhone 12 are they WiFi 4, 5, or 6?

Thanks for that.

I will have a look at the Fritzbox Thanks

Hi,
I have iphone 12 they are 802.11AX (WiFi 6)
when i did some throughput tests (no internet access) to a 802.11AX access point and I get over 700Mbps I hit around 800Mbps at a push in idea conditions but once again as others say, everything is variable, I know the channels I am using are only in use by me, but I know I can consistently hit that speed on two iphones at once with no problems

I have one of these
https://www.box.co.uk/ARCHER-AX90-TP-Link-Archer-AX9...

TP-Link AX6600 Tri-Band Gigabit Wi-Fi 6 Router, WiFi Speed up to 4804Mbps/5GHz+1201Mpbs/5GHZ+574Mbps/2.4GHz, 1×2.5 Gbps+4×1 Gbps LAN Ports, Ideal for Gaming Xbox/PS4/Steam&4K/8K, OneMesh(Archer AX90) AMAZON

apple state
"Wi‑Fi 6 (802.11ax) with 2x2 MIMO"

Any apple devices released in 2019 or later should be Wi-Fi 6

Thanks
Dan

Any apple devices released in 2019 or later should be Wi-Fi 6

One exception that I can think of on top of my head are 2019/2020/2021 intel MacBook Pros as I have a 2021 one for network diagnosis and as a backup for when windows update breaks everything, "oh no printing causes a blue screen", "whoops explorer deleted itself again" i'm sure you get where i'm coming from.

In reply to a post by abductedcraig:

How about the iPhone 12 are they WiFi 4, 5, or 6?

iPhone 11, SE(2020), 12, and 13 are all WiFi 6. The iPad Pro 2020 and 2021 (M1) are WiFi 6. The iPad Air 4 is WiFi 6. etc.

I have an Asus RT-AX88U router and my iPhone 12 Pro links to the router at a PHY speed of 1200 Mbps. My internet connection is only 200 Mbps though being the limit.

WiFi speed on any phone will be slower than tablets and laptops due to the smaller size and need to conserve battery.

That looks excellent, odd looking but excellent.
Thanks for that.

Thanks for that.

Thanks guys for all your help.
Its all been very helpful.

All they will say is that the tests show a fault on the line not far from my home, and that it would affect the speeds.

They literally cannot have a test result that tells them that on an FTTP service. Talking out of their [censored].

Noooooo Way.
You mean BT could possibly be talking [censored] ????

Im not surprised by you saying they can't test it remotely, that would explain the Engineer saying she couldn't find anything wrong.

Bear in mind this was supposedly the higher level BT Tech guy, even after reminding him the line was tested in the house and found to be fine by the Engineer.

I have no clue as you probably noticed lol, but I did find it crazy BT was contradicting the Engineer.
But Im just a lowly punter, so have to let them do as they please.

At least its their money, not mine down the pan!

Cheers

Zarjaz knows!

A helpline or forum semi-techie only know what they learnt on a course, or at lower levels what they have to say from a script. Some b*ll**** just to get off the line and onto the next call. They have targets to meet.