Slow upload speeds with Netgear R7000 and TP-Link AX20

I am on a 1GBps connection with Hyperoptic connecting directly via ethernet. I had previously been using a Netgear R7000 and had no problems until a few weeks' ago when I noticed upload speeds drop to relatively low levels (around 10-20MBps) while download speeds are fine (up to around 700MBps).

I switched back to the Hyperoptic router (ZTE H298N) and speeds were restored to normal levels (see below):

Hyperoptic Router speed test

So I presumed there was an issue with the Netgear R7000 and bought a new TP-Link AX20 router. Unfortunately this also suffers with low upload speeds:

TP-Link AX20 speed test

The TP-Link router also seems to be unable to pick up an IPv6 address which Netgear R7000 was able to do.

I tried contacting Hyperoptic support but, understandably, they do not support 3rd party routers. For now I have resorted to using the stock Hyperoptic ZTE H298N (without WiFi) and adding the TP-Link AX20 in access point mode so I can at least have WiFi 6, but it would be nice to be able to use the VPN server and more exhaustive LAN features of the TP-Link in router mode. I cannot think it is a CPU issue because it is a brand new router with a quad core Broadcom CPU. Apart from binding IP addresses to MACs on the LAN, I haven't changed any other settings on the TP-Link router. QOS is off. uPNP is off. I could understand a slight drop in speeds with overheads and other processing but dropping off to 20MBps suggests there is something more to it. And I have ruled out the WAN port of the TP-Link as an issue as in access point mode (which runs through the WAN port) it has no issues bridging WiFi at speeds of around 300MBps.

Any ideas on what the issue might be?

I should add that I pay for a static IPv4 address and have noticed some odd speed variation between IPv4 and IPv6 on the Hyperoptic ZTE H298N:

Hyperoptic router IPv4 speed test

Hyperoptic router IPv6 speed test

IPv6 noticeably slower than IPv4, but I guess this is a first world problem in comparison to 20MBps upload speeds with a 3rd party router!

All very strange. Why should the speeds be varying in this way between different routers and IPv4/IPv6?

How about wifi on your router? Similar to the wired 10-20Mbps speed or better?

On WiFi I get slightly slower download speeds (as you might expect) but same upload speed (around 20MBps)

TP-Link AX20 WiFi speed test

I do not think there is a problem with the hardware (e.g. RJ45 ports etc). It is a brand new router and when in access point mode, the WAN port of the TP-Link AX20 runs at full speed in both directions. It is also unusual that both my R7000 and TP-Link AX20 have the same issue. They are different chipsets and the TP-Link is brand new which leads me to suspect some kind of issue with 3rd party routers in general with the Hyperoptic hardware in my building.

ok, was just a thought.

I'm using an Asus RT-AC86U on wifi and get this on the 150Meg package

DOWNLOAD 167.9 Mbps
UPLOAD 170.3 Mbps

Thanks - yes, I was getting pretty much symmetric download/upload on my old Netgear R7000 up until recently. I presumed it was an issue with the Netgear but now a brand new TP-Link router is having issues, I think it is something to do with the Hyperoptic network hardware in my building which is somehow not "talking" to the routers properly or triggering some kind of QOS/speed limiting on non-Hyperoptic routers. It is very unusual and Hyperoptic have simply said they cannot support 3rd party routers and to go to the router manufacturer. So I am trying to get some support from TP-Link but I cannot see that they will be able to help and I am not keen to spend more money on another router to find I still have the same issue.

Very frustrating and hard to diagnose where the issue lies. I wonder if anyone else has either a Netgear R7000 or TP-Link AX20 (or even other models) and has examples of upload speeds?

Some further testing: this is my Windows PC with gigabit ethernet adapter connected directly to the Hyperoptic socket in my apartment:

Windows 10 ethernet connection speed test

So it seems to have negotiated a full 1Gbps duplex connection directly to my desktop's NIC.

Edited by binary0110 (Sat 05-Sep-20 13:32:45)

Hello there,

Unfortunately, as already mentioned in this thread, we are very limited when it comes to troubleshooting third-party routers.

What we can do is send you a dual-band router which will provide you with better wifi speeds in addition to the wired speeds which seem to improve when the hyperoptic router is connected.

If you would like to arrange this, feel free to get in touch with our friendly Customer Service team or you can send us a message here directly. 😊

Thank you in advance.

Just to update on this, I have no idea what the issue was with the Netgear R7000 and TP-Link AX20 but I have invested in a QOTOM Mini PC (Q575G6) running pfSense and now am getting excellent speeds. So I guess these consumer routers simply aren't capable of consistently serving Gigabit speeds.

QOTOM Q575G6 pfSense speed test

In reply to a post by binary0110:

Just to update on this, I have no idea what the issue was with the Netgear R7000 and TP-Link AX20 but I have invested in a QOTOM Mini PC (Q575G6) running pfSense and now am getting excellent speeds. So I guess these consumer routers simply aren't capable of consistently serving Gigabit speeds.

QOTOM Q575G6 pfSense speed test

That's good to hear, I'm currently building my own PFSense router

Opnsense may also be worth a look at.