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Cox Gigablast Speeds in Phoenix.

P

pilotkid

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Aug 22, 2006
997
188
Chandler, AZ
Hello all. I'm starting to get a little annoyed and am turning to you guys for help! I have had Cox Gigablast(fiber) service since January. I have had a total of four techs out to my house, including today. Today I actually had someone that seemed knowledgeable and somewhat helpful however they couldn't fix the problem and basically in a nice way said I have to live with it. So Cox Gigablast advertises 1GBs download and upload. I am lucky to get over 200mbs upload BUT I can get 500+mbs upload...According to the tech that is strange in itself, they said the numbers should be pretty close to each other each way. We did a factory restore of my Nighthawk X4S and then a firmware update...nothing. She changed the channels that everything is broadcasting in...nothing. Without making the post too much longer they basically said it was probably interference from my neighbors!!! Can this be true? I live in a detached single family home and its only about 1,200sq feet. Any ideas would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks,

Anthony.

Note: 1. When using a direct connection to the router via ethernet I get about 950mbs upload and download. However, I have a MacBook so thats not practical to me.
2. We tried Cox's provided router(which is not as good as my Nighthawk) and it had the same problems that are detailed in my main post.
 
Did the tech test your wifi connection using a different laptop?
Were the speeds on that different laptop similar to what you get on your own Macbook?

Are you really that close to your neighbors? How many other networks do you see in your wifi menu, for example?
(In my location, I have about 25 networks visible, with 12 being fairly strong signal - 4 bars showing in the wifi menu.)
You can see other information about your wifi connection by holding Option when you click on your wifi menu. It will tell you then if your connection is using the 802.11ac, which not only is that your fastest connection, but should not be affected in any appreciable way by interference from other wifi networks in your neighborhood.
What is listed in that menu for your Channel (including the MHz listed there), and the TX rate? What is your MCS Index? (which can vary, a lot)
 
If you're getting the speed you pay for via wire, then it's solely a wireless problem. As @DeltaMac stated, check your WiFi connection. You will need to be on 5 Ghz to get decent speeds. From what I'm seeing on Netgears page, it only supports 800 and 1733 Mbps on WiFi. If you're on the 800 Mbps side of life, this explains the issue.
 
Thanks for the quick responses! I'll try to answer the questions in order. Neighbors are average distance for my area...probably 20-30 feet apart. I have 16 networks visible on my MacBook, two of which are mine. I have separate 5GHz and 2.4Ghz networks. PHY Mode: 802.11ac. Channel 153 (5GHz, 80MHz). TX Rate: 867 Mbps. MCS Index: 9.

As for the X4S Nighthawk router...I was told be the Cox person that it exceeded what I needed, is that true or no???

Thanks again for the quick replies.
 
It appears the router will handle the routing performance, but your wireless speeds are not where they should be. Have you updated the firmware on your router? I found someone who updated their R7800 firmware and reset to factory defaults and their WiFi speeds were better. I'll keep looking to see if I can find anything else.

EDIT: Does your router support auto channel selection? If not, have you tried different channels? You'll want to be on the 5Ghz band for maximum performance. It seems many people complain about wireless performance with this router. Hopefully, we can find the culprit.
 
We did a router firmware update. Its currently running V1.0.2.28
[doublepost=1492563273][/doublepost]I can check the router log in page and see if there is an option for auto channel selection. If I find that there is should I turn it on?
 
Its a 2015 MacBook. I just checked, there is a auto for the channel selection for the 2.4ghz band but NOT for the 5Ghz band. The 5GHz band has waaaay more different channel selections than the 2.4ghz band does. About 15 of the channels that are available for selection on the 5ghz band have "DFS" next to them...the rest just show the channel number.
 
I would suggest trying different channels, not those designated DFS, and see if the link speed changes.

I couldn't find the exact specs for that model, unfortunately.
 
Will do. You mentioned that you saw that people were not particularly happy with this router, is that correct? Maybe down the road I should just consider purchasing a new one if changing the channels doesn't work. What router would you suggest?

Also, any particular channel I should try first for the 5ghz band?
 
The channels are highly dependent on area. Some suggested 157 as good and others in the 160 range. I'm on channel 36 with 80MHz width.

I don't have anywhere near those speeds at my house. I use Ubiquiti's EdgeRouter but it's not for the faint of heart and does not include WiFi.

I previously used a Linksys EA8500 as the router but have delegated it to AP duties. It supports auto channel selection and I link at 1300Mbps on a 2015 rMBP.
 
Great, thank you. I will play with some different channels and report back in a few.
Thanks again for your help! Really appreciate it!
 
I think you missed the most important question that I asked earlier, so I will try that a little differently:

Is this the only laptop that you have tried on your home router?
And, related to that, does a different laptop get similar connection speeds?
(You must know someone else who has a laptop that you can try... )
 
DeltaMac said:
I think you missed the most important question that I asked earlier, so I will try that a little differently:

Is this the only laptop that you have tried on your home router?
And, related to that, does a different laptop get similar connection speeds?
(You must know someone else who has a laptop that you can try... )
Click to expand...
I don't have another laptop available to me. I did try a speed test on our 2012 iMac and it was much better than my MacBook. And it does not support 802.11ac. So thats interesting. Could this be an issue with the WiFi hardware on my MacBook? Its a 2015 model and of course I forgot to buy AppleCare for the first time out of all my Macs and the warranty expired in February....
 
Your speed is somewhat low, but not what I could say is a hardware issue on your laptop, per se.
There's too many other variables to consider, such as walls, distance from the router, other wireless devices in use, etc.

Do you get expected speed when you connect to a different wifi network (at some other location... )?
An Apple Store might be a nice choice to give that a test.
 
DeltaMac said:
Your speed is somewhat low, but not what I could say is a hardware issue on your laptop, per se.
There's too many other variables to consider, such as walls, distance from the router, other wireless devices in use, etc.

Do you get expected speed when you connect to a different wifi network (at some other location... )?
An Apple Store might be a nice choice to give that a test.
Click to expand...
I actually plan on going to the Apple Store today to pick up a USB-C > Ethernet doggle to test out my wired speeds. I just have a hard time thinking that the walls could be causing the problem. I have a 1200sq foot house. Two bedrooms, third converted into a media room. The router is located in the media room which is pretty much the most central place in the house, and its completely open. I mean for a Nighthawk(according to there website/specs) shouldn't have problems at all in a house this size, at least I would think. On another note I am having a screen flickering issue with my computer so that doesn't help ease the possibility of a hardware issue thought. I have done a full erase and factory restore of my MacBook without doing a Time Machine restore, and I did a PRAM reset, which I have no idea if that even applies to this...I'm just trying anything and everything. One last thing I did that I just read in the MacBook forum was I went to System Preferences >Network>Advanced>TCP/IP tab>Configure IPV6 >Changed it to "Link-Local only". I don't know what this means but I saw it in the forum I just mentioned. I ran a speed test, speeds where a bit better (80mbps download, 130mbps upload) but thats it. UGH!

**NOTE: We have what I would consider a lot of devices connected to WiFi, about 14. Three Apple TV's, Two iPhone 7+'s, Two iPads, Printer, 3 Alexa's, plus three things connected via ethernet to the router(Surround sound receiver, Philips Hue Hub, Apple TV 4th Gen.)**
 
I would never expect to get Gigabit speeds out of a Wifi connection, especially using 5Ghz band which is not so great at penetrating walls (even one wall). If I have to sit 3 feet from the AP to get max speeds, I might as well wire myself. Also, too much interference from neighboring AP's and other airborne RF issues. Plus, the wifi adapter in the Macbook...one or two antennas? 80Mhz or 160Mhz channels? These factors will determine the capability (speed) of your WIFI adapter.
 
A cox tech just left my house about 15 minutes ago. Unfortunately we decided it is in fact my MacBook that is messed up. I get great upload speeds over wifi AND a direct ethernet connection. However my download speeds on wifi and ethernet are 1/4 of what they should be. The tech restarted my fiber modem and my router, checked for firmware updates, multiple reboots, etc...His computer, my iPhone 7 Plus, and iPad all confirmed that its probably my computer. Very annoying and unfortunate.
 
We ascertained WiFi was the problem, and not the ISP, earlier in post #3 when you're wired speeds were satisfactory. If the other devices' WiFi works as expected, then it's the laptop for certain.
 
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