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Slow home WiFi.

B

bigpoppamac31

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Aug 16, 2007
2,459
445
Canada
So I have "unlimited" home internet with Rogers (Canada) and they claim 100mbps down and 10mbps up. The pics below are speed test results comparing my home wifi with my LTE Fido using my iPhone 6S. The LTE is noticeably faster with my iPhone 6S. I have a 2014 rMBP which gets very similar results for wifi on the 5Ghz band. Doing the speed test on the 2.4Ghz band is painfully slow. My Rogers modem/router is connected to an Apple Airport Extreme (Model # A1408). Anyway of speeding things up? I'm not talking about downloading big files. Just loading the average webpage. But even doing App updates is really slow and make web surfing virtually not possible while the updates are happening.

WIFI
Wifi speed.PNG

LTE
LTE speed.PNG
 
How do you have the Extreme set up? It should be set to Bridge mode if your Rogers box is a router.

Is the Rogers box also wifi? If so, what happens when you connect to the Rogers wifi, rather than through the AE.

What speed do you get if you connect directly to the Rogers box using ethernet?
 
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thats not normal at all!!!!....something is wrong with your setup........interested to see what your answers are to JohnDS questions
 
I agree with JohnDS above.

If the Rogers box is a "residential gateway" (combined modem and router in one "box"), let the Rogers do NAT.

Go into Airport Utility and set up the Airport Extreme to be "in bridge mode" (i.e., it does NOT do NAT).

Also, TURN OFF the wifi on the Rogers box if it's on.

Some more possible ideas:
If you have a way to connect via ethernet, turn wifi OFF and try connecting with an ethernet cable, both at the AE -and- at the Rogers box.
Run your speedtests this way.
Any changes?

Also, disconnect the AE temporarily, and try wifi with the Rogers box only.
Any changes?
 
I'll try these suggestions when I'm home. I do know that I can connect through wifi to the Rogers modem as well as the AE. I thought I had disabled that when I set it up but I guess not.

Also it seems to depend where I am with LTE. Downtown I'm only getting ~6mbps down and up. This is in Canada's capital city too.
 
Last edited:
JohnDS said:
How do you have the Extreme set up? It should be set to Bridge mode if your Rogers box is a router.

Is the Rogers box also wifi? If so, what happens when you connect to the Rogers wifi, rather than through the AE.

What speed do you get if you connect directly to the Rogers box using ethernet?
Click to expand...


Okay so I did some overall test and the highest I got was 143mbps down and 11mbps up. I got close to that for DL on both wifi and ethernet with the Rogers box and the AE. That was both in the living room and the bedroom. My apartment is very linear and my bedroom and living room are at opposing ends. It was only when I tried the AE wifi from my bedroom that I got as low as 2.53ghz DL and 5.78 UL.
 
bigpoppamac31 said:
Okay so I did some overall test and the highest I got was 143mbps down and 11mbps up. I got close to that for DL on both wifi and ethernet with the Rogers box and the AE. That was both in the living room and the bedroom. My apartment is very linear and my bedroom and living room are at opposing ends. It was only when I tried the AE wifi from my bedroom that I got as low as 2.53ghz DL and 5.78 UL.
Click to expand...

well 143 MBPS is good....seems like you got it fixed.....way better than your 1.8 MBPS you started with....LOL
[doublepost=1479177156][/doublepost]also remember 5GHZ is faster internet but the range is smaller......you want to use 2.4 GHZ when you are far away from your router.

The higher the GHZ the shorter the range.......thats why most emergency services use the 400 MHZ range due to how far it can reach
 
Is there something large and metal between the AE and your computer when you are in the bedroom? Normally wifi should easily carry through an apartment. The other alternative is that there is something in or near your bedroom interfering with the signal, perhaps someone else's router on the same channel on the floor above or below.

You could use something like Netspot https://www.netspotapp.com or WifiScanner http://wifiscanner.com/wifiscanner.html to see if there are other strong nearby signals on the same channel as yours.
 
krazirob said:
well 143 MBPS is good....seems like you got it fixed.....way better than your 1.8 MBPS you started with....LOL
[doublepost=1479177156][/doublepost]also remember 5GHZ is faster internet but the range is smaller......you want to use 2.4 GHZ when you are far away from your router.

The higher the GHZ the shorter the range.......thats why most emergency services use the 400 MHZ range due to how far it can reach
Click to expand...

Well in my bedroom I'm still only getting ~4mbps DL and UL on my AE on 5ghz and 2.4ghz. Maybe I should reset the AE.
[doublepost=1479177738][/doublepost]
JohnDS said:
Is there something large and metal between the AE and your computer when you are in the bedroom? Normally wifi should easily carry through an apartment. The other alternative is that there is something in or near your bedroom interfering with the signal, perhaps someone else's router on the same channel on the floor above or below.

You could use something like Netspot https://www.netspotapp.com or WifiScanner http://wifiscanner.com/wifiscanner.html to see if there are other strong nearby signals on the same channel as yours.
Click to expand...

I do have an Airport Express on the same network but it's only used for Airplay. I don't connect to the internet with it.
 
Would it do any good to reset my AirPort Extreme? I actually seem to get pretty decent wifi from the Rogers modem itself. Although it can be slow also from my bedroom. Maybe l just need to change the placement.
 
Changing the placement would be a good idea. Try to avoid having it enclosed or near something large and metal, like a filing cabinet, for instance.
 
JohnDS said:
Changing the placement would be a good idea. Try to avoid having it enclosed or near something large and metal, like a filing cabinet, for instance.
Click to expand...

I'll see what I can do. The apartment has kind of a weird design which means I'd more then likely be running a wire across a doorway. Below is the floor plan of my apartment. The X in the living room is where the modem/AE is located (as well as the building cable line) and the X in the bedroom is where my Mac is located. The apartment building was built in the 1960's.

Also I notice that if I am playing a YT video and switch to another tab the audio gets choppy. Especially if I reload the other tab. And as well the internet speed gets really slow if I am updating iPhone Apps on either my phone or my Mac.

1457726785_three_bed.jpg
 
Are the router and the AE in some kind of enclosure or cabinet? If so, just moving them out of the enclosure or cabinet may solve the problem. If not, if not, can you move it to where I have put the red x?
1457726785_three_bed.jpg
 
A bathroom, with it's tile and plumbing, can often be a signal-stopper.

If you have enough cord you could at least test moving it as shown above to see if it helps (and I'd think it would).
 
JohnDS said:
Are the router and the AE in some kind of enclosure or cabinet? If so, just moving them out of the enclosure or cabinet may solve the problem. If not, if not, can you move it to where I have put the red x?View attachment 672690
Click to expand...

I can do that but I'd be running the Rogers TV cable across that entrance way by where you put the X. There's no actual door way there. Just an opening into the living room. I could move the router around the corner from my X to the hall area on the adjoining wall.
 
Yes. moving it around the corner should help. Either that, or leave it where it is and run the AE around the corner using a longer ethernet cable.
 
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