I looked at my comcast modem/router and it is indeed 802.11ac. I can understand that I may need newer equipment, by why does the box say it handles up to 340 mbps? Granted, I get 90 on my laptop with ethernet, but only 10% of that through wifi? I guess I should have researched modems a bit more before spending 100 bucks for what I thought was more than I needed. It did worry me at unboxing time for the new unit that it was quite a bit smaller than my comcast modem/router.
it is entirely possible that your ROUTER handles it just fine - but the wireless setup on your laptop can't do that kind of speed. I would talk to a friend with a more modern laptop (or you can get a USB unit or something) and try that.
Thank you again for the advice sir!
Now the question is whether new hardware will bring speed increases that my years old, yet higher end, (WRT310N) Linksys cannot?
Remind me that I owe you lunch sometime.
There is a lot of useless info being offered to the OP by people that didn't read the thread.
The OP Already connected with a cable and verified that he was still getting max throughput with a cabled connection. He is asking specifically about WIFI performance.
@OP, the 2.5 GHz WiFi spectrum is typically very crowded. Without knowing where you are you could have as many as 30 different wireless access points in your area overlapping and stepping on each other. This will drastically degrade performance. There are only roughly three WiFi channels that should be used in the 2.4GHz range, 1, 6, or 11. The problem is that no one really realizes this and routers will sometimes even automatically choose one that is in the middle of those overlapping things. To make matters worse, if you want to go above 150 theoretical Mbps, you have to use additional channels along with the primary channel. That further crowds the available radio space. Even with a theoretical 150 Mbps connection you would struggle to get 90 Mbps of true throughput. All that said, you SHOULD be able to get more than 10 unless your phone and access point are negotiating a 54 Mbps connection for some reason. Have you tested with any other devices? What is the theoretical connection speed being reported by your phone and access point? What WiFi protocol is your access point set to use? If you can answer some of those we might be able to offer some additional help.
Sadly you're likely not going to be able to get more out of it. It sounds like the new unit is simply not negotiating the same protocols as the comcast unit. The only solution may be to get a dedicated wireless access point that will do both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. You'd just shut off the wireless access point functions of your current unit and use the functions of the new one. I know this probably isn't what you want to hear but manufacturers rarely put the highest performance equipment in combo units.View attachment 44027
From my cell, the 90s are when I was connected to 5ghz on my comcast modem. The 9/10's are the 2.4 GHz on new unit (is my up speed supposed to be faster than down?).
View attachment 44028
The 40/50s are connected to 2.4 on old comcast unit.
My laptop wifi speed reads at 31 down, 12 up (90 down when wired directly to modem/router unit).
802.11 N
I am on channel 1, as recommended by wifi analyzer app.
Sadly you're likely not going to be able to get more out of it. It sounds like the new unit is simply not negotiating the same protocols as the comcast unit. The only solution may be to get a dedicated wireless access point that will do both 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz. You'd just shut off the wireless access point functions of your current unit and use the functions of the new one. I know this probably isn't what you want to hear but manufacturers rarely put the highest performance equipment in combo units.
Have you checked to see if your WAP has a firmware update available?
Have you checked to see if your WAP has a firmware update available?
you can use a different wireless access point with your current stop if you wish, you'd just turn off the wireless functions on the unit you have. You certainly want a dual band access point as the 5GHz spectrum is far less crowded and will typically give you better speeds. The dual band capability will take care of any older devices our range issues, 5 GHz won't go through walls as much.In the future, what should I look for in a unit that will get me high speeds again? 802.11ac? Dual radio? What don't I have now that I should have looked at before buying the one I did?