@JoeD53 : I have the following comments.
1. If you have FTTH, then the 2.5 Gbps port (number 4 on the Gateway XB8) is probably used by the Ont, The other ports are limited to 1 Gbps (940 Mbps after overhead)
2. Speeds above 1 Gbps are usually only possible using an Ethernet connection, or WiFi 6e.
3. Many devices only have 1Gbps capabilities, even by Ethernet - check your computer capabilities, etc..
4. If you check the installation instructions for repeaters you will find that they should typically be placed about half way between the Gateway and the device. Not at the far end where the signal has degraded and the repeater has nothing to work with.
5. Have you downloaded and used the HomeConnect app to test your WiFi?
6. Read the web on how to optimize WiFi. Often minor changes in the placement of the Gateway may improve things.
7. Speed over 1 Gbps rarely have any impact on a single device. The main reason to have 1.5 Gbps is if you have many users in the home. Test your speed using several devices at the same time and add up to get a total. Most people on the 1.5 Gpbs plan get about 1.8-1.9 Gbps, however, the correct equipment is required either Ethernet or WiFi 6e. I believe you'll find that there is 1.5 Gbps at the Gateway, however, WiFi and your equipment may limit what you get on each device.
8, I realize you're comparing what you had before, however, minor changes in the equipment and placement can have a large impact on WiFi.
9. Bridging the Gateway may improve things, but it may not give any appreciable difference.
@JoeD53 wrote:
Thanks for the detailed reply ,,,
I have FTTH and Rogers equipment is mounted in the same place, on the same 2½' x 2½' piece of plywood, as my HomeHub3000 was from Bell. I have a small bungalow and my computer table is upstairs approximately 16' away from the gateway and 7' above it. Hardly 'far'. My W7 desktop is down ATM and I'm using a brand new HP Pavilion with an onboard Realtek 802.11ax showing link speeds of 1200/1200 which is capable of a lot more than mid-high 300's Mbps. The Pod is 3' behind me and the same distance from the XB8.
I would start by unplugging your Pod and making sure that you have your XB8 placed in a location such that you attain the strongest signal throughout your home.
If the Pod provides the strongest signal in your home, all (or most) devices will connect to it and they will all be sharing a single Wi-Fi 5 uplink to the Gateway. (At best, they will all share 500 - 600 Mbps of bandwidth.)
Don't place a Pod in a room which has poor Wi-Fi connectivity to the Gateway.
It also makes zero sense to place a Pod in the same room as the devices that you may want to connect to it. The Pod will have the same quality of Wi-Fi connection as any of the other devices in the room. Furthermore, if devices connect directly to the Pod, they will all share the Pod's Wi-Fi uplink and won't even have the benefit of Wi-Fi 6 connectivity.
If placed in a good location, the XB8 can.even able provide good Wi-Fi connectivity in a 3000 sq-ft home.
You may also need to update Wi-Fi drivers in your devices. Some DO NOT play well with the Broadcom Wi-Fi 6E chipset in the XB8 gateway.
If you are seeing a PHY rate of 1200/1200 Mbps, that should be a good Wi-Fi 6 connection, and that would be direct to the Gateway, not to a Wi-Fi 5 Pod. Expect to attain only 75% of the PHY rate for your actual throughput. However, if you have compatibility issues with your hardware and/or drivers, your actual throughput could be far less than that. (I was one of the early testers of the XB8, and when I first got the XB8, I was running into issues where some of my devices were topping out at 257 Mbps; My old XB7 performed better. With the XB8's current firmware (which has been stable for more than a year now) and good drivers in my devices, I can attain speeds approaching 900 Mbps over Wi-Fi 6, 1.9 Gbps over Wi-Fi 6E, and speeds approaching 1.9 Gbps over 2.5 Gigabit Ethernet on my Ignite 1.5 Gigabit DOCSIS (cable) Internet connection.)
Hmm, ok, where to start?
Windows 7?? I hope your not using that pc for anything other than web cruising. Windows 7 is beyond being a security hazard. That pc should have been retired long ago or loaded with something like Ubuntu if you want to keep it running and use it for web cruising.
You indicated that you have Rogers FTTH. There are two Optical Network Terminals that are used for FTTH service:
1. NOKIA XS-010X-Q ONT: has a single ethernet port.
Available data rates: 100 M / 1 G / 2.5 G / 5 G / 10 G Base-T interface with RJ-45 connector
Ethernet port auto-negotiation or manual configuration with
Medium Dependent Interface /
Medium Dependent Interface Crossover (MDI/ MDIX)
2. NOKIA XS-020X-A ONT: has two ethernet ports
Available data rates port 1: 1 x 1/2.5GE
Available data rates port 2: 1 x 10 GE
If you look at the back of the ONT, you'll know which model you have.
So, the ONT must connect to the modem's port #4, which is the lower right hand port when you look at the back of the modem. That port is denoted with a red/orange stripe. If you have the second ONT, the XS-020X-A, you would connect the port indicated 1/2.5GBE to the modem's port #4. That port maxes out at 2.5 Gb/s, so the ONT and modem will connect at a maximum of 2.5 Gb/s. That port is a combination WAN / LAN port, and in the case of FTTH service, port 4 must be used as it serves as a firewalled port for the modem. There are two choices for the WAN port for that modem, the coax port, or ethernet port #4. There is a setting for port 4 in the Gateway >> Connection >> WAN Network page. The drop-down defaults to Auto, but you can select between the DOCSIS (coax port) or Ethernet. I'd personally select Ethernet if I was connecting thru an ONT.
The problem with this ONT / modem configuration is that the other three ethernet ports on the modem are only 1 Gb/s, so, you can never get 1.5 Gb/s or higher from that modem via ethernet, when the modem is used in an FTTH configuration. You end up relying on wifi, or simply understanding that any service above 1 Gb/s in a standard Rogers configuration will be shared by two or more devices.
You can disconnect the modem and connect directly to a router that has a multi-gig WAN and possibly multi-gig LAN ports if you want to run 1.5 Gb/s or higher to your ethernet devices. That would probably also require a multi-gig unmanaged ethernet switch.
Looking at the wifi results, its interesting that you have 1200/1200 connect rate indicated but, you're only seeing 300 Mb/s. That makes me wonder if the ONT and modem are connected correctly? Can you check the connected port on the modem and ensure that the ONT connects to port #4 on the modem.
With a pod connected, the modem will enforce a low 5 Ghz channel selection. The wifi channels, everywhere, are limited in terms of their output power level. In Canada, the lower channels (36 to 48) are limited to 200 milli-watts conducted power. The Dynamic Frequency Selection (DFS) channels (52-144) are limited to 250 mw, and the upper channels (149 to 161) are allowed to run 1 watt max.
https://semfionetworks.com/blog/5ghz-regulations-in-canada-2018-update/
So, with a pod connected to the modem, the modem and pod output will be limited to 200 mw. As @-G- pointed out, that 1200/1200 connect rate shows that you are connected to the modem, not the pod. Fwiw, at this point in time, I'd pull the power from the pod and reboot the modem to see if it decides to run in the higher 5 Ghz channel range. If so, I'd expect to see higher results on your speedtest. That difference, 200 mw versus 1 watt makes a considerable difference in receive power levels at the laptop, signal to noise ratios at the laptop and you should see much higher data rates on a speedtest with the laptop.
That 1200/1200 connect rate should be dynamic. If you walk around your home, you should see that connect rate change, down or up, depending on your direction of travel to or from the modem's location. If it doesn't change when you change location in your home, refresh or reload the page and it should show an updated connect rate.
There have been complaints in the past regarding high output power levels from Bell modems, so, I'm not surprised that you're seeing a real difference in data rates between the Home Hub and XB8 wifi data rates, given that the modem should be running at a low power output.
Ok, what I'd be interested in knowing at this point is:
1. Was the ONT and modem connected properly, ONT to modem port #4, or did you have to change it? If you had to change it, please reboot/restart the modem so that it figures out that port #4 is now the WAN port.
2. Pull the power from the pod and reboot the modem to see if it changes the wifi channel to a high channel (149 - 161). If so, can you rerun the speedtest, using the nearest Rogers Speedtest site. When you go to Speedtest.net, change the server, type in Rogers, which will show the various Rogers servers and select the server that is closest to your home. Don't let Speedtest.net select the server for you, as it will probably use latency, as its benchmark. That doesn't necessarily provide the fastest speedtest that is available.
Fwiw, locating the modem in the basement is typically the worst location in the house, given any steel I-beams that might be present as well as the air conditioning / heating ducting that is located in the basement ceiling. Was that your choice or did the tech make that choice on his own?
Do you happen to have any ethernet cabling that is embedded in the walls, that could be used to park the modem upstairs, if that would be a more useful location? Or possibly Cat-5 or Cat-5e telephone cabling that you're not using for telephone purposes that could be repurposed to ethernet cabling? If so, that might be worth considering.
What did you see for a speedtest data rate when you had Bell's Home Hub connected to the Windows 7 pc via ethenet?
Good morning @JoeD53!
Have you had the opportunity yet to relocate the modem for further testing? How did it go? Any change?
Regards,
RogersCorey
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