Advertised vs. Actual Fiber Speed

[wfallen]

Airport Extreme.

Is it an Airport Extreme as you said in your first post or Airport Express?

Airport Extreme has Gigabit ports for WAN and LAN.

Airport Express only has 100Mbps ports.

[igorru]

Do you have an Ethernet adapter for your MacBook Pro? If you do, try plugging it into the Sonic ONT directly and testing speed.

[wfallen]

I do not have an Ethernet adapter. Anyhow, would prefer not to use a wired connection to the modem.

Assuming that even a new router would make little difference in speeds, what I'm getting may be as good as it gets, at least when on wifi. For my purposes the existing speed is adequate -- though disappointing vis à vis the advertising.

Thanks for your help.

Do you have an Ethernet adapter for your MacBook Pro? If you do, try plugging it into the Sonic ONT directly and testing speed.

[Larns576]

Sounds like a wifi issue which is extremely difficult to troubleshoot over forum posts.

But it short, it can be a limitation of your wifi hardware, wireless congestion, or basically a cheap network adaptor on your laptop.

Perhaps one of those mesh networks using Sonic's equipment that Dane has been talking about would help. They should also offer better support when using their hardware. Or a call to Geek Squad if you are really tech impaired.

[igorru]

OK, I have another question for you though before we call it quits: Which generation of Airport Extreme you have? Older generations (5th or older) had 802.11n wireless radios, so would be capable of only up to 450Mbps wireless speeds. The latest Airport Extreme is an 802.11ac, so it can go full Gigabit wireless.

Also, check out the following link for a discussion about what sounds like the same issue as what you have:
https://discussions.apple.com/thread/7448572

[msandrof]

Your wifi connection is probably the limiting factor. If you're on a Mac, hold down Option and click on the wifi indicator in the menu bar. It should show you additional wifi connection information. Some important things to look at are the PHY Mode, Channel and Tx Rate.

[wfallen]

Channel 36 (5GHz, 40MHz)

Tx Rate: 270 Mbps

PHY Mode: 802.11n

Your wifi connection is probably the limiting factor. If you're on a Mac, hold down Option and click on the wifi indicator in the menu bar. It should show you additional wifi connection information. Some important things to look at are the PHY Mode, Channel and Tx Rate.

[dane]

I'd guess the Apple Airport Express is the source of the bottleneck, as it only supports 100Mbps "Fast Ethernet".

We're working now on a post-installation communication that'll go to new customers which provides tips and tricks for maximizing speed of the local area network, both wired and wireless.

Of course, our goal is always to try to solve this for consumers, with them connecting either with Ethernet directly to our router or with WiFi. To that end, we are launching a mesh WiFi solution that'll allow for multiple access points in the home, helping resolve the issue with 5ghz signal strength that affects many premises and limits higher speeds. There's also been discussion here about offering small Gigabit-capable switches for sale for folks who need more ports, but that hasn't reached an implementation stage yet due to complexity with sales tax remittance and inventory.

[msandrof]

Your transmit rate shows 270, we don't know what the router is sending to you but lets assume it clocks in about the same. Actual wireless throughput is significantly lower than the reported Mbps because of wireless overhead, interference and retransmission, and it's half-duplex ta boot. You're reporting about 90-100 in those conditions seems about right. If you're concerned that your actual connection to Sonic isn't working as advertised, you will need to connect directly to the ONT. Otherwise get better wifi, but don't expect to hit anywhere near the 1000Mbps, even under the best circumstances.

[wfallen]

My router is an Apple Airport Extreme.

Supported PHY Modes: 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac

I'd guess the Apple Airport Express is the source of the bottleneck, as it only supports 100Mbps "Fast Ethernet".

We're working now on a post-installation communication that'll go to new customers which provides tips and tricks for maximizing speed of the local area network, both wired and wireless.

Of course, our goal is always to try to solve this for consumers, with them connecting either with Ethernet directly to our router or with WiFi. To that end, we are launching a mesh WiFi solution that'll allow for multiple access points in the home, helping resolve the issue with 5ghz signal strength that affects many premises and limits higher speeds. There's also been discussion here about offering small Gigabit-capable switches for sale for folks who need more ports, but that hasn't reached an implementation stage yet due to complexity with sales tax remittance and inventory.