Comparing Slow LAN speeds with WiFi and 5G internet reveals significant differences in performance.
Comparing Slow LAN speeds with WiFi and 5G internet reveals significant differences in performance.
Hey everyone, I've faced some problems over the last couple of days with slower Wi-Fi speeds compared to my 5G connection. I recently switched to a new 5G internet service in South Africa (Rain 5G), which I used to replace my old 4G setup. While it's still being set up, I've managed to get speeds between 50 and 100 Mbps via WiFi on my phone. Once the antenna is properly installed, I expect it to reach around 200 or 300 Mbps.
The 5G modem comes with a built-in router/antenna (Huawei 5G Outdoor CPE - N5368X) and an Ethernet port. Since it's going to be placed outside near a wall, far from my devices, I'll need a router to connect everything—PCs, phones, TVs, etc.—to one network. I currently have two routers: a Huawei B315s-936 and a Netgear D6000.
I'm using the 5G modem in "IP Passthrough" mode, which turns off most router features like WiFi, DHCP, NAT, and firewall. This lets the connected router manage those functions. My devices connect to the router, which then handles everything the modem was supposed to do.
The problem is that my computers connected through the LAN ports on the router are getting much slower—only 10 to 20 Mbps compared to the WiFi speeds I get on my phone (50-100 Mbps). I've tried several fixes: upgraded cables, updated drivers, disabled auto-tuning, changed Ethernet settings, and even used both routers. But nothing seems to work consistently.
A friend suggested getting a new Netgear router (XR500) to fix this, but I'm not sure if that would help since I already have decent speeds through the modem. I'm unsure whether investing in a new router is worth it or if I should try other solutions first. Any advice or ideas would be greatly appreciated!
I've experimented with running them in standard mode and turned off all features like NAT, Firewall, DHCP, etc., to use the modem as an access point. The setup didn't improve performance. To elaborate: I connected the modem directly to my computer and achieved much faster download speeds. It seems both routers might be too slow or lack sufficient WAN capacity to support those speeds.
When using Access Point mode, WAN bandwidth becomes unnecessary since connections are made through a LAN port while the WAN side remains unused. The data flows only across the internal switch.
I support what @Alex Atkin UK says. Ensure any device acting as a switch or standalone access point isn’t running in router mode after the primary router connects via Ethernet from the LAN port of the main router to the switch/AP. Also, confirm both the Huawei B315s-936 and Netgear D6000 are connected together and updated with the latest stable firmware. Begin with a clean setup: reset the Netgear D6000 through its admin panel, upgrade it using the official firmware from Netgear over a wired link, then restart the router to defaults. After rebooting the D6000, power it down, link it to the CPE, and configure it as a new router following the manual. Turn off WMM QoS, parental controls, firewall rules, ReadyShare/FTP, and enable Port Scan & DoS Protection on the WAN. Check connection speeds with both wired and wireless options, and review logs for any unusual activity.
Yeah, when I did the Access Point mode on both routers, I did switch from WAN to LAN, but it didn't fix the issue. I'm using one router at a time, I was using the Huawei B315 router before I upgraded my internet, but when I noticed the extremely low speeds on LAN, I had a backup router (Netgear D6000) with a gigabit WAN/LAN port, that I tried using. I did follow the steps that you provided, but it didn't resolve the issue. I decided just to buy another router (Netgear XR500 Nighthawk), which fixed the issue for me on the LAN ports. I'm now able to get full speeds through LAN and WiFi: I think I just had a couple of bad routers, since they were both more than 4 years old with lots of use. Thank you @Falcon1986 and @Alex Atkin UK for assisting me with the issue and responding on the thread.