Discussing internet performance
Discussing internet performance
I have a Gigabit Up and Down plan in my apartment and typically experience at least 800 up and down when connected to the wall outlet. Our router is more than sufficient for my needs. I’m puzzled as to why my phone and laptop connections aren’t performing as fast as expected (compared to what I see). I usually get around 80 downloads and 170 uploads. I own an iPhone 12 and a budget TP-Link router priced around $70. My Dell XPS also delivers similar speeds. I’m using the 5GHz channel with WiFi 5 (802.11ac) since that version doesn’t support WiFi 6. The router has three antennas. I check speeds using Ookla, and I assumed WiFi 5 would offer better performance despite common bottlenecks. If anyone has more experience, please share their insights. PS: I’ve maintained consistent results after updating firmware on the router and my operating system.
It’s not exactly what it seems. First, even if your router could handle 866Mbps on 802.11ac, a connected gadget would only receive half that because WiFi is a simplex medium—not a duplex one; you can’t transmit and receive simultaneously. Second, the device itself must also support those speeds. It can’t just rely on the router or the device alone to deliver high bandwidth. Third, most WiFi router makers exaggerate their capabilities by adding 2.4GHz and 5GHz speeds together and claiming that as the router’s rate. In reality, your gadget will only work on one frequency at a time, not both at once.
Affordable routers/APs can sometimes allow media access at a certain speed, but they often can’t deliver that rate because of bottlenecks elsewhere in the device. It’s similar to having a gigabit LAN connected to a fast SSD via USB 2.0—you’d still only reach about 160Mbps. I own a high-end WiFi 6 router, yet my phone doesn’t support WiFi 6, so I still get 400Mbps through Wi-Fi.
Besides what @WereCatf mentioned, each antenna has its own limits. For WiFi 5 (AC) devices, a 5GHz antenna typically handles about 433Mbps, which means a small device might only reach around half that speed. In a 2x2 configuration, performance could roughly double that. Most modern phones use a 2x2 setup, though some older models are limited to just 1x1 or even stick to WiFi 4 (802.11n), sometimes only on the 2.4GHz band. The number of transmit and receive antennas matters—transmit x receive pairs determine the actual throughput. Routers often follow a similar pattern, like 2x2 plus one 1x1 antenna, or mixing 5GHz and 2.4GHz channels for different clients.