Getting less than half speed on secondary router, is this expected?

[raksrules]

The router setup at my home is as follows...

PRIMARY ROUTER (ASUS) ------wired connection----- SECONDARY ROUTER (iBall) in AP mode

The internet connection at my home is 100 Mbps up and down. Both the routers have 2.4 Ghz and 5 Ghz bands. I primarily always connect to the ASUS router on 5 Ghz and always get more than 100 Mbps speeds on speedtest. On the 2.4 Ghz, it is usually between 90 and 100 Mbps.

The iBall router always gives us speed under 50 Mbps. I don't expect this since it is not a wireless repeater, it is connected in AP mode to primary router using LAN cable. i just notice using the amazon listing that the iBall router's WAN ports are 10/100 so is that the reason I am unable to get close to 100 Mbps speeds on the iBall router?

Is the only solution of getting full speeds on the secondary router is to get a new router with gigabit WAN port?

 

[bigbyte]

There is not enough juice in iBall to support high speed connection. Moreover due to your current arrangement you are in dual NAT, if it matters.

Fortunately you have a Asus router, just buy another cheap Asus router supporting AI Mesh.
Then both can be connected either wirelessly or via wired back hual.

 

[raksrules]

There is not enough juice in iBall to support high speed connection. Moreover due to your current arrangement you are in dual NAT, if it matters.

Fortunately you have a Asus router, just buy another cheap Asus router supporting AI Mesh.
Then both can be connected either wirelessly or via wired back hual.

I have no clue what "Dual NAT" means and how it impacts my case. The ASUS one is actually the tmobile branded cellspot router and I am not going to flash it with original ASUS firmware. I am completely ok with having wired connection between the 2 routers.
Can you suggest me which "cheap" router do you suggest which can give me full speed (100+ Mbps) on secondary router on wireless and wired connections both?

 

[Slayer_25]

I have no clue what "Dual NAT" means and how it impacts my case. The ASUS one is actually the tmobile branded cellspot router and I am not going to flash it with original ASUS firmware. I am completely ok with having wired connection between the 2 routers.
Can you suggest me which "cheap" router do you suggest which can give me full speed (100+ Mbps) on secondary router on wireless and wired connections both?

How have you connected them? LAN to WAN? or LAN TO LAN

 

[raksrules]

How have you connected them? LAN to WAN? or LAN TO LAN

LAN to WAN. Isnt that the only way?
I have configured the secondary iBall router in AP mode.

I am not even sure how it works if I connect from LAN to LAN.


On a side note, if I have to buy the better secondary router, which one I should buy? I guess gigabit ethernet port is a must else tomorrow if I change my ISP speed to say 200 Mbps, due to 10/100 port, I will anyways never able to surpass 100 Mbps.
Also since my primary router is ASUS, that doesn't mean I have to buy secondary as ASUS. As I mentioned, the Asus one is rebranded with tweaked firmware and I don't think in current firmware it supports ai mesh etc and I am ok with having wired connection between the 2 routers.

I checked amazon and think there are couple of TP Link archer series ones which probably fit my bill. Costs 2500 odd. On sale I see they have dropped to even 1500-1600.

 

[Channu]

LAN to WAN. Isnt that the only way?

Hey, you can do LAN to LAN as well by switching off the DHCP on iball. This will make it behave as a simple switch with a wireless interface with your ASUS router being the master. It's worth a shot.

From a 10/100 port, getting a full bandwidth, it's difficult to imagine that output will fall flat down to 50% even when it can support 5Ghz.
If you are doing this then also check on the speed on that you get on LAN port of iball.

 

[nitin_g3]

you can do LAN to LAN as well by switching off the DHCP on iball. This will make it behave as a simple switch with a wireless interface with your ASUS router being the master. It's worth a shot.

I have total of 3 tp-link routers, where 1 is master and other 2 are connected to it in exact same configuration using LAN to LAN with DHCP disabled on child routers, this helps me manage all connected devices from the main master router itself.

I also suggest OP to try this configuration.

 

[Kaleen Bhaiya]

If you are looking for an inexpensive router with Gigabit ports with no bells and whistles, then do have a look at TPLink Archer C6/A6. All ports are Gigabit so that should futureproof you
Did you try to check the speeds on your pc using lan from iBall? It should give an idea if your iBall is throttling the speeds coming from Asus.

 

[raksrules]

I doubt dhcp is enabled on my iBall router as once I put that in AP mode, all DHCP related settings went away if I remember correctly.

I am posting screenshots of my asus where I have assigned a static internal ip to iBall router and you can see the same being used in the iBall router's settings page.

 

[Channu]

I doubt dhcp is enabled on my iBall router as once I put that in AP mode, all DHCP related settings went away if I remember correctly.

I am posting screenshots of my asus where I have assigned a static internal ip to iBall router and you can see the same being used in the iBall router's settings pageIt might help you figure out the issue .

It might help you figure out the issue if you allow DHCP for all in Asus, disable DHCP in iBall & plug the wire from Asus into iBall LAN port & then check the speeds. You may also check speed on asus's LAN end and also lan of iball.
I have a very old netgear router(7-8 years probably), even that easily clocks 50-60 Mbps(getting in on a 10/100) on 2.4 GHz wifi hence a bit difficult to understand why an iBall on 5Ghz will not do that

 

[raksrules]

It might help you figure out the issue if you allow DHCP for all in Asus, disable DHCP in iBall & plug the wire from Asus into iBall LAN port & then check the speeds. You may also check speed on asus's LAN end and also lan of iball.
I have a very old netgear router(7-8 years probably), even that easily clocks 50-60 Mbps(getting in on a 10/100) on 2.4 GHz wifi hence a bit difficult to understand why an iBall on 5Ghz will not do that

Sure. Will try that definitely.

 

[cisco_tech]

Yes as mentioned by other users try LAN-LAN and test it.
And if you want to convert that T-Mobile ac68u into regular ac68u then it is very easy. I did mine couple of months ago. How to instructions are posted on original tmobile cellspot SD deal thread.
I’m running AC88u-AC86u(mesh wired back haul)
|
Netgear Old router ( to cover dead spot) 10/100 Limitation.

All connected via 1Gbps and I get 80-90 from netgear.
Rest gives stable 150 mbps

 

[raksrules]

I am still confused if the LAN to WAN or using LAN to LAN makes any difference.

I say this because on the iBall page of AP Mode it says something like "Connect main router to LAN or WAN port......" so I am doubting it will make a difference. But will still try when I can.

 

[Slayer_25]

I am still confused if the LAN to WAN or using LAN to LAN makes any difference.

I say this because on the iBall page of AP Mode it says something like "Connect main router to LAN or WAN port......" so I am doubting it will make a difference. But will still try when I can.

1. Disconnect the iball router, by disconnect i mean disconnect WAN port
2. Reset the iball router
3. Then login with the default details.
4. Go to Network > LAN > Change the IP address of iball router like this ---> Eg: IF your Asus Router has an IP address of 192.168.1.1 Then change the IP address of your Iball router to 192.168.1.2. Basically keep the 1st three numbers same as Asus in your Iball router(192.168.1 in this case, it may be different in yours) just increment the last number by 1 in your Iball router.
5. Once done, CONNECT the cable into your LAN port
6. Relogin > Disable DHCP by going into wireless settings, then it may or may not reboot, connect to the iball router wirelessly and check the speed.

I am not a pro in networking, but this is what i use in my home, my primary router is archer c6 and secondary is TP-Link WR841N. LAN to LAN.

 

[Sponge-Kun]

There is not enough juice in iBall to support high speed connection. Moreover due to your current arrangement you are in dual NAT, if it matters.

Fortunately you have a Asus router, just buy another cheap Asus router supporting AI Mesh.
Then both can be connected either wirelessly or via wired back hual.

How much does router compatibility matter? I have Jio Fiber Router on the ground floor and currently using an old router on the first-floor setup as an extender wirelessly but the speed is of course not great. Should I get a new better extender or a proper router to set up everything? I prefer to not use wire, just need to increase speed a bit.

 

[Kaleen Bhaiya]

Should I get a new better extender or a proper router to set up everything? I prefer to not use wire, just need to increase speed a bit.

A range extender (RE) will give you only had the speeds so no point spending money there. You should buy a router like C6 or A6 and set it up as an AP. While you have the option of setting your new router either wired or wireless, the probability of getting the advertised speeds are higher with the wired than with wirelessly, since there is some signal loss between the primary and secondary router in wireless modem of connection.
But before that, do confirm if your Jio router allows you to connect to other router using access point(AP).

 

[john1911]

I am still confused if the LAN to WAN or using LAN to LAN makes any difference.

I say this because on the iBall page of AP Mode it says something like "Connect main router to LAN or WAN port......" so I am doubting it will make a difference. But will still try when I can.

It does not matter. It used to matter 10 years ago when routers didn't had AP mode. When you enable AP mode, basically the WAN port gets converted into a LAN port and the router becomes a switch with wireless antenna.

Earlier there was no way to do this other than connecting LAN to LAN.

Your slow speeds might be due to poor wireless radios in iBall router. You can try running speedtest on wired connection to iBall but don't expect it to cross 100. It should be in 90s.

 

[bigbyte]

How much does router compatibility matter? I have Jio Fiber Router on the ground floor and currently using an old router on the first-floor setup as an extender wirelessly but the speed is of course not great. Should I get a new better extender or a proper router to set up everything? I prefer to not use wire, just need to increase speed a bit.

I don't have Jio Fiber but from what I have heard is that Jio Fiber doesn't allows it's ONU to be configured in bridge mode, so that's a bummer.

So your second best choice is putting your new router as a wired client to Jio fiber on Ground floor and a another Mesh node on First floor. After that you can disable WiFi of Jio Router. This will require purchase of two routers supporting mesh. TP-Link Deco series, is one of them.

 

[MrB]

OP - You have connected everything properly. Changing it to lan to lan is not a solution, will only complicate and confuse you further. In my experience everything might work including internet but ap will not know its connected to internet so will not update software over the air, update time from online server, change lights when internet is down, etc. This is why routers have ap mode and connect to wan port. Keep it simple.

With a 100 mbps connection you should still get full speed in 2.4ghz on primary router. As you have stated it is some carrier specific model. Probably no updates. Will get no help on this unless you go for asus or custom firmware. It's always best to have an up to date router. Should take Cisco's advice/help and convert.

Now your problem lies in the iball router. It is just not capable. Don't go by specs. I tried with few old n150/n300 routers (belkin, dlink, chinese) and wifi speeds never went over 60 mbps. Replace this and you will get full speed. I use tp link c6 in ap mode on a 200 mbps connection with full speed. I don't use asus routers so can't recommend, others can help.

All of this is presuming your wiring and hardware is not faulty.

You had actually answered your own question. Which is yes.

 

[superczar]

Seconding what @MrB said.
With a wired connection to your 2nd router, the bottleneck is not the backhaul. (and yes, it should be LAN to LAN)
Its very likely the fronthaul of your iball thats causing the speed drop