Question Plz help me understand how how wifi works with 2 routers

[Skyzoomer]

The configuration in our home is:

fiber optic cable >----- (white box)----ethernet cable---(provider's ZYXEL router)---ethernet cable---(provider's Netgear EX7000 wifi range extender)

The ZYXEL router has 1 WAN port and 4 LAN ports.
The Netgear EX7000 wifi range extender has 1 WAN port and 4 LAN ports.

The ZYXEL and Netgear are literally next to each other about a foot apart. My cable provider installed the Netgear because I needed more wired ethernet ports than just the 4 lan ports on the ZYXEL router.

= = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = = =

QUESTIONS:
1. When I connect my laptop or tablet using wifi, how do I know which unit (ZYXEL or Netgear) the wifi is connecting to?

2. The line speed for my laptop is only 48.1 Mbps download and 50.3 Mbps upload. I expected faster line speed since I'm paying for the 600 Mbps plan. My PC connected via ethernet cable to the ZYXEL has ~600 Mbps line speed. Any ideas why the wireless is so slow?

 

[Tech Junky]

1. the MAC in the WIFI properties will decode which you're connected to.
2. sounds like you're stuck on 2.4ghz or going through the extender which cuts the BW by 50% if it's not wired
3. there might be a contention issue with the WIFI if you haven't tuned it to clear channels / higher bandwidth 80/160mhz if it's using the default 20/40mhz that's going to suck
4. to solve 3 download a "wifi analyzer" app onto your phone and look at the RF around you to pick the right channels to use

I would get your own router with either enough ports or just a cheap wired router and then put a switch behind it and hang an AP off it as well for WIFI.

I built my own setup so.... My AP NWA210AX gives me LAN speeds of 1.7gbps which rules out any potential bottlenecks inside the house.

The only hitch might be with the provider if they're using PPOE or static IP on the router they provided. They should provide the info if you ask or it might be in your online account for retrieval.

 

[In2Photos]

Wait, the ISP installed a wifi range extender right next to your router to provide more LAN ports? Why not just install a switch?

 

[Skyzoomer]

Wait, the ISP installed a wifi range extender right next to your router to provide more LAN ports? Why not just install a switch?

Good idea! I'll replace the Netgear EX7000 with an unmanaged ethernet switch. Then just use the wifi from the ZYXEL router. That should negate any wifi interference between the XYXEL router and the Netgear EX7000. And it will solve the 95 Mbps problem with the Netgear EX7000.

I've had good luck with this TP-Link unmanaged switch in the past, running at 600 Mbps. Cheap enough at $15.99. Any gotchas?

 

[Skyzoomer]

1. the MAC in the WIFI properties will decode which you're connected to.
2. sounds like you're stuck on 2.4ghz or going through the extender which cuts the BW by 50% if it's not wired
3. there might be a contention issue with the WIFI if you haven't tuned it to clear channels / higher bandwidth 80/160mhz if it's using the default 20/40mhz that's going to suck
4. to solve 3 download a "wifi analyzer" app onto your phone and look at the RF around you to pick the right channels to use

I would get your own router with either enough ports or just a cheap wired router and then put a switch behind it and hang an AP off it as well for WIFI.

I built my own setup so.... My AP NWA210AX gives me LAN speeds of 1.7gbps which rules out any potential bottlenecks inside the house.

The only hitch might be with the provider if they're using PPOE or static IP on the router they provided. They should provide the info if you ask or it might be in your online account for retrieval.

Thanks for your in-depth help. I'm going to try in2Photos suggestion and replace the Netgear EX7000 with an unmanaged switch. That should negate any wifi competition between 2 routers. Then just use the wifi from the ZYXEL router.

 

[Tech Junky]

Unplug the Netgear or disable WiFi on it and test your coverage to see if you need an AP for proper coverage.

 

[Skyzoomer]

Unplug the Netgear or disable WiFi on it and test your coverage to see if you need an AP for proper coverage.

Good idea! Need to verify whether the ZYXEL will cover where the laptop and tablet are used.

 

[In2Photos]

Good idea! I'll replace the Netgear EX7000 with an unmanaged ethernet switch. Then just use the wifi from the ZYXEL router. That should negate any wifi interference between the XYXEL router and the Netgear EX7000. And it will solve the 95 Mbps problem with the Netgear EX7000.

I've had good luck with this TP-Link unmanaged switch in the past, running at 600 Mbps. Cheap enough at $15.99. Any gotchas?

That switch should work fine. I have a couple of those on my network as well.

 

[Skyzoomer]

That switch should work fine. I have a couple of those on my network as well.

Thanks!

 

[Fallen Kell]

Yeah, my only guess as to why they installed what they did was because they could either A) charge an additional monthly fee for a second router B) do not have a fee structure around for renting a switch.

 

[Skyzoomer]

Tech Junky said:
Unplug the Netgear or disable WiFi on it and test your coverage to see if you need an AP for proper coverage.

Good idea! Need to verify whether the ZYXEL will cover where the laptop and tablet are used.

Did the tests and here are the results:

Powered off the Netgear EX7000 wifi extender.
Laptop WI-FI line speeds for the ZYXEL router were:
- 2.4 GHz: (44.8 download) (42.3 upload)
- 5 GHz (174.7 download) (214.3 upload)

Are these acceptable WI-FI speeds considering that I'm paying for 600 Mbps and my tower PC connected via ethernet cable to the ZYXEL router is over 600 Mbps? (Channels were defaulted to "Auto". I did try different channels for both the 2.4 and 5 GHz but the speeds were about the same.)

BTW, the ZYXEL WI-FI line speeds are about the same with the Netgear powered on.
Also, the Netgear WI-FI line speeds for 2.4 and 5 GHz are about the same as the XYXEL router.
The range of the ZYXEL is fine at the farthest point in our house.
The model number of the ZYXEL router is: XMG3563-B10A

 

[Tech Junky]

Are these acceptable

Well, it depends on the HW in the client. If you're using older wifi cards then they might only be a single antenna version. If you go into device manager under network it will tell you the model. The other issue is the zyxel is probably not configured for 80/160mhz channels which will limit speed as well.

Since both give the same distance just get a switch for more ports as needed.

If you want more speed upgrade the clients to BE cards for $20/ea. They can be found just about anywhere but I use mouser.com for the best prices usually. And for the WiFi get an AP like the nwa210ax or the be one that zyxel makes and kill the WiFi on the ISP router once configured. Both ax/be APs are under $200 and can do about 2gbps in terms of speed.

 

[Skyzoomer]

Well, it depends on the HW in the client. If you're using older wifi cards then they might only be a single antenna version. If you go into device manager under network it will tell you the model. The other issue is the zyxel is probably not configured for 80/160mhz channels which will limit speed as well.

Since both give the same distance just get a switch for more ports as needed.

If you want more speed upgrade the clients to BE cards for $20/ea. They can be found just about anywhere but I use mouser.com for the best prices usually. And for the WiFi get an AP like the nwa210ax or the be one that zyxel makes and kill the WiFi on the ISP router once configured. Both ax/be APs are under $200 and can do about 2gbps in terms of speed.

I just remembered that although my newish HP Win11 tower PC is connected via ethernet cable, it has wireless capability. So I disconnected the ethernet cable and enabled the wireless.

ZYXEL:
2.4 GHz: (49.2 download) (38.1 upload)
5.0 GHz (207.7 download) (204.9 upload)

NETGEAR:
About the same.

So the WI-FI line speed does not appear to be limited by my laptop since it is about the same on the desktop. Guess the limitation in Wi-Fi speed is in the ZYXEL router.

The 200+ speeds at 5 GHz should be fine for what we do. Most demanding is watching youtube videos. With me using my laptop and my wife using the tablet and both watching youtube videos, the 5 GHz 200+ Mbps speed should be fine for simultaneous use.

So I'll just stick with our existing configuration with the Netgear and ZYXEL routers, be sure both the laptop and tablet are connected via 5 GHz and call it a day. Was good to find out all of this info anyway. I'll draw a layout of the connections with notes and the line speeds and save it for future use.

Thanks all !

 

[Tech Junky]

If you're paying for 600mbps it's nice to get it out of the client devices. It can be relatively cheap to do as the AP might be $130 last time I checked for the AX model. Also, if you do LAN data moves it's nice to get quicker speeds. Not to mention you can take some of the control back from the ISP by using your own equipment. Not to mention more privacy.

200mbps is decent for most things. I setup my server as a router and it's the demarc for the WAN so DL's go direct to it w/o having to pass through other devices to be saved. It's the LAN movement that is nice to have sync ability at 1.7gbps when moving large files around.

Desktop vs Laptop might be using similar cards or it's just how the Zyxel is configured by default. If you haven't tuned it yourself it's likely not the most optimal setup as it will be switching channels constantly if you have lots of neighbors. Also, channel width might be at the minimum setting instead of upped to higher bandwidth settings.

There are a lot of variables when it comes to WIFI to get the most out of it. It's why people complain about their new high end WIFI router not hitting higher speeds because they didn't upgrade the cards inside their PC/laptop. Either way I would opt for a switch instead of the Netgear to reduce the RF pollution for your devices. Or just login to the Netgear and disable the WIFI

(Channels were defaulted to "Auto". I did try different channels for both the 2.4 and 5 GHz but the speeds were about the same.)

This is where you'll need a WIFI Analyzer app on your phone to see what's going on. For me 36 on 5Ghz isn't optimal for the best speeds. I went through them and tested each one and found 40 to give me top speeds w/o issues. Since you have the 2 broadcasters setting one on the low end and the other on the high end would offer better transitions but, it doesn't sound like you really need it for the space you're working with as you said before a single unit is reaching the other end of the house.

Now, if you really wanted to speed things up then moving to 6ghz would do that with double the RF to 320mhz should yield up to 3-3.5gbps per client. Not that it sounds like you need it now it's just something that's possible with WIFI 7.

 

[Skyzoomer]

If you're paying for 600mbps it's nice to get it out of the client devices. It can be relatively cheap to do as the AP might be $130 last time I checked for the AX model. Also, if you do LAN data moves it's nice to get quicker speeds. Not to mention you can take some of the control back from the ISP by using your own equipment. Not to mention more privacy.

200mbps is decent for most things. I setup my server as a router and it's the demarc for the WAN so DL's go direct to it w/o having to pass through other devices to be saved. It's the LAN movement that is nice to have sync ability at 1.7gbps when moving large files around.

Desktop vs Laptop might be using similar cards or it's just how the Zyxel is configured by default. If you haven't tuned it yourself it's likely not the most optimal setup as it will be switching channels constantly if you have lots of neighbors. Also, channel width might be at the minimum setting instead of upped to higher bandwidth settings.

There are a lot of variables when it comes to WIFI to get the most out of it. It's why people complain about their new high end WIFI router not hitting higher speeds because they didn't upgrade the cards inside their PC/laptop. Either way I would opt for a switch instead of the Netgear to reduce the RF pollution for your devices. Or just login to the Netgear and disable the WIFI

This is where you'll need a WIFI Analyzer app on your phone to see what's going on. For me 36 on 5Ghz isn't optimal for the best speeds. I went through them and tested each one and found 40 to give me top speeds w/o issues. Since you have the 2 broadcasters setting one on the low end and the other on the high end would offer better transitions but, it doesn't sound like you really need it for the space you're working with as you said before a single unit is reaching the other end of the house.

Now, if you really wanted to speed things up then moving to 6ghz would do that with double the RF to 320mhz should yield up to 3-3.5gbps per client. Not that it sounds like you need it now it's just something that's possible with WIFI 7.

Thanks again.